"Late Night with David Letterman" (1982) TV series 1982-1993

Writers:

Tracy Abbott (writer)
Ted Greenberg (writer) (episode)

Seasons:

1 | 11 | unknown

Release Date:

1 February 1982 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Music | Talk-Show

Plot:

David Letterman hosted this popular late-night comedy/talk-show. Often, Dave would go on location or to the phone lines to play pranks...

Plot Keywords:

New York City | Run Over By A Steamroller | Cult Favorite | Cult TV | Telephone Prank

Awards:

Won 5 Primetime Emmys. Another 4 wins & 37 nominations

Cast

David Letterman

...

Himself - Host / ... (276 episodes, 1982-1993)

Runtime:

60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Carson Productions

Trivia:

At age six, Lindsay Lohan appeared as a trick-or-treater dressed as garbage for a Halloween skit ("Things You Find on the Bottom of the D Train").

Quotes:

Himself - Host: [speaking via megaphone] I'm not wearing pants!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Larry Sanders Show: Out of the Loop (#1.8)" (1992)

Letterman: The Greatest Late Night Innovator

People today take for granted the style of humor that is so common today on late night TV. Don't forget that in the 1980's no one was doing that "anything goes", "screw those executive weasels", "hey, it's only TV, let's have some fun" type of show except Letterman. Dave Letterman spawned an entire generation of pale imitators such as Conan and Leno and many others. Letterman showed just how funny remote segments could be if perform with wit and disregard for consequences. Tom Green has only the latter, Leno has neither. Letterman showed that you could do a celebrity interview show without sucking up to the guests and that most celebrities actually have a sense of humor about themselves if given a chance. Letterman also turned the cameras on regular people with no special performance talent, showing that they could be as funny as anyone in the right situation. Chris Elliott and Calvert DeForest are still getting mileage out of their appearances. Fans of the old show will never forget Al Frisch, Jimmy Fitzgerald in "Technician's Corner", Gerard Mulligan, or Chris Elliott as the guy under the seats. No one could have made "Stupid Pet Tricks" and "Stupid Human Tricks" fly like Letterman could because Dave can take any silly situation and improve upon it with his quick wit. That is truly the mark of a great talk show host and no one is better than Dave. I could go on and on about all of the great comedy bits Letterman has done over the years and a couple of them may seem relatively tame by today's standards, but no one has ever improved upon the standard that Dave has set over the last 20 years. His current show isn't as anti-establishment or daring as his NBC show, mainly because there are no more barriers to break down. But the fact remains that if you want to watch a talk show that relies on cleverness and wit as opposed to smarmy pandering or mindless obnoxious behavior, The Late Show with David Letterman on CBS is the only place to go.