Misplaced Pages

#380619

67-575: David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host, comedian, writer and producer. He hosted late-night television talk shows for 33 years, beginning with the February 1, 1982, debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC and ending with the May 20, 2015, broadcast of Late Show with David Letterman on CBS . In total, Letterman hosted 6,080 episodes of Late Night and Late Show , surpassing his friend and mentor Johnny Carson as

134-828: A Late Show promo aired during CBS's coverage of Super Bowl XLI in February 2007, with the two sitting next to each other on a couch watching the game. Since the game was played between the Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears , the Indianapolis-born Letterman wore a Peyton Manning jersey, while Winfrey, whose show was taped in Chicago, wore a Brian Urlacher jersey. On September 10, 2007, Letterman made his first appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Late-night television Too Many Requests If you report this error to

201-429: A beautiful music format with call letters WXTZ. On May 7, 1972, WGEE was acquired by B & G Broadcasting. The station became WNIR "The Country Winner" with a country format programmed by Bob Todd, with Buddy O'Shay as morning DJ . On April 15, 1974, WNIR was acquired by S & M Broadcasting, and became "News Talk Sports 16." The new call letters reflected the format: WNTS for N ews, T alk, S ports. Sam Smulyan

268-539: A directional antenna with a three- tower array . On December 19, 1956 ; 67 years ago  ( 1956-12-19 ) , the station signed on as WGEE. It was a daytimer , required to go off the air at sunset. Most of the station's programming was aimed at the African American community of Indianapolis. Much of the remainder of the station's programming was devoted to Country music . On May 15, 1964, WGEE launched sister station WGEE-FM (now WOLT ). During

335-471: A celebrated comic essay in The New Yorker , "Yma Dream" by Thomas Meehan), he started off by introducing Uma Thurman to Oprah Winfrey, and then both of them to Keanu Reeves : "Oprah...Uma. Uma...Oprah," "Have you kids met Keanu?" This and many of his other jokes fell flat. Although Letterman attracted the highest ratings to the annual telecast since 1983, many felt that the bad publicity he generated caused

402-483: A close relationship with Carson through his break with NBC. Three years after he left for CBS, HBO produced a made-for-television movie called The Late Shift , based on a book by The New York Times reporter Bill Carter, chronicling the battle between Letterman and Leno for the Tonight Show hosting spot. Carson later made a few cameo appearances as a guest on Letterman's show. Carson's final television appearance

469-570: A decline in the Late Show 's ratings. Letterman recycled the apparent debacle into a long-running gag. On his first show after the Oscars, he joked, "Looking back, I had no idea that thing was being televised." He lampooned his stint two years later, during Billy Crystal 's opening Oscar skit, which also parodied the plane-crashing scenes from that year's chief nominated film, The English Patient . For years afterward, Letterman recounted his hosting

536-535: A different time slot. Late Night with David Letterman debuted February 1, 1982; the first guest was Bill Murray . Murray went on to become one of Letterman's most recurrent guests, guesting on his later CBS show's celebration of his 30th anniversary in late-night television, which aired January 31, 2012, and on the final CBS show, which aired May 20, 2015. The show ran Monday through Thursday nights at 12:30 a.m. Eastern Time , immediately following The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (a Friday night broadcast

603-510: A doctor and nurse who'd helped perform the emergency quintuple-bypass heart surgery that saved his life in 2000. "These are people who were complete strangers when they opened my chest," he says. "And now, eight years later, they're among my best friends." Additionally, Letterman invited the band Foo Fighters to play " Everlong ", introducing them as "my favorite band, playing my favorite song." During Letterman's last show, on which Foo Fighters appeared, Letterman said that Foo Fighters had been in

670-502: A guest appearance on Mork & Mindy (as a parody of EST leader Werner Erhard ) and appearances on game shows such as The $ 20,000 Pyramid , The Gong Show , Hollywood Squares , Password Plus , and Liar's Club , as well as the Canadian cooking show Celebrity Cooks (November 1977), talk shows such as 90 Minutes Live (February 24 and April 14, 1978), and The Mike Douglas Show (April 3, 1979 and February 7, 1980). He

