Chris Elliott as Marlon Brando Collection on Letterman, 1987-88
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- čas přidán 11. 09. 2024
- Here's the complete collection of Chris Elliott as Marlon Brando, from July 31, 1987, until January 7, 1988. There were 15 episodes; I added one more clip from November 18 for reasons that will hopefully be apparent. The video quality varies from episode to episode. If better sources turn up, I'll put together an upgraded version.
Comments about the character from Chris:
"Later with Bob Costas," 6/22/89:
Chris: Of that series, [The Guy Under the Seats] was my favorite character. he was the most performance-art-oriented of the stuff I did. But Marlon Brando is still my favorite weird thing.
* * *
"Later with Bob Costas," 12/23/91:
Costas: The one that I thought was really off the board was Marlon Brando.
Elliott: Yeah. I enjoyed doing him probably the most, because it was the easiest to do. The whole concept of Marlon Brando just grew out of me up in the office pretending to be me walking around the office bugging the Production Assistants, screwing up the copying machine, busting the coffee maker and so forth, and it started making people laugh in the office, but it also was really bugging people in the office.
Eventually Adam Resnick (who is co-creator of "Get a Life") and myself found a way to work it onto the show, where Marlon just walked onto Late Night a la Bob Hope and bugged Dave in the same way I was bugging the Production Assistants upstairs.
We sort of concocted the image of Brando that he was kind of nuts, because people hadn't seen him for awhile, and then -- this is funny, because -- like a year later after I stopped doing him, he started to make a comeback and we started seeing him talking to Connie Chung and so forth, and I realized we weren't that far off the mark.
* * *
1. July 31, 1987
2. August 5. 1987
3. August 7, 1987
4. August 13, 1987
5. August 19, 1987
6. August 27, 1987
7. September 17, 1987
8. September 25, 1987
9. October 2, 1987
10. October 9, 1987
11. October 30, 1987
12. November 11, 1987
13. (November 18, 1987)
14. November 25, 1987
15. December 17, 1987
16. January 7, 1988
Nobody makes me laugh more than Chris Elliott and I have no idea why. I love the "please, whatever you do, don't come to the island" bit. The exchange between Chris and Letterman is priceless. I miss Late Night. There's nothing like it.
Nobody makes me laugh more than Chris Elliott. Thank you for this compilation. It is wonderful to re-watch these great memories of my early 30s!
He and Chris Farley are the only ones who can make me laugh.
Elliott as Brando continuously calling poor Paul "Ringo" is the most Brando thing ever.
The cut-away to Paul's deadpan irritated expression kills me every time.
@@LeeKav He's trying to portray Brando attempting to be hip to pop culture by calling him Ringo just because he's a musician.
I get the impression Paul didn't like the bit which makes it even funnier for me.
@@MrThermostaticyeah. We get it.
I also love the feigned tension, disdain, and animosity that Paul Schaefer projects as "Marlon" refers to him as Ringo. Comedy gold.
Shaffer; Paul Shaffer.
@Christopher Marlowe shut the fuck up, douchebag
You can see Paul is having a tough time keeping a straight face, but his job was to look annoyed and insulted by Chris, no matter what character Chris was doing 😂
Lol...true...Paul wasn't too amused by Chris ...hilarious
Paul was always awesome.
After all these years this still holds up. I'm laughing my ass off.
Elliot was genius, and Dave recognized it. You can tell Dave was genuinely amused by Chris' comedy. Elliot was also a superb writer for Late night.
Elliot's Dad may have been a genius. Chris Elliot is sporadic funny. And these sequences are not well thought out. And YOU don;t know that Letterman thought this guy ws a genius. He may have put him on in deference to his father, and hoping for the best.
This is old are you guys dead yet?
@@davidames1746 Great use of your time arguing about this, dumbass.
@@davidames1746 Chris started with the show as a production assistant in 1982; Chris demonstrated his talent as a writer that got him four Emmy awards, as well as his comedic ability doing skits, while on the show throughout the 80's; nothing to do with his father.
