posted
David Letterman had a fake Lyme expert on his show tonight. As a joke they decided to bring out a "doctor" who was afraid of his ticks and ran off the stage screaming when he thought the ticks had escaped the containers (the audience laughed at the whole Lyme "comedy". This was not the worst...the ABSOLUTE WORST WAS THAT IN THE INTRODUCTION OF THIS FAKE DOCTOR...DAVID SAID THAT LYME IS THE MOST OVERDIAGNOSED ILLNESS, THAT IT IS NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO GET. AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!! I nearly cried and have sent complaint emails to CBS demanding a retraction publicly. I am pleading with anyone who saw it or would like to do the same to email CBS. Go to CBS.com and at the bottom of the page click on feedback. I am calling CBS tomorrow.
Posts: 298 | From los angeles | Registered: Mar 2006
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I changed the channel from Leno as it went on commercial (just enjoyed the ALWAYS funny Headlines bit) and got a chance to catch it.
At first I was really happy to see that we were getting more public awareness for this terrible disease untill the unthinkable act happened and the entire interview became a JOKE.
I am CHOKED. First of all I dont know how any human being could have found humor in that, it was not funny at all. I've always despised the antics of Letterman.
Was this "doctor" for real? if so how could he do such a thing on live tv?
He INSULTED ALL OF US on this FORUM AND EVERYONE ELSE IN THE WORLD suffering from this illness.
Can you imagine if someone ridiculed Cancer, or AIDS in a similar fashion???
All of our suffering was turned into a joke for millions of people to laugh at.
EDIT-
I just sent my feedback, errr.. Complaint. Sleep well everyone
[ 18. July 2006, 04:13 AM: Message edited by: Jon ]
Posts: 170 | From Vancouver | Registered: Apr 2006
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David95928
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 3521
posted
Maybe he could be challenged to have Daryl Hall (Hall & Oates),who writes about his chronic Lyme on his website, on the show.
-------------------- Dave Posts: 2034 | From CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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SForsgren
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7686
posted
Here is what I sent:
As someone that has been chronically ill for nearly 10 years with Lyme Disease and has many friends that are forever changed by the disease, I find your making light of the disease to be very unfortunate and saddening for those of us that struggle with this on a daily basis. I invite you to review my web site at www.BetterHealthGuy.com to learn more about my story. Just as I would not make light of cancer, AIDS, or any other life-impacting illness, I would have expected the same level of respect in return. I am disappointed that your show did not offer that.
Be well, Scott
-------------------- Be well, Scott Posts: 4617 | From San Jose, CA | Registered: Jul 2005
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MagicAcorn
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 8786
posted
I have a different take on this;
If you watch David Letterman you know he usually means the exact opposite of what his parodies portray.
What he probably wished you took away from this is that the nutty professor (Steere, if you like) is afraid of his ticks because he knows there is something to be afraid of.
It is good to laugh at ourselves sometimes, and taking things to seriously is not. Comedy has been used to educate the masses since Shakespeare's time, especially politically charged topics.
He wasn't making fun of Lyme patients, he was poking fun at the folks who reasearch it. Which makes me think he is a pretty smart guy.
There is no such thing as bad publicity, except maybe NO PUBLICITY. He has people talking about Lyme disease today and that is not a bad thing.
-------------------- Posts: 1279 | From In hiding | Registered: Feb 2006
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northstar
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7911
posted
Great idea about contact sponsors...... but who are they?
for TC:
go to cbs.com on right side (well, one of the sides), there is a link to Late Night with D. Letterman click on that On the new page, there will be a link to communicate/email, which will open a box to type. I copied and saved my response, as this communication is not sent through your regular email.
N.
Posts: 1331 | From hither and yonder | Registered: Sep 2005
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lymemomtooo
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Member # 5396
posted
Acorn, You are probably correct..I did not see it, but it was on during sleep, I came out of the coma once in awhile to see what time it was.
When I saw the posts about it being on Letterman, I knew it would not be a serious commentary..He almost never does that. I just hope it was bazierre enough that the regular watchers realized it was all a parody..
And I would think that he probably did have Steere in mind as the mad Dr.
I also know how damn disappointed this is probably making everyone feel..But he just can not do a straight story.
NOw the question is not how to pull sponsors but how to talk David into doing more and somehow letting others know it was all scarasm. Wish he would have some scroll going on the bottom to let those who don't know his weird sense of humor know when it is scarcasm. Well, actually it is always so..
We probably need someone to offer to counter his commentary. Someone to go toe to toe with him to get the truth out? And to be willing to handle the scarcasm that may arrise. I do not think he can ever be a real straight man. NO referring to sexual choices.
I am never as articulate as I need to be, but if someone will do this, I would be willing to be a victim and even be humiliated if it would get some points across... I consider this a possible open door for us.
Posts: 2360 | From SE PA | Registered: Mar 2004
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MagicAcorn
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 8786
posted
Thanks Lymemomtooo for taking my point of view the way I intended it to be taken.
