HISTORY's Moment in Media: "It's The Late Show with David Letterman!"

It was a pivotal moment in the history of network television It not only marked the end of Carson39s 30year tenure behind the Tonight Show desk but it also represented the first time CBS attempted to compete in latenight TV NBC had dominated that timeslot since Steve Allen39s Tonight tenure in the early days of television and ABC had developed a latenight news franchise with Ted Koppel and Nightline starting in 1980 After Letterman lost the Tonight job CBS saw its chanceAt the time according to former New York Times reporter Bill Carter who extensively covered the latenight wars the networks earned more than 70 million in profits from latenight amp8212 the equivalent of more than 125 million todayThe race to succeed Johnny was a comedy of its own pitting two latenight superstars who39d dreamed of the job against each other amp8212 after they39d come up together and boosted one another39s careers It involved a story secretly planted in the New York Post by Leno39s manager suggesting that NBC wanted Carson out which led Carson to blindside NBC with his retirement announcement And it eventually included Leno hiding in a copier closet in Burbank to eavesdrop on a highlevel conference call about his futureAt Late Night on NBC and in his earlier talk shows Letterman39s persona was that of a wiseass little brother He invented or at least personified a generation of ironic comedy that commented on the media even as his show was a part of it At NBC he developed signature goofy segments like quotStupid Pet Tricksquot and he often found comedy in the mundane just by being himself in unexpected situations When General Electric bought NBC in 1986 a camera followed him to GE headquarters bearing a basket of fruit His attempt to deliver it to executives yielded a genius bit of rebellious smartaleck comedyOn CBS though he was expected to turn into a grownup The network bought back the theater from which Ed Sullivan had hosted his show and lavishly renovated it for Letterman Paul Shaffer39s quotWorld39s Most Dangerous Bandquot was upgraded to the quotCBS Orchestraquot Letterman stayed goofy but he also became more serious Politicians came to visit He became known as a great interviewer He was considered a funnier comedian than Leno But for most of the two decades and change they competed against each other at 1130 pm Leno had the better ratingsLetterman probably wasn39t happy about that because he was always unhappy But when he retired from CBS in 2015 he went out the way his hero Johnny Carson did amp8212 as an idol And more important for the business of television in a landscape where many rivals to Tonight to come before him amp8212 Joan Rivers Arsenio Hall Chevy Chase amp8212 had failed Letterman built a Late Show franchise that lasted and that he could turn over to a successor And that successor Stephen Colbert who regularly beats Leno39s successor Jimmy Fallon in the overall ratings last season beat him in the adults 18amp821149 demo tooClick the social buttons to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE MEDIAVILLAGE CONTENT | BECOME A THOUGHT LEADERSHIP CONTRIBUTOR

HISTORY's Moment in Media: "It's The Late Show with David Letterman!"

Publish date

Channel

We Are the Outliers - By Jack Myers

More Videos:

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE MEDIAVILLAGE CONTENT | BECOME A THOUGHT LEADERSHIP CONTRIBUTOR

HISTORY's Moment in Media: "It's The Late Show with David Letterman!"

Enjoying This Commentary? There's More to Love

We Are the Outliers - By Jack Myers

Cookies