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Sources: ‘Late Show’ staffers were unaware of Letterman’s bombshell
Yahoo! News ^ | Friday, October 2, 2009 | Brett Michael Dykes

Posted on 10/04/2009 1:38:24 PM PDT by DogByte6RER

Sources: ‘Late Show’ staffers were unaware of Letterman’s bombshell

Fri Oct 2, 4:29 pm ET

Much of the buzz around David Letterman’s late-night revelation keeps circling back to one question: Why was the studio audience laughing? Viewers who watched it on TV or online immediately took to Twitter to express everything from bewilderment to outrage over the audience's reaction. Shawn Ryan, creator of the FX show "The Shield," opined, "What a fascinating confession/comedy act from Letterman. Audience didn't know how to respond at parts." Another Twitter user going by the handle "Brain" stated, "Letterman audience clapped when he said he had sex with staffers. It's a world gone mad." But maybe the reason the audience’s reaction was so odd is that the "Late Show" staffers who prepped them had no idea about Letterman’s bombshell.

Yahoo! News has learned from sources close to the show that employees who do audience prep were not made aware of the situation prior to the taping. Discussing the subject of who did and didn't know beforehand, one source said, "Only the show's producers knew what was about to go down," adding that many "Late Show" staffers learned of the situation watching off-stage monitors in real time as Letterman weaved his tale. So the routine in which the audience was prepped, which usually involves a heavy emphasis on laughing and applauding often and loudly, was not altered in any way. Thus, the audience, meticulously prepped for a good time at a nationally televised comedy show, probably thought that Letterman's story was a comedy bit, as is most often the case.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: cbs; latenight; lateshow; letterman; scandal; schaudenfreud
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Never watched Letterman's show. The occassional clips that I do see, Letterman comes off as a sneering @$$hole.

I suppose he will try to recover by resuming his obnoxious jokes against Palin and her family.

If his ratings plummet and Letterman faces cancellation, I will not be losing any sleep.

1 posted on 10/04/2009 1:38:25 PM PDT by DogByte6RER
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To: DogByte6RER

....they might have been in the dark about the bombshell, but they knew about the hanky-panky....when there’s an office romance going on everybody at work catches on...and pretty quick too.


2 posted on 10/04/2009 1:40:57 PM PDT by STONEWALLS
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To: DogByte6RER
What a complete and utter embarrassment. If I had been working behind the scenes in any role, I would have been both blushing and plotting how I was going to skulk my way home on the subway. Maybe consider wearing a mask as I exited the studio. What a jerk. What a horrendous mental case Letterman is turning out to be.
3 posted on 10/04/2009 1:41:10 PM PDT by GOP Poet (Obama is an OLYMPIC failure.)
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To: DogByte6RER
"Letterman audience clapped when he said he had sex with staffers. It's a world gone mad."

Indeed.

4 posted on 10/04/2009 1:42:17 PM PDT by Drango (A liberal's compassion is limited only by the size of someone else's wallet.)
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To: DogByte6RER

So, Letterman’s audiences are so stupid that they have to be “prepped” to laugh. “Hey, guys, this is a comedy! You must laugh every time Letterman says anything! Otherwise, you’ll never be invited back.”

And then, having been prepped, they are too stupid to know that some things really aren’t funny.

OK. That explains it. So everything was A-OK after all. No bad taste was intended.


5 posted on 10/04/2009 1:43:12 PM PDT by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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To: DogByte6RER

I expect Letterman to go on hiatus shortly while the producers struggle with damage control.


6 posted on 10/04/2009 1:43:31 PM PDT by Drew68
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To: DogByte6RER
Why was the studio audience laughing?

One of three reasons (or a combination):

1. Staff held up the "LAUGH NOW" sign.

2. Staff press the "LAUGH" button on the machine.

3. Audience is full of leftists who couldn't care less about morality, the problems of work romance between boss and employee, etc.

7 posted on 10/04/2009 1:43:36 PM PDT by C210N (A patriot for a Conservative Renaissance!)
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To: DogByte6RER

Doesn’t it just show the intelligence of the Late Show audience? Or, lack thereof?

Such wonderful payback for the Palin jokes. Who’s the slut now, Dave?


8 posted on 10/04/2009 1:44:02 PM PDT by ReneeLynn (Socialism is SO yesterday. Fascism, it*s the new black.)
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To: DogByte6RER

I’ve attended many many tapings of talk shows. It’s likely the crowd was told very clearly to “show how much you love Dave” by applauding and cheering at every pause. It even sounded as if the APPLAUSE sign was lit a couple of times during his schtick. For a show that’s been on forever, the whole episode stinks of amateurism.


