Because the terror alert has been raised for New York City, there is a heightened police presence around town. We here at the LATE SHOW are also leaving nothing to chance. Dave calls in New York City Police Officer Mike DeGeorge to stand guard throughout the night. I enter in a police uniform behind Dave in front of the window. Dave feels comforted knowing that I have his back.

And now some stuff behind the scenes: Nothing is rehearsed. I was not nervous because I was not going to have a microphone and all I was to do was stand guard like a statue. I figured the most I would have to do was give a head nod here and there. Seconds before going out, I’m told they want to put a microphone on me. Uh oh. I may have to do some interacting, and I hate to interact. My mantra is, “Just leave me alone, thank you.” I go over some quick police lingo through my head; short and simple, stuff like “Just doing my job,” “according to the Patrol Guide,” “at my discretion,” and “No, he fell.” I want to play it straight and serious. I enter and Dave says a quick hello and something else I don’t remember. I respond, “Yes, sir.” I slowly glance to the left and right, looking for I don’t know what. It was just like being back on the job. At this point I’m thinking, “Damn. I should have said ‘Yes, Mr. Letterman’” but then think that saying “Yes, sir” was more impersonal and more professional. I tell myself to relax. I tell myself If I am going to second guess my “Yes, sir,” then I am going to be in for a long and laborious night. I try to remain stoic as possible, never breaking a grin. In order to do this, I turn off all my senses and concentrate on a space halfway between the audience and myself; someplace like no place. I blank myself as much as possible, but aware that I have to be ready to respond to Dave if he asks me something. I tell myself to keep in character, keep in character.

The show continues.

The criticism continues over President Bush’s nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court. We take a look at the latest reaction.

Announcer: “Regardless of ideology, a Supreme Court justice needs to possess sound judgment. What kind of judgment does Harriet Miers possess? Well, she calls President Bush, quote: “the most brilliant man I have ever met.” . . . . Wow! Harriet Miers – Either drunk or crazy.”

Oh, so why was I Police Officer Mike DeGeorge? Because the nametag on my shirt read “DeGeorge.” There is a “McIntee’ nametag someplace in the house but we couldn’t find it. And dang it, it was my fault. I played a police officer last week in something. I kept the police uniform jacket with my name tag in a drawer in my office. I forgot I had the jacket. The only nametag available Monday night was DeGeorge, usually used when LATE SHOW Production Accountant Joe DeGeorge plays a police officer. That’s why I was Mike DeGeorge. And it was my fault.

Somewhere around here, I remember Dave asking if we could have some fun play with my gun a little later. You know, like quickly pulling it out of its holster and yelling “freeze.” I nod and say that would be OK. As we go on to the next thing I second-guess myself, thinking I should have just glared and perhaps said, “My weapon is not for your entertainment.” Yeah, that would have been better. Dang it. Throughout the ACT 1, I continually prepare myself with a response in case Dave turns around at that moment and asks me something. I want to keep my answer straight-forward without being funny. What I really wanted was a straight answer with a tinge of a double-entendre. Keep it solid, but let the listener take it in a different direction if he sees fit. It’s a very fine line but most important, don’t be obvious. I didn’t want to appear as if I was trying to be funny. During the ACT 1, I had at least 20 different things ready to say.

I played similar stoic cop character years ago when the Amazing Kreskin was on the show. Dave and Kreskin made some kind of prediction and locked their prediction in a briefcase I was carrying. I was in a guard uniform and stood between the guest chair and Dave. I stood there motionless, looking forward, without movement. On that day, my eyes met the eyes of Tony Cue Card. He was doing all he could to make me laugh. He crossed his eyes, made weird faces, gave me the finger, did anything he could to break me. I felt myself beginning to crack and quickly diverted my eyes. I made sure Monday night not to look at Mendez. I could tell out of the corner of my eye that he was trying to get in my line of vision but I would not let it happen. I would not let him break me.

And there was some sad news in the world of television.

Announcer: “PBS regrets to announce the passing of a dear colleague. Big Bird was slaughtered yesterday to prevent the spread of bird flu. We’ll miss you, old friend.”

