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Tag: David Letterman

  • Ah-Hooooo, David Letterman Will Induct Warren Zevon Into the Rock Hall

    Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos: Getty Images (John Atashian, Slaven Vlasic)

    And his hair will be perfect. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s presenters and performers for this year’s induction ceremony fulfill a prophecy we’ve been waiting on for quite some time: David Letterman will be inducting his late friend Warren Zevon, a rite that the former late-night host has expressed interest in doing for several years. Zevon, who died in 2002 at the age of 56 from mesothelioma, was a recurring Late Show guest and substitute band leader who famously implored viewers to “enjoy every sandwich” on his final appearance. Other than Letterman’s speech, the Rock Hall also announced the following artists as special guests for the November 8 ceremony: Beck, Brandi Carlile, Doja Cat, Elton John, Flea, Iggy Pop, J.I.D, Killer Mike, Maxwell, Missy Elliott, Olivia Rodrigo, Questlove, RAYE, Sleepy Brown, Taylor Momsen, Teddy Swims, and Twenty One Pilots. Additional guests will be announced at a later date. While some of these names are easy to connect with certain inductees — Rodrigo, for example, has been vocal about her White Stripes fandom, while Killer Mike made his recording debut on OutKast’s Stankonia — we can be a bit playful with the rest of the pairings in the meantime. Let’s get Flea to do a full True Colors medley for Cyndi Lauper and give Carlile the Soundgarden duties.

    Devon Ivie

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  • Paul Shaffer to Get Feature Doc Treatment (Exclusive)

    A feature documentary about Paul Shaffer, best known David Letterman’s longtime sidekick and Late Show bandleader, is in the works.

    The life rights to the story of the musician and TV personality from Thunder Bay, Ontario, who got his start as the musical director of a 1972 Toronto stage production of Godspell, have been acquired for a film to be titled Say Hello to Our Good Friend Paul Shaffer.

    The documentary will be produced by Ballinran Entertainment, Grace Street Media and White Pine Pictures, with a director still to be attached to the project. UTA Independent Film Group came on board to handle world sales after discussions this week at the Toronto Film Festival.

    Also at TIFF this week, Shaffer appeared for the world premiere of the Nick Davis documentary You Had to Be There: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution …. That film recounts Shaffer’s first professional gig as part of the hippie musical Godspell alongside fellow breakout talent like Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Gilda Radner, Victor Garber, Andrea Martin, Dave Thomas and Jayne Eastwood.

    That stage production with its improvisational comedy opened the way to classic TV series like SCTV and Saturday Night Live. Schaffer was hired as the musical director for Godspell after he made a positive impression on composer Stephen Schwartz when playing the piano for a girlfriend who was auditioning.

    Shaffer joined up with Letterman in 1982 for the launch of Late Night With David Letterman on NBC, leading the World’s Most Dangerous Band. In 1993, he made the move with Letterman to CBS for The Late Show to lead the CBS Orchestra after NBC passed Letterman over for the Tonight Show hosting job in favor of Jay Leno.

    Say Hello to Our Good Friend Paul Shaffer will also recall the musician’s rise with the original Saturday Night Live band (he played the piano when Bill Murray famously sang the Star Wars theme) and collaborations with musical icons like James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Sly Stone and Ray Charles.

    “I’ve been the luckiest guy in showbiz. I’ve had a front-row seat to music history. This film isn’t just about me. It’s about the soundtrack of our lives, and how music connects, inspires and remembers us,” Shaffer said in a statement.

    The project will be executive produced by Vern Freedlander (Grace Street Media), Craig Thompson (Ballinran Entertainment) and Peter Raymont and Stephen Paniccia (White Pine Pictures). The same execs negotiated the life rights signing deal with Shaffer.

    Etan Vlessing

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  • David Letterman Fast Facts | CNN

    David Letterman Fast Facts | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    Here is a look at the life of former late-night talk show host David Letterman.