737-411: A local kiddie show, hosted a late-night TV show called "Freeze-Dried Movies" (a show in which he once acted out a scene from Godzilla (1954) using plastic dinosaurs), and hosted a talk show that aired early on Saturday mornings called Clover Power , in which he interviewed 4-H members about their projects. In 1971, Letterman appeared as a pit road reporter for ABC Sports ' tape-delayed coverage of

SECTION 10

#1732869630381

804-560: A montage of scenes from both his CBS and NBC series set to a live performance of " Everlong " by Foo Fighters. The final episode of Late Show with David Letterman was watched by 13.76 million viewers in the United States with an audience share of 9.3/24, earning the show its highest ratings since following the 1994 Winter Olympics on February 25, 1994, and the show's highest demo numbers (4.1 in adults 25–54 and 3.1 in adults 18–49) since Oprah Winfrey's first Late Show appearance following

871-456: A new commute." Letterman further joked about the subject by pulling up his right pants leg, revealing a tattoo, presumably temporary, of the ABC logo. "Thirteen years ago, David Letterman put CBS late night on the map and in the process became one of the defining icons of our network," said Leslie Moonves , president and CEO of CBS Corporation. "His presence on our air is an ongoing source of pride, and

938-410: A nurse who had given him bed baths—"This woman gave me a bath!"), including Drs. O. Wayne Isom and Louis Aronne , who frequently appeared on the show. For a number of episodes, Letterman continued to crack jokes about his bypass, including saying: "Bypass surgery: it's when doctors surgically create new blood flow to your heart. A bypass is what happened to me when I didn't get The Tonight Show! It's

1005-404: A radio talk show host on WNTS and on Indianapolis television station WLWI (which changed its call sign to WTHR in 1976) as an anchor and weatherman . He received some attention for his novel on-air delivery, which included congratulating a tropical storm for being upgraded to a hurricane , as well as for predicting hailstones "the size of canned hams". Letterman also occasionally reported

1072-530: A recurring Top 10 list , the Monkey-Cam (and the Audience Cam), a facetious letter-answering segment, several "Film[s] by My Dog Bob" in which a camera was mounted on Letterman's own dog (often with comic results) and Small Town News, all of which moved with Letterman to CBS. Other episodes included Letterman using a bullhorn to interrupt a live interview on The Today Show on August 19, 1985, announcing that he

1139-409: A style heavily influenced by the 1950s and 1960s programs of Steve Allen . The show often featured quirky, genre-mocking regular features, including "Stupid Pet Tricks" (which had its origins on Letterman's morning show), Stupid Human Tricks, dropping various objects off the roof of a five-story building, demonstrations of unorthodox clothing (such as suits made of Alka-Seltzer , Velcro and suet ),

1206-467: A tribute to Carson, all the opening monologue jokes during the first show after Carson's death were by Carson. Lassally also claimed that Carson had always believed Letterman, not Leno, to be his "rightful successor". During the early years of the Late Show ' s run, Letterman occasionally used some of Carson's trademark bits, including " Carnac the Magnificent " (with Paul Shaffer as Carnac), "Stump

1273-466: A whole different thing." In a later running gag, he lobbied Indiana to rename the freeway circling Indianapolis ( I-465 ) "The David Letterman Bypass". He also featured a montage of faux news coverage of his bypass surgery, including a clip of Letterman's heart for sale on the Home Shopping Network . Letterman became friends with his doctors and nurses. In 2008, Rolling Stone wrote: He hosted

1340-413: A year that Leno was ranked fifth. Leno was higher than Letterman on that poll three times during the same period, in 1998, 2007, and 2008. On March 27, 1995, Letterman hosted the 67th Academy Awards ceremony. Critics blasted what they deemed his poor performance, noting that his irreverent style undermined the traditional importance and glamor of the event. In a joke about their unusual names (inspired by