I agree 100%.
"I'm giving your audience a choice. They can laugh - or they can just sit there and just be baffled".
ROTFLMAO at that. Meta before it was 'a thing'
I couldn't have said it any better.......Stellar.
Hey Fosbury. I like your high jump style.
Annoyed is more like it!
Chris Elliott is Marlon Brando
"I beg you now on my hands and knees to kill me with all your might" Who could come up with a line like that other than Chris Elliott? I'm so grateful that I saw so much of this when it originally aired, never knowing what was going to happen next. Don Geller deserves all praise for these incredible collections.
Chris Elliott is certainly one of the greatest things to happen to the Letterman show as well as television overall. Hard to explain why he is so enjoyable, exactly, but his brand of quirky humor is just AWESOME!
Doesn't hurt that Chris Elliott is the son of Bob Elliott of comedy duo Bob & Ray.
@@MkeKen67 Indeed. Bob Elliott & Ray Goulding were THE best comedy duo ever despite not gaining the wider public exposure they deserved. All the more reason to appreciate their subtle, low-key, hilarious humor on radio, TV and occasionally in-person.
"A royal jab! I've just been slain by Sir Joke-a-lot". Another classic lol.
Chris's impression of an idea of what Marlon Brando might be like is delightful. From the outfits to his vernacular way of speech.
Funny
"May I be so bold as to interrupt your late-night cavalcade of giggles..."
I never get tired of watching all of Chris Elliot's characters, especially Brando. Chris was pure genius!
Especially because from 1980 to 1989 Brando had become a recluse. When Brando came on Connie Chung, it became clear how stunningly accurate Chris' portrayal actually was. So much so I thought he was doing a parody of the parody for the first few minutes. I wonder what Chung thought, because she was quite friendly with Letterman. She was a “friend of the show” if not actually a friend of Dave. She asked Connie about Dave and he responded with an infamous ape-like face.
@@sheppygawdog1954 WAT
What was great about these bits was that NOBODY was thinking about Brando in the 80's, Marlon had become a recluse and your average everyday dude had not clue about what he looked liked, his mannerisms, his thoughts ect at this time. At least not the general public he hand't made a movie since basically apocalypse now in the late 70's' Somehow Chris Elliot and the Letterman writers nailed it.
Rod
I disagree. As a high school student some of my friends and I were huge fans of Apocalypse Now and The Godfather. I went out of my way to watch every Brando movie I could and often did imitations of him from The Wild One, Streetcar, and those two movies.
makinoah cello duo I couldn’t get thru streetcar, but on the waterfront was great
Marlon Brando was a lot more revered in the late 1980s. His reclusiveness and faded looks had his popularity at a crescendo. Films like The Freshman were hits because Brando’s popularity was more Jordan like back then, his performance in The Godfather was the ultimate come back (critically and commercially).
Nothing beats Letterman in the 80's.
Yep. He invented everything good about the late night formula that is still copied by literally everyone.
I agree. Letterman really bought a lot of unique elements to late night television that no one today can touch.
Bob Jones you nailed it!
I watch Letterman only due to Elliot. This or Fugitive guy, the clown, guy under stairs etc. Otherwise I find Conan O'Brien funnier, Dick Cavett smarter.
@@andyboa8107 may i be so bold as to disagree with you..... and with that aside. i will leave you
I watched David Letterman religiously, from his very first show, when he started out in the mornings, through his very last, and one of my very favorite bits that Chris Elliot did was Marlon Brando - esp when he did The Banana Dance!!🤣 Thank you so much for posting this!!
I love how there is over an hour of him doing this character on Letterman. Now that's commitment to a bit.
What are you talking about? What character?
May I be so bold, I can't believe I just sat through an hour and 15 minutes of that, and I loved it!
That's bananas!🍌🍌🍌
Me too.
40 years later and this is just as hilarious as when I first watched it. Chris Elliott is a comic genius and any time one of his running characters made an appearance was the highlight of the show.