    Birth date: April 12, 1947

    Birth place: Indianapolis, Indiana

    Birth name: David Michael Letterman

    Father: Harry Letterman, florist

    Mother: Dorothy (Hofert) Letterman Mengering

    Marriages: Regina Lasko (March 19, 2009-present); Michelle Cook (divorced)

    Children: with Regina Lasko: Harry Joseph

    Education: Ball State University, B.A., 1969

    Letterman is the founder of the production company Worldwide Pants, which produced “Late Show with David Letterman.”

    Is a co-owner of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

    Letterman has been nominated for 50 Emmy Awards and won five.

    “Late Night with David Letterman” was nominated for 25 Emmy Awards and won three.

    “Late Show with David Letterman” was nominated for 76 Emmy Awards and won nine.

    “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman” has been nominated for four Emmy Awards.

    1969 – Begins working as an announcer and weekend weatherman at WLWI (now WTHR), an ABC affiliate in Indianapolis, Indiana.

    1975 – Moves to Los Angeles and begins performing stand-up at the Comedy Store. Later he is hired by Jimmie Walker, star of the CBS sitcom “Good Times,” as a writer.

    1978 – Appears on Mary Tyler Moore’s variety show, “Mary.”

    November 1978 – Makes the first of 22 appearances on “The Tonight Show” hosted by Johnny Carson. Letterman also serves as a guest host on “The Tonight Show” several times.

    June 23, 1980-October 24, 1980 – Hosts “The David Letterman Show,” a daytime talk show on NBC.

    February 1, 1982-June 25, 1993 – Hosts “Late Night with David Letterman” on NBC.

    September 23, 1984 – Wins the Emmy for Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program.

    September 18, 1985 – Premiere of the “Top Ten” list.

    September 22, 1985 – Wins the Emmy for Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program.

    September 21, 1986 – Wins the Emmy for Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program.

    September 20, 1987 – Wins the Emmy for Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program.

    May 1992 – Carson announces his retirement and speculation begins that Letterman will replace him.

    January 1993 – After it is announced that Jay Leno will take Carson’s place, Letterman announces he will be leaving NBC for CBS, and expresses anger over what he regards as NBC’s poor treatment of him.

    August 30, 1993-May 20, 2015 – Host of “Late Show with David Letterman.”

    September 11, 1994 – Wins the Emmy for Outstanding Variety, Music Or Comedy Series.

    March 27, 1995 – Hosts the Academy Awards.

    January 14, 2000 – Letterman undergoes quintuple bypass surgery.

    September 17, 2001 – Is the first late-night talk show host to return to air after the September 11 terrorist attacks. Instead of starting the show with a humorous monologue, Letterman mourns those lost and praises the city’s firefighters and police officers. His first guest, CBS anchor Dan Rather, breaks down in tears during the broadcast.

    March 31, 2003 – Letterman returns to his show after being out for nearly a month due to shingles.

    March 17, 2005 – Kelly Frank, a house painter who worked on Letterman’s Montana ranch, is charged with plotting to kidnap Letterman’s son for ransom. In September, Frank pleads guilty to a lesser charge and is sentenced to 10 years in prison. In 2007, he escapes, but is later recaptured.

    October 1, 2009 – Letterman admits on air that he has had sexual relationships with female staff members and that someone has been attempting to blackmail him over the affairs.

    October 5, 2009 – Letterman apologizes to his wife and female staffers in front of a live studio audience.

    March 9, 2010 – Robert “Joe” Halderman, a former CBS News producer accused of trying to blackmail Letterman, pleads guilty to attempted second-degree grand larceny and is sentenced to six months in jail, five years’ probation and 1,000 hours of community service. In September, Halderman is released after serving four months of his six-month prison sentence.

    April 2012 – Extends his contract with CBS through 2014.

    December 2, 2012 – Is honored at the Kennedy Center Honors gala along with Buddy Guy, Dustin Hoffman, Natalia Makarova and the musical group Led Zeppelin.

