• Outstanding Directing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Series

  Late Show with David Letterman • Episode #3289 • CBS • Worldwide Pants Inc.
  Jerry Foley, Director

  (This episode had an address from Akio Toyoda, a visit with American Idol bootee Didi Benami, and the cast of Broadway's The Addams Family performed.)

• Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video Control for a Series

  Late Show with David Letterman • Episode #3150 • CBS • Worldwide Pants Inc.
  Timothy W. Kennedy, Technical Director; William White, Senior Video Control; and on camera: David Dorsett, Jack Young, Karin Lucie Grzella, Al Cialino, John Curtin, George Rothweiler, Dan Flaherty, Fred Shimizu, Claus Stuhlweissenburg, Joseph Debonis, John Hannel, Steven Kaufman and Daniel Campbell

  (In this episode, Sir Paul McCartney presented a mini-concert from the marquee of the Ed Sullivan Theater. I recall being impressed with the camera work at the time.)

The Emmys broadcast will be on Sunday, August 29 at 8 P.M. EDT, on NBC.

For more information, go to emmys.com/nominations.

The book's on sale on Amazon. I'm a longtime reader of Aaron's work, and have no financial involvement in this.

Vote online for your favorite Pet or Human Trick in a series of alternating daily matchups: Pets vs. Pets one day, Humans vs. Humans the next day, etc. Watch videos of the two competing Tricks in the daily matchups, then vote for one.

The Trick to garner the most votes each day wins, and the victor in each daily Pet or Human Tricks matchup will then proceed to the next level of competition -- with the top Pet going against the top Human for the title of best all-time Trick. The ultimate champion will be announced on the LATE SHOW Web site Monday, April 5.

Also, one lucky online fan will be selected at random to win a trip for two, including round trip airfare, ground transfers, two nights hotel and two tickets to see the Late Show with David Letterman at the legendary Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City. Register here. (Who was the last person to win a Late Show contest like this? Me, in 1996!)

On January 21, Jimmy Kimmel's show took a stab at the NBC fiasco by way of a brilliantly clever, four-minute spoof of a Ken Burns documentary, entitled The Late Night War. I've never watched Kimmel's show, but I'm extremely impressed by this effort. There's a high-quality version of it on YouTube.

• Dave's desk chat: Advice to NBC   1/11/10   YouTube
• Dave's desk chat : NBC, Conan and Leno   1/12/10   CBS   YouTube
• Dave's desk chat: Will Jay Leno Do the Right Thing?   1/15/10   You Tube
• Dave's desk chat: NBC's Dick Ebersol   1/18/10   You Tube
• Law & Order: Leno Victims Unit   1/12/10   CBS   YouTube
• Tales of the NBC Pinheads   1/13/10   CBS
• Top Ten Messages on Jeff Zucker's Voicemail   1/13/10   CBS
• What Does Jay Leno Stand For?   1/14/10   CBS
• The Jay Leno File   1/21/10   YouTube

If you have five minutes, march yourself over to the CBS site and watch Dave's desk chat about the high drama playing out over the Leno-Conan shuffle.

Conan announced today to the people of earth that he was leaving NBC in response to this decision. Read all about that on Aaron Barnhart's TV Barn.

Dave is enjoying this a great deal, and he has a lot of fun telling this late night story.

Here's a report from Yahoo! Also, I'm back in to add this link to Deadline | Hollywood with a more extensive report.

Legendary Late Show fan Marilyn Sargent has delivered her annual version of " 'Twas The Night Before Christmas." Her day care customers, as Tony Mendez would call them, joined in the fun and excitement.

Seriously, Marilyn should be writing for the show. Thanks to the Dead Guy (Nick) for producing the video. Don't miss it!

Guess who forgot the link to YouTube at first.

The AFL Pie Committee, Helen Read, Traci Gilland and James Langdell have announced the 2009 contest. Make your way to Helen's Dave-o-rama for full details. Look for Pie Guessing Rules and Submit Your Guesses to get started.

Robert J. Halderman was arrested today for felony grand larceny over $1,000,000. Here's a link to the New York City Department of Corrections arrest report. This arrest report does not link Halderman to the Letterman case, but numerous Internet articles are naming him. Look in my links section under Articles for related stories, including one from CBS. I wish Dave and his family the best as this situation plays out. I wouldn't be covering it here if Dave hadn't spent 10 minutes addressing it himself on the show.

