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This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007) |
| Late Show with David Letterman | |
|---|---|
| |
| Format | Talk show Variety show |
| Starring | David Letterman Paul Shaffer and the CBS Orchestra Bill Wendell (1993-1995) Alan Kalter (1995-Present) |
| Country of origin |  United States
|
| No. of episodes | 2,874 (as of February 15, 2008) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Robert Morton (1993-1996) Rob Burnett (1996-Present) Barbara Gaines (2000-Present) Maria Pope (2000-Present) Jude Brennan (2003-Present) |
| Location(s) | Ed Sullivan Theater |
| Running time | 01:02:30 |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | CBS |
| Picture format | 480i (NTSC), 1080i (HDTV) |
| Original run | August 30, 1993 – present |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Late Night with David Letterman (1982–1993) |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
The Late Show with David Letterman is an Emmy Award-winning American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS. The show debuted on August 30, 1993. It is hosted by David Letterman and is produced by Letterman\'s production company, Worldwide Pants Incorporated. The show\'s music director and bandleader of the house band, the CBS Orchestra, is Paul Shaffer. The head writers are brothers Justin Stangel and Eric Stangel. The announcer is Alan Kalter, who replaced Bill Wendell in 1995.
In November 2007, production of new episodes was suspended due to the Writers Guild of America strike, but the show resumed production on January 2, 2008 in accordance with a deal between the WGA and Worldwide Pants that allowed the show to return with its writers.http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7164033.stm
In most American markets the show airs at 11:35 pm Eastern/Pacific time, but is recorded Mondays at 4:30 PM and 7:00 PM, Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 5:30 PM, and Thursdays at 4:30 PM. The second Monday episode usually airs on Friday of that week (the show had previously recorded the Friday episodes on Thursdays). Each show is recapped in The Wahoo Gazette by production coordinator Mike McIntee on CBS.com\'s Late Show page.
Letterman was previously the host of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC from 1982 to 1993. The show was co-produced by Carson Productions, Worldwide Pants Incorporated, and NBC Productions. Shaffer, Wendell, and several members of the band were also with the NBC show.
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Letterman\'s decision to leave NBC was largely provoked by the network\'s decision in 1992 to have comedian Jay Leno succeed Johnny Carson as host of The Tonight Show. Letterman, Carson, and many others had long assumed that Letterman\'s years of service to NBC would be sufficient to result in him becoming the new host, but NBC ultimately chose Leno, likely due to Letterman\'s consistent public mockery of NBC executives in the past, as well as a belief that Leno would have more mainstream appeal. Letterman was reportedly angry and disappointed at NBC for not giving him the job on The Tonight Show, and at Johnny Carson\'s advice, Letterman left the NBC network after 11 years on Late Night. NBC later explained that Dave\'s high ratings were the reason the network kept him where he was. Conan O\'Brien later replaced Letterman on Late Night.[citation needed]
Many erroneously still refer to Letterman\'s current show as Late Night, often resulting in Letterman or fans pointing out that while Late Night still exists, it airs on NBC and is hosted in its current incarnation by Conan O\'Brien, whom Letterman has often publicly supported as his successor (Late Night is now co-produced by Lorne Michaels\' Broadway Video and O\'Brien\'s Conaco).
When Letterman moved to CBS and began the Late Show, several of Late Night\'s long-running comedy bits made the move with him. Letterman renamed a few of his regular bits to avoid legal problems over trademark infringement (NBC cited that what he did on Late Night was "intellectual property" of the network). "Viewer Mail" on NBC became the "CBS Mailbag", and Larry "Bud" Melman began to use his real name, Calvert DeForest. Paul Shaffer\'s "World\'s Most Dangerous Band" became "The CBS Orchestra," a not-so-subtle jab at NBC regarding the show\'s new home, and a play on the NBC Orchestra of the long running The Tonight Show. Letterman\'s signature bit, the Top Ten List, was perfunctorily renamed the "Late Show Top Ten List" (over time it was simply referred to again by its original name).
After Letterman was introduced on the Late Show\'s very first episode, NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw accompanied him on stage and wished him luck "within reason". As part of a pre-arranged act, Brokaw then proceeded to retrieve a pair of cue cards while stating that "These last two jokes are the intellectual property of NBC!" After he carried them off stage, Letterman then responded, "I never thought I\'d hear the words \'intellectual\' and \'NBC\' in the same sentence!"