    October 4, 2013 – Extends his contract with CBS through 2015.

    April 3, 2014 – During a taping of “The Late Show,” Letterman announces that he will be retiring in 2015.

    May 20, 2015 – Tapes his final show. Counting his work on both NBC and CBS, this is show number 6,028 for Letterman.

    October 30, 2016 – Letterman’s segment on climate change for the “Years of Living Dangerously” series airs on the National Geographic Channel. The episode follows Letterman as he travels around India discussing India’s zealous renewable energy plan.

    October 22, 2017 – Is awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

    January 12, 2018 – In the debut of his new Netflix series “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction,” Letterman interviews former US President Barack Obama. Guests scheduled for the rest of Letterman’s shows include George Clooney, Malala Yousafzai, Jay-Z, Tina Fey and Howard Stern.

    February 1, 2022 – “Late Night” host Seth Meyers welcomes Letterman to help celebrate the show’s 40th anniversary.

    December 12, 2022 – Letterman’s interview with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction” debuts on Netflix. Letterman traveled to Kyiv for the wartime interview, which took place in an underground subway station.

    ‘Late Show with David Letterman’: Our top 10 moments

    November 20, 2023 – Returns to his former studio for the first time as a guest on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”

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  • David Letterman Finally Returns to ‘The Late Show’

    David Letterman Finally Returns to ‘The Late Show’

    Letterman’s willingness to appear as a guest on other programs, as well as his conspicuous absence from the show that made him a household name, led some to wonder what was keeping him from returning to his old stomping grounds at The Late Show. Some speculated that it may have had to do with his response to Colbert being selected as his successor, just a week after Letterman announced he was leaving the show.“They didn’t have to put much thought to it, did they?” said Letterman in 2015. “I think [the announcement] was the very next day.” On top of that, Colbert quickly ascended to the top of the late night charts, with The Late Show becoming the highest-rated late night television show two years after he took over—a distinction that eluded Letterman for most of his tenure behind the desk. 

    However, it was all good vibes between the host and guest during Letterman’s visit. Perhaps that’s because Letterman recently appeared on the Strike Force Five podcast, which saw late night hosts Colbert, Seth Meyers, Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, and John Oliver join forces while their shows were on hiatus due to the writers’ strike.  On Letterman’s episode, Colbert cleared up how he wound up booking the The Late Show, saying that producers approached him about potentially replacing Letterman in 2013, but that Colbert wanted to confirm that Letterman knew about their conversation before moving forward. Letterman announced his retirement about six months later, in 2014. 

    On the podcast, Letterman told Colbert that while he’d talked to producers about potentially retiring, he never had any conversations with them about Colbert or any other potential replacements. “I’m certain that that part didn’t happen,” said Letterman. Letterman went on to compare the situation to one he faced decades ago, when NBC approached him about becoming a part-time host of The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson without running the idea by Carson. Once he found out Carson was in the dark, Letterman turned down the gig and, after an infamous battle with Jay Leno to replace Carson, went on to create The Late Show for CBS in 1993.

    But now, any uncomfortable feelings between Letterman and Colbert seem to be water under the bridge. Toward the end of the segment, Letterman asked to sit behind his desk, for old time’s sake. Colbert happily obliged. “What do you think of my supplies?” Colbert asked. “Was that anything like you had down there?” “What?” Mr. Letterman quipped. “All this weed?”

    Chris Murphy

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  • David Letterman returns to

    David Letterman returns to

    Monday night’s episode of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” featured a guest who needed no introduction: former host David Letterman. 

    Letterman hosted the show for over 20 years, from 1993 to 2015. His appearance was his first time he had returned to the Ed Sullivan Theater, where the show is filmed, since his retirement eight years ago. 

    The audience greeted Letterman with a warm welcome and applause as he sat down as a guest with Colbert. Even after he took a seat, the crowd continued to chant his name. 