1407-442: Is over." It also featured cameos from The Simpsons and Wheel of Fortune (the latter with a puzzle saying "Good riddance to David Letterman"), a Top Ten List of "things I wish I could have said to David Letterman" performed by regular guests including Alec Baldwin , Barbara Walters , Steve Martin , Jerry Seinfeld, Jim Carrey , Chris Rock , Julia Louis-Dreyfus , Peyton Manning , Tina Fey , and Bill Murray , and closed with

SECTION 20

#1732869630381

1474-675: The Ball State Daily News , he originally wanted to attend Indiana University , but his grades were not good enough, so he instead attended Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana . He is a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity, and graduated in 1969 from what was then the Department of Radio and Television. A self-described average student, Letterman later endowed a scholarship for what he called "C students" at Ball State. Though he registered for

1541-558: The Indianapolis 500 , which was his first nationally telecast appearance (WLWI was the local ABC affiliate at the time). He was initially introduced as Chris Economaki , but this was corrected at the end of the interview ( Jim McKay announced his name as Dave Letterman). Letterman interviewed Mario Andretti , who had just crashed out of the race. In 1975, encouraged by his then-wife Michelle and several of his Sigma Chi fraternity brothers, Letterman moved to Los Angeles , California, with

1608-490: The Late Show instead. After Leno returned to The Tonight Show , Leno regained his lead. Letterman's shows have garnered both critical and industry praise, receiving 67 Emmy Award nominations, winning 12 times in his first 20 years in late night television. From 1993 to 2009, Letterman ranked higher than Leno in the annual Harris Poll of Nation's Favorite TV Personality 12 times. For example, in 2003 and 2004 Letterman ranked second in that poll, behind only Oprah Winfrey ,

1675-403: The Late Show with David Letterman . The new show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was taped at the historic Ed Sullivan Theater, where Ed Sullivan broadcast his eponymous variety series from 1948 to 1971. For Letterman's arrival, CBS spent $ 8 million in renovations. CBS also signed Letterman to a three-year, $ 14 million/year contract, doubling his Late Night salary. But while the expectation

1742-455: The Netflix series My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman . Letterman was born in Indianapolis , Indiana, on April 12, 1947, and he has two sisters, one older and one younger. His father, Harry Joseph Letterman (April 15, 1915 – February 13, 1973), was a florist. His mother, Dorothy Marie Letterman Mengering (née Hofert; July 18, 1921 – April 11, 2017), a church secretary for

1809-649: The Second Presbyterian Church of Indianapolis , was an occasional figure on Letterman's show, usually at holidays and birthdays. Letterman grew up on the north side of Indianapolis, in the Broad Ripple area, about 12 miles (19 km) from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway . He enjoyed collecting model cars, including racers. In 2000, he told an interviewer for Esquire that, while growing up, he admired his father's ability to tell jokes and be

1876-449: The 12:30 slot. Additionally, because of intellectual property disagreements, Letterman was unable to import many of his Late Night segments verbatim, but he sidestepped this problem by simply renaming them (the "Top Ten List" became the "Late Show Top Ten", "Viewer Mail" became the "CBS Mailbag", etc.). Time magazine wrote, "Letterman's innovation ... gained power from its rigorous formalism"; as his biographer Jason Zinoman puts it, he

1943-798: The Band", and the "Week in Review". Oprah Winfrey appeared on Letterman's show when he was hosting NBC's Late Night on May 2, 1989. After that appearance, the two had a 16-year feud that arose, as Winfrey explained to Letterman after it had been resolved, as a result of the acerbic tone of their 1989 interview, of which she said that it "felt so uncomfortable to me that I didn't want to have that experience again". The feud apparently ended on December 2, 2005, when Winfrey appeared on CBS's Late Show with David Letterman in an event Letterman jokingly called "the Super Bowl of Love". Winfrey and Letterman also appeared together in

