Re: CBS press releases for Letterman's anniversary

stephentimko@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
01.30.2007 FACTS FROM 25 YEARS IN LATE NIGHT As of Feb. 1, 2007,
Letterman will have hosted 4,506 broadcasts of his late night
programs:
"Late Night with David Letterman" had 1,810 broadcasts and ran for 595
weeks.

Since repeat weeks are included in the 595, the total number of weeks
is 606 (up to September 10, 1993).

The LATE SHOW with DAVID LETTERMAN has had 2,696 broadcasts, as well
as four primetime specials.

With the 4 PTS, Dave will have hosted 4,510 broadcasts of his late
night programs, not 4,506.

The first face to appear on both "Late Night" and the LATE SHOW was
that of Calvert DeForest (or, as he was known on "Late Night," "Larry
'Bud' Melman").
Bill Murray was the first guest on the premiere broadcasts of both
"Late Night" and the LATE SHOW and will be the guest on the Feb. 1,
2007 LATE SHOW broadcast, 25 years after his first appearance on Feb.
1, 1982.
Over 25 years, "Late Night with David Letterman" and the LATE SHOW
with DAVID LETTERMAN have won 14 Emmy Awards and have been honored
with a staggering 89 Emmy nominations. Additionally, Letterman's
daytime program, "The David Letterman Show" earned two Emmy Awards and
five Emmy nominations.
As of Feb. 1, 2007, there will have been 14,772 guest appearances in
25 years on Letterman's late night shows:
Late Night -- 5,850 guest appearances
LATE SHOW -- 8,922 guest appearances
As of Feb. 1, 2007, there will have been 750 appearances by 521
different sports figures:
"Late Night" -- 327 appearances by 233 different stars
LATE SHOW -- 423 appearances by 288 different stars
Letterman has presented 110 Stupid Pet Trick segments:
"Late Night" -- 72 segments
LATE SHOW -- 38 segments
Letterman has presented 73 Stupid Human trick segments:
"Late Night" -- 30 segments
LATE SHOW -- 43 segments
As of Feb. 1, 2007, there will have been 3,417 music performances and
appearances by 1,820 different artists:
"Late Night" -- 1,099 appearances by 605 different artists
LATE SHOW -- 2,318 appearances by 1,215 different artists
The "king" of "Late Night" appearances was sportscaster Marv Albert
with 73 to his credit.

79.

Other top guests were:
Richard Lewis 48 appearances

George Miller, Tom Brokaw 40 appearances

Tom: 43.

Jay Leno 39 appearances

41.

Teri Garr, Robert Klein 30 appearances

Klein: 31.

Regis Philbin holds the title of most LATE SHOW appearances with a
total of 95.

96.

Other top LATE SHOW guest appearances (as of Feb. 1,
2007) are:
Tony Randall 71 appearances

74.

Marv Albert 44 appearances
Jack Hanna 43 appearances
Dan Rather 42 appearances

47.

Richard Simmons 41 appearances
Tom Brokaw 36 appearances

37.

"Late Night's" top musical guests (including sit-ins with the band):
David Sanborn 24 appearances

114.

Tower of Power 10 appearances

21.

Warren Zevon, Belinda Carlisle 9 appearances
Lyle Lovett, Dolly Parton, Lou Reed: 8 appearances
The LATE SHOW's top musical guests (including sit-ins with the band):
Warren Zevon 26 appearances

31.

Elvis Costello 18 appearances

21.

Lyle Lovett, David Sanborn 16 appearances

Lovett: 18.
Sanborn: 17.

Emmylou Harris 15 appearances
Sheryl Crow, Willie Nelson 14 appearances

Willie Nelson: 16.

Darlene Love, Natalie Merchant, Bonnie
Raitt, Tricia Yearwood 13 appearances

Bonnie Raitt: 14.
Tricia Yearwood: 13.