    “Stephen, control your people!” Letterman joked. “This is the most enthusiastic audience I have been near since the night I announced I was quitting.” 

    The comedian said it was a “delight to be back” and that plenty has changed around the theater since he left. 

    “It’s like a mall! It’s unbelievable. It’s like Rodeo Drive,” he said, referencing the popular Beverly Hills, California, shopping street and adding that his dressing room was nicer than any hotel he’d ever stayed in. “Ladies and gentlemen, this is the television of the future….I think it’s delightful.” 

    Letterman, who hosted over 4,000 episodes of “The Late Show,” said he misses “everything” about hosting.

    “Very few things in life provide one the opportunity…If you muck one up, you get to try again, and that’s a pretty good device,” Letterman said. “That was great. That made it more and more fun. And then when you do something that you’re really proud of, you think, ‘My God, let’s do that again.’ And six or seven years later, you have that experience once more.” 

    Letterman has appeared on multiple late-night shows since his retirement, but as he told “CBS Sunday Morning” in 2015, he wasn’t sure if his path would ever lead back to “The Late Show” and its home. 

    “I don’t think I’ll ever be back in this building again, honestly,” Letterman said at the time. “I think it would be too difficult for me.” 

    On Monday night, though, he returned to the most familiar part of the theater. Colbert invited Letterman behind the host’s desk so the two could recreate a selfie they took in 2014. 

    “In my day, I never would’ve let this happen,” Letterman joked. “We do this because my son doesn’t believe I had a show.” 

    Vladimir Duthiers

    Vladimir Duthiers is a CBS News correspondent based in New York.

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  • Farewell to ‘Strike Force Five,’ Late Night’s Winning Podcast Experiment

    Farewell to ‘Strike Force Five,’ Late Night’s Winning Podcast Experiment

    I’ll miss Jimmy Fallon most of all.

    Not because Fallon is going anywhere. In fact, he’s right back where he started from—once again hosting The Tonight Show on NBC, now that the writers strike is officially over. But what I’ve learned over the past two months is that Fallon’s talk show doesn’t actually play to his strengths. In an ideal world, he wouldn’t spend his evenings giggling at warmed-over movie star anecdotes or slow-jamming the news. (Do they even do “Slow Jam the News” anymore?) Really, he’s a born fifth banana whose blunders are the ideal scaffolding for savage jokes lobbed by the likes of Stephen Colbert, John Oliver, Seth Meyers, and Jimmy Kimmel.

    Those four, along with Fallon, are the hosts of Strike Force Five, a Hail Mary podcast from the industry’s five principal late-night hosts that wrapped its 12-episode run Tuesday—weeks after the merciful conclusion of the work stoppage that prompted them to collaborate in the first place. (Proceeds from the podcast, sponsored primarily by brands headed by George Clooney and Ryan Reynolds, went to late-night staff members affected by the strike.)

    The end of the writers strike is undoubtedly a net good, for both the writers themselves and Hollywood more broadly. But I can’t help wishing it didn’t have to mean the end of Strike Force Five, a shaggy, surprisingly compelling project that allowed five men who have collectively appeared on television for, oh, one billion hours to show sides of themselves that don’t always make it to air. 

    Just a few years ago, the pandemic forced the network late-night hosts (and Oliver, their one major cable equivalent) to innovate, turning their backyards and attics into ersatz studios and enlisting their families to pitch in as guests and band members. It was a tough time to live through, but it injected some new life into a staid format. Strike Force Five did something similar on a much smaller scale, unshackling everyone (except, again, Oliver) from the strictures of the “monologue, video bit, guest one, guest two” format, as well as the network standards that forbid them from swearing. They’re free to swap war stories, trade self-deprecating insults, and marvel at weird personal anecdotes, like how Colbert’s mother briefly dated Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza. 