Like yourself, I'd have no qualms about taking David on. If he'd have me on the show I'd jump at the opportunity. As a comic improvisationalist myself, I'd love it.
-------------------- Posts: 1279 | From In hiding | Registered: Feb 2006
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5dana8
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7935
posted
Thanks north star for the contact information. I intend to give them my 2 cents!
-------------------- 5dana8 Posts: 4432 | From some where over the rainbow | Registered: Sep 2005
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quote:Originally posted by David95928: Maybe he could be challenged to have Daryl Hall (Hall & Oates)
I was thinking Amy Tan. As a bigtime fan of Letterman I doubt he would purposely make fun of those who suffer. anyhoo great idea.
Posts: 731 | From Humble,TX | Registered: Feb 2005
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comedians are about entertainment,satire, irony, paradox, counter-intuitiveness, and his national audience is in that frame of mind, and don't expect the show host to be sober.
statistically,i assume that, at least half the national audience got the message of the seriousness of this, and its probably a lot more than this.
tbds got national attention!
what does a one minute commercial cost a company to advertize their product?! i think at least $100,000 for one min., and, perhaps, that much, or not much less for every one-minute display on a major tv network; prime time is even more.
paradoxically, i think letterman inadvertently, or perhaps intentionally, did us a great service.
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sizzled
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posted
I know that he had/has a home in North Salem,NY (northern Westchester County) tucked back in the woods in a HIGHLY endemic area!
I think I remember him making some comment about travelling to Ct.and why you shouldn't...."because they have LYME DISEASE".
Who knows....ALDF Headquarters is a few miles away from him...maybe he got infected by them.
Or maybe he went to the Lyme Clinic in Valhalla...
Posts: 4258 | From over there | Registered: Jul 2001
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MagicAcorn
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posted
Thanks pq. I think it was very intentional.
And Sizzled that is typical of Letterman's Top 10 Lists. If you saw Letterman that night you would never forget that Connecticut has Lyme disease - thanks to that list.
I believe Letterman has long been on our side, even maybe being a sufferer himself. Wasn't that the buzz quite a few years ago?
-------------------- Posts: 1279 | From In hiding | Registered: Feb 2006
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groovy2
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 6304
posted
Hi All
I think Dave did a good thing-- Millons for people saw it and are talking about it at the water cooler today-
What the fake doc said was perty much correct- More correct than most Docs say--
Write Dave and let him know that he should get a real doctor on and Talk about it--Jay--
Posts: 2999 | From Austin tx USA | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
Oh c'mon you guys - you're all sounding just like what most people accuse Lymies of sounding like - whiny, overly sensitive hypochondiacs. Rise up, rise up... Rise above all this whining and take a joke!
-------------------- Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heal that has crushed it. (Mark Twain)
"It's only after you've lost everything," ... "that you're free to do anything." (Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club) Posts: 24 | From somewhere outside Boston, MA | Registered: Feb 2006
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posted
MagicAcorn: I believe Letterman has long been on our side, even maybe being a sufferer himself. Wasn't that the buzz quite a few years ago?
I think you're right Acorn.....the buzz here was that he was a sufferer. This isn't the first time he has joked about lyme. He talked about putting guinea hens in his yard for ticks, etc.
Do you all remember the major heart surgery he had a few years ago? Hmmmm?
quote:Originally posted by Mo: I say write Letterman himself and inform him of the kids' lack of care, and ask him to donate to Doc Jones' defense fund.
Mo
That would be GREAT!!!!
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96239 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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posted
He was jabbing at the "system"... and it got out to millions.
If he is/was a sufferer, he is not likely to advertize that as most celebs like to maintain medical privacy regarding any chronic illness, so this may be his way of stirring up the debate.
But - he also has a child in CT and a more serious side than airs on the show.
I think a writing campaign to Dave for Jones would be a much better way to expend our efforts than complaining about that segment. If he wants to use comedy to reach the masses, I say let him! At least he's talking about it.
BTW - Rosie O'Donnel may be one to consider contacting for Jones support as well. She had a run in with this disease.
Supporting Jones may likely be something folks like this would want to do confidentially. Which is fine .. we should respect privacy.
IMO. We should be writing people such as this and asking them to privately support Jones' fund.
Mo
Posts: 8337 | From the other shore | Registered: Jul 2002
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posted
I challenged him to call me and talk to someone who was a registered nurse who never engaged in high risk activities and still contracted the poly disease tick stuff.Spoofs are great, however, one needs to draw the line for good taste and outrageousness. I would never make light of his heart condition that he needed surgery for. As a nurse, I find it highly insulting regardless of the laugh factor to minimize any health condition, let alone get a cheap laugh out of it. Until you walk in someone else mocassins, dont satirize. It is just not funny. Perhaps, I lost my sense of humor after 3 picc lines in my first year of treatment. LOL.