The very first Top Ten List -- "Things That Almost Rhyme with Peas"
-- was presented on Sept. 18, 1985. In 25 years, Letterman will have
presented 3,325 Top Ten Lists on his program:
"Late Night" -- 1,009 lists
LATE SHOW -- 2,316 lists
Letterman's fictional Top Ten Office has made its home in 11
different cities. The state of Nebraska earns the distinction of
having the most Top Ten Home Offices than any other state, with a
total of three. The Top Ten Home Offices from all 25 years are:
Milwaukee, Wisc. (the first "Late Night" home office)
Lebanon, Pa.
Lincoln, Neb.
Oklahoma City, Okla.
Omaha, Neb.
Scottsdale, Ariz.
Tahlequah, Okla.
Oneonta, N.Y. (the last "Late Night" home Office)
Sioux City, Iowa (the first LATE SHOW home office)
Grand Rapids, Mich.
Wahoo, Neb. (the current LATE SHOW home office)
Letterman and his writers have published four best-selling Top Ten
books, each a collection of the funniest, silliest and just-plain
absurd Top Ten Lists taken directly from the late night programs. They
are:
The Late Night with David Letterman Book of Top Ten Lists (1990)
An Altogether New Book of Top Ten Lists (1991)
David Letterman's Book of Top Ten Lists and Zesty Lo-Cal Chicken
Recipes (1995)
David Letterman's New Book of Top Ten Lists and Wedding Dress Patterns
for the Husky Bride (1996)
The LATE SHOW has also produced its own CD, "Live on Letterman,"
which was released on Nov. 18, 1997 and featured music performances on
the LATE SHOW from artists such as Lenny Kravitz, Elvis Costello &
Burt Bacharach, Dave Matthews Band and Sheryl Crow.
The "Late Night" and LATE SHOW theme songs were both written and
composed by Paul Shaffer.
Letterman has taken his show on the road 18 times in 20 years at 16
different venues.
On "Late Night," Letterman donned a number of different "suits." Most
memorable was the "Suit of Velcro," which he first wore on Feb. 28,
1984. While wearing the suit, he ran, jumped on a trampoline and
hurled himself at a Velcro wall, to which he stuck. Other "suits" have
included:
*Suit of Alka-Seltzer -- Wearing protective goggles and an oxygen
tank, he was lowered into a 1,000-gallon tank of water, whereupon his
suit began to fizz and vaporize.
* Suit of Magnets -- He attached himself to the door of an oversized
GE refrigerator.
* Suit of Marshmallows -- An attempt to roast the marshmallows by a
propane torch failed, so the studio audience got to snack on Dave.
* Suit of Chips -- Dave was lowered into a glass tank filled with
1,000 gallons of yogurt dip.
* Suit of Rice Krispies -- He "snap, crackled and popped" after being
dunked in a large tub of milk.
* Suit of Suet -- Dave donned a suit of suet-and-birdseed packets and
entered a pen of farm animals (including goats and chickens) that fed
on him.
* Suit of Sponges -- He was dunked in a 1,000-gallon glass tank of
water and tipped the scale at 500 pounds.
Comedian Chris Elliott played many memorable characters on "Late
Night." Among them:
The Guy under the Seats
Marlon Brando
Morton Downey Jr.
The Fugitive Guy
The Nervous Guy
The Panicky Guy
The Regulator Guy
The Conspiracy Guy

