The David Letterman Show
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about a past morning talk show. For David Letterman's first late night show, see Late Night with David Letterman. For his current show, see Late Show with David Letterman
| The David Letterman Show | |
|---|---|
| Format | Talk Show, Variety show |
| Starring | David Letterman |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | 90 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
Willie Stein |
| Running time | 60 min. / 90 min. |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | NBC |
| Original run | June 23, 1980 – October 24, 1980 |
| External links | |
| IMDb profile | |
The David Letterman Show was a live morning NBC talk show hosted by David Letterman every weekday from June 23 to October 24, 1980.
Contents |
[edit] Background
A precursor to 1982's Late Night with David Letterman, the show was a critical success but the edgy comedy did not go over well with morning television watchers, more used to talk shows, soap operas, and game shows. The show had replaced the daytime version of Hollywood Squares, High Rollers, and Chain Reaction on NBC's schedule. The president of NBC almost canceled Wheel of Fortune, but decided not to.
The original hire for the show's producer was Bob Stewart, the veteran quiz-show creator who had enlisted Letterman as a panelist on Pyramid from 1978 onward. However, due to creative differences, Stewart left the show four days before its premiere.[citation needed]
[edit] Guests
Valri Bromfield, Edie McClurg, Rich Hall, Gerard Mulligan, Merrill Markoe and Paul Raley all appeared on the show and served as writers. Edd Hall (later the announcer on Jay Leno's Tonight Show) and current Late Show producer Barbara Gaines were both production assistants, while stage manager Biff Henderson and director Hal Gurnee would follow Dave to his next two shows. Announcer/comedian Bob Sarlatte was replaced partway through the run by Bill Wendell, who would also announce on Dave's next two shows. Music director was Frank Owen. Longtime NBC newsman Edwin Newman provided live news updates in the studio during each broadcast; studio audience members would often interrupt his reporting with laughter or groans, as if Newman were an anchor on Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update.
Among guests who appeared were Steve Allen, Andy Kaufman, Wil Shriner, Judy Collins, photojournalists Jon & Keiko Alpert and Jeff Greenfield, who reviewed the first show on the air and, as it happened, was rather apathetic toward the whole thing. Bill Maher can be seen in the audience of the first episode as well (though he was not an official guest), and Conan O'Brien claims he hitchhiked to New York just to see a broadcast in NBC's Studio 6A, which has also been home to some of Jack Paar's NBC programs, later Late Night with David Letterman and now Late Night with Conan O'Brien.
[edit] Episode status
The first 30 episodes were all 90 minutes, but the show was cut to an hour for the last 12 weeks (60 shows). Of the 90 episodes broadcast, only 83 or so survive in the Late Show archives in New York. A brief clip from #90 (see still above) was shown on Dave's 15th Anniversary show in 1997, and some episodes are apparently available for on-site viewing at the Museum of Television and Radio in New York.
