The Late Show with David Letterman

Late Show with David Letterman
title card used during the show's final seasons designed after the marquee outside of CBS Studio 50 at the time
Also known as	Late Show (franchise brand)
Created by	David Letterman
Written by	Rob Burnett (1993–96) Joe Toplyn (1996–98) Rodney Rothman (1998–2000) Justin Stangel and Eric Stangel (2000–13) Matt Roberts
Presented by	David Letterman
Starring	Paul Shaffer and the CBS Orchestra (house band)
Narrated by	Bill Wendell (1993–95) Alan Kalter (1995–2015)
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	22
No. of episodes	4,263
Production
Executive producer(s)	Robert Morton (1993–96) Peter Lassally (1993–96) Rob Burnett (1996–2015) Barbara Gaines (2000–15) Maria Pope (2000–15) Jude Brennan (2003–15)
Location(s)	Ed Sullivan Theater New York, New York
Running time	62 minutes (with commercials)
Production company(s)	Worldwide Pants CBS Entertainment Productions (1993–95) (seasons 1-2) CBS Productions (1995–2006) (seasons 3-14) CBS Paramount Network Television (2006–09) (seasons 14-17) CBS Television Studios (2009–15) (seasons 17-22)
Release
Original network	CBS
Picture format	480i (4:3 SDTV) (1993–2005) 1080i (16:9 HDTV) (2005–15)
Original release	August 30, 1993 – May 20, 2015
Chronology
Preceded by	The Pat Sajak Show CBS Late Night
Followed by	The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Related shows	The David Letterman Show Late Night with David Letterman
External links
Website

Late Show with David Letterman is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the Late Show franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants Incorporated and CBS Television Studios. The show's music director and leader of the house band, the CBS Orchestra, was Paul Shaffer. The head writer was Matt Roberts and the announcer was Alan Kalter. Of the major U.S. late-night programs, Late Show ranked second in cumulative average viewers over time and third in number of episodes over time. In most U.S. markets the show aired from 11:35 p.m. to 12:37 a.m. Eastern and Pacific Time, and recorded Monday through Wednesdays at 4:30 p.m., and Thursdays at 3:30 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The second Thursday episode usually aired on Friday of that week.

In 2002, Late Show with David Letterman was ranked No. 7 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time. As host of both Late Night and Late Show for more than 30 years, Letterman surpassed Johnny Carson as the longest running late-night talk show host in 2013. That same year, Late Night and Late Show were ranked at #41 on TV Guide's 60 Best Series of All Time.

In 2014, Letterman announced his retirement and the final episode of Late Show aired on May 20, 2015. After Letterman's final Late Show, instead of airing reruns of the show or having guest host episodes of Late Show, CBS opted to put the show on hiatus in between Letterman and Colbert and instead aired reruns of scripted dramas in the 11:35 pm time slot over the summer with the branding CBS Summer Showcase. The show was then succeeded by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, hosted by Stephen Colbert, which premiered on September 8, 2015.