01.30.2007 THE TOP TEN LIST On Sept. 18, 1985, David Letterman
presented the very first of his now classic litanies -- the Top Ten
List. Since the debut of that very first list -- "Top Ten Things That
Almost Rhyme with Peas" -- the almost-nightly comedy segment has
remained one of his most popular and imitated comedy features.
Considered by some as a barometer of national mood and the news of the
day, most of the lists are topical, some are silly, but all are
guaranteed to offer viewers 10 of the funniest one-liners on
television.
Throughout the years, many guests have appeared on Letterman's late
night programs to deliver and/or present the evening's Top Ten List.
Among them: President George W. Bush, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Al
Gore, John Kerry, Salman Rushdie, Johnny Carson, former New York City
Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, Sen. Charles Schumer, Henry Kissinger, Newt
Gingrich, the casts of "The Sopranos" and "The Simpsons," James Earl
Jones, Sean "Diddy" Combs, John McEnroe, George Steinbrenner, the New
York Yankees, the New England Patriots, Reggie Miller, Walter
Cronkite, Martha Stewart, Britney Spears, Kevin Spacey, Gwyneth
Paltrow, John Malkovich, the participants of "Survivor," Dr. Phil
McGraw, Billy Bob Thornton, Mike Myers and Larry David, to name a few.
As of Feb. 1, 2007, Letterman will have presented 2,325 Top Ten Lists
(1,009 lists on "Late Night" and 2,316 on the LATE SHOW) in 25 years.

1,032 on LNwDL.

For the record, the following is the very first Top Ten List that was
presented on "Late Night with David Letterman:"
"Top Ten Words That Almost Rhyme with Peas"
(from "Late Night with David Letterman, Sept. 18, 1985)
·10. Heats
9. Rice
·8. Moss
·7. Ties
·6. Needs
·5. Lens
·4. Ice
·3. Nurse
·2. Leaks
1. Meats


01.30.2007 DAVID LETTERMAN (Host, LATE SHOW with DAVID LETTERMAN)
David Letterman marks his 25th year in late night comedy on Feb. 1,
2007, and this year also marks his 14th tenthyear as the host of the
LATE SHOW with DAVID LETTERMAN on CBS. After more than 4,500 late
night broadcasts, he remains one of the most influential personalities
in the history of television. Other than the late Johnny Carson, who
hosted "The Tonight Show" for 30 years, no other late night host comes
near Letterman in longevity, critical praise and award recognition.
Often imitated but never matched, Letterman presents, night after
night, an unpredict-ableunpredictable hour of innovative comedy.
Television critics agree. The New York Times says that "at his best,
nobody is more subversively funny or more appealing" than Letterman.
The New York Daily News calls him the "grand poobah of late night,"
while the Sacramento Bee calls him one of "show business's biggest
forces."
Letterman's first network break came in 1978 as a performer on the
CBS variety series "Mary," starring Mary Tyler Moore. In November of
that year, he made the first of his 22 appearances on "The Tonight
Show Starring Johnny Carson." He also guest-hosted "Tonight" numerous
times.
From the start, Letterman has been critically applauded for
redefining the talk-show genre. In 1992, he received the prestigious
George Foster Peabody Award for taking "one of TV's most conventional
and least inventive forms - the talk show - and infusing it with
freshness and imagination." Letterman has also won two American Comedy
Awards as Funniest Male Performer in a Television Series, and in 1995
and 2001 he was nominated for a Career Achievement Award by the
Television Critics Association.
In 1980, Letterman began hosting an Emmy Award-winning morning comedy-
variety program, "The David Letterman Show," which ran for three
months on NBC, winning two Emmys and honored with five Emmy
nominations. His critically acclaimed showBoth "Late Night with David
Letterman" premiered in February 1982. Throughout its 111⁄2 years, "Late
Night" was honored with manyand CBS's LATE SHOW with DAVID LETTERMAN
have earned countless awards, including five five Emmys and 4035 Emmy
nominations. (The LATE SHOW alone has received 35 Emmy nominations and
won eight Emmys, including six total for Outstanding Variety, Music or
Comedy Program in 1994, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002.) In addition,
Letterman's morning program, "The David Letterman Show," won two Emmys
and was honored with five nominations.
On Aug. 30, 1993, the LATE SHOW with DAVID LETTERMAN made its debut,
quickly becoming one of the most talked about and critically acclaimed
programs of the year. Now, over a decade later, the LATE SHOW
continues to deliver inventive and imaginative comedy every night. For
its efforts, it has earned nine Emmy Awards and 54 Emmy nominations,
including six Emmys for "Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy
Program."
From the start, Letterman has been critically applauded for
redefining the talk show genre. In 1992, he received the prestigious
George Foster Peabody Award for taking "one of TV's most conventional
and least inventive forms -- the talk show -- and infusing it with
freshness and imagination." Letterman has also won two American Comedy
Awards as "Funniest Male Performer in a Television Series," and in
both 1995 and 2001, he was nominated for a Career Achievement Award by
the Television Critics Association. Letterman was also honored as
"Favorite Late Night Talk Show Host" at the 31st Annual People's
Choice Awards in 2005.
Letterman was born in Indianapolis. His birth date is April 12.

