Line #42 Creator/DavidLetterman


1	[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/david_letterman.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:320:''[[Music/FooFighters ♫ And I wonder, if everything could ever feel this real forever... ♫]]'']]
3
4	->''"And now... a man who shouldn't be up this late... David Letterman!"''
5	-->-- Dave's first intro line from 1982.
6
7	->''"Well, why don't I start off with a question, here: just how pissed off are you?"\
8	"Johnny, lemme give you a little piece of advice: you keep using language like that, and you're [[GallowsHumor gonna find yourself out of a job.]]"''
9	-->-- '''Johnny Carson's''' opening question to Dave on Letterman's first ''[[Series/TheTonightShow Tonight Show]]'' appearance after Creator/{{NBC}} made their decision.
10
11	David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947 in UsefulNotes/{{Indianapolis}}) is an American comedian and TalkShow host famous for (re)defining the genre in the post-Creator/JohnnyCarson era. Letterman's shows (''The David Letterman Show'' in 1980, ''Series/LateNight'' from 1982–93, and ''Series/TheLateShowWithDavidLetterman'' from 1993–2015) came to be known as examples of the "[[PostModernism Anti-Talk Show]]", a type of program that is relentlessly [[LampshadeHanging self-aware]] and intent on deconstructing the conventions of the very medium that gives it life.
12
13	From the beginning, Letterman fashioned his persona as a smartass host who was "too hip" for the talk show format, and proceeded from there to make a mockery of the entire genre as a result — for instance, he would often barely hide his contempt for [[HatesTheJobLovesTheLimelight almost every aspect of show business]], from his producers and writers, to his wardrobe director, his celebrity guests, his sidekick Paul Shaffer, and [[SelfDeprecation even his own fame]]. All of this pales, however, in comparison to his loathing for "[[TheRival rival]]" Creator/JayLeno, to whom he lost the coveted ''[[Series/TheTonightShow Tonight Show]]'' gig after Carson's retirement, a development about which he is still clearly bitter some two decades later, though it should be noted that Leno claimed in 2013 that they weren't on unfriendly terms, and even have occasional discussions about the industry.
14
15	Letterman took frequent shots at his network (first NBC, then CBS), and then his network's parent company when NBC was acquired by General Electric. He would intentionally bomb jokes in the monologue, and openly waste network airtime on ridiculous gags whose only purpose served to illustrate simply that, "[[BitingTheHandHumor Hey! I'm wasting NBC airtime here!]]" He eschewed the typical talk show uniform of a tailored suit in favor of a tie, a blazer, khakis...and white Adidas wrestling shoes.
16
17	He dropped random things off roofs, he blew random things up on-air, he staged impromptu audience competitions (in addition to showcasing Stupid Pet, and Human, Tricks), he used "viewer mail" segments as an excuse to break into various non sequitur-style sketches, he once did an entire episode with mannequin stand-ins and prerecorded audio, he did stunts in a variety of ridiculous suits (made of velcro, tortilla chips, etc.), and essentially offered a biting parody of the [[HorribleHollywood Hollywood machine]] from the perspective of a Midwestern "everyman" who somehow found himself [[OnlySaneMan trapped inside the establishment]] at the height of its decadence.
18
19	As a side-effect, Letterman was sort of feared in the business when it came to interacting with the guests. He was intimidating, and could be somewhat mean to them. Until the late 1990s when he started to mellow down, it was fairly well-known that his only real friends in the business were Music/WarrenZevon, [[Series/WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire Regis Philbin]], and Creator/JuliaRoberts. In one interview in the early 2000s, Roberts mentioned the fact that Letterman had softened up and that now every actress was a "lovely girl". Letterman's quip was "Oh, you know I'm just woofing."
20
21	Ironically, Letterman's influential "anti-talk show" sensibility ended up ''saving'' the talk show format as we know it, which had started showing signs of rust towards the end of Carson's ''Tonight Show'' stint. Without Letterman's irreverent approach mocking the genre in the 1980s, the following generation of talk show hosts (especially Creator/ConanOBrien and Creator/CraigFerguson) would likely not exist.