    All five of these straight white fathers have been comfortably ensconced at their current shows for about a decade. More weirdly, all of them but Meyers admit in the podcast’s first episode that they harbored childhood dreams of joining the clergy. (“I said to my dad, ‘I want to be a vicar when I grow up,’ and he said, ‘No, you just want people to listen to you,’” says Oliver, drawing wry noises of recognition from his cohosts.) But alike as they are, Strike Force’s off-the-cuff nature allowed each to take on a specific role: Kimmel as the straight-shooting leader, Colbert as the wise elder statesman (and grade-A Wife Guy), Meyers as the frazzled family man, Oliver as the aloof outsider. 

    Hillary Busis

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  • David Letterman Revisits His Grocery Bagging Roots In Hilarious Video

    David Letterman Revisits His Grocery Bagging Roots In Hilarious Video

    By Brent Furdyk.
    Published:
    Last updated:

    David Letterman got his start in the workforce like a lot of people — bagging groceries at his local supermarket while growing up in Indiana.

    Now, the former “Late Show” host is revisiting those days in a hilarious new video he shared on Instagram, shot last weekend while he was in Des Moines, Iowa for the Hy-Vee Indycar Race Weekend, in which he .

    Letterman was visiting Iowa for the Hy-Vee Indycar Race Weekend, in his capacity as co-owner of the No. 45 race car driven by Christian Lundgaard and sponsored by Hy-Vee through the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing team.


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    In the video, Letterman enters a Hy-Vee supermarket in Des Moines, and proceeds to cause his unique brand of hilarious havoc.

    “I spent a considerable amount of my life in a grocery store in Indianapolis. And it was the last of the singular independent owned grocery stores, and I loved it and if I can give something back to the marketing community, I would like to do that,” he tells the store’s manager, “But I don’t have all day, of course.”

    After a brief tour of the supermarket, he joins a couple of staffers to stock shelves.


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    “Look at this – an open soup here,” he quipped, popping open a can of Campbell’s Soup. “Woah, minestrone!” he marvelled before taking a big swig.

    He then made an announcement over the loudspeaker. “Today only! Celery for Hy-Vee shoppers, absolutely free. Help yourself to the celery!” he told customers.

    He was also seen chomping into a donut from behind the bakery counter. “This is where they’re making their money, right here,” he said between bites.


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    Then it was onto the checkout, where he bagged shoppers’ groceries.

    “Oh are you making cookies? Chocolate chip? They’re the best,” he observed while packing items into a paper bag. “I’m going to put the chocolate chips in here with the cat food. Is that alright?” he added, before reminding the customer about the free celery. “Did you get any celery?” he deadpanned.

    Stay tuned to the end of the video, when Letterman receives an evaluation from the manager.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1d6Y0-bh38

    Brent Furdyk

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  • Maya Rudolph Says David Letterman ‘Embarrassed And Humiliated’ Her With Interview Blunder

    Maya Rudolph Says David Letterman ‘Embarrassed And Humiliated’ Her With Interview Blunder

    Before Maya Rudolph was a household name, David Letterman mispronounced hers, leaving the comedian feeling “embarrassed and humiliated” during an early career interview.

    Two years after exiting “Saturday Night Live,” Rudolph landed her first leading feature film role in the 2009 comedy “Away We Go,” which led to her first-ever guest appearance on “The Late Show With David Letterman.”

    “I did not have a good time,” she said in an interview with WSJ Magazine published on Friday. “He said my name wrong, and I just sat there, like, I grew up my whole life in love with you. And now my heart is broken. And I’m sitting here embarrassed and humiliated. I didn’t know how to handle it. I didn’t know how to come up with something funny to say. My public persona muscle wasn’t strong yet.”

    All these years later, Rudolph said she’s “gotten much better,” adding that, “when I’m uncomfortable, I try to be funny.”

    A representative for Letterman told NBC News, “We must respectfully decline comment” concerning Rudolph’s experience on the late-night talk show, which aired its final episode in 2015.