Ratings-wise, Letterman\'s Late Show would enjoy a consistent domination over Leno\'s Tonight Show in its first few years. Leno won the audience back on July 10 1995, starting with a Hugh Grant interview, after Grant\'s much-publicized arrest for picking up an LA prostitute. Finn, Natalie. "Tonight Show Turns 15", E! News, May 24, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-08-28.
At times Letterman would even come in third in the late night timeslot behind Nightline (most recent occurrence happened in August of 2006), prompting him at one point to arrange for a Manhattan billboard proudly declaring himself and his show to be "#3 in Late Night," aping an older, nearby billboard which promoted Leno and The Tonight Show as #1. Despite ratings, the Late Show remains one of CBS\'s most profitable programs.[citation needed]
In recent years, Letterman and the Late Show have openly made jokes in reference to Leno, although it is often done in a self-deprecating manner.[citation needed] Such jokes usually refer to The Tonight Show\'s consistent (and perhaps frustrating) lead in the ratings, a common example being where a guest presenter of the Top Ten List will use one of the entries to declare his or her preference for Leno, resulting in Letterman feigning humiliation or surprise. In a "What Things Cost" sketch in 2000, Letterman explained that it cost $10,000 to keep an open phone line with actor Leonard Nimoy. Upon thanking Nimoy for his help, Nimoy tersely admitted that he was unable to talk because "I\'m watching Leno."
From November 11, 2002 to February 14, 2003, the show was simulcast on several CBS-owned radio stations.David Letterman Comes to Radio. CBS press release. Retrieved on 2007-11-07. The show\'s Top Ten List continues to be syndicated as a short-form feature.
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This section does not cite any references or sources. (December 2007) Please improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
The Late Show has various repeated absurdist segments, including those involving cast members\' and audience participation. The show will also take a camera crew into the Hello Deli to show games such as "What\'s on the iPod?" and "Beat the Clock," or onto 53rd Street or the roof to record various stunts there.
Announcer Bill Wendell retired and left the show in 1995.[citation needed] He was replaced by Alan Kalter on the show\'s next episode which came after a two-week hiatus.
In 1996, Letterman reluctantly fired long-time producer Robert Morton as the result[citation needed] of various professional disputes, including an apparent botched attempt to move the show to ABC in place of Nightline. Head writer Rob Burnett was promoted to executive producer.
Director Hal Gurnee and producer Peter Lassally left the show soon after to pursue other interests.[citation needed] Gurnee was replaced by Jerry Foley. Burnett was absent from the day-to-day operations from 2000 to 2004, and was replaced by Barbara Gaines and Maria Pope, both of whom continue to serve as executive producers, with Gaines currently acting as on-air producer. In 2003, producer Jude Brennan was added to the team of executive producers.[citation needed]
Lassally, who had served as an executive producer for Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show, was invited back to the Late Show in January 2005 as a guest to discuss the recent death of Carson. Lassally currently serves as executive producer for Worldwide Pants\' The Late Late Show (dating back to its years under original host Tom Snyder) as well as the Tony Mendez Show, an online webcast featuring the Late Show\'s "cue card boy."
The show began broadcasting in HDTV on Monday August 29, 2005. About two weeks later, Tim Kennedy, the show\'s Technical Director, commented on the transition in the show\'s official newsletter:
The biggest challenge in the HD conversion was to renovate and upgrade our old control room, audio room, videotape room, and edit room while still doing five shows a week... This entailed pulling a remote production truck on 53rd Street running somewhere in the neighborhood of 50,000 feet of video and audio cable just to tie the truck to the existing technical plant...
The coolest piece of equipment is our new control room Virtual Wall. We have done away with the conventional monitor for every video source and replaced it with four 70-inch rear projection screens and within those screens we can "virtually" place as many video images as we want, anywhere we want them, and when we want it.
Kennedy and his crew won an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video for a Series" during the nearly-four-month-long transition to HDTV.
Letterman himself is known for his quirky physical comedy, which he has used in varied degrees throughout the years. Examples are throwing his blue note cards through the prop window behind him or throwing pencils at the camera (always followed with a sound effect of shattering glass), pausing to take a long drink of his coffee, exaggeratedly loud coughing and clearing his throat, showing the inside lining of his suit, showing his receding hairline, long awkward moments to organize his note cards on his desk, flipping pencils upward and trying to catch them one-handed (à la Johnny Carson), wiggling his tie, adjusting the height of his chair, stirring his guests\' coffee with a pencil before they arrive, and pausing to clean his glasses.
