Word: letterman
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...much hyped premiere of Late Show with David Letterman included Tom Brokaw grabbing cue cards, Bill Murray spray-painting furniture and Paul Newman looking for singing cats. It was all very gratifying to CBS executives, , especially after they saw the resulting numbers. Letterman's show delivered a huge 32% audience share the first night and 25% the next night. On Tuesday night, Jay Leno's Tonight Show tumbled to an all-time nonrepeat low rating of 3.5 with a 10% share. Advertisers are snapping up Late Show time, and on Wednesday CBS's stock leaped...
...Letterman's standards and sense of propriety are apparent as well in his choice of material. Writers say he often rejects jokes that stray too close to tragic news events or real-life misfortune. Rob Burnett recalls Letterman turned down a gag for a segment called Charts and Graphs -- "Dyslexics' Favorite Beatles," featuring names like ULAP and OGNRI; the host said it made fun of a serious disability. Comedian Jeff Altman, another Letterman pal from the Comedy Store days, remembers a guest appearance on Late Night in which he made a lewd crack that included the word "genitals." Letterman didn...
...closest male friends are mostly comedians he met on the club circuit in Los Angeles. Even they concede that Letterman reveals little about himself. George Miller, who lived in the same apartment building as Letterman, across the street from the Comedy Store, recalls taking him along on his first three or four guest appearances on the Tonight Show. When Letterman was invited for his first Tonight gig, however, "I found out about it from Merrill," says Miller. "I was a little ticked off. But it's just because he's so private...
...guardedness, Letterman can be generous and loyal to friends. In 1979 Miller was among several comics who boycotted the Comedy Store in a labor dispute. Letterman, who by this time was guest-hosting the Tonight Show, kept performing there because he needed to try out material. Miller showed up one night to watch his friend, but the club's owner called the police and had him thrown out. "After Dave heard what had happened, he never worked another show there," says Miller. "That was quite a sacrifice...
...passed over for Johnny Carson's job, but now David Letterman is the man of the hour in late-night TV. For this anxious, driven performer, however, success is never...