How to Rate with Dave

By Stephen M. Silverman

Monday August 31, 1998 12:00 AM EDT

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"Late Show" with David Letterman wants laughs, but it doesn't want lawyers, or so the weekly New York Observer reported last week. The paper said that the powers surrounding Dave think that lawyers don't laugh when they sit in the studio audience, so tickets are no longer being dispersed to Manhattan's top firms. This morning, in the wake of the earlier report, the Observer reveals what other "audience engineering" takes place behind the scenes at "Late Show." For starters, guys, not gals, are preferred in the audience -- because the fellas hoot and holler at "leggy" guests like Julia Roberts and Sarah Jessica Parker, says the paper. Frat boys are reportedly drafted, as are groups from the military. Furthermore, better-looking people tend to be seated down front. Letterman spokesman Steve Rubenstein, while acknowledging that the audience "does tend to be mildly more male than female," said that what the program's staffers really look for in potential audience members "are people who are fans of the show."