Though Letterman is typically well-attired and neat, a common \'Dave gag\' is pretending to eat or drink excessive amounts of both edible and non-edible items, for instance, eating mayonnaise straight from the jar, allowing it to slop onto his face and onto the front of his suit.[citation needed] During a cooking segment with Martha Stewart there was a table set up with ingredients to demonstrate how to prepare some sort of meal. Letterman feigned clumsy disinterest, measuring the wrong amounts, throwing raw eggs at the band, gulping down bottles of wine, eating half a stick of butter, and generally wreaking havoc in an attempt to fluster his guest. Stewart tried to nonchalantly continue her cooking presentation, until finally, in an apparent "if you can\'t beat \'em, join \'em" moment, succumbed to the fun, taking a big bite of butter herself. A similar situation occurred during a cooking segment featuring British chef Jamie Oliver, beginning with Letterman eating raw onions and resulting in he, Oliver and the episode\'s first guest Tom Cruise, and later Paul Shaffer all drinking from a bottle of olive oil.
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Another Letterman trademark is his penchant for odd, non-sequitur one-liners. Often they come from obscure sources with little to no explanation and appear to be mostly used for Letterman\'s own amusement.[citation needed] Some of the one-liners seem to derive from experiences in Letterman\'s personal life, random lines he heard on TV, or favorite lines used by his comedian friends. Others are exaggerations of typical talk-show patter, in keeping with Letterman\'s ironic take on his own television genre. Shaffer will often laugh at the jokes, although this is usually due to the repetition and familiarity of them, rather than the nature of the jokes themselves.[citation needed]
Some of the many one-liners during the Late Show years include:[citation needed]
Letterman will often poke fun at himself in a wide variety of ways, ranging from the content of his show (such as admitting when a joke is not particularly funny), his personal life (portraying himself as a reclusive loner), his physical appearance (his hair or "advanced age"), and his staff\'s supposed frustration with him (being forced to work on holidays). Such jokes will be made through impromptu remarks made by Letterman, or even in scripted material presented by Letterman or various staff members. In one episode, foreigners would appear on stage one by one, hurling a flurry of insults at Letterman in their native languages. Another more common gag consists of audience members finding ways to leave the show to Letterman\'s embarrassment.[citation needed]
Many frequently invited guests have gone on to become favorites of the show, displaying an on-air friendship with Letterman that sets them apart from the more typical interview subjects.[citation needed] Perhaps most prominent among these are Charles Grodin and Regis Philbin, who will often bicker with Letterman about their respective personal relationships. Philbin has made more appearances on the Late Show than any other guest in the show\'s history.[citation needed]
Other notable guests include Bonnie Hunt (with whom Letterman co-produced two short-lived sitcoms), Bill Murray (who has the distinction of appearing on the first episodes of both Late Night and the Late Show), Marv Albert (who had the most Late Night appearances), musical group Foo Fighters (whom Letterman had personally requested to perform during his first show after heart bypass surgery in 2000), and Warren Zevon (who was featured as the only guest in his final appearance prior to his death in 2003).
Some guests, particularly Bill Murray, Tom Hanks, Steve Martin, and Bruce Willis, will often take the effort to accompany their appearances on the show with a pre-arranged routine or bit (such as when Willis put dots on his face to satirize Dick Cheney\'s recent hunting incident and Hanks\' wearing one of Letterman\'s sport jackets and a pair of his loafers, claiming his wife was to blame for the accidental clash of fashions), or will appear elsewhere in the show in a skit. Martin Short will often conclude his interviews with a comedic musical number on stage.
Other favorite guests who have frequently appeared include Drew Barrymore, Matthew Broderick, Tom Brokaw, Richard Simmons, Frank Caliendo (sometimes in character as John Madden or George W. Bush), Harry Connick, Jr., Penn & Teller, Elvis Costello, Billy Crystal, Jack Hanna, Jennifer Lopez, Paul Newman, Sarah Jessica Parker, Tony Randall, Julia Roberts, Ray Romano, Isabella Rossellini, Amy Sedaris, Jerry Seinfeld, Martha Stewart, Howard Stern and Robin Williams.[citation needed]
Some of Letterman\'s personal comedian friends who have often appeared on the show include Jeff Altman, Tom Dreesen, George Miller, Bob Sarlatte, Jimmie Walker and John Witherspoon.[citation needed]R.E.M., who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March 2007, made their international television debut on Late Night on October 6, 1983, just three years into their career. To date, they have appeared on Letterman\'s show six times.The R.E.M. Timeline
For Halloween, Letterman stands in a house-like set on stage, where he answers a door and greets a series of trick-or-treaters dressed in elaborate, humorous costumes (a recent example being a giant Bluetooth headset). The children are then given "treats" which have consisted of unusual items such as Lipitor, useless Yankees World Series tickets, and a tote bag from The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
Every Thanksgiving, Letterman visits his mother (Dorothy Mengering) at her Indiana home via satellite, and tries to guess the two pies she has baked for her family dinner. Letterman will also show footage of that year\'s company Thanksgiving party, which often includes a particular clip from a previous party in which Letterman serves food while dressed in a pilgrim costume. There was no show in 2007 due to the WGA Strike.