Dave says hello to Rupert. Last week he went searching for ghosts in the Ed Sullivan Theater with a team of ghost hunters from Paranormal Investigation of New York City. Dave draws a connection from this to the new popular show, Ghost Whisperer on Friday nights on CBS. Dave turns to me and starts explaining Ghost Whisperer. Should I remain silent and just nod, but why should I remain silent if they put a microphone on me? I watch Dave turn and move his mouth in my direction, but what he says barely registers. I decide to pretend interest. I repeat with a question in my voice, “Friday night?” I think Dave responded, “Yeah, Friday night.” He may have been expecting more but I was done. I hoped my feigning of interest came through. I immediately thought afterwards that I should have smirked just the slightest after Dave’s “Yeah, Friday night.” It would have sold my disinterest a little better. I did notice that my “Friday night?” was followed by dead silence by the audience. Something then happened where the audience laughed. I don’t know if Dave said or did something or if they picked up on my pretending interest. I was too much into my character to fully comprehend.

We watch, or I should say, you then watched “Rupert and the Ghost Hunters” remote. During the remote I thought I should watch so I could write about it later. I decided not to watch and keep in character even though I wasn’t on camera. I saw very little of the remote, remembering only Rupert’s “Is that a ghost?” followed by the ghost hunter’s “No, that’s a chair.”

The ghost hunters were from “Panarnormal Investigation of New York City.” For a few photos and to read their take on the visit, check out their website at: http://www.paranormal-nyc.com/

At the end of the remote, Dave throws to commercial and I am done. For the rest of the show I stand just off stage behind Dave waiting to be cued in at a second’s notice. It never came and I was more than happy with that. I was a bit surprised I was not used in the ACT 5 for something, like sitting in a corner reading a newspaper, but again, I was fine with that.

ALAN KALTER MAKES YOUR PRODUCT SOUND SEXY: Alan: “Thanks, D.L. You know, Letterman’s always complaining to me, ‘Big Red, why can’t I get the really smokin’ chicks like you do every night?’ Wanna know how I get such hot babes? I unclog my drains with Liquid PlumR. Liquid PlumR contains a fast-acting formula to remove gunk, tough clogs, and human hair. It’s even safe for septic tanks, ladies. And if you’re feeling particularly naughty . . . tell her to grab hold of your Liquid PlumR Foaming Pipe Snake and let that snake do his thing. Don’t be frightened of this snake, baby; just let him slither into your drain.”
Announcer: “If you want Alan Kalter to make your product sound sexy, send a sample to:
Alan Kalter Makes Your Product Sound Sexy
1697 Broadway
New York, NY 10019”

TOP TEN: Things Columbus Would Say About America if He Were Alive Today
#6. “How did you come to choose your leader you call ‘Oprah’?
#5. “It’s nice to see Cher is still around.”

ORLANDO BLOOM: I was standing by all night in a cop’s uniform. I got nothing on Bloom. His film, Elizabethtown opens Friday.

ACT 5: Alan announce: “It’s time for a Late Show Announcement. If you’d like to order a transcript of the Late Show, please write down the date, episode number, and a brief description of the specific episode, and send a self-addressed stamped envelope to the address on your screen.”
(Very quick scroll of address, too quick to be read)
“And if you’d like a transcript of this announcement, fill out a convenient online request form at the following website.”
(Website address flashes too quickly to be read)
“This has been a Late Show announcement. Tell your friends.”

ALICIA KEYS: From her CD, Unplugged, Alicia Keys performed “Unbreakable.”

And that was our show for Monday October 10, 2005. Wahoo EXTRA!

So the Yankees are out. Bad defense; lack of clutch hitting after Game 1; spotty relief in the first 3 games. The Angels made all the tough plays outside of Game 4. Oh, well. The summer is over. It’s now officially fall.

