David Letterman | Biography & Facts - Britannica

Late Show with David Letterman

When Carson announced his retirement in 1992, a very public search ensued for his replacement. Although it was believed that Carson favored Letterman as host—Carson later regularly sent Letterman jokes for his monologues—NBC executives eventually chose Jay Leno, leaving Letterman in the time slot immediately after in an attempt to retain his high ratings. The following year, however, Letterman announced that he was leaving NBC to join competing network CBS. His new show, the Late Show with David Letterman, was placed opposite The Tonight Show. Critics immediately questioned whether Letterman and his ironic, abrasive, flippant humor would appeal to the mainstream audience of the earlier hour. Following its August 1993 debut, however, the Late Show with David Letterman put that concern to rest by drawing considerably more viewers than Jay Leno’s The Tonight Show, which, under Carson, had reigned for nearly three decades as the leading American late-night offering.

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In 1995 Letterman was selected to host that year’s Academy Awards ceremony, but his performance—which included a running gag involving the first names of Oprah Winfrey and Uma Thurman—earned mixed reviews. That year also saw his Late Show lose its ratings edge over The Tonight Show, which began to consistently attract more viewers.

In January 2000 Letterman underwent emergency quintuple heart bypass surgery. During his recovery, various performers, including Bill Cosby, served as guest hosts. His emotional return the following month was among the show’s highest-rated episodes. On February 1, 2012, Letterman celebrated 30 years as a late-night talk-show host, which was the longest tenure in American television history. By then the Late Show had received numerous Emmys. Later that year he was named a Kennedy Center honoree.