Editing David Letterman (section)

=== ''Late Show with David Letterman'' ===
{{Main|Late Show with David Letterman}}
[[File:Ed Sullivan Theater - Late Show With David Letterman (3619184146).jpg|thumb|The [[Ed Sullivan Theater]], where ''[[Late Show with David Letterman]]'' was recorded]]
In 1992, [[Johnny Carson]] retired, and many fans, and Carson himself, believed that Letterman would become the new host of ''The Tonight Show''. When NBC instead gave the job to Jay Leno, Letterman departed NBC to host his own late-night show on CBS, opposite ''[[The Tonight Show]]'' at 11:30&nbsp;p.m., called the ''Late Show with David Letterman''. The new show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was taped at the historic Ed Sullivan Theater, where [[Ed Sullivan]] broadcast his [[The Ed Sullivan Show|eponymous variety series]] from 1948 to 1971. For Letterman's arrival, CBS spent $8 million in renovations.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1995-03-31-9503310282-story.html|title=Letterman's Neighbors Discover Spotlight's Chilly Side|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|author=Mark Albright |date=March 31, 1995|access-date=May 30, 2022}}</ref> CBS also signed Letterman to a three-year, $14 million/year contract,<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://ew.com/article/1993/01/29/david-lettermans-contract/|title=David Letterman's contract|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|author=Mark Harris|date=January 29, 1993|access-date=May 31, 2022|archive-date=January 13, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113042850/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,305416,00.html|url-status=live}}</ref> doubling his ''Late Night'' salary.

But while the expectation was that Letterman would retain his unique style and sense of humor with the move, ''Late Show'' was not an exact replica of his old NBC program. The monologue was lengthened. [[Paul Shaffer]] and the [[World's Most Dangerous Band]] followed Letterman to CBS, but they added a brass section and were [[rebranded]] the [[CBS Orchestra]] (at Shaffer's request); a small band had been mandated by Carson while Letterman occupied the 12:30 slot. Additionally, because of intellectual property disagreements, Letterman was unable to import many of his ''Late Night'' segments verbatim,<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.oocities.org/davidletterman82/TimeAugust1993Article.html|magazine=Time|title=Stupid Talk Show Tricks| author=Richard Corliss |date=August 2, 1993|access-date=December 8, 2011}}</ref> but he sidestepped this problem by simply renaming them (the "Top Ten List" became the "Late Show Top Ten", "Viewer Mail" became the "CBS Mailbag", etc.). ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine wrote, "Letterman's innovation ... gained power from its rigorous formalism"; as his biographer [[Jason Zinoman]] puts it, he was "a fascinatingly disgruntled eccentric trapped inside a more traditional talk show".<ref>[https://time.com/4728313/david-letterman-jason-zinoman/ "Letterman: A TV Traditionalist With a Weird Streak"] by Daniel D'Addario, ''Time'',  April 17, 2017, p.&nbsp;56</ref>