"Late Show with David Letterman" (1993) TV series 1993-????

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Randi Grossack

Writers:

Ross Abrash (writer) (2004)
Kevin Etten (writer)

Seasons:

1 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | unknown

Release Date:

30 August 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Music | Talk-Show

Tagline:

"There is no off position on the genius switch."

Plot:

The Late Show with David Letterman is an hour-long weeknight comedy and talk-show broadcast by CBS from the Ed Sullivan Theater on Broadway in New York City.

Plot Keywords:

New York City | Late Night | Cult Favorite | Cult Comedy | Cult TV

Awards:

Won 9 Primetime Emmys. Another 3 wins & 80 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Mon. Nov. 9	11:35 PM	CBS
Tue. Nov. 10	11:35 PM	CBS

Cast

Paul Shaffer	...	Himself - Band Director / ... (1,673 episodes, 1993-2009)
David Letterman	...	Himself - Host / ... (1,543 episodes, 1993-2009)
Alan Kalter	...	Himself - Announcer / ... (439 episodes, 1995-2009)

Also Known As:

Late Show Backstage (USA) (title for episodes with guest hosts)
Letterman (Australia)
The Late Show (USA) (informal short title)
David Letterman (Denmark) [da]
David Letterman Show (Norway) [no]
David Letterman Show (Sweden) [sv]
David Letterman-show (Hungary) [hu]
Late Show with David Letterman (France) [fr]

Runtime:

USA:60 min (including commercials)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Boca Raton, Florida, USA

Company:

Worldwide Pants

Trivia:

NBC claimed "intellectual property rights" on many of Letterman's famous running gags and characters from his original show. As a result, the character of "Larry Bud Melman" was retired (though the actor remained with the show and appeared under his real name), and such traditions as "Viewer Mail", "Stupid Pet Tricks", and the "Top 10 List" were simply renamed. This controversy was the subject of much ridicule during the 1993-94 TV season, mostly from Letterman himself.

Quotes:

[David is working at McDonald's]
David Letterman: Welcome to Mc Donald's.
Customer: Get me a cheeseburger.
David Letterman: Your order is a cheeseburger?
Customer: Yep.
David Letterman: Are you busy right now?
Customer: I gotta head to work. Why?
David Letterman: Could you swing by the grocery store and get us a bag of onions?
Customer: A bag of onions?
David Letterman: Yeah. We're running low.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in Hype! (1996)

Dave is turning back to the old Dave!

I have been a big Letterman fan for years. I would tape shows when I was only 13, never missed a show. I agree that Letterman had his years where you could tell he felt like a failure and didn't put much into it. But I will add that he is much more real than Jay Leno. Jay Leno is your typical phony talk show host. You really saw how real Dave is if you saw his show on January 31, 2005 remembering Johnny Carson. I saw both his and Leno's shows on Johnny. Jay seemed much more scripted and fake. This was probably due to how the death of Johnny Carson hit the two, being that Dave was close with Johnny. (Johnny even wrote jokes in retirement and sent them to Dave to use). I have noticed lately that Dave's comedy is turning back around to the old Dave. Hopefully he realizes that he is appreciated and keeps up the turn around!