History Literature / TheLateShift

** Played with in the TV movie where Ovitz makes his sales pitch to Letterman and Letterman's colleagues. The offer is so note-perfect and overwhelming that Letterman stumbles out of the room gasping "I feel like I was just in ''The Godfather''!"

* ForegoneConclusion: Jay Leno will be host of ''The Tonight Show'' until 2009. After a brief hiatus, he will return to host[[note]]after a similar controversy similar to the one covered in this book[[/note]] from 2010 until his permanent retirement in 2014. Meanwhile, David Letterman will stay with CBS until 2015, outlasting Leno.

''The Late Shift'' is the 1994 non-fiction book by reporter Bill Carter of the New York Times. It chronicles the early 1990s conflict surrounding ''Series/TheTonightShow''. A TV film based on the book aired on Creator/{{HBO}} in 1996.

* OldMaster: Johnny Carson. Having ruled late night for decades, he had become a father figure to many a stand-up comedian especially to both Letterman and Leno who treated him as a mentor/father figure. The fight over who becomes his successor at ''The Tonight Show'' is what triggers the entire tragedy.

** In RealLife the rift never mended between the two. Leno tried reaching out when Letterman underwent heart surgery in 2000, but Letterman never responded. When Leno got embroiled in another Late Night war - this time with Conan O'Brian in 2010 - Letterman took potshots at both NBC and Leno for mishandling another ''Tonight Show'' transition. The two did appear together in a 2011 Super Bowl ad with Oprah Winfrey and were polite and professional towards one another, but did not renew their friendship.

* RealityEnsues: Given Leno and Letterman's late night clout, there ''had'' to be a fight over who got to inherit Carson's ''Tonight Show.'' They ''both'' couldn't get the same show.

* BatmanGambit: What Ovitz pulls off: Knowing that NBC has the right to match any offer for Letterman, the agent crafts out a deal with another network CBS that requires Letterman be on an 11:30 PM show or else receive $50 million (a serious "poison pill"). It almost gets NBC to agree to hand ''The Tonight Show'' over to Letterman... but [[SubvertedTrope there was still enough wriggle room to delay the turnover]] long enough to screw Letterman and keep Leno on that show.

* DramaticIrony: The rush for NBC to find Carson's replacement in Jay Leno was based on ''The Tonight Show'' losing the younger audience to ''Series/TheArsenioHallShow'' on Creator/{{FOX}}. The show wound up being cancelled in 1994 shortly after Letterman moved to CBS...taking his younger audience. Also, CBS initially wanted to grab Leno from NBC due to his contract as fill-in host expiring sooner than Letterman's. This resulted in NBC locking Leno to be Carson's successor... and CBS getting Letterman a few years later for their late night slot.

** In RealLife the rift never mended between the two. Leno tried reaching out when Letterman underwent heart surgery in 2000, but Letterman never responded. When Leno got embroiled in another Late Night war - this time with Conan O'Brian in 2010 - Letterman took potshots at both NBC and Leno for mishandling another ''Tonight Show'' transition.

* SmallNameBigEgo: Kushnick's ego becomes so monstrous that she demands that Michael Gartner, the head of NBC News, end the network's convention coverage early when Ronald Reagan's speech goes a little long. Gartner points out to Kushnick that A.) she has no business telling Gartner how to run his news division and B.) ending the convention coverage is not his call anyway, but NBC President Robert Wright's.

* PragmaticAdaptation: The film chooses to focus exclusively on the ''Tonight Show'' battle between 1991-1993, and doesn’t dramatise the tangents chronicling Leno and Letterman’s rise to power throughout the 1970s and '80s. Nor does it give as much biographical information on many of the main players, though crucial elements were highlighted in exposition (such as Leno having promised to care for the widowed Kushnick after her husband's death). The film also {{Bookends}} with Letterman’s CBS press conference, and doesn’t depict the chapters focusing on refurbishing The Ed Sullivan Theatre, his early days on the ''[[Series/LateShowWithDavidLetterman Late Show]]'', nor the process of selecting Creator/ConanOBrien to succeed him on NBC. This was replaced by text summaries briefly explaining some of the aftermath.

