History Series / TheLateShowWithDavidLetterman

* CanadaEh: Paul Shaeffer is a proud Canadian who wears the "Snowflake" lapel pin that signifies him as a Member of the Order of Canada at all times. When Creator/MichaelJFox made an appearance without his own pin, Shaeffer called him out and Fox made sure to wear it for subsequent interviews.
* CasanovaWannabe: Announcer Alan Kalter.

* TheChewToy: Poor Alan Kalter (aka TheAnnouncer).

* ClusterFBomb: In 1994, Music/{{Madonna}} dropped the F-word at least 13 times, which were all censored, during her interview, and tried to get Letterman to smell her panties.

* ComicBooks: Bizarrely, Letterman [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/DaveAvengers.jpg was in an issue of]] ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'' in 1984. A parody version of Letterman ("David Endochrine") was murdered (along with his audience) by ComicBook/TheJoker in Creator/FrankMiller's ''ComicBook/BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns''. Funnily enough, David Endocrhine was voiced by Creator/ConanOBrien in the [[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns animated adaptation]], and come 2015, the cast of ''Film/AvengersAgeofUltron'' would feature heavily... on ''Series/JimmyKimmelLive''.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.
* GreetingGestureConfusion: In 2012, he took to fist-bumping some of his guests, specifically the "exploding" variety. Most of the time his guests are confused - often thinking he's going for a traditional handshake - but every once in a while someone (who has probably been prepped beforehand, or is a regular viewer) joins in on both the bump and the explosion, at which point Dave is both impressed and amused.

* TakeThat: To absolutely anyone and anything you can possibly imagine, including [[SelfDeprecation himself]].

* ManOnFire: When [[Film/ManOnFire the movie of the same name]] was coming out, Dave would have a guy running around the stage screaming with his shirt on fire until he ran to the back and the fire was extinguished.

* FreakOut: Dave was witness to Craig Nicholls from Music/TheVines having one of the biggest freak-outs ever during a 2003 appearance, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBKm966ACdQ creating some incredibly uncomfortable television]] in the process. Even ''Dave'' couldn't play that one off. [[note]]It later turned out Nicholls has UsefulNotes/AspergerSyndrome.[[/note]]

''The Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night TalkShow hosted by Creator/DavidLetterman on Creator/{{CBS}}, the first iteration of the ''[[Series/TheLateShow Late Show]]'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993. The show's music director and leader of the house band, the CBS Orchestra, was Paul Shaffer. The head writer was Matt Roberts and the announcer was Alan Kalter.

In 2002, ''The Late Show with David Letterman'' was ranked No. 7 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time. As host of both ''Late Night'' and ''Late Show'' for more than 30 years, Letterman surpassed Creator/JohnnyCarson as the longest running late-night talk show host in 2013. That same year, ''Late Night'' and ''Late Show'' were ranked at #41 on TV Guide's 60 Best Series of All Time.

** When Letterman left for CBS, NBC threatened one over the "intellectual property" of Stupid Pet Tricks and the Top Ten list, until both Letterman and Leno's mockery embarrassed them out of it. Among the problems with the lawsuit: Top ten lists had been [[OlderThanTheyThink done for years by people before Letterman]], and [[WhatAnIdiot Letterman actually owned the Stupid Pet Tricks property from an earlier show of his]].

** The show's ChristmasEpisode always featured a few regular bits: Paul Shaffer reminiscing about his time working on a Music/{{Cher}} variety show and her performance of "O Holy Night," complete with an imitation; Jay Thomas telling his famous story about an adventure with Clayton Moore of ''Series/TheLoneRanger'', followed by Thomas and Dave competing to see who could knock a meatball off a pizza on top of a Christmas tree by throwing footballs at it; and a special performance by Darlene Love singing "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)," Letterman's favorite Christmas song.

* ManipulativeEditing: PlayedForLaughs, of course. He once cut up a John [=McCain=] speech to make it seem like [=McCain=] was calling UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt his "close personal friend."[[note]][=McCain=] was eight years old when FDR died.[[/note]] Dave even once ''called'' it "Great Moments in Unfair Editing."

** Dave wasn't in on Creator/JoaquinPhoenix's bizarre in-character appearance in 2009, but Joaquin's subtle {{Corpsing}} at a couple of Letterman's quips probably tipped him off as to what was going on (He was pretending to have a CreatorBreakdown [[invoked]] as a commentary that CelebrityIsOverrated). In a later appearance Phoenix pointed out that he actually broke character at the very end, getting up and shaking his hand with surprising energy compared to the lethargic interview.

** He did a week of shows in LA in 1994, during which Johnny Carson made a couple cameos that turned out to be his final television appearances.

** Larry "Bud" Melman [=-->=] Calvert [=DeForest=].