2010-527: The Oscars, although the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences continued to hold Letterman in high regard and invited him to host the Oscars again. On September 7, 2010, he made an appearance on the premiere of the 14th season of The View , and confirmed that he had been considered for hosting again. On January 14, 2000, a routine checkup revealed that an artery in Letterman's heart was severely obstructed. He

2077-506: The Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.150 via cp1114 cp1114, Varnish XID 489135260 Upstream caches: cp1114 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Fri, 29 Nov 2024 08:40:30 GMT WNTS By day, WNTS is powered at 5,000 watts . Because 1590 AM is a regional frequency, it reduces power at night to 500 watts to avoid interference with other stations. It uses

David Letterman - Misplaced Pages Continue

2144-445: The appearance were posted on YouTube by audience members and widely reported in the media. In 2016, Letterman joined the climate change documentary show Years of Living Dangerously as one of its celebrity correspondents. In season two's premiere episode, Letterman traveled to India to investigate the country's efforts to expand its inadequate energy grid, power its booming economy, and bring electricity to 300 million citizens for

2211-422: The comedian to the ground (Lawler and Kaufman's friend Bob Zmuda later revealed that the incident was staged ). In 1992, Johnny Carson retired, and many fans, and Carson himself, believed that Letterman would become the new host of The Tonight Show . When NBC instead gave the job to Jay Leno, Letterman departed NBC to host his own late-night show on CBS, opposite The Tonight Show at 11:30 p.m., called

2278-521: The creativity and imagination that the Late Show puts forth every night is an ongoing display of the highest quality entertainment. We are truly honored that one of the most revered and talented entertainers of our time will continue to call CBS 'home.'" According to a 2007 article in Forbes magazine, Letterman earned $ 40 million a year. A 2009 article in The New York Times , however, said his salary

2345-428: The crowd after walking on stage. "I was happy. I'll make actual friends. I was complacent. I was satisfied. I was content, and then a couple of days ago Donald Trump said he was running for president. I have made the biggest mistake of my life, ladies and gentlemen" and then delivering a Top Ten List roasting Trump's presidential campaign followed by an onstage conversation with Martin and Short. Cellphone recordings of

2412-504: The draft and passed his physical after graduating from college, he was not drafted for service in Vietnam because he received a draft lottery number of 346 (out of 366). Letterman began his broadcasting career as an announcer and newscaster at the college's student-run radio station— WBST —a 10-watt campus station that is now part of Indiana Public Radio . He was fired for treating classical music with irreverence. He then became involved with

2479-502: The early years, the two stations simulcast , with WGEE-FM continuing the programming after sunset, when WGEE AM had to be off the air. WGEE-AM-FM aired a format known as the "WG Parade Of Hits". Bob Todd was Program Director with disc jockeys Scott Evans, George L. Davis, Mike O'Brien, Scott Wheeler, Jim Fox, Ron Hoffer, and Steve Miller. Dick Shane was News Director. WIRE owner Mid America Radio acquired WGEE-FM in March 1972. The FM adopted

2546-415: The ending of her feud with Letterman on December 1, 2005. Bill Murray, who had been his first guest on Late Night , was his final guest on Late Show . In a rarity for a late-night show, it was also the highest-rated program on network television that night, beating out all prime-time shows. In total, Letterman hosted 6,080 episodes of Late Night and Late Show , surpassing friend and mentor Johnny Carson as

2613-416: The final months of his first stint as host of The Tonight Show , Leno beat Letterman in the ratings by a 1.3 million-viewer margin (5.2 million to 3.9 million), and Nightline and the Late Show were virtually tied. Once O'Brien took over Tonight , Letterman closed the gap in the ratings. O'Brien initially drove the median age of Tonight Show viewers from 55 to 45, with most older viewers opting to watch

2680-400: The first guest. In October 2022, Letterman traveled to Kyiv, Ukraine, to film a special standalone episode of My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman , interviewing Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy . In spite of Johnny Carson's clear intention to pass his title to Letterman, NBC selected Jay Leno to host The Tonight Show after Carson's departure. Letterman maintained

