This Date in History

Final episode of Late Night with David Letterman
1993

Late Night with David Letterman airs its last episode. NBC had been showing reruns of the program since June, when Letterman made his last original episode, with guest Tom Hanks.

Offbeat comic Letterman, passed over by NBC for the host's seat on The Tonight Show after Johnny Carson's retirement, left NBC to launch a show on rival network CBS.

David Letterman was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1947. From an early age, he aspired to host his own talk show. He became a stand-up comic and a wacky weatherman on a local TV station. After years on the stand-up comedy circuit, he made his first appearance on The Tonight Show in 1978 and served as the program's guest host 50 times. In 1980, Letterman had a short-lived morning variety show, The David Letterman Show, which won two Emmys.

He launched his popular late-night TV show in 1982. His offbeat humor and goofy stunts spoofed traditional talk shows. By performing stunts like wearing a Velcro suit and throwing himself at a wall or tossing eggs into a giant electric fan, Letterman gained a devoted following, especially among college students. Regular features included his "Top Ten List," "Stupid Pet Tricks," and tours of the neighborhood. He also frequently wandered with his camera into other NBC shows in progress. The show won five Emmys and 35 nominations during the course of its more than 11-year run.

When Johnny Carson announced his retirement in 1992, Letterman and rival comic Jay Leno engaged in a heated battle for the coveted job. When Leno was chosen as Carson's successor, Letterman left NBC for CBS, where his new program, Late Show, outperformed Leno's show almost every week in its first year. However, Leno pulled ahead the following year and maintained a strong lead. Letterman underwent emergency heart surgery in 2000 and was off the show for five weeks.



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