History of Late Night TV

David Letterman grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana and worked in radio and also as a TV weatherman. He is a graduate of Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. The broadcasting building is named in his honor. In the 1970s, he moved to Los Angeles and tried to make it as a stand-up comedian. In the late 1970s, he was discovered by talent scouts from Johnny Carson's show. He would appear on the show from time to time, and even fill in as a substitute host for Carson. In the 1970s, Letterman and Jay Leno were friends who both performed at the same L.A. comedy clubs. They were both young, ambitious comedians who were trying to build their careers. 

 

Late Night with David Letterman aired at 12:35 am eastern on NBC from 1982-1993. Late Show with David Letterman aired at 11:35 pm eastern on CBS from 1993 to 2015. So, Letterman has surpassed Johnny Carson's 30 years in late night, but Carson's tenure was all with NBC. The NBC show was taped at New York's Rockefeller Center. For the CBS show the legendary Ed Sullivan Theatre was renovated for use by Letterman. Countless performers had been on that stage including the first televised appearance by the Beatles.

 

Paul Shaffer was his sidekick. Paul is from Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, and he worked as a musician on Saturday Night Live before teaming up with Dave in 1982. Paul has a comic flair and a showbiz persona. He acted in the film Spinal Tap. Early in his career he worked with fellow Canadians Martin Short and Eugene Levy. Few people know more about the history of popular music than Shaffer. Those who want to know more about him can check out his autobiography called "We'll Be Here for the Rest of Our Lives."

 

Sometimes the Letterman crew will get some camera time such as stage manager Biff Henderson, former director Hal Gurnee, announcers Bill Wendell and Alan Kalter, cue card person Tony Mendez, stagehand Pat Farmer, etc.

 

He got to know the people in the neighborhood around the Ed Sullivan Theatre when he started his CBS show in 1993. People in his neighborhood include:  Rupert Jee at the Hello Deli, Joe G. at Joe G's Pizza, Mujibur and Sirajul from the souvenir store K&L's Rock America, and more.

 

Letterman was bitter about what happened with the Tonight Show and Jay Leno taking over the spot. Some reports say that Johnny favored Letterman but the NBC executives decided that Leno would be a better choice. After Carson died, it was revealed that Carson would submit jokes to Letterman to perform on his show.

 

Letterman is a reclusive man with few close friends, like his idol, Johnny Carson. He is hard on himself and wants to achieve perfection for his show.

 

When Letterman left NBC and went to CBS in 1993, some intellectual property had to stay behind, like the name of one of Letterman's frequent performers,  Larry "Bud" Melman. He had to go by Calvert DeForest (his real name). Letterman retained his classic top ten lists.

 

On April 3, 2014, David Letterman announced he will retire from doing his show in 2015. Just one week later, on April 10, 2014 it was announced that Dave's successor would be Steven Colbert, host of Comedy Central's Colbert Report. In December of 2014, it was announced that Letterman's last show would be May 20, 2015. David Letterman has worked in late night TV for an amazing 33 years. Colbert started on September 8, 2015.