2747-743: The first time. He also interviewed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and traveled to rural villages where power is a scarce luxury and explored the United States' role in India's energy future. On April 7, 2017, Letterman gave the induction speech for the band Pearl Jam into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame at a ceremony held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York City . Also in 2017, Letterman and Alec Baldwin co-hosted The Essentials on Turner Classic Movies . Letterman and Baldwin introduced seven films for

David Letterman - Misplaced Pages Continue

2814-622: The founding of another campus station—WAGO-AM 570 (now WCRD , 91.3). He credits Paul Dixon , host of the Paul Dixon Show , a Cincinnati-based talk show also shown in Indianapolis while he was growing up, for inspiring his choice of career: I was just out of college [in 1969], and I really didn't know what I wanted to do. And then all of a sudden I saw him doing it [on TV]. And I thought: That's really what I want to do! Soon after graduating from Ball State in 1969, Letterman began his career as

2881-586: The hope of becoming a comedy writer. He and Michelle packed their belongings in his pickup truck and headed west. As of 2012, he still owned the truck. In Los Angeles, he began performing comedy at The Comedy Store . Jimmie Walker saw him on stage; with an endorsement from George Miller , Letterman joined a group of comedians whom Walker hired to write jokes for his stand-up act, a group that at various times also included Jay Leno , Paul Mooney , Robert Schimmel , Richard Jeni , Louie Anderson , Elayne Boosler , Byron Allen , Jack Handey , and Steve Oedekerk . By

2948-441: The late-night talk show tradition of "guest hosts" that had virtually disappeared on network television during the 1990s, allowing Bill Cosby , Kathie Lee Gifford , Dana Carvey , Janeane Garofalo , and others to host new episodes of the Late Show . Upon his return to the show on February 21, 2000, Letterman brought all but one of the doctors and nurses on stage who had participated in his surgery and recovery (with extra teasing of

3015-433: The lead guest, served as a guest host while Letterman was ill with a stomach virus. In March 2002, as Letterman's contract with CBS neared expiration, ABC offered him the time slot for long-running news program Nightline with Ted Koppel . Letterman was interested, as he believed he could never match Leno's ratings at CBS due to Letterman's complaint of weaker lead-ins from the network's late local news programs, but

3082-399: The life of the party. Harry Joseph Letterman survived a heart attack at the age of 36 when David was a young boy. The fear of losing his father was constantly with Letterman as he grew up. The elder Letterman died of a second heart attack in 1973 at the age of 57. Letterman attended his hometown's Broad Ripple High School and worked as a stock boy at the local Atlas Supermarket. According to

3149-702: The longest-serving late-night talk show host in American television history. He is also a television and film producer. His company, Worldwide Pants , produced his shows as well as The Late Late Show and several primetime comedies, the most successful of which was the CBS sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond . Several late-night hosts have cited Letterman's influence, including Conan O'Brien , Jimmy Fallon , Seth Meyers (each of whom succeeded Letterman on Late Night ), Stephen Colbert (his successor on The Late Show ), Jimmy Kimmel , and Jon Stewart . Since 2018, he has hosted

3216-619: The longest-serving late-night talk show host in U.S. television history. In the months following the end of Late Show , Letterman was seen occasionally at sports events such as the Indianapolis 500, during which he submitted to an interview with a local publication. He made a surprise appearance on stage in San Antonio , Texas when he was invited up for an extended segment during Steve Martin's and Martin Short 's A Very Stupid Conversation show, saying "I retired, and...I have no regrets," Letterman told

3283-611: The middle of a South American tour that they canceled to play on his comeback episode. In February 2003, Letterman again handed the reins of the show to several guest hosts (including Bill Cosby , Brad Garrett , Whoopi Goldberg , Elvis Costello , John McEnroe , Vince Vaughn , Will Ferrell , Bonnie Hunt , Luke Wilson , and bandleader Paul Shaffer) when he was diagnosed with a severe case of shingles . Later that year, Letterman made regular use of guest hosts—including Tom Arnold and Kelsey Grammer —for shows broadcast on Fridays. In March 2007, Adam Sandler , who had been scheduled to be

