Have You Heard the One About Cher and William Conrad Singing Christmas Carols?

As I've repeatedly pointed out, last night's final pre-Christmas Late Show with David Letterman marked the end of two longstanding holiday traditions. Darlene Love has been on-hand to sing her 1963 classic "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" for the past 28 years, while Jay Thomas has appeared nearly every year since 1998 to play the Quarterback Challenge and regale us with his famous "Lone Ranger Story," which Dave calls "the greatest talk show story ever told." With Letterman scheduled to retire next May, those traditions effectively ended with last night's show. But last night was also the swan song for another, less well-known tradition — Paul Shaffer's "Sonny and Cher (and Cannon)" Christmas story. Here's Paul on last night's Late Show describing what he remembers about the 1973 holiday episode of The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour:


 

 Well, now, this story intrigued me — first, because I'm a fan of bad 1970s television, and, second, because I like Cannon, the famous Quinn Martin detective show starring William Conrad.* (I know, I know. I'm being redundant.) If Conrad was on TV singing Christmas carols in the '70s, I want to see it. So, I went straight to YouTube where I quickly found the clip Shaffer described from a 41-year-old episode of The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour:




All in all, I'd say that Shaffer's description was pretty much spot on. (Conrad saunters at about 1:10 to sing "The First Noel," and Cher, her hands in the famous muff, begins singing "Oh Holy Night" at around 2:50.) I'd never heard Shaffer's rendition before, and even if his telling of it is a genuine holiday tradition, it doesn't hold a candle to Thomas's and Love's longstanding regular appearances. In case you missed it, here's Darlene Love on last night's Late Show with David Letterman: 

And here's Letterman's entire last pre-Christmas broadcast from 12/19/14. The Jay Thomas bit begins at 16:32:

 

How did Thomas feel about ending his traditional pre-Christmas appearances?  "I am so friggin' glad this is over," he deadpanned. 

Not me.

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*Brave adult readers who are interested in a different perspective on William Conrad than what we saw on Cannon can listen to his X-rated rendition of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" HERE.

Comedy Flashback: A Colbert Christmas

This was a sad week of so-longs and goodbyes for fans of late-night television, as the effects of David Letterman's scheduled May 20, 2015 retirement began to play out. Last night, of course, was the final pre-Christmas Late Show with David Letterman, which featured the last in a long series of annual holiday appearances by Darlene Love and Jay Thomas. Last night was also the end of the road for the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, which had followed Letterman on CBS each weeknight since 2005. I only saw the show a handful of times, but I enjoyed it and I like and respect Ferguson a lot. He made an impressive decision several years ago to stop making jokes at the expense of celebrities facing genuine problems with substance abuse and mental illness, which strikes me as a very decent and principled stand. Ferguson himself has been sober for more than 20 years, and his candor about his own struggle with alcoholism has undoubtedly helped others who suffer from the disease. The opening of his final show was both sad and uplifting at the same time, though mostly the latter.

Finally, Thursday night was the final episode of Comedy Central's Colbert Report, hosted since 2005 by Stephen Colbert, who's leaving to prepare to succeed Letterman next year as host of the Late Show. In honor of Colbert's departure, we thought it might be fun to share a couple of excerpts from his Grammy Award-winning 2010 holiday special, A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All. The first features the great Willie Nelson sharing the tale of "The Little Dealer Boy," which I don't ever remember learning as a child, do you?

And here's Colbert's duet with Elvis Costello, which offers some truly worthy sentiments:



A Colbert Christmas - Elvis Costello/Stephen Colbert Duet from AdamSchlesingerMusic on Vimeo.
Video, music, production and performance by Adam Schlesinger


Good luck to all the moving parties!

One More Time for Darlene Love This Friday

Don't forget, Darlene Love will make her final appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman this Friday to sing my favorite holiday song of all time, "Christmas (Please Come Home)." In honor of the event, the folks at CBS have put together a terrific mash-up featuring highlights of Love's annual visits over the past 28 years:


I'm already getting a little verklempt.