9 posted on 10/04/2009 1:44:49 PM PDT by NativeNewYorker (Freepin' Jew Boy)
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To: STONEWALLS
Yes. However from what I read he has been doing this for a very long time and many of the employees in that industry move around a lot or are interning, so they may have not been there for the past 20 years that he has been 'gettin' his groove on' with the underlings.

For instance. An intern from NYU wrote the other day how close to her first intern days, back in the early 90s, Letterman called her into his office and asked her to go to a movie. She says he ended it a year later (saying of course they met elsewhere often so no one knew--RI-GHT!) because she was too young. He's been doing this I am sure for=EV-er. The left will give him a pass thought on the sexual harassment issues and his incredible HYPOCRISY and LIES!

The man is a very sick cookie when you look at him as a whole. He is truly mentally ill.

10 posted on 10/04/2009 1:47:20 PM PDT by GOP Poet (Obama is an OLYMPIC failure.)
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To: DogByte6RER

This was a bizarre incident - I thought the portion of the audience laughing really did expect it to be some weird joke, and the rest were stunned. He should have announced it straight up(or not at all) instead of confusing his audience, but I suspect Dave is not real big about wondering how others will feel...


11 posted on 10/04/2009 1:47:44 PM PDT by GnuHere
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To: C210N
3. Audience is full of leftists who couldn't care less about morality, the problems of work romance between boss and employee, etc.

Oh,how wrong you are.RATS care deeply about sexual harassment and related issues.

(When a Republican is involved.)

12 posted on 10/04/2009 1:48:55 PM PDT by Gay State Conservative (Christian+Veteran=Terrorist)
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To: NativeNewYorker
I was thinking this as well as I watched the clips. I can just visualize the signs to applaud as well as the coaching prior where they often tell the audience to make as much laughing and cheering noise as possible to, as you said, "show how much you love Dave."

Sometimes one is so busy making noise they aren't fully comprehending the content.

13 posted on 10/04/2009 1:51:49 PM PDT by GOP Poet (Obama is an OLYMPIC failure.)
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To: GOP Poet
The man is a very sick cookie when you look at him as a whole. He is truly mentally ill.

Gotta disagree with ya there.He's not *clinically* "sick".He's amoral.There's a difference.

14 posted on 10/04/2009 1:51:59 PM PDT by Gay State Conservative (Christian+Veteran=Terrorist)
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To: DogByte6RER

So naturally Dave, recognizing the cognitive dissonance, paused in his prepared remarks and said, “no, realli ... I’m series. Nailed ‘em all ...” but no, he didn’t. Makes no nevermind, though - the audience would have only laughed louder.


15 posted on 10/04/2009 1:53:11 PM PDT by NonValueAdded ("The President has borrowed more money to spend to less effect than anybody on the planet. " Steyn)
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To: GOP Poet

....”(saying of course they met elsewhere often so no one knew—RI-GHT!)”

....back when I was single I dated a girl down the hall in our office building...we thought nobody knew...later after we broke up; I found out that EVERYBODY knew!....in-house romances are great gossip topics at work....people love ‘em.


16 posted on 10/04/2009 1:53:22 PM PDT by STONEWALLS
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To: DogByte6RER
I’d like to see the Liberal skanks who coupled with "Letterman the Repulsive" trashed and shamed beyond what they deserve and driven to life long depression.

17 posted on 10/04/2009 1:53:44 PM PDT by I see my hands (_8(|)
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To: DogByte6RER

Hey speaking of letters, let’s refer frequently to “Letter”man as “A”-man.(hint: classical literary reference).


18 posted on 10/04/2009 1:55:48 PM PDT by wildandcrazyrussian
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To: Gay State Conservative
Not always. With some the two go hand in hand. Letterman is a good example of that issue and I am sure as time goes on we will find out even more. Delusion is a 'clinical' diagnostic sickness in both my opinion as well as a diagnostic feature within a larger mental illness in the DSM IV.

We may be just debating degrees. Delusion can start out small and snow ball and we may be seeing some of that here. But then again I see the Bush Derangement Syndrome and now the Sarah Derangement Syndrome as possible diagnostically delusional so go figure.

I am sure we are each right in our own viewing and assessment just separated by, as I said, degrees and possible listing in the DSM IV, in which I am sure they do not yet have a picture of Letterman nor Garofolo pictures under delusion. Time however may change this.

19 posted on 10/04/2009 2:03:40 PM PDT by GOP Poet (Obama is an OLYMPIC failure.)
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To: Gay State Conservative

Where I think you are absolutely correct is if Letterman where to ‘straighten out’ morally the end of the delusions and ‘right and socially acceptable action’ may begin. On this I absolutely agree.


20 posted on 10/04/2009 2:06:08 PM PDT by GOP Poet (Obama is an OLYMPIC failure.)
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