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The show starred David Letterman.
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 quickly established a reputation for being dangerous and 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. The show often featured quirky regular features, such as "Stupid Pet Tricks" and a facetious letter-answering segment on Fridays. Other memorable moments include Letterman using a bullhorn to interrupt the " Today Show" TV program (which was conducting a live interview at the time) to announce that he was not wearing any pants; interrupting the local news by walking into their studio; and the outrageous appearances by comedian Andy Kaufman. In one highly publicized appearance, Kaufman was slapped and knocked to the ground by professional wrestler Jerry Lawler. This performance was staged but appeared quite real. Another frequent guest was the cantankerous comic book creator Harvey PekarHarvey Pekar (born 1939) is an American "underground" comic book writer. His friendship with R. Crumb led to the creation of the comic book series " American Splendor", later adapted as a movie, for which he is best known. This series eventually became su, writer of American SplendorAmerican Splendor is the autobiographical underground comic book series written by Harvey Pekar. Harvey Pekar grew depressed from his daily life in Cleveland, Ohio working as a file clerk at a local Veteran's Administration hospital. He recruited his frie who got into frequent arguments with Letterman.
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 ShafferPaul Shaffer (born November 28, 1949 in what is now Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada) is a musician, comedian and composer. Shaffer began his musical career in 1972 as the musical director for a Toronto area production of Godspell''. He went on to play piano, Chris ElliottChris Elliott (born May 31, 1960) is an American comedian and the son of comedian Bob Elliott (The "Bob" of the radio comedy duo "Bob & Ray"). Born in New York City, Elliott is an unusual comedian that made his debut playing an assortment of recurring odd, Calvert DeForestCalvert DeForest (born July 23, 1921 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American actor and comedian. DeForest is best known for his work as "Larry 'Bud' Melman" on Late Night with David Letterman''. He appeared under his own name, but as essentially the same ch as Larry "Bud" Melman, announcerAn Announcer is a voice actor who works in television, radio and film, usually providing narrations, news updates, station identification, or an introduction of a product in television commercials or a guest on a talk show. Announcers usually read prepare Bill Wendell , writerThough anyone who creates a written work may be called a writer the term is usually reserved for those who write creatively or professionally, or those who have written in many different forms. Skilled writers are adept at using language to portray ideas Adam ResnickAdam Resnick is an American comedy writer, best known for his work writing for Late Night with David Letterman''. In addition to his work on the Letterman show, Resnick also cocreated and wrote for Get A Life with David Mirkin and Chris Elliott. A couple, 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 .
The show had fun with television technology itself. There were 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.
In 1993, Letterman left NBC for a better deal with CBS, where he started " The Late Show with David Letterman". NBC had angered Letterman by breaking an alleged promise from years earlier to give him the " Tonight Show" once Johnny Carson had retired. When Carson did retire, the NBC executives gave the show to Jay Leno. (Ironically, Leno had gained in popularity due to frequent appearances on Letterman's show.) The "Late Night" time slot was taken over by the show Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Technically speaking, O'Brien's show is a continuation of Letterman's program (just as Jay Leno's version of the Tonight Show is a continuation of the show hosted by Carson), not a new series, however most sources tend to treat the two programs as separate entities since Late Show is virtually identical to Letterman's old show.
When Letterman left, NBC claimed intellectual property rights to many of the most popular Late Night segments. After a period of negotiations, the two sides agreed that Letterman would be able to take certain segments with him, including the Top Ten List and Stupid Pet/Human Tricks, while NBC would retain rights to certain other segments, including Viewer Mail and the character of Larry "Bud" Melman. 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 Melman continued his antics under his real name, Calvert DeForest.