22
23	In April 2014, shortly before his 67th birthday, having spent close to half his life doing the show, Letterman announced he would be retiring. A week later, CBS announced his successor would be Creator/StephenColbert, who began [[Series/TheLateShowWithStephenColbert his run]] on September 8, 2015. David Letterman taped his 6,028th and final late night program on May 20, 2015. Since many consider '' Late Night'' and ''Late Show'' to be the same program, Letterman essentially managed to surpass Carson as the longest-tenured host of an American late-night talk show by three years.
24
25	After a few years of anonymity, Letterman created a new show for Creator/{{Netflix}} entitled ''My Next Guest Needs No Introduction'', centered exclusively on in-depth interviews with the first episode premiering January 12, 2018, and with subsequent episodes premiering monthly.
26
27	----
28	!!Tropes and trivia associated with Letterman's career as a whole:
29	* TheAlcoholic: Drank heavily from his early-teens to mid-30s, stopped in 1981, notes that he was a mean drunk.
30	* CoolOldGuy: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSNi7d2u394 This interview]] features David Letterman talking with his special guest star, veteran actor Creator/{{Charles Lane\|1905}}.
31	* EarlyBirdCameo: His network television debut was [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UU-PDAQWcXg as a pit reporter]] at the Indianapolis 500 in 1971. More recently he co-owns the Rahal-Letterman team in UsefulNotes/IndyCar racing, with multiple champion Bobby Rahal.
32	* TheEponymousShow: Letterman's first morning show on NBC was ''The David Letterman Show''. But even today, his various incarnations are all lumped together under his name (e.g. "[X] was on ''David Letterman'' last night").
33	* GameShow:
34	** Dave appeared on many games from about 1975-80, and occasionally said "[[Series/{{Concentration}} Not a match, the board goes back.]]" on ''Late Night'' and ''Late Show'' when a joke falls flat. He's also done several parodies, which you can watch on the GameShowAppearance page.
35	** Dave also hosted a disastrous Game Show pilot from Creator/BobStewart called ''The Riddlers'' (which was a reworking of Stewart's earlier ''Series/{{Jackpot}}''). The pilot has been shown on Creator/{{GSN}}, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHJDu-hPhDo and here]] you can see him talk with Michael [=McKean=] about it.
36	* LetsGetDangerous: As flippant as he could be and with the chaos of the show, there were numerous times when he demonstrates a keen skill as a conversationalist. He would have politicians on as well as people from recent events and was more than capable of making them feel comfortable and able to share their story and opinions.
37	* OldShame: He made an attempt at an acting career and had a handful of guest spots in TV, even auditioning for the lead role in ''Film/{{Airplane}}''. He was never that comfortable as a traditional actor and would sometimes show clips for SelfDeprecation, but he was also not an especially big fan of stand up comedy either, seeing it mostly as a stepping stone to become a talk show host where he was most interested.
38	* SpinOffCookbook: From ''The Late Show with David Letterman'':
39	** ''Home Cookin' with Dave's Mom'', written by Dave's mom Dorothy.
40	** ''David Letterman's Book of Top Ten Lists and Zesty Lo-Cal Chicken Recipes'', which didn't actually contain any recipes.
41	* WithLyrics: One segment of his 1980 morning show featured singer Harve Mann performing a vocal version of the show's InstrumentalThemeTune ("It's not just talk, it's not just comedy, it's a mixture of the two--it's talk and comedy"). For the final segment of the final episode, Letterman brought back Mann to sing a rewritten version that was a hilarious mean-spirited TakeThat to the GameShow that would take over the timeslot, ''[[Series/{{Gambit}} Las Vegas Gambit]]''.
42	-->It's in Las Vegas\
43	Well, in a studio\
44	We don't really show you Vegas\
45	But we're there, tho

Context Creator / DavidLetterman