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David Letterman: Difference between revisions
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As a side-effect, Letterman was sort of feared in the business when it came to interacting with the guests. He was intimidating, and could be somewhat mean to them. Until the late 1990s when he started to mellow down, it was fairly well-known that his only real friend in the business was [[Julia Roberts]]. In one interview in the early 2000s, Roberts mentioned the fact that Letterman had softened up and that now every actress was a "lovely girl". Letterman's quip was "Oh, you know I'm just woofing."
Ironically, Letterman's influential "anti-talk show" sensibility ended up ''saving'' the talk show format as we know it at some point towards the end of Carson's stint as host of ''[[The Tonight Show]]''. Without Letterman mocking the genre in the 1980s, today's genre staples (especially [[Conan O
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* [[Calling the Old Man Out]]: Kirstie Alley got one over on Dave when she appeared on the Late Show in 2011. Having been a Woobie for Letterman in the past, particularly during her run on [[Dancing With the Stars]], she brought with her Dave's cruelest jokes and repeated them back to him. The audience booed the jokes. May count as a [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] for Kirstie.
* [[Casanova Wannabe]]: Announcer Alan Kalter.
* [[Captain Ersatz]]: Chris Elliot's running characters The Fugitive Guy (''[[The Fugitive (TV series)|The Fugitive]]'') and The Regulator Guy (''[[The Equalizer]]'').
* [[Catch Phrase]]: Whenever the subject of drinks comes up, "I don't think there's a man, woman, or child alive today who doesn't enjoy a refreshing beverage."
** "How we doing on time?"
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* [[Orphaned Punchline]]: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNn60k4N9rU This clip] from a 1985 episode has guest [[Johnny Carson]] delivering the punchline to a joke that he'd started on ''[[The Tonight Show]]'' earlier that night: "And the man says to Mrs. O'Hara, 'I'm not so sure about that, he got out three times to go to the bathroom'."
* [[The Pete Best]]: Frank Owen, Dave's Musical Director for his Morning Show before Paul.
* [[Playing
* [[The Rival]]: Jay "Big Jaw" Leno became this after he beat Letterman out as Carson's successor on ''Tonight'', and Dave moved to CBS to compete directly with Leno in the 11:30 PM slot. The bad blood resurfaced in 2009 after some of the worst [[Executive Meddling]] of all time caused Leno to first move out of ''The Tonight Show'' and then back in after less than a year because of failing ratings. Letterman joined many others in accusing Leno of "reneging" on his previously-announced "retirement," although the move had been largely forced on Leno and he only reteurned after his ostensible successor, [[Conan O
** Although Leno has gotten mileage out of occasional Letterman scandals (notably revelations of Letterman's affair with a staffer), he has been much less inclined to attack Letterman than Letterman has been to attack him. The former friends' relationship remains strained, although Leno has expressed willingness to mend fences.
** Lampshaded to hilarious effect in a promo aired during Super Bowl XLIV.
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** On another occasion, he let the audience vote via applause for a "custom-built show".
** Still another episode was an "upside-down show" where the camera rotated 360 degrees throughout the course of the hour.
* ''[[Star Trek:
** How do you top [[Drum Solo]] Weeks I & II? With [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w440qVTsNUo Drum Sulu Week!]
* [[Stealth Pun]]: A staple of Letterman comedy, especially in Top Ten Lists.
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* [[Vitriolic Best Buds]]: Dave has had this relationship with several guests, most notably Regis Philbin and Charles Grodin.
* [[Worked Shoot]]: Letterman's infamous interview with actor/comedian [[Andy Kaufman]] and pro wrestler [[Jerry Lawler]] has been confirmed as a staged event in the intervening years. Dave's disastrous chat with Crispin Glover, on the other hand, appears to be all too real.
* [[What Could Have Been]]: The Super Bowl commercial with Oprah and Leno was planned to feature [[Conan O
** Possibly the biggest 'What Could Have Been' ever.... ''The Tonight Show starring David Letterman''.
* [[Writing Around Trademarks]]: Due to NBC owning the names (but not the formats) to several of Letterman's skits.
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