Jay Thomas will also be on hand to play one final "quarterback challenge" and tell his epic "Lone Ranger" story, both of which have also become Late Show holiday traditions.

The Late Show with David Letterman airs weeknights at 11:35 on most CBS stations. Letterman is scheduled to retire as host on May 20, 2015.

McEnroe Steps Into Jay Thomas' Shoes to Preserve a Late Show Holiday Tradition

When it comes to Christmas traditions, little things mean a lot. That's why I was so sorry to learn that Jay Thomas wouldn't be appearing on the Late Show with David Letterman this year for the program's final pre-Christmas broadcast. Letterman's final show before Christmas has become a special treat for many fans, largely because of the annual appearance of Darlene Love. For the past 28 years, she's closed the show with a rousing version of "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)," a song she first recorded for the classic holiday album A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector, which was released 50 years ago last month. By those standards, Thomas is a relative newcomer to Letterman's pre-holiday festivities, but he's been part of the show since 1993, which surely establishes his contributions as traditional. Thomas is tasked with two jobs each year – participating in the annual Quarterback Challenge, and telling his hilariously funny Lone Ranger Story – and while neither seems to be inescapably seasonal, they've taken on all the trappings of mistletoe and Christmas stockings. Thus, the news that Thomas would be sidelined this year due to a recent surgery was akin to seeing Santa take off without Donner and Blitzen. It might work, but it just wouldn't be the same. Little did we know that last night's first guest, tennis star John McEnroe, had been specifically recruited to fill Thomas's shoes for the night. That's right, McEnroe not only assumed the Quarterback Challenge (albeit with tennis balls instead of a football), but he also took on the greater challenge of telling Thomas's Lone Ranger story:



If you ask me, McEnroe did an amazing job, and he sure made it seem like Christmas again. And things got even more festive toward the end of the show when it was time for the pièce de résistance …

Ladies and gentlemen, the incomparable Darlene Love:

Now it's really time for Christmas. Let the celebrations begin!

Don't Miss Darlene Love on Letterman TONIGHT!

Darlene Love singing "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" on The Late Show

Tonight's the night for one of my very favorite holiday traditions:  Darlene Love joins David Letterman, Paul Shaffer and the gang for the final pre-Christmas Late Show and a rousing rendition of my favorite holiday song, "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)." This will be Darlene's 28th pre-Christmas appearance on The Late Show, and somehow she seems to look and sound better with each passing year. Unfortunately, Letterman's other holiday tradition has been sidelined this year, and that's the annual appearance of Jay Thomas to compete with Dave in the annual Quarterback Challenge and tell the famous Lone Ranger story. Thomas recently had minor surgery and had to cancel this year's appearance. We hope he returns next year, but, in the meantime, here's a look at the outrageously funny Lone Ranger story he tells each year:




The Late Show with David Letterman, tonight at 11:35 pm on CBS TV.

Catch Darlene Love Tonight on the Late Show

Tonight's the night Darlene Love is scheduled to make her annual visit to CBS's Late Show with David Letterman to perform her holiday classic Christmas (Baby Please Come Home). Letterman first heard Love perform the song when she was appearing with band leader Paul Shaffer in a play called Leader of the Pack, and he liked it so much that he's invited Love to perform the song on his show (then NBC's Late Night) – not just once, but every year for the past 27 years! (Tonight will be her 26th live performance, as a writers' strike in 2007 required the airing of a rerun that year.) Darlene typically appears toward the end of the broadcast, but you'll want to catch the rest of the show, too, because Jay Thomas will also be on hand for his annual quarterback competition with the host and to tell one of funniest stories I've ever heard on broadcast TV. For those who want more, Darlene's back on stage tomorrow night for her annual holiday show in Newark, New Jersey, at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center.