Katie Van Camp, a former nanny for Harry J. Letterman, has published a children's book about Harry's stuffed horse. You can buy the book on Amazon.

Visit the Web site for the book. Here is a review in the Montreal Gazette.

I get these requests every few days, and have helped people with segments many times. I've never accepted profit for doing this. Please understand: I don't have a recording of every episode. I archive comedy segments that I especially like, as well as interviews with fabulous female celebrities. I have 540 hours on tape from 5,000+ hours of episodes. I almost never record musical acts.

I'll be happy to check my Late Show episode logs to help you figure out the date and episode number, and report whether I have what you want. When I don't, I invariably get a follow-up e-mail, "Well, who can help me?" I will not refer you to other fans, so please don't ask.

TICKET INFO STRAIGHT FROM THE LATE SHOW

• Read the sign on the Ed Sullivan Theater door, or visit the show's main tickets page.

ONLINE TICKET REQUESTS

• Submit your request online using the form on the Late Show Web site.
• (Use the MONTH and DAY pull-down lists to see what dates are scheduled for taping new episodes.)

STANDBY TICKET REQUESTS

• By Telephone
  "Standby tickets are available by calling (212) 247-6497 starting at 11:00 a.m. on the day of the taping you wish to attend. Your name will be taken and you will be placed on our standby list in the order we receive your call. You will be asked to check in to the theater at a specific time, approximately 1 hour before the taping. You will only be admitted to the actual taping in the event seats remain after all of the regularly ticketed guests are accommodated. We will keep the above phone line open for approximately 30-60 minutes or until we fill our allocation of standby slots, which varies from day to day. As with all of our tickets, all attendees must present a government-issued picture I.D. to match the name(s) given on the phone."

  OR

• In-Person Requests
  Here's the link for the latest info from the Late Show site. The show says, "If you would like to submit an audience ticket request in person, representatives will be in the Ed Sullivan Theater lobby: Monday - Friday: 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 P.M. and Saturday and Sunday: 10:00 A.M. - 6:00 P.M. Getting in line before 9 A.M. is not allowed."

  Please follow the link above for complete and up-to-date policies.

• Group Tickets
  Here's the link for complete info from the Late Show site. Be aware that the group tickets policy changes fairly often. The following is quoted from the Late Show:

  "We have a limited number of openings for groups interested in attending a taping during the months of December 2007, January 2008 and February 2008! Please note that there are no group tickets available for tapings anytime past February 2008 at this time. Check back here at a later date if you are looking to request dates beyond February.

  Groups must meet the following criteria:

  1. Groups must equal 10-20 people in number.

  2. Everyone in the group must be at least 18 years of age and present government issued photo identification upon arrival for the show.

GENERAL TICKET INFORMATION

1. They will contact as many people who have submitted requests as ticket availability will allow. They will not be able to call everyone who submits.

2. A ticket will only be issued to those individuals who correctly answer a random trivia question about the show. Each person answering their question correctly will be entitled to two tickets provided that the guest's name is submitted on the entry form.

3. You may be contacted at any time, from within a day of submitting your request to the day before the show, depending on when and if openings occur.

4. Tickets are non-transferable. The only guests who will be accommodated will be the names you submit to us on the form.

5. A government-issued picture I.D., with birth date and address, is required. This information must match the information submitted with your request. Due to the large volume of requests, each individual may only apply for tickets no more than once in any six month period. Individuals who have attended the show are not eligible to attend for another six months from the date of attendance.

6. The minimum age to attend the show is 18 years old.

7. The Late Show taping schedule varies. It is not uncommon for two episodes to be taped in one day. Friday's show is usually taped second on Monday.

8. Additional Policies: "Please note that we receive many more requests for tickets than we are able to fulfill, and that we therefore cannot guarantee availability. We reserve the right to deny admission at any time. Shows may cancel and schedules and/or audience requirements may alter at any time. We require all audience members to follow our rules and regulations as a condition of attending the show. Without limiting the foregoing, we do not allow cell phones, pagers, cameras, sound recorders or other recording devices in the theater."

9. Google has Late Show ticket info. It's unknown how up-to-date their material is.