Late Night with David Letterman
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Late Night with David Letterman was a nightly hour-long comedy talk show on NBC hosted by David Letterman. It premiered in 1982 and went off the air in 1993.
In 1991, the show's three production companies — Carson Productions, Worldwide Pants, and NBC Productions — were awarded a Peabody Award, which cited the following:
- In the past ten years, one show has moved to the position of the leader in late night television in creativity, humor, and innovation. That program is Late Night With David Letterman. As one member of the Peabody Board remarked, "David Letterman is a born broadcaster." He is also a savvy co-executive producer. Along with co-executive producer Jack Rollins, producer Robert Morton, director Hal Gurnee, and musical director Paul Shaffer, Mr. Letterman has surrounded himself with exceptional talent and given them the go-ahead to experiment with the television medium. Particularly noteworthy is the work of head writer Steve O'Donnell and his talented staff. Together, the "Late Night" team manages to take one of TV's most conventional and least inventive forms — the talk show — and infuse it with freshness and imagination. For television programming which, at its best, is evocative of the greats, from Your Show of Shows, to The Steve Allen Show, and The Ernie Kovacs Show, a Peabody to Late Night With David Letterman.
History
The first show was on February 1, 1982 with the final show on June 25, 1993 when it was renamed to Late Show with David Letterman beginning in August 30, 1993 on CBS, although NBC would air repeats until September 10, 1993. A total of 1,810 shows were broadcast during its eleven and a half year run (there was one show that went unaired due to Gulf War coverage).The program ran four nights a week, Monday to Thursday, beginning in February 1982 until May 1987 from 12:30am to 1:30am. Friday shows were added in June 1987. Starting in September 1991, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson was pushed back from 11:30ET to 11:35, with Letterman starting at 12:35, at the request of NBC affiliates who wanted more advertising time for their profitable late newscasts (though Letterman had a different reason for the delay: "With the extra five minutes, I will make certain that my make-up is absolutely perfect").
Letterman, who had hoped to take over The Tonight Show, left NBC in 1993 for CBS where he started The Late Show with David Letterman, in direct competition with Jay Leno. Conan O'Brien replaced David Letterman as host of Late Night in name only.
When Letterman left, NBC asserted their intellectual property rights to many of the most popular Late Night segments. Letterman easily adapted to these restrictions: the Viewer Mail segment was continued on the new show under the name CBS Mailbag, and the actor playing Larry "Bud" Melman continued his antics under his real name, Calvert DeForest.
Format
Like other talk shows, the show featured at least two or three guests each night, usually including a comedian or musical guest.
Letterman's show established a reputation for being unpredictable. A number of celebrities had even stated that they were afraid of appearing on the show. This reputation was born out of moments like Letterman's verbal sparring matches with Cher, Madonna (described by comedian Robin Williams as a "battle of wits with an unarmed woman"), and Shirley MacLaine.
Memorable moments
- Letterman used a bullhorn to interrupt The Today Show with the announcement that he was not wearing any pants.
- Letterman interrupted WNBC-TV's newscasts by walking into their studio which was across the hall from his. Letterman often complained that Live at Five got better guests than he did.
- Cher had two memorable moments on the show. In one segment, she called Letterman an "asshole" on air. They patched up differences for a 1987 show that had Cher and former husband Sonny Bono reuniting to sing "I Got You, Babe."
- Letterman would often perform stunts such as donning a suit covered in Alka-Seltzer tablets and being lowered in water, and wearing a suit of velcro and jumping up onto a velcro wall.
- Another recurring gag was Letterman destroying items, from throwing watermelons off the roof of a five story building to running dozens of hot dogs through a compressor to demolishing the Energizer Bunny with a baseball bat.
- Sandra Bernhard's appearance in a leotard. After sitting on Letterman's lap, both reacted as if Letterman had become sexually excited.
- The numerous and always outrageous appearances by comedian Andy Kaufman. Probably the most memorable appearance was one in which Kaufman and professional wrestler, Jerry Lawler appeared to get into a fight on the air. At one point, Lawler slapped Kaufman in the face knocking him to the ground. Kaufman responded by throwing a cup of water at Lawler. This entire moment was recreated in the film Man on the Moon, where it was revealed for the first time that the appearance was planned ahead of time by Lawler and Kaufman.
- Arguments between Letterman and the cantankerous comic book creator Harvey Pekar.
- The American rock group R.E.M. made its first national television appearance on Late Night in October 1983. The band performed a new unnamed song that eventually was titled "So. Central Rain", and became the first single from the band's second album, Reckoning.
- Eccentric actor Crispin Glover's bizarre behavior, including kicking the air close to Letterman's head. [link]
- Composer Marvin Hamlisch performing the "Theme Song for Peaboy" while Peaboy pelts the studio audience with frozen peas.
- Various technology experiments, including visits to the control room, mounting of mini-cams in unexpected places (such as the "monkey cam"), and the "thrill cam" which flew across the audience every night on an overhead track.
- Sam Kinison's introductory appearance on November 14, 1985. Letterman warned the audience, "Brace yourselves. I'm not kidding. Sam Kinison."
- Bruce Springsteen appeared as a surprise musical guest on the final show. He performed "Glory Days."
- April 1986: A visit by Letterman with camera crew to the GE Building shortly after General Electric purchased RCA with a fruit basket results in the "G.E. Handshake", in which shortly before shaking hands with Letterman, a G.E. Security officer has his hand stretched for a handshake, but pulls it away before Letterman can grasp his hand while telling Letterman and the crew to get out of the building. The same officer repeats the move on Letterman's director, Hal Gurnee.
Recurring Late Night segments
- The Top Ten List, from various "home offices"
- Stupid Pet Tricks
- Stupid Human Tricks
- Viewer Mail
- Supermarket Finds
- Velcro Suit
- Suit of Rice Krispies
- Dumb Ads
- Small Town News
- Ask Mr. Melman
- Dave's Record Collection
- Crushing Things With A Steamroller
- Throwing Things Off A Five-Story Building
- Crushing Things With An 80-Ton Hydraulic Press
- Dog Poetry
- Visits with Meg Parsont in the Simon and Schuster Building
- *A camera would zoom in on the office of Parsont, an employee in the nearby Simon and Schuster Building, while Letterman spoke with her on the phone. Parsont also made an appearance on Letterman's CBS show in 1993.
- Elevator Races
- NBC Bookmobile
- Peaboy
International Airings
Canada- Toronto - Global Television Network, 12:35am (to September 10th 1993)
- Vancouver - VU-13, U.TV, 12:35am (1985 to September 10th 1993)
- Nation-Wide - Nine Network, Approx. 12:00am - 3:30am Monday - Wednesday and Friday to Sunday
External links
- [Late Night with David Letterman] from the Museum of Broadcast Communications
- [DDY's Late Show with David Letterman Fan Page]
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