ICONIC EPISODE: DAVID LETTERMAN SERIES FINALE
72”
New York City skyline dimensional miniature buildings (top right & along left) seen outside of David Letterman’s home base window frame (top left) from Late Night with David Letterman . Opposite page: Dave’s home base window and NYC miniature buildings from Late Night (top & middle center); and his interview desk (bottom right). Set acquired from Johnny Carson & NBC Entertainment, the velcro suit from Johnny Carson & David Letterman.
CURATOR'S NOTE: “I had a great advantage in acquiring David Letterman’s set from Late Night with David Letterman , which in 1993 was concluding its final season. Johnny Carson, who by contract got to program a show in the time slot directly after his The Tonight Show , owned and produced Letterman’s program. When they were told Mr. Carson had donated his set to me—and would Dave be interested in something of his going to the same place—he really couldn’t say no. The one catch was we needed a sign-o ff from NBC Entertainment to own it outright, which came on the condition that I pay a back set storage bill of $1,200. Done Deal! I traveled to this warehouse in a dodgy area of New York City, and on the day of the move, oddly, four of the four man crew I hired didn’t show up, yet no one would speculate as to why. Turns out this facility was directly across the street from a union o ffi ce for those who transport theatrical property, and could this have anything to do with my sending a traditional home moving truck to pick up Dave’s stu ff ? These set pieces were eventually rolled onto the shipping dock by me and one older o ffi ce worker, who walked inside as a scru ff y individual came over to me. Did I hear him correctly when he said he hoped my set didn’t run into complications leaving the dock? Or maybe my imagination was being informed by watching endless episodes of The Sopranos . Now what? I went with the first scenario that popped into my head, cupping and discreetly handing him about $200 in cash that I had in my pocket. At the same time, I thanked him for coming over to make sure everything was running smoothly. If there was a point where things could go incredibly wrong, this was it. He coldly stared at me, glanced at what I had handed him, then quietly walked away. My truck arrived 20 minutes later, and two warehouse workers appeared to get it loaded quickly. Scary then, but super cool in my rear view mirror.” - James Comisar
SCREEN MATCH!
92
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