For an essay on the end of “The Late Show” on CBS, I spoke to its first host, David Letterman, who was cleareyed about the program’s cancellation. Here are edited excerpts from our conversation:
What was your first thought when you found out “The Late Show,” which you helped create and where you served as the first host, was canceled?
Disbelief. Then it seemed like a botched holdup. When we got the facts about the Ellison family [David Ellison, with backing from his father, Larry, bought CBS’s parent company, Paramount Global], I took great delight in referring to the principal as the Ellison Twins. I was later corrected and told it’s just one guy. I didn’t care and I still refer to him as twins. There’s also the old man, Larry. Is it in fact Larry?
Yes.
As best I understand it, he invented the Slinky. And the Ellison twins are willy-nilly spending the old man’s money. So that was what ran through my head. Then I wondered: What the hell have they done to Stephen [Colbert]? And I would say farther down on the list is your point: Wait a minute, this used to be my show. It’s like driving by your old neighborhood and realizing that where you used to live, they’re putting up an adult bookstore.
Are you far enough away from hosting “The Late Show” that you don’t feel a sense of ownership anymore?
Yes. Time has separated me from the genealogy of the show. On the other hand, if there’s outrage to be directed at management, either real or imagined, I’m all in. Let’s go.
CBS says it canceled “The Late Show” because of financial reasons. Do you believe that?
They don’t share the books with me. All of television seems to have been nicked by digital communication and streaming platforms and on and on. TV may be not the money machine it once was. On the other hand, what about the humanity for Stephen and the humanity of people who love him and the humanity for people who still enjoyed that 11:30 respite?
He was dumped because the people selling the network to Skydance said, “Oh no, there’s not going to be any trouble with that guy. We’re going to take care of the show. We’re just going to throw that into the deal. When will the ink on the check dry?” I’m just going to go on record as saying: They’re lying. Let me just add one other thing, Jason. They’re lying weasels. [Asked to comment, a spokesman for CBS said, “Unequivocally a financial decision.”]
CBS isn’t just changing shows. They are shifting business models, leasing the time slot to Byron Allen, who will sell his own ads for his show, “Comics Unleashed.”
I was recently driving around on an interstate and all I would see was these rental places where you store your stuff. And I just thought these didn’t used to exist. You used to have to be responsible for your own stuff. But now everywhere you look there’s warehouses and rental facilities. And I think that’s not a bad parallel for what’s happening in network television. We now have this, but we’re just going to lease it to Byron Allen and he’ll make pennies on every dollar or whatever he’s making. But you know, everything changes in life, as people of a certain age understand, both good and bad.
You knew Byron Allen back when he was a teenager. Both of you, along with Jay Leno, wrote jokes for Jimmie Walker in the 1970s. Did he show signs of being a future billionaire?
No. It was like, Do you need a ride to soccer practice? That’s what he showed signs of. But he’s been wildly more successful than any hundred of us. I periodically talk to him, and neither he nor I understand how he became a billionaire. God bless him. To hell with CBS. To hell with Skydance. To hell with the Winslow twins or whoever the hell these guys are. But Byron, he’ll still be providing comedy in that time period. I think that’s a valuable bit of resolution here.
Have you talked to Byron Allen since he got the job?
No, I’m hoping if I say enough silly things about him, he’ll call me.
Do you have a favorite memory from “The Late Show”?
The band had barely quit playing and they dismantled the set and there were dumpsters on 53rd Street, and as I walked out of the building, I saw the detritus and the debris of my life at CBS being tossed into the dumpster. Now, that’s not a pleasant memory. I don’t know, talk to somebody else.
Since late night seems to be on the wane …
We still have Jimmy. We still have Seth [Meyers]. It’s not completely dead on arrival, but I would be surprised if it lasts more than a year or so. But it’s such an easy soothing format that it’s got to stay on.
You’d be surprised if late night survives another year or so?
Well, maybe specific shows. I don’t think it’ll ever go away because it’s just the best. It’s humans talking to humans.
On a different subject, when you were on “The Late Show,” you competed with Jay Leno’s “Tonight Show.” Could you imagine having Jay as a guest on your Netflix show, “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction”?
We think about it from time to time. This is not a bad idea. In answer to your question, of course I would love to. I’m sorry, did I say “love”? Of course I can imagine having Jay. I mean, when I was a kid, he was the funniest man in comedy. So, just based on that alone, why wouldn’t you?