With the exception of 2007 as a result of the Writers Guild of America strike, many "Christmas traditions" have been part of the show\'s annual tradition with some even being carried over from the Late Night incarnation.
Since 1986, Letterman has invited musician Darlene Love to perform "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" on the final new episode of the Late Show with David Letterman before Christmas. The song is always performed with Paul Shaffer and the CBS Orchestra, with the band being augmented by additional strings and other instruments, as well as a full choir. Love first performed the song on Late Night with David Letterman in 1986. Letterman has stated that the annual performance is his favorite part of Christmas, and that Love\'s rendition is " the only Christmas song anyone needs." Letterman will often dedicate a segment to toy expert Shannon Eis, who demonstrates many of the newer toys that will be available during the upcoming season. The main appeal of the segment is Letterman\'s tendency to engage in horseplay with the various toys on display.
Paul Shaffer will often perform a brief rendition of Cher singing "O Holy Night" from an episode of her 1970s variety show. Shaffer sets up the bit with a straight-faced introduction before breaking into a humorous impersonation. This has been performed on-and-off since the Late Night years.
Letterman will also have local pizza-maker Joe G, gift shop proprietors Mujibur & Sirajul, and Hello Deli proprietor Rupert Jee top the Late Show Christmas tree with a pizza, Statue of Liberty miniature, and meatball, respectively.
Each Christmas, Letterman and comedian Jay Thomas will then throw footballs at the tree from across the stage, attempting to knock the meatball off the top. This tradition began in 1998 when Letterman and NFL quarterback Vinny Testaverde threw footballs at a pastrami sandwich from the top of a tree but failed repeatedly. This prompted Thomas - who had been a guest earlier - to run out and take a shot, succeeding on his first try. The tradition of Thomas and Letterman throwing footballs at the tree (along with Thomas\' retelling of his encounter with The Lone Ranger) has continued every year since then.
In early September of 1996, it was announced that The Late Show would experiment with a commercial-free format. The September 20 broadcast of the show did not contain traditional commercials, although there were breaks (within the show) to acknowledge sponsors.Carter, Bill. "Letterman: No Interruptions", The New York Times, September 4, 1996. Retrieved on 2008-01-02.
On January 14, Letterman made on The Late Show the announcement that he was undergoing an angiogram the following day, after doctors had recently been concerned about his high cholesterol and family history (his father died of a heart attack at 52). Soon it was discovered that he had blocked arteries and had to undergo a quintuple bypass. During his hiatus, the show had been off the air for a few weeks after which, while he was still recovering the show was being hosted by guests for the following weeks. On his first show after recovering, Dave brought out all the doctors and nurses on the show who had helped him during his surgery and recovery. Despite nearly breaking out in tears during the show, Dave seemed to find humor in his situation; while referring to one of his nurses, Dave said: "This woman saw me naked!". He continued to joke about the event for weeks after his return.
See also David Letterman\'s heart surgery.
On September 17, 2001, David Letterman was the first major American comedy performer to return to the television airwaves after the September 11, 2001 attacks. In his opening monologue, absent the usual musical opening credits and cheering audience, an uncharacteristically serious and very emotional Letterman struggled with the reality of the attacks and the role of comedy in a post-9/11 world, saying:
| “ | The reason we were attacked, the reason these people are dead, these people are missing and dead … They weren\'t doing anything wrong, they were living their lives, they were going to work, they were traveling, they were doing what they normally do. Uh, as I understand it—and my understanding of this is vague, at best—another smaller group of people stole some airplanes and crashed them into buildings. And we\'re told that they were zealots fueled by religious fervor, religious fervor. And if you live to be a thousand years old, will that make any sense to you? Will that make any goddamned sense? | ” |
His first guest that night was then-CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather, who was also very emotional and spoke with feeling about the courage of firefighters as well as reading verses from the song, America the Beautiful. Dave got his first laugh when, at the end of his monologue, he said, "And thank God Regis is here so we have something to make fun of." His musical guest that night was Tori Amos, who performed a cover of Tom Waits\' "Time." She was one of the few major artists willing to perform in such a public venue so soon after 9/11. Letterman was visibly affected by her performance after he went over to greet her when she finished.