3350-485: The person who influenced his career the most. On June 23, 1980, Letterman was given his own morning comedy show on NBC , The David Letterman Show . It was originally 90 minutes long but was shortened to 60 minutes in August 1980. The show was a critical success, winning two Emmy Awards , but was a ratings disappointment and was canceled, the last show airing October 24, 1980. NBC kept Letterman on its payroll to try him in

3417-613: The previous contract. On the February 3, 2011 edition of the Late Show , during an interview with Howard Stern , Letterman said he would continue to do his talk show for "maybe two years, I think." In April 2012, CBS announced it had extended its contract with Letterman through 2014. His contract was subsequently extended to 2015. During the taping of his show on April 3, 2014, Letterman announced that he had informed CBS president Leslie Moonves that he would retire from hosting Late Show by May 20, 2015. Later in his retirement Letterman occasionally stated, in jest, that he had been fired. It

SECTION 50

#1732869630381

3484-406: The ratings from the time that Hugh Grant came on Leno's show after Grant's arrest for soliciting a prostitute. Leno typically attracted about five million nightly viewers between 1999 and 2009. The Late Show lost nearly half its audience during its competition with Leno, attracting 7.1 million viewers nightly in its 1993–94 season and about 3.8 million per night as of Leno's departure in 2009. In

3551-544: The series. In 2018, Letterman began hosting a six-episode monthly series of hour-long programs on Netflix consisting of long-form interviews and field segments. The show, My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman , premiered January 12, 2018 with Barack Obama as its first guest. The second season premiered on May 31, 2019. Season 3 premiered on October 21, 2020, and includes Kim Kardashian West , Robert Downey Jr. , Dave Chappelle and Lizzo as guests. Season 4 premiered on May 20, 2022, with Billie Eilish as

3618-631: The service. WNTS changed to Christian radio on January 18, 1977. That was coupled with permission from the Federal Communications Commission to broadcast at night. To do so, the city of license for WNTS was changed from Indianapolis to Beech Grove. An additional tower was also added at the station's transmitter site. After changing to religious programming, WNTS aired a schedule of Contemporary Christian music with some Christian talk and teaching shows. Around 1990, it changed format to Southern Gospel music and talk. The station

3685-544: The summer of 1977, Letterman was a writer and regular on the six-week summer series The Starland Vocal Band Show , broadcast on CBS. He hosted a 1977 pilot for a game show called The Riddlers (which was never picked up), and co-starred in the Barry Levinson -produced comedy special Peeping Times , which aired in January 1978. Later that year, Letterman was a cast member on Mary Tyler Moore 's variety show, Mary . He made

3752-558: The weather and the day's very high and low temps for fictitious cities ("Eight inches of snow in Bingree and surrounding areas"). On another occasion, he riffed that the state border between Indiana and Ohio had been erased, when a satellite map accidentally omitted it, jokingly attributing it to dirty political dealings: "The higher-ups have removed the border between Indiana and Ohio, making it one giant state. Personally, I'm against it. I don't know what to do about it." Letterman also starred in

3819-457: Was "a fascinatingly disgruntled eccentric trapped inside a more traditional talk show." The Late Show 's main competitor was NBC's The Tonight Show , which Jay Leno hosted for 22 years from 1992 to 2014, except from June 1, 2009, to January 22, 2010, when Conan O'Brien hosted. In 1993 and 1994, the Late Show consistently gained higher ratings than The Tonight Show . But in 1995, ratings dipped and Leno's show consistently beat Letterman's in

3886-456: Was added in June 1987). It was seen as edgy and unpredictable, and soon developed a cult following (particularly among college students). Letterman's reputation as an acerbic interviewer was borne out in verbal sparring matches with Cher (who even called him an "asshole" on the show), Shirley MacLaine , Charles Grodin , and Madonna . The show also featured comedy segments and running characters, in