* PragmaticAdaptation: The film chooses to focus exclusively on the “Tonight Show” battle between 1991-1993, and doesn’t dramatise the tangents chronicling Leno and Letterman’s rise to power throughout the 1970s and 80s. Nor does it give as much biographical information on many of the main players, though crucial elements were highlighted in exposition. The film also ends with Letterman’s CBS press conference, and doesn’t depict the chapters focusing on refurbishing The Ed Sullivan Theatre, his early days on the air, nor the process of selecting Creator/ConanOBrien to succeed him on NBC. This was replaced by text summaries briefly explaining some of the aftermath.

* MoralEventHorizon: Leno is forced to choose between keeping ''The Tonight Show'' or parting with Helen Kushnick, a long-time ally from his early stand-up days. When he tries to get her to back down for both their sakes, she explodes in a rage and accidentally reveals she was responsible for an ad campaign to push Carson to retire. Because Leno swore to Carson - his beloved Father figure - that he had nothing to do with that, he realized [[ThisIsUnforgivable Kushnick made him lie to Carson,]] which immediately ends any friendship he had with her.
-->'''Leno''' (seeing Kushnick is trying to smash a framed picture of the two of them): What? You want this broken?! (grabs it from her and smashes it with full fury) IT'S BROKEN! (walks away)

* PragmaticAdaptation: The film chooses to focus exclusively on the “Tonight Show” battle between 1991-1993, and doesn’t dramatise the tangents chronicling Leno and Letterman’s rise to power throughout the 1970s and 80s. Nor does it give as much biographical information on many of the main players, though crucial elements were highlighted in exposition. The film also ends with Letterman’s CBS press conference, and doesn’t depict the chapters focusing on refurbishing The Ed Sullivan Theatre, his early days on the air, nor the process of selecting Creator/ConanO’Brien to succeed him on NBC. This was replaced by text summaries briefly explaining some of the aftermath.

-->'''Leno''' (seeing Kushnick is trying to smash a framed picture of the two of them): What? You want this broken?! (grabs it from her and smashes it with full fury) IT'S BROKEN! (walks away)

* BullyingADragon: Letterman's mistreatment by NBC puts him in the direction of CAA agent Michael Ovitz, who was able to make the CBS deal.

* MachiavelliWasWrong: "Whether to be fear or loved?" when fighting over late night. Helen Kushnick is brash and demanding (and back-stabbing), yet effective in working to get Jay Leno to inherit the coveted throne of Late Night television. However she quickly makes too many enemies in the industry - especially with the network who really controls the show - and crosses the line when she starts punishing talent agencies when they won't send the hottest performing acts her way. Meanwhile, talent agent Ovitz takes the Soft Power approach when dealing with not only NBC but also all the other networks and power brokers in Hollywood, allowing him to negotiate a sweetheart deal for Letterman at CBS. By story's end, Kushnick is pretty much [[BannedFroMArgo exiled from Hollywood]] and Ovitz becomes President of Disney during that studio re-emergence as a media powerhouse.

* DoggedNiceGuy: Jay Leno is portrayed as such, being pulled by the executives and Kushnick.
* DramaticIrony: The rush for NBC to find Carson's replacement in Jay Leno was based on ''The Tonight Show'' losing the younger audience to ''Series/TheArsenioHallShow'' on Creator/{{FOX}}. The show wound up being cancelled in 1994 shortly after Letterman moved to CBS...taking his younger audience. Also, CBS initially wanted to grab Leno from NBC due to his contract as fill-in host expiring sooner than Letterman's. This resulted in NBC locking Leno to be Carson's successor.

** He is able to convince Bob Wright of NBC to allow Letterman to solicit other offers from other networks, both knowing that NBC still has the offer to match any deal within 30 days. (This is after Wright becomes fed up with Kushnick's stunts as Executive Producer of ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno''.) So, Ovitz is able to set up a deal in which CBS offers a penalty clause: Letterman gets a show that airs before midnight, or the network pays him $50 million. Since CBS is already offering him such a show, NBC will be forced to either (1)release Letterman from NBC, (2)immediately replace Leno as host of ''The Tonight Show'', or (3)pay Letterman $50 million.