Amazing. When this show was focused on comedy, it was untouchable and unique.
I waited for these every week. They struck my comedy nerve 100%... it's hilarious. Chris Elliot is the comic genius of my generation imo, he's the funniest guy to me and a genius. Notice in these Marlon appearances, his physical appearance deteriorated and he became more incoherent with each appearance...a brilliant touch by Chris.
He did that with the Morton Downey character as well. It's like portrait of Dorian Gray. You wanna see how decrepit the character can become each time you tune in.
The greatest actor to ever live impersonating Marlon Brando
EXACTLY!
@Brandon S Mmm ...No.
ABSOLUTELY.
John Travolta has done a pretty good Brando on SNL.
Thank you Don. This is a wonderful distraction. Chris Elliott is a genius.
This is surely one of the most audacious impressions ever done on television. Why? Because it was created from pure fantasy since Brando had not DONE any interviews in recent times, crazy or otherwise. What is so hilarious as Chris commented as that a few years later he was in the news again and WAS actually doing some show interviews and Elliott's image wasn't far off!
Dave being fascinated by Chris's banal process and need to explain the characters is the best part of these bits
To me, this was the acme of Chris’ comedy. I remember laughing so hard as a teenager watching these skits that I couldn’t breathe. Just brilliant self-consciously stupid hilarity. Humor deconstruction at its best. Playing the theme of “Superman”, Brando’s worst film performance, was a nice touch.The Garfield mugs bit is my favorite. “For I am not God.”
"worst film performance"???? are you kidding? he may have dialed it in on his terms but that performance was iconic, with just the perfect amount of gravitas.
blah
@@guyjohnson259 Marlon Brando was Superman ?
@@foobarmaximus3506 oh YOU
@@lockandloadlikehell No.
Completely under appreciated in its era, now clearly genius and better than anything else from that time period.
This is some of the best late night television ever. Kimmel and Fallon and all the rest look like little school kids next to this genius.
Makes Colbert a little school girl...
Kimmel was obsessed with letterman’s show at the time.
Colbert was nothing but a tool for anti-Republican jabs, especially when Trump was president. Boring comedy (?) no matter which side of the political aisle it came from
I gotta be responsible for about 200 views, I pick up something new every time, thanks again Don.
me too, i live in ca --- so i watch this on most nights! hahahaha i love it
I still remember how great it was hearing the Superman theme and watching Chris/Marlon making his entrance. It always looked like the Letterman staff loved it too.
One of my favorite comedy bits ever. Perfectly strange, awkward and hilarious. Chris was comedy gold whenever he was on the show. And Paul Shaffer never appeared to be a fan. Lol
Bill Fletcher , I think Paul being pissed was part of the schtick.
I don't think Paul was digging it, especially being called "Ringo"
@@throwingsparks Yes I was wondering about that too. Paul seemed like he was genuinely pissed. But it s brilliant character that Chris did. Like Andy Kaufman, he took it way into the nether regions. It's like his own Tony Clifton.
@@throwingsparks You know they rehearse this stuff, right?
I could tell by the third appearance - that wasn't the REAL Marlon Brando.
Good job.
Wait, what?!
@@robertpryor7225 - Yep. I know...
@@bigpeeler - thaaaank you
What do you mean? 😞
I’d get down on my knees and beg for more programming like this today - like a dog! I was born as it aired and wish I’d seen it live
ATHF is coming back
So, Chris is less than 30 years old when he's doing this and Letterman is barely 40. It's impossible and incredible.
My favorite part of this is the dead silence from the audience after Elliott tries landing a zinger.
I don't know how they're not laughing at how bad they are... They're intentionally bad. I was dying after each zing
@@Dr_Opal_Winfinger There's a little Crispin Glover and Andy Kaufman in Chris Elliot....Morons aren;t deep enough to understand
Gene Krupa......Shake your cans!
