2:46
- ABC News
- May 20, 2015
Top 10 Ways David Letterman Changed Late Night TV
Letterman gave late night the top 10 list, stupid pet tricks and more.
2:46
4. His snark paved the way for Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart.
Letterman came to define the era of snark.
Chomping on his cigar, often impatient, sometimes downright bored by his guests, he made celebrities squirm long before the fake news hosts Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, who is taking over Letterman's late-night slot.
But to counter that, there was the goofy and vulnerable Letterman, who wasn't afraid to let his flaws show.
\"I’m naked and afraid,\" he told Jane Pauley, describing his feelings about leaving late night after 33 years.
3. He showed the way to face a scandal, head on.
When news broke in 2009 that Letterman was the target of an extortion attempt stemming from sexual relationships he had with his female staffers, the late-night host faced the scandal head on.
At the top of his show on Oct. 5, Letterman told the audience, \"I'm terribly sorry,\" adding that his wife, Regina Lasko, \"has been horribly hurt by my behavior, and when something happens like that ... you try to fix it.... So let me tell you folks: I got my work cut out for me.\"
About his stunning public mea culpa, Letterman told the Times, \"I didn’t know what else to do. I couldn’t think of a really good lie.\"
2. He built a production powerhouse.
Like Winfrey, Letterman knows his way around a boardroom just as well as his own set.
His production company, Worldwide Pants, not only produced the \"Late Show\" but was behind a number of TV shows, including \"Everybody Loves Raymond\" and \"The Late, Late Show.
So even if Letterman won't be on TV screens every night, his influence will continue behind the scenes.
1. He gave us the Top 10 List.
Thanks to Letterman, there's a Top 10 list for just about everything -- including this story!
The list was the inspiration of several writers who were ridiculing the \"eligible bachelor\" list in a New York paper and thought they could put together \"such nonsense\" themselves.
The very first one, \"The Top Ten Things That Almost Rhyme With Peas\" was broadcast on Sept. 18, 1985.
The list moved with Letterman from NBC to CBS and became one of the highlights of the program, often with guest presenters such as Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, Casey Kasem and President Barack Obama, before he became president.
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