* ForegoneConclusion: Jay Leno will be host of The Tonight Show until 2009. After a brief hiatus, he will return to host from 2010 until his permanent retirement in 2014. Meanwhile, David Letterman will stay will CBS until 2015, outlasting Leno.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Letterman decides to leave NBC for CBS after being passed up to replace Carson. Arguably, Carson himself when it became clear that he was being pushed out of The Tonight Show with no say on his replacement.
* WeUsedToBeFriends: Leno helped inspire Letterman to try comedy, then Leno became one of Letterman's early supporters. Then Leno was Letterman's most frequent guest during the early years of Late Night, which boosted Leno's profile and led to him becoming Johnny Carson's fill-in host. All that changed once Leno was selected to replace Carson instead of Letterman.

* BullyingADragon: Letterman's mistreatment by NBC puts him in the direction of CAA agent Michael Ovitz who was able to make the CBS deal.
* TheConsigliere: Tonight Show/Late Night Producer Peter Lassally for Letterman.

* DramaticIrony: The rush for NBC to find Carson's replacement in Jay Leno was based on The Tonight Show losing the younger audience to Series/TheArsenioHallShow on Creator/{{FOX}}. The show wound up being cancelled in 1994 shortly after Letterman moved to CBS...taking his younger audience. Also, CBS initially wanted to grab Leno from NBC due to his contract as fill-in host expiring sooner than Letterman's. This resulted in NBC locking Leno to be Carson's successor.
* HowWeGotHere: The film starts with the 1993 press conference announcing Letterman's move to CBS. It later flashes back three years when CBS executives try improve their late-night programming...by going after Leno.

** He is able to convince Bob Wright of NBC to allow Letterman to solicit other offers from other networks, both knowing that NBC still has the offer to match any deal within 30 days. (This is after Wright is fed up with Kushnick's stunts as Executive Producer of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.) So, Ovitz is able to set up a deal in which CBS offers a penalty clause: Letterman gets a show that airs before midnight, or the network pays him $50 million. Since CBS is already offering him such a show, NBC will be forced to either (1)release Letterman from NBC, (2)immediately replace Leno as host of The Tonight Show, or (3)pay Letterman $50 million.

''The Late Shift'' is the 1994 non-fiction book by reporter Bill Carter of the New York Times. It chronicles the early 1990s conflict surrounding Series/TheTonightShow. A TV film based on the book, aired on Creator/{{HBO}} in 1996.

* TheConsigliere: Peter Lassally for Letterman.

* LoopholeAbuse: [[MagnificentBastard Michael Ovitz]] was able to circumvent two blocking clauses to Letterman's contract with NBC this way:

* DramaticIrony: The rush for NBC to find Carson's replacement in Jay Leno was based on The Tonight Show losing the younger audience to Series/TheArsenioHallShow on Creator/{{FOX}}. The show wound up being cancelled in 1994 shortly after Letterman moved to CBS...taking his younger audience.
* HarsherInHindsight: In a case of HistoryRepeats, NBC will undergo another battle over the next host of the Tonight Show between Leno and Conan O'Brien.
* HowWeGotHere: The film starts with the 1993 press conference announcing Letterman's move to CBS. It later flashes back three years.

**

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Letterman decides to leave NBC for CBS after being passed up to replace Carson. Arguably, Carson himself when it became clear that he would have no say on his replacement.

* DramaticIrony: The rush for NBC to find Carson's replacement in Jay Leno was based on The Tonight Show losing the younger audience to Series/TheArsenioHallShow on Creator/{{FOX}}. The show wound up being cancelled in 1994 shortly after Letterman moved to CBS...taking his younger audience.

* Irony: The rush for NBC to find Carson's replacement was based on The Tonight Show losing the younger audience to Arsenio Hall's show.