Letterman Fan has Late Night Panic: Late Night Reception

“Late Night Reception.” Written and produced by Gerald Lostutter. In this comedy: Poor television reception causes panic by Jerry, a Letterman fan. He solicits help by Jeff Steele to adjust the antenna.Show more

The video was submitted to “Late Night with David Letterman" on NBC in 1983. A staff writer, Gerard Mulligan, sent a polite rejection letter, citing union rules as a basis for not being able to air it on TV.

The production was filmed using Gerald’s video camera and VHS equipment.

Exterior sequences were shot at WCOT / WLOF, a legendary radio station in Orlando, FL.

Did Jeff actually climb the entire length of the radio tower? Gerald claimed "realism" as a premise to coax Jeff to climb the tower. However, Jeff, not desiring to be a crispy human McNugget (electrocuted), declined to do so.

Instead, we borrowed a section of a soon-to-be erected microwave tower. We shot the sequence at WCOT / WLOF overnight. Imagine the morning crew's surprise when they were forced to step-over cables in order to enter the front door of the studios.

No laughing matter: Gerald Lostutter had an interview for a non-paid internship with Letterman in 1988. The interview, about a half hour, was conducted inside Letterman’s offices at NBC. Gerald was at “30 Rock.” Yahoo! Yet, the keyword was “non-paid.” How could any “poor student” afford the high cost of living in New York City? Absent a pile of money, Gerald regretfully withdrew his application. Back to the cold, cruel, real world.