Theres also a little Danny Glover and Andy Warhol in Chris Elliot.
@@nigelfarage4119 also a little Donald Glover and Andy Serkis in him as well.
Thank you Don Giller! I have most of these buried on VHS tapes somewhere. These segments were my favorite, a perfect distillation of what made Late Night so brilliant.
BANANAS!
Thank you for posting this!....i cut the cable and its the best decision i have made in entertainment
I searched for Don Giller and Chris Elliott in hopes that it would cheer me up. Five hours later and I want to start all over again.
Don, thank you so much for the amazing job on this. Much appreciated.
Thanks, Brian!
May I be so bold? The last sketch where he asks "Are you an assassin?" still has me rolling. Great reference wrought hilarious. "I brought something from the McDonald's restaurant."😂😂😂
Someone on another one of these had the comment that the smaller studio made a difference too in the feel of Letterman in the 80s. That's a good point I never thought of the room being super important to a late night show. I like how intimate this feels, kinda thrown together but not really.
Yeah, but I do remember Dave mentioning in an interview to Brokaw that he wanted to to 'really good shows' when he went to CBS. So for us fans that loved the 80's vibe, the CBS shows that had a lot of applause over the we were left rather disappointed in the change. Thank goodness for Don Giller though.
Yeah, I could never get into the atmosphere of Late Show. The room was too big, the acoustics different, and there was something “off” about Dave being up on a stage above the crowd instead of below them (as was the case at Late Night).
@@Redhotlugnut _"the CBS shows that had a lot of applause over the we were left rather disappointed..."_
Did you leave out a word or two?
@@Milesco It made sense when I was typing it.
The CBS shows (I went on Nov 15 2004) pushed the (clap and 'hey/yay/) sounds rather than an organic response.
It always felt so fake after than.
The production was better at CBS but that didn't convert to it being a funnier show.
Lol, I'm gonna go back and watch Chris Elliot do his impression of Paul.
@@Redhotlugnut Thanks for the clarification. 🙂
Absolute comic genius, to use all the different aspects of Brando's 'back story' at the time for comic effect, some of it is very subtle it can go over folks' heads...
When Chung interviewed Brando she asked him who he found funny and he said :Laurel and Hardy, then he asked her who she found funny and she said Letterman. Brando responded by making a pig face and grunting. So I guess he was aware of Chris' bit.
Agreed he would have known about this
Definitely....I saw the interview....Brando wasn't amused by Chris and Letterman's sketch about him...lol
O.M.G. ! That's hilarious. LOL Thanks for that :)
Brando knew Letterman was an insipid idiot.
@@WillyRand Letterman was a groundbreaking late night host whose early shows are still imitated by many people who host comedic shows. He was also a really funny interviewer who was not impressed or intimidated by the fame of his guests. These bits haven't aged at all. How does your work resume stack up against that?
Chris Elliott as Marlon Brando NEVER GETS OLD. When I'm on my deathbed should that ever happen, I'm gonna request this set of clips and Abbott and Costello playing the radio and wanting to dance despite the landlords objections and getting ready for their vacation on a LOOP until I pass on to the great beyond
Well said
The internet has ruined so much of our lives.....yet being able to watch this compilation is making me rethink my treatise
I watched this during my sophomore year in college. We always caught Dave even if it was on a black and white !
"And now, if there's nothing else, I'd like to go to my daughter's wedding."
I had forgotten about his Brando schtick. Very funny. "He got me with another witty jab!.. and with that I will leave." lol
Check out how subtle Chris Elliot is with his Brando expressions. He studied Brando minutely on the few talk show appearances he actually made. Best part is he doesn't do Vito Corleone at all-except for the grimaces and smiles on entrances and exits. This wouldn't play in 2020 obviously, but godamn, back in the 80's I saw Jackie Gleason yell at a band leader on a talk show, "Hey Ringo!"
I've just been busting a gut watching Chris in these clips....thanks for posting!