01.30.2007 PAUL SHAFFER (Musical Director, LATE SHOW with DAVID
LETTERMAN) Paul Shaffer has been David Letterman's musical director
and sidekick for 25 years.
He began his career in 1972 as musical director of the Toronto
production of "Godspell." He played piano in "The Magic Show" on
Broadway in 1974, then spent the next five years with the original
"Saturday Night Live," for which he played keyboards, composed special
musical material and, in 1980, became a featured performer.
In 1977, he took a brief break from the show to star in the CBS
comedy series "A Year at the Top," produced by Norman Lear and Don
Kirshner. After his return to "Saturday Night Live," he collabo-rated
with Gilda Radner on the songs for her Broadway show, "Gilda Live," in
which he also appeared. He served as musical director for the Blues
Brothers -- John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd -- on their double platinum
album and national tour.
In addition to recording his own albums, "Coast to Coast" (1989) and
"The World's Most Dangerous Party" (1993), Shaffer has recorded with
such diverse artists as Diana Ross, Yoko Ono and Robert Plant's
Honeydrippers. He composed the LATE SHOW theme song and, with Paul
Jabara, wrote the Number One '80s dance hit "It's Raining Men,"
performed by the Weather Girls and re-recorded by Geri Halliwell for
the "Bridget Jones's Diary" soundtrack, topping the British pop charts
in 2001. In 2002, he received his first Grammy Award, for Best Country
Instrumental, for the "Earl Scruggs and Friends" album. He also co-
produced an avant-garde jazz album for his mentor, Tsziji Munoz,
released on Dreyfus Records.
His feature film roles include Artie Fufkin in Rob Reiner's "This Is
Spinal Tap." He also appeared in the Mike Nichols-directed "Gilda
Live," the Bill Murray movie "Scrooged" and with John Travolta in
"Look Who's Talking Too." He is heard as the voice of Hermes in
Disney's animated feature "Hercules" and the television series based
on the film. He produced the gold-selling soundtrack for and appeared
in "Blues Brothers 2000" and composed original songs for the movie
"Strangers with Candy."
Shaffer has served as musical director and producer for the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony at the Waldorf-Astoria since its
inception in 1986. He led the band for the "We Are the World" finale
of "Live Aid." Shaffer hosted CBS's 1994 New Year's Eve special from
New York's Times Square and was musical director of the closing
concert at the 1996 Olympic Games. He appeared with the Blues Brothers
at the 1996 Super Bowl halftime show and was musical director of the
1999 "Concert of the Century" at the White House, featuring Eric
Clapton, B. B. King, Gloria Estefan, 'N Sync and others, to aid music
programs in public schools. He was the musical director of Paul
McCartney's "Concert for New York" and appeared with Faith Hill on the
"America: A Tribute to Heroes" telethon, both of which honored and
raised money for victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Shaffer holds honorary doctorate degrees from Five Towns College and
from Lakehead University, was inducted into the National Black Sports
and Entertainment Hall of Fame, and was recently awarded a star on
Canada's Walk of Fame. He is currently the National Spokesperson for
Epilepsy Canada. He lives in the New York area with his wife and two
children.

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