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But his legacy runs far beyond that into nearly every crevice of the comedy and music worlds.
Even some of the lesser-known aspects of Shaffers career are like fun pink-wedge answers in a game ofTrivial Pursuit.
Blink and youll catch him as the cab driver inLook Whos Talking Too.
More recently, Shaffer became the only guest star to play himself on the Emmy darlingSchitts Creek.
The readouts go on and on.
These are just some of the memories Shaffer revisited during a recent conversation in New York.
He had a crazy idea around 78 about a special about tubas.
That was the main thing he had except for the host.
He said, I want this guy David Letterman.
Hes a new comic that seems like hed be open-minded enough to get a special like this.
Then I got called for the morningDavid Letterman Show.
I passed on it.
February 1 is the 40th anniversary of the NBC late-night show.
What do you remember from that day?Bill Murray was the first guest.
He did Lets Get Physical as a musical number.
This was the first show ever; we didnt know what was going to happen.
Not sure how yet.
I said, Do you want to attempt to work it out?
No, I gotta go feed my dog.
He didnt get back until the taping had already started.
With the band my brand-new personal quartet we learn Lets Get Physical and dont really know what were doing.
That was our first show.
I said, My God, youve really got to be loose with this show.
How does that initial era ofLettermancontrast with the later CBS elder-statesmen years?There was a lot of experimentation.
Sometimes it bombed, sometimes successful.
But the feeling was:We have license here to try anything.
You didnt want to get involved with something that wasnt going to be successful or funny.
The four-piece just wasnt going to cut it anymore.
What were your favorite bits from the earlyLettermanyears?The time when thescreen rotated 360 degrees.
I understand they got a lot of complaints since halfway through it was upside down.
So everyone set their alarms.
The bad part was it was the same shot of him at the desk; it couldve been anytime.
But I took advantage of it.
At the time, I was doing a James Brown cape bit every Friday night during a commercial.
You introduced the Blues Brothers for the first time onSNLas Don Kirshner in 1978.
His character was unusual on the show.
He would go on these long rants: Fuhgetaboutit, youwanttotalkaboutcontracts?
So I started doing him onSNL.
Maybe it becomes a real recording act.
And I recommended you because I know youre funny, and maybe theyll like someone who can really play.
So I audition for Kirshner, got the role, and went to California.
It was a partnership between him and Norman Lear.
You were in L.A. filming your CBS showA Year at the Topwhen Kirshner began appearing on camera forRock Concert.
But he had the gig, andI got the gig.
Im going to be taping today.
I want you to come down and be with me the first time I go on camera.
So I saw him the first time make this transition into an ice statue.
And I never forgot it.
I get my old job back.
That was the premise, but it was hard to set it up.
They needed someone to introduce them.
And I said, I can do Don Kirshner.
Thats how I started doing it.
When the Blues Brothers came along, it was natural: Let Paul do it as Don Kirshner.
It mightve been Lornes idea.
It would not have been Belushis.
He mustve been flattered by the impression.He loved it.
His show was syndicated;SNLwas data pipe.
It made him even more famous, I think.
We were friends until the very end.
I spoke to him when he was dying in the hospital.
I could only really do Kirshner!
Harry Shearer got me that role, a local promo man in Detroit.
I said, So youll send me the lines?
The main scene is in the record store where no one shows up for the signing.
And Im saying, Its my fault kick my ass.
But then theres a scene where Im talking to the record-store owner.
I say, since its a Kirshner-jot down character, What are you doing to me?
He says, Artie, dont take it personally.
And I go, Forget about personal, what about a relationship?
That was the pop in of thing Kirshner wouldve said exactly.
But at the time, people really barely noticed.
We were doing bad British accents.
This was the tape.
It had gone well in the dress rehearsal, and in between Al Franken said, It was funny.
If you want to throw in a few more of thosefloggings.
By now, I was loose and threw in afuckby mistake.
Ive seen the tape, and I see myself say it and my face goes white.
The first person who acknowledged it was Laraine Newman.
As soon as were off camera, she said, Well, thank you for making television history.
I was still a little shaken.
And then Lorne came over and said, You just broke down the last barrier.
But there were no calls at all.
You were a co-writer onGilda Live, and your work on that led to your exclusion fromThe Blues Brothers.
How did that go between you and John Belushi?
Thats when Peter Aykroyd and everyone came in.
They were still working on the movie.
So I didnt have to see John thats what Im getting at.
I didnt see him again for the duration of the movie.
I told my lawyer I pulled out; I had to.
He said, You cant!
First, I just completed the deal, but secondly, this is a big movie.
Say you stay and work on Gilda, Bob goes to Chicago, then he comes back?
I didnt know things about scheduling at that time.
People do things like that all the time; I didnt know.
So I said, Okay, see what happens!
He called right back: Theyve already replaced you.
They replaced me in two seconds.
You never spoke to Belushi directly about it?I never talked to him.
He is not a Blues Brother and will never be.
I had cast this thing, musician by musician, with John!
It wasnt that he was harsh.
Yes, he moved fast, but thats showbiz.
The second banana, of course, was Father Guido Sarducci.
But I was feeling bad my friends were in Chicago doingThe Blues Brothers.
Later, they were in Los Angeles completing the movie.
I was poolside at the Sunset Marquis hotel, and I run into Aykroyd.
Hes very nice and warm to me.
Then I get a call from him afterward.
I go; we have a big reunion.
Which was really bittersweet.
John died during the first season ofLetterman.
I remember the memorial service at St. John the Divine then going to do the show.
Youve been impersonated onSNLover the years: Gary Kroeger, Mark McKinney, Chris Kattan.
But theres nothing like when Chris Elliott tried to do it onLetterman.
Is there a particular Letterman impression youre a fan of?Norm Macdonald, I guess.
Thats been my modus really.
Its incredible how present you were at the start of so many stars careers.
But Ive never heard you speak about your song with Fresh Prince-era Will Smith.When the Radio Is On!
I had a wonderful A&R man, Tim Carr.
He had signed the Beastie Boys.
He was well versed in rap and brought on Russell Simmons.
Russell said, Ill get the rappers for you.
They wanted Ecstasy of Whodini, who wore a Zorro hat.
Then he said, Theres this new kid, the Fresh Prince.
You havent even heard his record.
It mayve just come out.
Talk about logistics recording it was one person at a time, then the doo-woppers all together.
But Will was a total professional, doing take after take.
We shot a music video up in Harlem inspired by Marlon BrandosThe Wild Ones.
Carole King wasnt available, so I got Carol Kane, the actress, instead.
And driving in from Philadelphia comes the Fresh Prince with his entourage.
Having to assemble all them together for the video was almost an impossibility, but it happened.
You got a chance to hostSNLin 1987.
I especially loveyour songsabout the shows mythology.
The shows reputation had taken a beating, and maybe it wasnt so easy for him to get hosts.
This was before his huge breakthrough.
I dont think Lorne was crazy about the whole thing.
Maybe he was worried it was sending them up.
And not only that; he said, Take your time with it.
Which is exactly what he didnt want to have to say.
So I milked it.
Belushis chauffeur would drive, I think, was my favorite line.
What a transition from being the piano player to getting to host.
That was not lost on me.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
