Word: letterman
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...Late Shift, a new HBO movie about the network battle over Leno and Letterman, arrives looking like something of a period piece. It is based on Bill Carter's 1994 book, which was essentially the story of Letterman's victory: how he outsmarted the network suits and became the most sought-after personality in television. The movie, even more than the book, pokes fun at the ineptitude of the NBC executives who let Letterman get away and ends with CBS's triumphal press conference welcoming Dave to the network. There's a postscript acknowledging that the ratings have since turned...
...ideas for a TV movie ever. Docudramas that trot out actors to impersonate famous people, from Jackie O. to Roseanne, are pointless enough, but to re-create this TV-industry story for a mass audience seems the height of self-absorption. John Michael Higgins does a good job mimicking Letterman's cigar-chomping crankiness, but he's too energetic. Daniel Roebuck has the chin (with the help of prosthetics), but turns Leno into a simpering moron. Yet these characters, at least, will be recognizable to viewers. The rest of The Late Shift is a parade of TV executives known...
...good picture, in broad strokes, of how the TV business runs: badly, most of the time. NBC's executives, surprised by Carson's retirement and egged on by Leno's aggressive manager, Helen Kushnick (Kathy Bates), promised the job to Jay without comprehending how it would upset Dave. Letterman, who felt he was entitled to the Tonight post but was unwilling to fight for it, hired a new agent, Michael Ovitz (Treat Williams), who orchestrated the bidding war that had NBC, at the last minute, desperately trying to win back Letterman with a promise of the Tonight job after...
...Letterman has already complained about the movie (especially Higgins' red hair). Leno says he hasn't seen it yet, though friends have described its portrait of him. "I don't understand how such a simpleton could hold on to a major show for five years," says Leno. Still, he adds, "If I can't take it when they're making fun of me, I wouldn't be a very good sport." NBC executives have refused to comment; Letterman's camp is understandably more pleased. "It's a broad satire on the trade, and I was amused by it," says former...
WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO THAT decent man since the events in the film? Most date the start of Letterman's downfall to his hosting the Academy Awards last March. It should have been the capstone to his coronation; instead, it was a critical fiasco. Letterman's mocking irreverence ("Oprah...Uma") fell flat with the Hollywood crowd, and with most viewers. In truth, his performance wasn't all that bad, but it foreshadowed his ratings decline. Even though that drop can be explained largely by CBS's prime-time collapse (which has reduced his lead-in audience) and the loss...