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

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:

Late Night | New York City | Variety | Stand Up Comedy | Cult TV

Awards:

Won 9 Primetime Emmys. Another 3 wins & 80 nominations

Cast

 (Series Cast Summary - 3 of 960)

Paul Shaffer	...	Himself - Band Director / ... (1,689 episodes, 1993-2009)
David Letterman	...	Himself - Host / ... (1,553 episodes, 1993-2009)
Alan Kalter	...	Himself - Announcer / ... (462 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)

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:

The microphone on David Letterman's desk is an old RCA DX 77. It is a replacement for the original microphone given to him as a gift from the NBC crew when he left the network. A couple of years after making the move to CBS, the original microphone was stolen. The microphone on his desk is usually not plugged in. His primary microphone is the lapel clipped to his tie.

Quotes:

[David is working at McDonald's]
David Letterman: Yes. Welcome to Mc Donald's. What do you want?
Customer: Hello.
David Letterman: Yeah, what can I do for you?
Customer: Medium Sprite.
David Letterman: Yeah, what can I do for you?
Customer: Sprite.
David Letterman: Medium Sprite?
Customer: That's it.
David Letterman: That's all?
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Nanny: The Taxman Cometh (#4.7)" (1996)

Letterman reliably entertaining

I'm "only" 34 but I've been watching Letterman since I was about 13. He in fact has one of the few shows I can tolerate to watch on TV. I can always count on him to be entertaining. He clearly has it down to a science now and doesn't deviate much from his standard ritual whereas years ago it was always something new and different. That said, his ritual is actually reliably entertaining. Clearly one of the attractions to watching him for so long is the comfortable feeling one has with having the same show play around the same time of night for so many years. Of course, now I use TiVo. The bottom line is that Letterman is truly the best thing going for TV and is a reliably good and entertaining show.