In my long post on Letterman, I mentioned my buddy Vinnie Favale, who's currently a high muck-a-muck at CBS — V.P. of late night, I think. He's held a number of jobs in entertainment and once upon a time, he was not an exec on the Letterman show but a guest.
The photo above is from October of 1982 — Dave's first year on NBC at 12:30, having replaced Tom Snyder. He was on Monday through Thursday back then but they gave him a 90 minute special on Friday night. Snyder had done an annual talent show for NBC so Dave did a goofier version and Vinnie, who was then working in the building on Howard Stern's radio show, was recruited. Vinnie also has a background as a comedian (and more recently, a playwright) but back then he went on with Dave as part of that broadcast.
Flash forward to today, 33 years later. Dave's going off, Vinnie is his liaison with CBS…and Vinnie exec-produced the special that's on tonight, recapping Dave's amazing TV career. Here's a little banner to remind you to watch. I'm sure it'll be one of those things I retain on my TiVo to watch over and over.
