Name: Bill Wendell on Late Late Show with Tom Snyder, August 16, 1995
Uploaded: 2015-12-08T00:50:40.000Z
Description: Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Bill Wendell on Late Late Show with Tom Snyder, August 16, 1995' from Don Giller on Comedy Buff. Published 2015-12-08. Transcript available.

Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Bill Wendell on Late Late Show with Tom Snyder, August 16, 1995' from Don Giller on Comedy Buff. Published 2015-12-08. Transcript available.

Tomorrow night, David Steinberg is here, and Carlton Stowers is here as well.
Friday evening marks the end of an era when announcer Bill Wendell retires
after 13 years with David Letterman, both at NBC and here at CBS.
You've heard him more than 3,000 times say, and here is David Letterman.
During his 40-year career, he has worked with some of the greatest people in
this business, like Dave, the legendary Ernie Kovacs.
Bill and I worked together at NBC when I was there in the 1970s and 80s, and he
joins me now from CBS in New York City.
Mr. Wendell, it's a pleasure to see you, and thanks for coming on tonight. I
really appreciate you doing this for us.
Thank you, Tom, and don't call me mister.
Okay. Let me ask you about your first days at NBC New York when you came down
from the radio station upstate, and you were now at NBC New York the big time.
What was that like when you walked in there?
In those days, there were maybe 30 gentlemen on staff, and some of them, I
could hear them clear their throat in the halls.
And there were names like Ben Grauer, the fellow that used to do the
Metropolitan Opera.
And I remember them, I remember their voices when I was a kid.
So this was heaven to me. I really enjoyed it.
And this was when, the 1950s, Bill?
1950s, yeah.
And what was the role of the announcer at NBC in those days? What were your
assignments?
Gee whiz, then we had band remotes from the Hotel Piccadilly in downtown, you
know, that type of thing.
Right.
A couple of years before I came there, the announcer had to first speak a
foreign language and wear tuxedos when he went out to do a remote.
That's how classy it was.
And then for a time, you did a program for the local station called Mr.
Adventure.
Tell us about Mr. Adventure.
Oh, Mr. Adventure was a rather inexpensive show.
Had a fellow come in from, came in from Malwa, New Jersey.
And he would bring in a donkey or a horse or a chicken and we'd put him on the
show.
And then we had, I would do voices and put them in the so-called mouth of the
horse or something.
And for like $200 a week, we did five shows.
Uh-huh.
And we did pretty well in the ratings.
Now, I mentioned that you worked for a time as the announcer.
And you used a word in the New York Times piece on you on Sunday that I don't
remember.
But you were more than an announcer with Ernie Kovacs, weren't you?
Oh, you're talking about, and I still don't know what it means, amanuensis?
Yeah, whatever that means.
Yeah.
No, I did the announcing and we did skits and nearly everything in the world.
Because remember, Ernie was then doing the radio show over at ABC.
And this was early in the morning.
And then he would get in the car or a cab and write the script for the show on
TV in the cab.
Because it went from ABC to NBC.
Uh-huh.
And it was pretty classy all the way through.
And what kind of a guy was he?
I mean, for the younger people who are watching who didn't know Ernie Kovacs,
he was brilliant in terms of impromptu comedy.
But when the camera was off, was he a funny guy?
Was he a fast guy?
He was a very nice man.
He had a problem at the time, unfortunately.
He had been married and then divorced.
But his wife took the two daughters.
And went somewhere where Ernie couldn't find the kids.
And he just literally spent thousands of dollars searching the country to just
find the children.
And it affected him.
Yeah, yeah.
But he just loved to gamble.
And every week after a show, we would play poker.
And he was the world's worst poker player.
How much did you beat him for?
Well, one night, up at his place, we had Ernie, Barry Shearer, the director, a
couple of Broadway producers,
and a fellow by the name of Mark Connolly, who wrote Green Pastures.
Yes, sir.
Do you remember him?
Yes, sir.
And we sat around and played table stakes.
And now I'm talking 40 years ago.
And I walked out of there with a couple of thousand dollars cash, and I had
markers for a couple of thousand more.
But I came back the next week and lost it all.
And then you worked for a time with Gary Moore, and you worked with Merv
Griffin.
Worked with them both, and very nice fellas.
Gary was a favorite of mine.
He was truly a gentleman.
Quick story about Gary.
He was going to retire.
He had done the show with Jimmy Durante on CBS.
He had done his own show.
And now he's going to retire.
So he and his wife are going to go on an around-the-world cruise.
Gary, at one of his last shows, he was then the emcee of To Tell the Truth.
To Tell the Truth, right, with the Kitty Carlisle and those people.
He was in Studio 6B, and across the hall doing a special was Bob Hope in 6A.
Gary walked across the hall to say hello.
Bob found out he was retiring.
Bob said to Gary, you're going to be doing your material on board the ship.
And Gary said, Bob, I'm paying for the cruise.
It's around the world, and I'm retiring.
And Bob Hope, the erstwhile worker, couldn't understand that.
He just had to work.
But Gary was going to give it up.
We're with Bill Wendell, who's leaving the position of announcer on Late Show
with David Letterman this coming Friday.
The phones are up and running at 800-952-2788.
Ah, Bill, what a story.
We'll be right back after these messages.
We're on the air with Bill Wendell of CBS.
Here's Paul in Berrisville, New York.
Hello.
Hello, guys.
Hi, how are you, Paul?
Pretty good.
How are you doing?
Good.
What's your question for Bill?
Hi, Mr. Wendell.
I've seen you for, I guess, 12 years, and I think you're terrific.
I'd like to know, you know when you say those things after you say who's going
to be on the show?
