Late Night with David Letterman
Late Night with David Letterman is the name of NBC's nightly hour long comedy variety show, which premeired in 1982 and went off the air in 1993.
Like other talk shows, the show featured at least two or three guests each night. Usually at least one comedian or musical guest. Letterman's show quickly established a reputation for being dangerous and unpredictable, a number of celebrities have even stated that they are afraid of appearing on the show. This reputation was born out of moments like Letterman's verbal sparring match with Cher, Madonna (described by commedian Robin Williams as a "battle of wits with an unarmed woman"), and Shirly McClain. Other memorable moments include Letterman using a bullhorn to interupt the "Good Morning America" TV program, who was on the air conducting a live interview at the time, interupting the local news by walking into their studio, and the outrageous appearances by commedian Andy Kaufman. In one highly publicized appearance, Kuafman was slapped and knocked to the ground by professional wrestler Jerry Lawler.
Letterman frequently used crew members in his comedy bits, so viewers got to know stage hands and writers as well as they did the host. Common contributors included bandleader Paul Shafer, Chris Elliott, Calvert DeForest as Larry Bud Melman, announcer Bill Wendell, writer Adam Resnick, scenic designer Kathleen Ankers, stage manager Biff Henderson, producer Robert Morton, director Hal Gurnee, associate director Peter Fatovich, stage hand Al Maher, camera operator Baily Stortz and Jude Brennan.
In 1994, Letterman left NBC for a better deal with CBS. NBC had angered Letterman by breaking their promise from years earlier to give him the "Tonight Show" once Johnny Carson had retired. By the time Carson retired, the NBC executives had already given the show to Jay Leno.
Classic gags included
- Stupid Pet Tricks
- Stupid Human Tricks
- Viewer Mail
- Velcro Suit
- Suit of Rice Crispies
- Dumb Ads
- Small Town News
- Ask Larry Bud Melman