Name: Hal Gurnee Retires on Late Show, May 26, 1995
Uploaded: 2017-04-17T19:23:07.000Z
Description: Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Hal Gurnee Retires on Late Show, May 26, 1995' from Don Giller on Comedy Buff. Published 2017-04-17. Transcript available.

Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Hal Gurnee Retires on Late Show, May 26, 1995' from Don Giller on Comedy Buff. Published 2017-04-17. Transcript available.

when you say you learn things when there's trouble does that mean that there
has been trouble
the trouble that you reference regarding uh you know criticism in the press not
not reference to
changes in staff on the late show the departure of hal gurney no well hal gurney
has been with
me since uh i guess 1980 uh 15 years and and and i i can't say enough good
wonderful things about
this man uh this is the guy that i always wanted to be he's he's a he's smart
he's funny he's talented
he he's a gentleman uh he's experienced things in his life that i would not
wish on others
and has come through always with with grace and dignity and a sense of humor uh
so hal's departure
uh we're going to miss hal as a person and of course as a director but as he
told me when he
talked about quitting when we hired him on the morning show back in 1980 he had
already retired
then so here's a guy who who for me uh had postponed his retirement for 15
years and uh i'll i'll never
forget uh anything that hal has ever done for us and and he's going to remain
with the company and
we're very happy about that but good lord uh i envy this man and and what he
and his life have ahead of
him uh people who watched this uh program the last couple of years here on cbs
and before that uh
on nbc the two versions of this show we did for nbc probably know that each
night this television
show is directed uh by a man named hal gurney and what he does he sits in the
control room and for
the life of me i have no idea where that is and he uh visually as it happens
assembles the show
tonight is hal's last night as director of the late show yep fortunately hal uh
will be staying
with us and we'll be working on other projects in the future together uh but it's
a little sad because
uh you know we've done over 2 000 shows and and hal has been down there for
most of them i i met hal i
guess in 1980 uh when he came to work for us i know we're all that old uh on a
show over at nbc
and uh this man's a wonderful director i mean he makes the show better he makes
the show funnier
he makes me better nothing can make me funnier and uh it's uh he's also just a
terrific man and uh
i've said this before i uh he's he's the kind of guy uh i i wish i was and and
keep working to be
better in the way that that uh hal is better uh wally's been with us uh he's
won i guess uh two emmys
and we're all very proud of that now um there's no way that myself or anybody
else here on the staff
of the late show will ever be able to uh accurately uh repay hal for his
friendship and his uh creative
drive and and voice that has made this show so successful over the years uh we
were thinking of
something to do something symbolic and uh here's what we have come up with and
and for the life of me
hal i i just pray to god this doesn't embarrass you silly this uh this theater
that you
folks were in about three years ago when we looked at it it was a cold day in
february and uh we came
in here and the place was very close to being condemned and literally it was
standing pools of
sewage and choking clouds of asbestos and we all said well you know this is
great you know to hide
bodies when you fire connie chung or something but we we can't we can't
possibly can't do a television
show here and house is well no you know i think maybe you could uh and it was
due largely to hal's
vision of that idea and his pursuit and his dedication and his brilliance that
you are now in
perhaps the finest television facility here in new york city uh mostly because
of hal gurney's efforts
is hal still in the control room or did he leave early tonight where where can
we see can we see the
the man is he in there can we turn on the camera in the control room there he
is right there ladies
and so hal uh what we have done and uh we hope you appreciate this gesture and
it's it's only a symbol
we can never as i said uh express or repay you for what you've meant to us uh
we've put a little plaque
on the control room on the outside mounted permanently there it is dedicated to
hal gurney director late
show with david letterman in recognition of his vision and contribution to the
restoration of the ed
sullivan theater cbs incorporated may 1995.
hal gurney we we would not be here today without hal gurney god bless you hal
we have to go have a
great holiday weekend we'll see you next week good night everybody
buy me some pants
this is cbs