The David Letterman Show

==Background==

==Background==

===Letterman's 1976-1980 NBC appearances===

David Letterman's relationship with NBC began in 1978, initially via appearing in the lead role as a mock newscaster on the ''[[Peeping Times]]'' sketch comedy program, a spoof of the U.S. national television news magazines like ''[[60 Minutes]]'' and ''[[Weekend (1974 TV program)|Weekend]]''. The comedy show was broadcast at 8:00 p.m. on a Wednesday night in late January 1978 as an hour-long primetime special/[[television pilot|pilot]] potentially to be turned into a regular series, however, due to tepid viewership, it never went beyond the initial airing. He then made his debut on the highly-rated ''[[The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson]]'' later that year in November, performing a 7-minute stand-up comedy set at the end of which the powerful host Carson waved the young performer over for a follow-up interview, an indication he was pleased with a comic's material.{{cite news |title=David Letterman, celebrated late-night TV host, receives U.S. humor prize |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-people-letterman-idUSKBN1CS08U |access-date=November 4, 2021 |work=[[Reuters]] |date=October 23, 2017}} Over the next two years Letterman returned to the show several times, and occasionally served as guest host in Carson's absence.{{cite news |last1=Du Brow |first1=Rick |title=Good Night to Late-Night Guest Hosts : Television: In the Carson era, substitutes regularly sat in. Although 'Nightline' sometimes goes without Ted Koppel, the fight between David Letterman and Jay Leno is head-to-head. |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-06-04-ca-305-story.html |access-date=November 4, 2021 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=June 4, 1994}} During early 1980, Letterman took a job emceeing an [[Anti-Defamation League]] event presenting the advocacy organization's award to NBC's president [[Fred Silverman]] who was so impressed by Letterman's performance at the said event that he decided to offer the 33-year-old comedy performer and writer a morning talk show on the network.{{cite news |last1=Moyer |first1=Justin |title=Why David Letterman is among television history's biggest losers |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/05/20/david-letterman-the-biggest-loser-in-tv-history/ |access-date=November 5, 2021 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |publisher=[[Nash Holdings]] |date=May 20, 2015}}{{cite magazine |last1=Browne |first1=David |title=How David Letterman Reinvented TV |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/how-david-letterman-reinvented-tv-175056/ |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20250315194717/https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/how-david-letterman-reinvented-tv-175056/ |archivedate=15 March 2025 |url-status=live |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=29 September 2011 |publisher=[[Penske Media Corporation]] |access-date=October 31, 2021}}{{cite web |last1=Dalton |first1=John |title=The Irony, Influence, and Impact of David Letterman |url=https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/news/the-irony-influence-and-impact-of-david-letterman |archiveurl= |archivedate= |url-status=live |website=TelevisionAcademy.com |date=1 June 2017 |publisher= |access-date=26 January 2025}} Silverman envisioned the new show to be framed along the lines of the 1950s CBS show ''[[Arthur Godfrey and His Friends]]''.

David Letterman's relationship with NBC began in January 1976, initially with an appearance at a TV run-through in [[Burbank, California|Burbank]]'s NBC Studios for a [[Ron Greenberg]]-produced, [[Jim Lange]]-hosted game show called ''Word Grabbers'' whose eventual [[television pilot|pilot]] would not be picked up.{{cite news |last= |first= |title=Word Grabbers |url=https://www.usgameshows.net/x.php?show=WordGrabbers&sort=0 |access-date=April 21, 2026 |work=USGameShows.net |date=October 6, 2008}}{{cite news |last= |first= |title=The Early David Letterman 1967-1980 |url=https://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2010/03/the-late-night-hosts-before-they-were-big.html |archivedate=4 January 2012 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120104125241/https://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2010/03/the-late-night-hosts-before-they-were-big.html |url-status=dead |access-date=21 April 2026 |work=WFMU.org |date=7 March 2010}} A young nightclub comic performing mostly in [[The Comedy Store]], Letterman was rounded up for the run-through with a number of Comedy Store comics such as [[George Miller (comedian)|George Miller]], [[Tom Dreesen]], Johnny Dark, Roberta Ferrill, Heather Harwood, and Alliene Flanery.

