Christmas at TFTP: "Christmas with the Lettermans" from NBC (Dec. 19, 1984)

Posted to YouTube by user 'Nezar Berryhill'
Length - 41:52

"Late Night with David Letterman" was at its peak in late-1984, in part because of the willingness to do episodes like "Christmas with the Lettermans". With no overt hint that the whole thing was a put-on (were there viewers who thought that this was really Letterman's family?), but with the sly subversive attitude that infused almost everything Letterman did (and with special title slides and a redecorated set made to resemble a ski lodge to complete the effect), "Christmas with the Lettermans" is a masterpiece of absurdist comedy.

There is very little "gag" comedy per se in this episode--just a great many ridiculous or off-kilter elements presented in a straight-faced fashion. A cast of faux family members joins Letterman--including four children (the youngest of whom is sent off for the whole episode to fetch a Christmas tree), an older brother ("Daryll Letterman"), and no less than two different wives (one of which is promised a chance to sing a Christmas song that, of course, never materializes). A song and dance troupe called the Doodletown Pipers (apparently, against all expectation, a real troupe) participates in the opening musical number.

Despite the Christmas special conceit, Letterman still manages to interview two guests, singer Pat Boone and early-period "Late Night" regular Brother Theodore. Boone gamely participates in the Christmas theme, asking Dave about his family Christmas traditions in a set-up to a comedy bit where these are explored with the faux-family. Brother Theodore (a character of humorist Theodore Gottleib) does what he always did in his Letterman guest spots: rants and raves to Letterman's evident delight.