Before September 11, various mocking and self important descriptions were affixed to New York City at the beginning of the show, but starting with the September 17, 2001 show and continuing to the present announcer Alan Kalter introduces the show as being "From New York, The Greatest City in the World, it\'s The Late Show with David Letterman!" (Whenever there is a guest host, Alan Kalter omits "The Greatest City in the World.") Also, the opening shot of the credits, a view of Battery Park and the World Trade Center, was changed to an aerial shot of the Empire State Building.
Letterman\'s first show after long-time friend and mentor Johnny Carson had died. The show had been on a one-week hiatus since his death. As a tribute, Letterman\'s opening monologue included jokes written by Carson (news reports in the weeks leading to Carson\'s death revealed that he had been regularly writing and sending Letterman some jokes) as well as clips shown from The Tonight Show. Other tributes to Carson in this episode included the band playing "Johnny\'s Theme" at the conclusion of Letterman\'s monologue, and use of title cards with the phrase, "More to Come" around commercial breaks (a standard feature of The Tonight Show during most of Carson\'s years there). While describing how he felt about the news, Letterman stated: "There are so many things you miss about Johnny Carson... I was nearly this sad when the guy retired... Johnny Carson was like a public utility. At the end of the day, that\'s who you wanted to be there. The way that you know that Johnny was such a tremendous part of your life was when there was a guest host. You would be waiting all day to see Johnny and you\'d tune in and there would be a guest host. And it would make you angry. And you\'d be steaming mad, [though] not at Johnny, you would always take out your anger on the guest host."
During the 2007-08 Writers Guild of America strike, the show went into reruns for two months. In late December 2007, Letterman\'s company, Worldwide Pants Incorporated, reached a contract agreement with the striking writers. This put Letterman and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson back on the air with their full staff of writers. The show opened with Hillary Clinton making a cameo appearance saying, "It has been two long months but Dave\'s back. Oh, well, all good things must come to an end."
Letterman returned sporting a full beard which he grew during his hiatus and opened the show by declaring that "It\'s been two months but I\'m finally out of rehab." The Top 10 List consisted of demands by striking writers. Robin Williams was the first guest for the show\'s return.
| Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety, Music Or Comedy Series |
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Saturday Night Live (1976) · Van Dyke and Company (1977) · The Muppet Show (1978) · Steve & Eydie Celebrate Irving Berlin (1979) · Baryshnikov on Broadway (1980) · Lily: Sold Out (1981) · Night of 100 Stars (1982) · Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever (1983) · A Celebration of the Performing Arts (1984) · Motown Returns to the Apollo (1985) · A Celebration of the Performing Arts (1986) · 41st Tony Awards (1987) · Irving Berlin\'s 100th Birthday Celebration (1988) · The Tracey Ullman Show (1989) · In Living Color (1990) · 63rd Academy Awards (1991) · The Tonight Show (1992) · Saturday Night Live (1993) · The Late Show (1994) · The Tonight Show (1995) · Dennis Miller Live (1996) · Tracey Takes On... (1997) · The Late Show (1998) · The Late Show (1999) · The Late Show (2000) |
| Complete list: 1951–1975 · 1976–2000 · 2001–present |
| Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety, Music Or Comedy Series |
|---|
The Late Show (2001) · The Late Show (2002) · The Daily Show (2003) · The Daily Show (2004) · The Daily Show (2005) · The Daily Show (2006) · The Daily Show (2007 |
| Complete list: (1951-1975) · (1976-2000) · (2001-present) |
| Current Late night talk and comedy shows in the United States | |
|---|---|
| ABC | Jimmy Kimmel Live! |
| Fox | MADtv · Talkshow with Spike Feresten |
| CBS | Late Show with David Letterman · The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson |
| NBC | The Tonight Show with Jay Leno · Late Night with Conan O\'Brien · Last Call with Carson Daly · Saturday Night Live |
| Comedy Central | The Daily Show · The Colbert Report |
| Fox News | Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld |
| HBO | Real Time with Bill Maher |
| E! | Chelsea Lately · The Soup |
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