Did You Know David Letterman Once Featured Rochester on His Show?
His original show 'Late Night With David Letterman' debuted on NBC 40 years ago today, but do you remember the time he featured Rochester on his show?
I was always a huge David Letterman fan. His original show on NBC was on too late for me to watch while I was a kid in school, so I saved up the money I earned delivering our hometown paper to buy a VCR so I could tape his show and watch it when I came home from school the next day.
So, of course, I was watching when Letterman retired as host of the Late Show on CBS back on May 20, 2015, after having hosted that show and his Late Night show on NBC for over 32 years. But it was back in early 2014 that Letterman got to talking about our own Rochester, Minnesota during his national late-night TV show.
It happened during one of his signature bits, called 'Small Town News.' As he’s introducing the bit (which mentions a humorous ad found in the Post-Bulletin) he talks a bit about Rochester, and how 'we're all familiar' with our fair city. Sidekick and bandleader, Paul Shaffer, chimes in, too. It’s kind of cool. (And, the ad featured in the bit from the Post-Bulletin is kind of funny, too.)
I guess it's not surprising that both Letterman and Shaffer were familiar with Rah-Rah-Rochester, Mayo Clinic notwithstanding. Both were born and raised near here-- Letterman's from Indianapolis and Shaffer's from Thunder Bay, just up Highway-61 from Grand Marais. And Shaffer, in fact, has said his family would often head down to Minnesota when he was a kid.
Check out this video walk down memory lane. Of course, Letterman isn't the only celebrity who's familiar with Minnesota's Med City. Keep scrolling to check out 12 famous folks who've been spotted here in Rochester!