Word: cbs
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...recent months, BRI, which was created by Matthew L. Israel '54, has found itself under fire from the Massachusetts Department of Mental Retardation, advocates for the disabled and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It has also been the topic of a CBS special and the target of a bill in the state legislature designed to prevent aversive therapies...
...that the dust has settled, it all seems so obvious. Of course David Letterman was the logical person to take over the Tonight Show when Johnny Carson retired. Of course NBC made a mistake in betting on Jay Leno and letting Dave slip away to CBS. Of course Letterman's hip, edgy 12:30 a.m. sensibility could be adapted for a more mainstream audience...
...Bill Carter reveals in The Late Shift (Hyperion; $24.95), his richly reported book on the network battle over Letterman, NBC's blunder was, if not excusable, at least understandable. When the network negotiated a new contract with Leno in 1991, in part to keep him from jumping (ironically) to CBS, it guaranteed him the Tonight slot after Carson left -- not an unreasonable promise to the man who had been capably filling in for Carson for four years. Letterman, who preferred private sulking to office politics, never let top NBC executives know how crucial the Tonight Show...
Letterman's ascension at CBS as the undisputed king of late night was confirmed by the Winter Olympics. Appearing each evening with his Top 10 lists and Gillooly gags, Letterman's Late Show was the Official Comedy Wrap-Up of the '94 Games. Ratings for his second Olympic week soared to 8.9 (compared with an average 5.8), the show's highest ever. What clinched it for Middle America was Dave's mom, who was sent to Lillehammer to report on the Games and banter on the air with her son. What a guy: he not only has higher ratings, makes...
...Games created as many stars as it tarnished -- notably Greg Gumbel, who did a businesslike job anchoring the coverage, and David Letterman's mother, who sent back homey reports from Lillehammer for her son's late-night talk show. Indeed, the spectacular ratings proved that CBS was doing something right. Each evening's program was crafted for maximum dramatic effect, with heroes, suspense and, almost always, an ending accompanied by The Star- Spangled Banner. Who cares if it's old news when you've got a TV movie like that...