Created by Lorne Michaels, NBC wanted to create another late night talk show to premiere after The Tonight Show. They originally offered the show to Steve Allen, who was the first host of The Tonight Show, but Johnny Carson decided against that and a comedian named David Letterman was chosen instead.
David Letterman's first show was on February 1, 1982, with the final show on June 25, 1993. After the battle for The Tonight Show, when NBC promised the show to David Letterman and at the last minute changed their mind and gave it to comedian Jay Leno, Letterman was angry and decided to take an offer from CBS for a late night talk show to compete with The Tonight Show.
So in 1993, Letterman and his crew moved to CBS and Late Show with David Letterman was born, beginning on August 30, 1993, although NBC would air repeats of Late Night until September 10, 1993. Up until this, all the major television networks tried to create talk shows to compete with the success of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, but all failed.
A total of 1,810 shows were broadcast during its eleven and a half year run (there was one show that went unaired due to Gulf War coverage).
Scheduling
The program ran four nights a week, Monday to Thursday, from the show's premiere in February 1982 until May 1987 from 12:30 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. Friday shows were added in June 1987 (NBC previously, aired Friday Night Videos in the 12:30 a.m. slot with occasional Late Night specials and reruns). Starting in September 1991, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson was pushed back from 11:30 p.m. to 11:35 p.m., with Letterman starting at 12:35 a.m., at the request of NBC affiliates who wanted more advertising time for their profitable late newscasts (though Letterman had a different reason for the delay: "With the extra five minutes, I will make certain that my make-up is absolutely perfect!").
Syndication
In September 1991, the A&E Network began airing reruns. The reruns lasted until the summer of 1992. E! began showing reruns from 1993 until 1996. Then Trio picked up reruns and showed them from 2002 until the channel went off the air in 2005.
Letterman moves to CBS
Letterman, who was promised the hosting job of The Tonight Show following Johnny Carson's retirement, moved to CBS in 1993, in direct competition with Jay Leno. On April 25, 1993, Lorne Michaels chose Conan O'Brien, who was a writer for The Simpsons at the time, began hosting a new show in Letterman's old timeslot, taking over the Late Night name.
When Letterman left, NBC asserted their intellectual property rights to many of the most popular Late Night segments. Letterman easily adapted to these restrictions: the Viewer Mail segment was continued on the new show under the name CBS Mailbag, and the actor playing Larry "Bud" Melman continued his antics under his real name, Calvert DeForest.
Format
Like other talk shows, the show featured at least two or three guests each night, usually including a comedian or musical guest.
Letterman frequently used crew members in his comedy bits, so viewers got to know the writers and crew members of the show. Common contributors included bandleader Paul Shaffer, Chris Elliott, DeForest, announcer Bill Wendell, writer Adam Resnick, scenic designer Kathleen Ankers, stage manager Biff Henderson, producer Robert Morton, director Hal Gurnee, associate director Peter Fatovich, stage hand Al Maher, camera operator Baily Stortz and the "production twins", Barbara Gaines and Jude Brennan.
Letterman's show established a reputation for being unpredictable. A number of celebrities had even stated that they were afraid of appearing on the show. This reputation was born out of moments like Letterman's verbal sparring matches with Cher and Shirley MacLaine.