Baseball Talk: Relax, it’s the final of the season:
Analysis: The play in the 5th when Robinson Cano struck out but the catcher dropped the 3rd strike. This allowed him to attempt to get to first base. The catcher throws wildly past the 1st baseman. The umpire rules Cano out for running out of the baseline, interfering with the ball. WRONG! Wrong call. Robinson Cano running the baseline was borderline at best, and he was on the correct side of the border at that. If you look at the first baseman, he was straddling first base looking for the throw from the catcher on the right side of the base in foul territory. If Cano ran to the base the way the umpire believes he should, he would have run over Darin Erstad, which I guess he should have. The announcers said Yankee manager Joe Torre had the worst seat in the house to observe the call, but if you look again at the homeplate umpire who made the call, he too was not behind homeplate at the time but to the right side towards the Yankee dugout. It was the wrong call at the wrong time. The umpire had a "toy" he never used before and he was just dying to use it. The play was not even close to JC Martin and the 1969 World Series.

Looking back on it, I think Robinson Cano did a poor job on running to first on that play. He should have noticed where the first baseman was standing awaiting the throw. It was to the right of the baseline in foul territory. Cano should have sensed where the catcher was and seen where the first baseman was. He should have realized the path the thrown ball was going to take and got in the way of the path. If he had done that, he would have been in the running lane AND gotten in the way of the ball. Credit to the announcers. They did mention this.

I missed the early part of the game. I was enjoying movie night with the family. We watched Three Men and a Baby. I was expecting more. My girls loved it, so I would rate it a success. Watching the movie, I couldn’t help but wonder about the money spent on wardrobe. Tom Selleck wore a black and white checkered flannel shirt on at least three different occasions and Ted Danson wore a white puffy pirate shirt at least twice. I found it odd, but realistic. Most bachelors only have 4 shirts to their name anyway.

No matter how much I watch baseball, I’ll find something else about the telecast that bothers me. Of course, as the thrilling one-run Yankee/Angel game nears its finish, FOX takes us away from the action to show tense fans in the stands. Why do they think we would rather see fans reacting to the tension on the field than see the tension on the field itself? I must admit, I watched a bit of the 1999 World Series between the Yankees and the Braves the other day and the camera was CONSTANTLY in the stands. Every pitch in the 8th and 9th inning found the camera showing us a close-up of hands clasped together by someone in the stands. It’s still being done today, but not nearly as much as back in ‘99. Anyway, here’s my new complaint. The Yankees are winning 3-2 in the top of the 9th inning. Angels are up, two outs. The Angels are down to their last out and their best hitter, Vladimir Guerrero, is up. Pitching for the Yankees is their best pitcher, Mariano Rivera. Twice during the all-important at bat (at least twice), we are taken away from the LIVE action to show us a replay of the last pitch. One replay was of a swinging strike; the other was of a ball outside. Why take us away from the exciting LIVE action to show us a nothing replay? Yes, I know FOX must get paid by the replay, but this was not the time to show us a replay. Leave it alone. Show us the LIVE action.

And the New York Post on Monday was placing the blame on the Angel loss on Anaheim reliever Scot Shields. This is how he let up the two runs that lost the game in the 7th inning.
1. Robinson Cano beats out a soft infield hit for a single.
2. Bernie Williams flies out to center.
3. Jorge Posada walks.
4. Ruben Sierra singles through the right side on a three-bounce grounder. One run scores.
5. Derek Jeter hits a soft ground ball to 3rd and the throw home is off. Run scores.I’m thinking of starting a new segment here at the Wahoo Gazette. It’s something I call: “At What Point Did You Mute the Game?” During the Sunday night baseball game, I muted it mid-game when FOX ran a pre-taped bit while Vladimir Guerrero was at bat, accompanied with the children’s song, “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes.”

Monday night’s game installment of “At What Point Did You Mute the Game?”: 5th inning. An in-game interview with Joe Torre. It may have been pre-taped in between innings, but I hate these so much that I refuse to listen closely. Anyway, Joe Torre is speaking. Yankees have a man on first and Jason Giambi is up. Giambi hits a single, which we barely get to see and do not hear announced because of the nonsense interview with Joe Torre. It was at this point that I muted the game.

I wonder how many baseball fans say, “I wish the announcers would say more” and how many say “I wish the announcers would say less.”

I thought there was a talking baby in Three Men and a Baby?

This week on Ghost Whisperer – Alex Rodriguez and Hideki Matsui.

I’m running late. I know I said I would start proofreading but I don’t have time today. I’ll just spell check and please forgive my mistakes.