That iconic opening tune brings back memories. Excellent collection and thanks for your hard work Don! Appreciate the *time* you have taken to assemble and upload them. You must have quite a collection of VCR tapes ... and a bear to go through. Cheers!
Thanks, Jeff! You can't imagine... :)
I love how hard Chris Elliott keeps using the song Alley Cat throughout hos career…not just in this recurring bit, but also in his show Get A Life, where he had a giant stack of 45s of Alley Cat and would occasionally wear one out from playing it too much. I kind of got obsessed with that bit, and i have bought every 45 of that song every time i find one. I probably have 4 or 5 of them.. I dream of having Chris sign at least one of them some day.
They also played it in Cabin Boy when he was dancing on the deck...
“How do you get Ringo to clam-up?” LMAO
RINGO😆😆😆😆😆
Fucking brilliant. You watch this and then compare it to the superfluous, boring, sterile scripted garbage we see today. Thank you so much for posting. I rarely laugh any more, but then I found this .
“I always like to bring something.” “If I may be so bold.” “The green room.” “The hottest audience in America.” “Jabs.” Etc. This compilation really illustrates the effectiveness of repetition in comedy. And with that I shall leave.
Please let me come visit you on the island. If necessary, I shall get down on my hands and knees and beg like a dog with all my might to secure an invitation! And if I may be so bold, I would like to bring you a specially made salad prepared in your honor. And with that, I will leave.
This is beyond awesome.. Thank you so much for this..!
hey Don Giller thank you for this video. It is brilliantly edited. Chris Elliott is hilarious as Brando. Especially the surprise at 13!!!! Awesome stuff.
"Jacunta"
Thanks very much! This turned into more of a struggle than planned. I wanted to include the airdates within each clip, but when I did that, for some bizarre reason the beginnings and endings of each episode were getting cut off, all of them progressively more as each airdate was added. After around seven attempts with both iMovie and FCP, I gave up. This ended up becoming a 20-hour adventure in frustration.
And I just remembered that I may ("may" being the operative word here) have some of these in better video quality on tapes I haven't yet catalogued. I should have first checked before preparing this but then I figured it was more important to get it out there sooner than far later.
Don Giller well congratulations on fantastic job, keep up the great work. Watching Letterman (full shows/short clips) is one of my favourite CZcams activities. fingers crossed on your other tapes. cool stuff. "and with that I must leave you."
ACNC1 I'm sorry that was my bad ear. What?
No worries man I was watching the video saw your comment, and was just quoting Chris Elliott s' Brando. Charles Grodin vid would be awesome.
ACNC1 Other have asked for that as well. Many of those appearances haven't yet been digitized, but the project is in the In box.
I haven't seen these since they aired, but to this day, thanks to Chris/Marlon, I still randomly say 'BANANAS" and shrug at inopportune times
The little cowboy outfit for Ringo was hilarious. And Kukla pulling the sleigh was insanely funny.
i cannot stop watching these clips.... chris Elliot is a genius
So well written and smoothly delivered!
What a great edit. Such awesome memories. Thank you.
Don Giller you are doing the world a great justice with your compilations.
Brings me back to the days when I would laugh my head off, and the studio audiences were quiet. Now it's the complete opposite.
Chris Elliott was a true pioneer of ... something or other. Anti-comedy? Comedically ahead of his time, that's for damn sure.
What happens when your Dad is 1/2 of the comedy team of Bob & Ray, who pioneered sketch/improv comedy.
He has a hot daughter too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Chris reminds me so much of Andy Kaufman.
So was Marlon Brando actually.
Brilliant concept and performance, Chris!!
Thanks for this, Don. They don't make 'em like this anymore.
21:57 This line has stuck with me since it first aired 30 years ago.
A mind is a terrible thing
I enjoyed Chris back then and more even now.
The magic of Chris Elliot is that he is terrible at the impressions he does, but they're great at the same time 😆
He knew his jokes would land with a thud but did them anyway full steam ahead, bold and genius.
