It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

Show Recap
Air Date: 12/15/18

The holidays are a special time at The Nite Show, and this was certainly no exception.

Our Dec. 15 show began as it almost always does...with Maine's favorite monologue.

From there, Dan reintroduced The Nite Show Christmas Tree, fresh off the addition of a Raye's Mustard ornament from last week. It was the perfect condiment to our Hot Dog of a tree. It's also the first time in Nite Show history that we have talked about ketchup and mustard in two separate shows airing within the same month. Do you remember why we talked ketchup? The answer will be at the end of the recap.

After the tree, Dan rolled out a gift to all. It was a parody of a Bangor area Christmas commercial that was first seen in the 80s, but presented on TV during the holiday season for what must have been at least another 15 years after that. It featured kitties and ribbon and wrapping paper and a Christmas tree and it was 100% adorable. Our version featured Dan and Brian Nadeau in the role of the kittens. I'm not sure how this will play after it airs and is online, but in the Gracie Theatre when it first was shown to our live audience, the applause and laughter were sustained longer than we expected. It was delightful.

 

Then, we presented a 2.5 minute highlight reel from Governor LePage's visits to The Nite Show. He was supposed to visit the show when we taped on Nov. 7, but canceled last minute. Some on the staff thought he was upset about the previous night's election results. Others thought the reason he gave was valid. Dan told many of us that the Governor has had plenty of reason to not visit the show before, and he's always come through...so we should take his cancelation at his word. So, we all did. We had hoped he would come back before leaving office, but he couldn't. We only had one more taping before the New Year, and it was on Dec. 5. Timing didn't work out. We had prepared a highlight reel for him for his final appearance, but since he wasn't going to make it to the show we ran it anyway. Dan reported to us that he sent it along to the Governor's Office in advance of the show's air date and heard back that those who saw it enjoyed it and they would pass it along to the Governor. That's nice. 



We have been on the air for a little over 8 years and have had both sitting governors on the show in that time. Gov. John Baldacci was our first guest in October of 2010, just a couple of months before he left office. He has visited us once since then as well, in April of this year. Gov. LePage was one of our most frequent guests after taking office in January of 2011. He was a guest 5 times on the show, and made two cameo appearances: once to present some gifts to a 9-year-old cancer survivor; and once in a skit when Dan was on his way to Southern Maine. He also canceled twice. Once because he was sick when he was booked for his first appearance on the show in February of 2011 (Secretary of State Matt Dunlap pinch hit that night), and once in November of 2018 in what would be his final booking on the show (Rich Kimball filled in that night). All in all, whether you like his politics or not, he's been a great guest for our little show, and we thank him for that. 

After the break, we welcomed Alyssa Thurlow to the stage. Alyssa is a native of Lincoln, Maine and a graduate of the New England School of Communications at Husson University. She's currently the anchor of the WABI Weekend Morning Newscasts and a reporter for the station during the week. She and Dan talked about NESCom, Christmas, and Lincoln. She brought a Christmas ornament. It was a mic flag from WABI with the station's old logo. It's the second mic flag on the tree, with the other coming from "Downtown with Rich Kimball".



The Maine Steiners performed on the roof in front of the tree and dazzled the audience with a Billy Joel medley. It was amazing. Even more amazing: when The Maine Steiners first appeared on the show in 1998, they performed a Billy Joel song. Also, a couple members of the Maine Steiners appeared on the show in those days as solo performers, and they also did Billy Joel tunes. A singer on our second show ever (April 19, 1997) did "She's Got a Way," and a singer named Jon Goodine did "Piano Man." So, we're basically expecting an appearance from Biilly Joel any day now. 

The Maine Steiners also stuck around for a Web Exclusive. Here it is!



And that was it! 

One more studio show til Christmas and that's next week. Plus our 1-hour Christmas Special that will find its way onto various schedules in various parts of the state between now and Christmas Day. 

Before we go, the "ketchup" mention from last month was when Andrea Elson's prize package was delivered following the Red Sox World Series win over the Dodgers. Come to think of it, that might have been the same night Kevin Raye was on the show. Did I mention that in last week's blog? I have no idea. I'm going to bed.

G'night!