Once upon a time, there was a contraption known as a VCR. My family was a late adopter in that technology, having to engineer a trade of two lobster dinners for a 1980-ish model where the “remote” was tethered to player. Still, it allowed me to do things like tape Doctor Who and David Letterman on school nights in the mid-1980s for later viewing. That machine has long since disappeared into the ether of my Mom’s 25-cent garage sales. There is a chance I still have some of these video tapes around, archived in some beat-up box with the faint odor of decade-old cat urine. Short of spending a month devoted to upgrading whatever I have captured of those moments, those moments are gone forever.
At least, that was the idea before YouTube.
It has been ages since I have watched David Letterman. Credit lifestyle changes (kids and graduate school) and new technologies (TiVo and the SciFi channel) with removing late night talk shows from my routine. Apparently, David is still on his game and taking some pleasure in establishing special relationships with selected celebrities. That prompted Top Socialite to compile a best-of post linking to famous and infamous moments in Letterman’s televised career, including Crispin Glover’s high kick and Andy Kaufman’s performance art with a wrestler. I almost got teary—from nostalgia and laughter—when I was reacquainted with one of my VCR-ed moments, Dave vs. the Cute Little Monkey.
David Letterman battles a monkey
To put this in my context, I was taping the show while watching it live—a practice for many of the VCR generation worried about falling asleep before it was over, or perhaps just excited about flexing the mental muscles it took to learn how to program one of those beasts. It was the last night of the summer before I had to head back to DePauw for my sophomore year, and I probably wasn’t very anxious to do so. My dad came down after he and my mom returned from some dinner party, with the latter heading to bed. We talked a bit and bonded over the TV. When the little monkey in the dress started lunging for Dave, my dad and I started guffawing. Since the whole thing was taped, we immediately pressed rewind and enjoyed it all again. My mom finally came down to tell us to be quiet, refusing to get sucked into the experience. It was definitely a great moment with my father and the pinnacle of my Letterman years.
Carter is not quite at the age where we can bond over shows we both enjoy (Kim Possible comes close), but that time is approaching. I love all the positives television can bring to a culture and a relationship, and I profess no shame in the fact that several current shows are part of my normal routine, albeit managed through the miracle of TiVo. I have no idea if my father remembers that moment in the same way I do, but I’ll consider myself blessed if my big memories with the boys turn out to be theirs as well.
Thanks Dave. Thanks YouTube. Mostly, thank you unknown monkey training woman.