    At the start of the 2009 appearance, Letterman appears to fumble while introducing the comedian, seemingly adding an “a” to the beginning of her name. He subsequently apologized to Rudolph over the flub.

    “I’m sorry that I mispronounced your name,” he told the comedian. “I’m just a boob. There’s no excuse for it. From the bottom of my heart, I sincerely apologize.”

    While Rudolph has yet to expand on her experience, she’s likely not the only star to have a less than favorable sit-down with the talk show host.

    Last year, Letterman drew criticism on social media over a resurfaced clip from a 2013 interview with Lindsay Lohan.

    At the time, he appeared to mock her drug and alcohol recovery, prodding a visibly uncomfortable Lohan with a barrage of questions about the tumult in her personal life, including her shoplifting and seeking rehabilitation treatment.

    Amid the backlash, Letterman stayed silent. He currently hosts the Netflix interview series “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman,” which dropped its fourth season on the streaming service earlier this year.

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  • Photographer rides out Ian to capture the storm for others

    Photographer rides out Ian to capture the storm for others

    Chuck Larsen has lived on Sanibel Island for 12 years and until last week had never experienced a major hurricane. The 76-year-old who moved from California decided to ride out Hurricane Ian in his condominium with little idea of the horror he was about to go through.

    He filled his bathtub with water, stocked up on food and water, and made sure batteries were charged and his windows were rated to withstand 150 mph (240 kph) winds. He followed the forecast thinking the island would get strong wind and rain, and trees would fall, but areas to the north would take the hardest hit.

    “I have to tell you, I felt fairly safe going into this, but when the glass blew out and started shattering inside … I realized this was a problem,” said Larsen, who has since “retreated to Orlando.”

    There was another reason Larsen wanted to stay. He is the part owner and photographer for the local news website santivachronicle.com.

    “I stayed behind to record the event and record the aftermath for publication without realizing exactly how bad this storm was going to be,” Larsen said in a Zoom interview. “I tried to photograph the storm as it was happening. The high winds, the rain, the surge from the Gulf. After the storm I tried to document what was left, what damage was done, and it was horrific.”

    But with no internet or cell phone connectivity, he wasn’t able to publish any material until several days later when he was safely evacuated.

    Larsen has spent a career in television and continues to run a television distribution consulting company. His first television job was as a reporter and anchor at an Indianapolis station. One of his co-workers was weatherman David Letterman.

    Larsen was attracted to Sanibel because of its old Florida charm and the community of residents who want to preserve it. The barrier island off Fort Myers has no buildings taller than three stories, no chain restaurants or stores, no traffic lights and is home to locally owned shops. It’s famous for the thousands of shells that wash up on the beaches and is a quaint, picturesque island for tourists.

    He and his wife vacationed there a few years before deciding to move to the island of about 6,500 full-time residents. Sanibel attracts retirees — about 57% of the population is 65 years old or older — and while not an enclave for the mega-rich, the median value of owner-occupied homes tops $700,000 and its per capita income is more than $90,000, both well above state averages.

    “At the moment, it looks like nothing you would remember if you had ever visited Sanibel. It’s devastated,” Larsen said.

    While he, his wife and two dogs took shelter in an interior room during the storm, he ventured out the next morning with his camera hoping to get images for his news website, which covers community events, human interest stories and features on residents of Sanibel and nearby Captiva Island.

    “It was like living in a war zone — just decimated property and condominiums, trees gone, I don’t think there was a car that survived. It was pretty dramatic, much worse than I’ve ever experienced,” Larsen said.

    He and his wife eventually found a boat to take them to the mainland. They’re staying with a daughter in Orlando, not sure when they’ll be able to get back to their island home. But Larsen is sure they will.

    “Sanibel is a very cohesive community. It will rebuild. It won’t happen immediately. It will probably happen faster than most people might think, but it will need a complete rebuild — electric grid, water systems — it’s going to take a lot of work, but it will come back. I have no doubt about that.”

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