Among his numerous 1977-1978 game and variety show spots, Letterman appeared, alongside [[Arte Johnson]] and [[Jaye P. Morgan]], as a celebrity judge panelist in an episode of NBC's daytime amateur talent program ''[[The Gong Show]]'' in July 1977.

Then came the lead role as a mock newscaster on the ''[[Peeping Times]]'' sketch comedy program, a spoof of the U.S. national television news magazines like ''[[60 Minutes]]'' and ''[[Weekend (1974 TV program)|Weekend]]''. The comedy show was broadcast at 8:00 p.m. on a Wednesday night in late January 1978 on NBC as an hour-long primetime special/[[television pilot|pilot]] potentially to be turned into a regular series, however, due to tepid viewership, it never went beyond the initial airing.

Letterman debuted on the highly-rated ''[[The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson]]'' later that year in November, performing a 7-minute stand-up comedy set at the end of which the powerful host Carson waved the young performer over for a follow-up interview, an indication he was pleased with a comic's material.{{cite news |title=David Letterman, celebrated late-night TV host, receives U.S. humor prize |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-people-letterman-idUSKBN1CS08U |access-date=November 4, 2021 |work=[[Reuters]] |date=October 23, 2017}} Over the next two years Letterman returned to the show several times, and occasionally served as guest host in Carson's absence.{{cite news |last1=Du Brow |first1=Rick |title=Good Night to Late-Night Guest Hosts : Television: In the Carson era, substitutes regularly sat in. Although 'Nightline' sometimes goes without Ted Koppel, the fight between David Letterman and Jay Leno is head-to-head. |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-06-04-ca-305-story.html |access-date=November 4, 2021 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=June 4, 1994}} During early 1980, Letterman took a job emceeing an [[Anti-Defamation League]] event presenting the advocacy organization's award to NBC's president [[Fred Silverman]] who was so impressed by Letterman's performance at the said event that he decided to offer the 33-year-old comedy performer and writer a morning talk show on the network.{{cite news |last1=Moyer |first1=Justin |title=Why David Letterman is among television history's biggest losers |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/05/20/david-letterman-the-biggest-loser-in-tv-history/ |access-date=November 5, 2021 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |publisher=[[Nash Holdings]] |date=May 20, 2015}}{{cite magazine |last1=Browne |first1=David |title=How David Letterman Reinvented TV |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/how-david-letterman-reinvented-tv-175056/ |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20250315194717/https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/how-david-letterman-reinvented-tv-175056/ |archivedate=15 March 2025 |url-status=live |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=29 September 2011 |publisher=[[Penske Media Corporation]] |access-date=October 31, 2021}}{{cite web |last1=Dalton |first1=John |title=The Irony, Influence, and Impact of David Letterman |url=https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/news/the-irony-influence-and-impact-of-david-letterman |archiveurl= |archivedate= |url-status=live |website=TelevisionAcademy.com |date=1 June 2017 |publisher= |access-date=26 January 2025}} Silverman envisioned the new show to be framed along the lines of the 1950s CBS show ''[[Arthur Godfrey and His Friends]]''.

In early 1980, NBC's daytime morning lineup consisted of six game shows. ''The David Letterman Show'' was made possible by the cancellation of three of them: ''[[High Rollers]]'', ''[[Chain Reaction (game show)|Chain Reaction]]'', and the long-running daytime version of ''[[Hollywood Squares]]''.{{cite magazine |last1=Poniewozik |first1=James |title=David Letterman, Infinite Jester |url=https://time.com/3858346/david-letterman-infinite-jester/ |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |access-date=November 4, 2021}}

In early 1980, NBC's daytime morning lineup consisted of six game shows. ''The David Letterman Show'' was made possible by the cancellation of three of them: ''[[High Rollers]]'', ''[[Chain Reaction (game show)|Chain Reaction]]'', and the long-running daytime version of ''[[Hollywood Squares]]''.{{cite magazine |last1=Poniewozik |first1=James |title=David Letterman, Infinite Jester |url=https://time.com/3858346/david-letterman-infinite-jester/ |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |access-date=November 4, 2021}}