Television series
The Late Show with David Letterman
Letterman's decade-plus run on CBS is late night at its most gleefully unbothered — Top Ten Lists, Stupid Human Tricks, a guy who'd rather mock the format than flatter a guest. It's dry, self-aware, occasionally mean, and never quite comfortable being 'just' a talk show. Best for people who like their comedy laced with irritation and their hosts a little bit bored by their own success.
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Late Night with David Letterman1982
His NBC years, rawer and weirder than the CBS polish — this is where Stupid Pet Tricks and the ironic-detachment style were invented, before it got safe.
But Cheaper production, blurrier tapes, and a host still figuring himself out; some bits land less cleanly.
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert2015
Colbert literally inherited the desk and the theatre, and it's fascinating to watch someone warmer and more earnest run the same machine.
But More politically engaged and less absurdist — the anarchic weirdness gets traded for topical monologues.
Late Night with Conan O'Brien1993
Took over Letterman's old NBC slot and ran with the surrealism harder — Triumph the Insult Comic Dog is pure late-night id.
But Looser, sillier, less interested in the celebrity-interview half of the format than Letterman ever was.
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
The King of Comedy1982
Letterman was famously stalked and this film, made the same year his NBC show began, is the fictional nightmare version of what talk-show fandom can become.
Scorsese and De Niro's queasy comedy-thriller about a nobody obsessed with getting on a late-night talk show is the format's dark mirror image.
But Genuinely unsettling rather than funny — it's a satire that curdles into something closer to horror.
More like this (6)
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson1962
The template Letterman was reacting against and secretly worshipping — smoother, warmer, but the same desk-and-couch DNA underneath.
But Slower pace and a gentler, less ironic comic sensibility than modern viewers may expect.
Late Night with Seth Meyers2014
A direct descendant in structure, with the 'Closer Look' segments channeling the same dry, essayistic irritation Letterman perfected.
But Leans more explicitly political than Letterman ever did on air.
Real Time with Bill Maher2003
For anyone who liked the acid under Letterman's charm — Maher just drops the charm and keeps the acid.
But No music guests, no bits, just panel debate — a completely different rhythm.
The Chris Rock Show1997no page yet
HBO let Rock be sharper and looser than network TV ever allowed Letterman to be, with the same variety-show bones underneath.
But Shorter-lived and rougher-edged, with less consistency episode to episode.
Space Ghost Coast to Coast1994no page yet
It's the absurdist DNA of Letterman's anti-showbiz talk-show persona, ported into animation and cranked past sanity.
A recycled cartoon superhero hosts a fake talk show interviewing real celebrities, and the non-sequitur deadpan is Letterman's ironic-host bit taken to its cartoon extreme.
But Extremely low-budget and aggressively weird; the joke is the awkwardness, which not everyone finds funny.
The Ed Sullivan Show1948
Letterman's show is structurally Sullivan's — guests, music, comedy bits, host as ringmaster — just filtered through decades of accumulated sarcasm.
The original variety-and-music-and-comedy format Letterman was quietly riffing on for decades — Beatles debut included.
But Genuinely old-fashioned in pacing and tone; no irony, no self-mockery, just earnest showmanship.
People
Cast
Writing
- David LettermanCreator
- Peter LassallyCreator
Production
- Barbara GainesExecutive Producer
- David LettermanExecutive Producer
- Jude BrennanExecutive Producer
- Maria PopeExecutive Producer
- Peter LassallyExecutive Producer
- Rob BurnettExecutive Producer
- Robert MortonExecutive Producer
- Hal GurneeSupervising Producer
- Jerry FoleySupervising Producer
- Jon BeckermanSupervising Producer
- Jude BrennanSupervising Producer
Recommended by
The Ed Sullivan Show, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Conan