Dave in his prime years. A totally goofy show which I watched throughout college.
Who watched 'Get a Life' as a kid?
Chris Elliott is an obscurified legend.
Fox yanked that show after two seasons. It was way over the head of the average viewer, but at least Fox took a chance. Can see all of the Get a Life on CZcams. Great show!
@@nigelmarshallkenyonabbott8684 yeah as a 10 yr old or whatever I just thought he was a random dorky idiot but I loved it and he had some next level comedy brewing in his head that was about a decade ahead of it's time if you think about the Ben Stiller, Will Ferrel era that came after, which I also miss.
CZcams has the best comedy, mystery, and everything else these days, Hollywood and Newyork late night is fking dead and somehow they haven't got the memo, Pfizer money goes a long way lol
Get a Life was great.
It's not easy to make Dave laugh this much.
His “I’m paraphrasing now…”line when talking about the Charmin commercial kills me.
Why the hell does the banana dance make me laugh so hard every time?
my god i forgot all about the banana dance. Saw it when it aired and couldn't wait to see it again. Cracked me up too. 40:16 49:25
I STILL do the banana dance.
It always makes me laugh so hard that I forget that trying to reenact for the unfamiliar brings nothing but crickets.
The inanity of it all.
John Spence I have now watched it so many times it’s practically unseemly.
" Alright..that is not my salad dressing "
ha! read this as the bit was happening... ment to b.... and with that, i will sit down now
Chris Elliot was born in 1960, so he was 27 at this point. Genius.
wow - what Dave and Chris and that team brought to television... its like Monty Python - its so good you wonder how it ever got on tv in the first place and for sure you will never see its like again.
I haven't slept in 6 days!
Why not?
Your snoring keeps me up!
And the audience? Crickets! Unbelievable.
It's the little things, like he KitKat bar has had a bite taken out of it...
thanks for putting all these clips together!
Love that "Wow" at :36 like they really thought Brando was dropping in (35:14 mocks Marlon's heavy reliance on cue cards right in front of him on his later movies).
I love this man.
If you squint while watching, it is Brando.
i'm like what the hell, i'll watch a couple... 48 minutes in and i'm committed, the skit kept getting better, the ringo jokes hade me dying, paul trying to act pissed but smiling, 47:44, looks like michael richards. seeing christopher reeve healthy is always sobering.
The greatest character on David letterman!!!
The whole segment with the Kit Kat Bar was one of the funniest with the Foster Brooks comment.
"I'm not going to take off my shirt, I'm not going to hold your hand, and plus Mickey Rooney is still alive."
No idea why I'm dying laughing at that now after having watched this series at least a hundred times.
I love that Dave keeps jokes in an old Sylvania lightbulb box... in the GE building.
I noticed that, too. Came to see if anybody commented on it. I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed. That's too funny.
This is a great collection!!! Awesome
Chris was always a genius for never breaking character. The only time I saw him about to break was during a Brando bit in this collection (at 55:00). He recovered within a second.
He broke character in strategic places in his Morton Downey, Jr. parody.
@@dongillerhe often breaks character for a second which is hilarious eg. “Chris” “it’s marlon Dave.”
Chris Elliot as Brando was brilliant
I didnt like his other characters except Marv Albert
Wow, I didn't realize that there were so many appearances as Marlon-Great job !
Thanks,Don!Bodacious Hilarity:)Love Chris&Marlon Branflakes!:)
So this is where Alley Cat started.
Bless you for compiling these sketches.
That Superman theme cracks me up, they dumbed it down as much as possible. Dave one of the great straight men of all time.
I’m covered with witty jabs. Get me some witch hazel, get these jabs off me.
thank you so much for this!!!!!
I used to love Elliott so much. Circa 86-87, I used to say that I thought he was the funniest man alive. What the hell happened? And with that, I'm out.
He was in lots of other funny things? Other than the obvious recent hit, go find Eagleheart if you haven't seen it.
Pure genius. Bananas!