Posts: 719 | From Delaware | Registered: Jan 2006
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posted
Here is the segment synopsis on his website -
it's satire - like everything else he does in skits, and I believe Dave "gets it" :
DR. CHARLES WESTFALL: He's a tick expert at the Parasitology Laboratory at the National Institutes of Health and the author of the book, ``The Tick-ing Time Bomb.'' Anyone who watches the show regularly knows that Dave has a fascination about ticks. He's been on the tick bandwagon long before it was hot in the news, so this booking came as no surprise to me.
Dave mentioned earlier that only 1 in 200 of the common deer tick is infected with the Lyme Disease. And it is not fatal. Dr. Westfall expands on this. He then talks about the more lethal Rocky Mountain deer tick. The doctor brought along some live tick samples for us to examine. So tiny are they that they are hard to see. We ``see'' the common deer tick, a tiny speck no bigger than a poppy seed. Next is the more dangerous Rocky Mountain deer tick.
Dr. Westfall becomes slightly alarmed when he cannot spot the tick in its case. Dave points to Dr. Westfall's wrist and asks, ``Is that it right there on your wrist?'' Dr. Westfall looks at his wrist and screams out, ``Oh my God, it's a Rocky Mountain Deer Tick!'' He jumps up and screams that he is infected by the deer tick. He runs across the stage holding his wrist away from his body but it is too late. He feels the tick disease already running through his whole body. Dr. Westfall begins to frantically scratch at his head and face. He is indeed infected. In a complete state of panic, Dr. Westfall runs out the back of the theater screaming like an hysterical (add your own stereotyped person/race/gender). Dave, confused and faking concern, says, ``He ain't coming back.''
-------------------------------------------------
Consider writing him to support the kids and Jones.
Mo
-------------------- life shrinks and expands in proportion to one's courage -- anais nin Posts: 8337 | From the other shore | Registered: Jul 2002
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posted
Letterman has/had lyme? I was curious why he would even include such a skit on his show about this unknown disease. In retrospect I guess what he did on his show wasn't that bad, but I still don't approve of it, and I dont know why anyone would think that it helped our cause. I thought it was a really lame skit nevertheless hehe.
Posts: 170 | From Vancouver | Registered: Apr 2006
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[quote] On the show tonight is a Dr. Charles Westfall, an expert on ticks. Dave understands the dangers of ticks and realizes the importance of making a daily body-check for the parasitic critters whenever you spend time in the woods. And how do you give yourself a full body check for ticks when alone? Dave will only say it involves straddling a mirror. [end quote]
Over the years, Letterman has talked about Lyme disease and has interviewed people who had Lyme disease - I remember Michael J. Fox for one.
I wish I had seen the bit, but I missed it. His humor is so weird that he was probably just makeing fun of the idea of a researcher being as scared of ticks as anyone would be.
I googled "Dr. Charles Westfall" and the only one I got any info about was an Ob/gyn.
Here is the e-mail I sent him by way of the site above. [quote] I missed your skit about ticks, but lots of people have been complaining that it made tick-borne disease a subject for ridicule.
From what I read on your website, I think it was a fairly good effort at humor, but it could make people think ticks and Lyme and other tick-borne disease are just funny.
As a Mea Culpa, maybe somehow you could say ticks cause very serious diseases, even fatal ones. It would be great if you interviewed one of the many, many, celebrities who have had or continue to suffer with Lyme disease.
Keep on being irreverent,silly,raucous,and dumb. Thanks, [end quote]
Marnie
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 773
posted
David Letterman Undergoes Heart Surgery
by Julie Keller Jan 14, 2000, 3:00 PM PT
Late-night host David Letterman was resting comfortably this afternoon after undergoing emergency quintuple bypass surgery.
Doctors decided to operate after an angiogram on the 52-year-old funnyman revealed one seriously blocked artery.
Television Transcripts
The Late Show with David Letterman Original Airdate: June 27, 2002
Transcribed By: *The Williams Center
Michelle: I think so, but I think I was...I mean I think it's all right not to know what you want to do at any point of your life, but I guess I've been lucky that its just all I've ever wanted to do.
Dave: [Sounding Beat] That was a pathetic question wasn't it? [Audience Laughs]
Michelle: [Laughing] It was a little hard to answer--I wasn't quite sure what to do with it...I'm sorry!
Dave: Yeah I'm sorry, I feel I may have the Lyme Disease... [Audience Laughs]
And just what CAUSED that blocked heart artery? Perhaps too much LDL? Perhaps a pathogen that triggered the buildup of the lousy form of cholesterol (LDL - low density lipoprotein)?
I would assume he is now on cholesterol lowering drugs...
He sure doesn't look healthy for his age (58)...esp. when at the (car) races viewed on television...unshaven...looks more like a bum.
Posts: 9481 | From Sunshine State | Registered: Mar 2001
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posted
I saw the bit and at first was very happy that Dave was bringing the seriousness of Lyme to the public.
When a subject is so serious I don't think it's funny to do a skit on it that obvioiusly was taken differently by most everyone who saw it.
My take on it was that it was a joke. I don't think the average person "got it." I certainly didn't. We shouldn't have to disect the message to decide what the message was and then try to base it on previous shows and messages.
I will write CBS and express my unhapiness. Just my opinion.
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