A whole bunch of Letterman clips have been uploaded to YouTube

Celebrate 40 years of Late Night with interviews, top 10s, and lots of stupid human tricks

By Reid McCarter  |  February 2, 2022 | 7:02pm
TV Features Letterman
A whole bunch of Letterman clips have been uploaded to YouTube
David Letterman, barring entry to the YouTube archives to anyone shorter than his elbow. Photo: Mike Coppola

Last night (or early this morning if you want to be pedantic), David Letterman and his big David Letterman beard stopped by Late Night to celebrate the show’s 40th anniversary, chatting with Seth Meyers about bygone days filled with experimental ongoing bits and Jack Hanna getting mauled by a beaver.

If the interview inspired nostalgia for the past, we’re pleased to share that an ideal solution to that problem has arrived in the form of a ton of old Late Night/Show clips being uploaded to YouTube.

The selection on offer ranges from playlists of celebrity interviews and stand-up sets through to top 10s, stupid pet and human tricks, and various skits grouped together as “Letterman Originals.” The videos are described on the channel page as a series of “highlights [that] have been artisanly-produced, carefully-curated, and chosen completely at random by an old computer that used to pick numbers for the New York Lotto back in the ‘90’s.”

The old computer has done a pretty good job. Among the clips are memorable bits like “Dave Crushes Things With A Steamroller,” stand-up appearances by Bobcat Goldthwait and Mitch Hedberg as well as interviews, like the one where Joaquin Phoenix was doing his I’m Still Here performance art thing.

There are also top 10s by Fabio and James Earl Jones as well as excellent stupid pet tricks and stupid human tricks countdowns. (It’s been too long since the woman who can make her eyes bug out like someone about to explode in a pressure cooker haunted our mind’s eye.)

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like there’s a category for the many excellent musical performances hosted by Letterman over the years, but there is stuff like an early ‘80s James Brown talking about “New Wave kids” and, appropriately enough, Devo discussing their outfits.

For more Letterman, check out the rest of the channel over here.

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