3953-409: Was also screen tested for the lead role in the 1980 film Airplane! , a role that eventually went to Robert Hays . Letterman's brand of dry, sarcastic humor caught the attention of scouts for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson , and he was soon a regular guest on the show. He became a favorite of Carson and was a regular guest host for the show beginning in 1978. Letterman credits Carson as

4020-406: Was announced soon after that comedian and political satirist Stephen Colbert would succeed Letterman. Letterman's last episode aired on May 20, 2015, and opened with a presidential sendoff featuring four of the five living American presidents, George H. W. Bush , Bill Clinton , George W. Bush , and Barack Obama, each mimicking the late president Gerald Ford 's statement "Our long national nightmare

4087-429: Was estimated at $ 32 million. In June 2009, Letterman's Worldwide Pants and CBS reached an agreement to continue the Late Show until at least August 2012. The previous contract had been set to expire in 2010, and the two-year extension was shorter than the typical three-year contract period negotiated in the past. Worldwide Pants agreed to lower its fee for the show, though it had remained a "solid moneymaker for CBS" under

SECTION 60

#1732869630381

4154-519: Was on May 13, 1994, on a Late Show episode taped in Los Angeles, when he made a surprise appearance during a Top 10 list segment. In early 2005, it was revealed that Carson occasionally sent jokes to Letterman, who used them in his monologue; according to CBS senior vice president Peter Lassally (a onetime producer for both men), Carson got "a big kick out of it." Letterman would do a characteristic Carson golf swing after delivering one of his jokes. In

4221-612: Was president of the new company. His son Jeff (later President and CEO of Indianapolis-based Emmis Communications ) was appointed General Manager. Operations were handled by Rick Cummings. Other employees after the change to news and talk included a Broad Ripple High School and Ball State University graduate named David Letterman , who later went on to become the host of late night comedy shows on NBC and CBS . In early 1976, WNTS switched to all news radio , using national news programming from NBC 's News and Information Service (NIS). NIS only lasted two years before NBC decided to cancel

4288-407: Was reluctant to replace Koppel. He addressed his decision to re-sign on the air, stating that he was content at CBS and that he had great respect for Koppel. On December 4, 2006, CBS revealed that Letterman signed a new contract to host Late Show with David Letterman through the fall of 2010. "I'm thrilled to be continuing on at CBS," said Letterman. "At my age you really don't want to have to learn

4355-657: Was rushed to New York Presbyterian Hospital for emergency quintuple bypass surgery. During the first weeks of his recovery, reruns of the Late Show were shown and introduced by friends of Letterman, including Norm Macdonald , Drew Barrymore , Ray Romano , Robin Williams , Bonnie Hunt , Megan Mullally , Bill Murray, Regis Philbin , Charles Grodin , Nathan Lane , Julia Roberts , Bruce Willis , Jerry Seinfeld , Martin Short , Steven Seagal , Hillary Clinton , Danny DeVito , Steve Martin , and Sarah Jessica Parker . Later, while still recovering from surgery, Letterman revived

4422-517: Was that Letterman would retain his unique style and sense of humor with the move, Late Show was not an exact replica of his old NBC program. The monologue was lengthened. Paul Shaffer and the World's Most Dangerous Band followed Letterman to CBS, but they added a brass section and were rebranded the CBS Orchestra (at Shaffer's request); a small band had been mandated by Carson while Letterman occupied

4489-526: Was the NBC News president Lawrence K. Grossman and that he was not wearing any pants; walking across the hall to Studio 6B, at the time the news studio for WNBC-TV , and interrupting Al Roker 's weather segments during Live at Five ; and staging "elevator races", complete with commentary by NBC Sports' Bob Costas . In one appearance, in 1982, Andy Kaufman (who was wearing a neck brace) appeared with professional wrestler Jerry Lawler , who slapped and knocked

#380619