You know, you say a little funny comment?
Yeah.
Do you write those ever?
Oh, no.
I wouldn't touch those.
That's union material.
No, those were all written by writers on the show.
Can I ask you another question?
No.
No, I'm kidding.
Go ahead.
Okay.
You know when Dave has all these supermodels on and everything?
Yeah.
I think it's, you know, I like to look at them and everything, but why doesn't
he just have a supermodel on every show to the side of the stage or behind the
seats or something to look at?
What's the point of talking to them?
Well, Paul, Dave is a married I am.
You'll have to ask him.
I mean, he can get these girls anyway, whether he has them on the show or not,
but I just, I don't understand.
Why did they let these supermodels go on and talk?
They have absolutely nothing to say.
Well, I'll tell you, Paul, they speak to me.
Thank you for joining us.
By the way, I haven't asked you, my friend, why are you leaving?
I'm not really retiring.
I'm just leaving the show.
So, what are you going on to if you're not retiring?
Well, next week, I'll let you know.
We've got a couple of fellows out on the coast.
We're going to talk and might wind up, I don't know what.
Terrific, terrific.
Yeah, I'm looking forward to it.
For a lot of years, in fact, didn't you have a license plate on your car at one
time that said warm-up because you made a name for yourself warming up
audiences for television shows?
Still do, but the car is being driven by my son.
And what is the key to really warming up an audience?
Like, warm up this one.
Come on, Bill, warm us up.
Well, do you need it?
Yeah.
The real thing is, when you go out before an audience, and I've always felt it,
you've got to let them know you're friendly, and they're there for a good time.
And if they don't laugh, you're going to come down into the audience and hurt
them.
After all, they got in for nothing.
But, no, you just have to let them know that we're all friends up here and you're
friends down there, and let's get together and have a good time.
Here's Kelly on the toll-free calling from Toronto, Canada.
Hi, you're on CBS, Kelly.
Hi, Tom.
You've got lots of Canadian fans up here.
I know it, and I appreciate that.
Okay, great.
Look, I just wanted to ask Bill, Paul Schaefer is always acknowledged by David,
so I just wondered why doesn't he acknowledge Bill?
You know, I mean, Bill does a great job announcing all the anecdotes, yet all
the times I'm watching, I've never seen the man until just tonight.
So I just wanted to know.
Well, you're very fortunate it's just for the first time.
No, there's no reason, other than the show has changed from when it was over at
NBC till now.
It's a different show, and I'm not complaining.
It's just one of those things.
Paul was always an integral part of the show, and although I pitched in every
once in a while, my job was mostly as the announcer now.
Okay, I guess I just think of you as the same type as, like, you know, Bob Barker
corresponds with, you know, his, I just, I thought of it like that.
That's all.
No, and remember, too, the last caller said something about all of the models
on the show, and I'm backstage saying that everybody is happy back there.
That doesn't sound right.
Okay, well, you know, that's great.
You do a great job, and we'll miss you a lot, because, you know, you do a good
job.
I'll miss you.
Okay, take it easy.
Kelly, thanks for calling.
Bye.
So, Friday night, Bill, I'm down to 30 seconds, and they're all yours.
Anything special on the show with Dave Friday night that you know of or
surprises that we should look forward to?
I don't know a thing.
They haven't said one word to me.
Maybe I'll just say so long, and that'll be it.
But it's very good to talk with you, Thomas.
Thank you, sir.
You bring back great memories.
When you're out on the coast, give us a holler.
Come say hi, will you?
Guaranteed.
Okay, Bill.
And you still playing golf?
Not anymore.
Oh, very good.
No, I've taken up talking with these high-fashioned models.
Good night, Thomas.
I'll see you on the coast, William.
Take care.
Thanks for coming on.
Bill Wendell, 3,000 times, David Letterman.
That's it.
There's no more.
What were you expecting?
Oh, that Bill Wendell, huh?
I remember one night, you know, I didn't ask him if he still had the place, but
he used to have a house up in Yonkers.
So one night, he had a party for the whole Tomorrow Show staff and cast.
That would be me.
And we went up there on a Saturday night, and we had a great time.
You know, we had some drinks, and we had a dinner.
And it gets to be about 11, 30, quarter, or 12 at night, and people are getting
ready to go home.
And Wendell says, he says, come on down here, meaning to his basement, I want
to show you something.
And down there, he's got a full bar with a cash register and bar stools and a
pool table with the green light over it and a jukebox,
you know, with the thing on the bar where you can select what you want to hear
from the jukebox.
I says, Bill, why didn't we come down here four hours ago?
You know?
He had a great place.
And that's why we stayed and played pool until 2 o'clock in the morning.
Tomorrow night, David Steinberg is here and author Carlton Stowers.
And then on Friday, Patrick Stewart is here, who I believe is operating a new
Broadway show, which we'll find out about.
Tomorrow night on all these internets, America Online, Prodigy, and I believe
on CompuServe as well, Michael Jackson's going online, the king of pop.
He's promoting something, is he not, history or some new record?
But I don't think it's ever happened before that all of the three major online
services for home computers have banded together to present one man.
And I'm sure tomorrow they'll have more people online than they've had in the
history of these services.
So if you have computer technology and you're into Michael Jackson and you didn't
know about that, it happens tomorrow night.
Check your online service if you want to talk personally with the king of pop.
What are we down to?
Fifteen.
Oh, fifteen seconds.
Just enough time to say.
Back tomorrow night.
Same time, same station.
Join me now with Steve Mason on the Late Late Radio Show at 1-800-890-9990.
That's all from Hollywood at this time.
We'll see you next time.