If you tune into
CBS at night you will more than likely run into The Late Show. This show is currently hosted by
David Letterman and features
Paul Shaffer and the
CBS Orchestra who provide music and sometimes participate in the show itself. The Late Show premiered on
CBS in mid 1993 and has always been hosted by Letterman; as of November 2009 the show has aired over 3221 episodes and has completed 16 seasons. The real cool thing about this show is that it has not changed hosts yet; most other late night shows seem to change hosts faster than
NBC dumps good shows.
When
David Letterman decided to move his show from
NBC to
CBS;
NBC gave him a hard time and he had to rename almost all the segments of his show. But the content is the same so Letterman's show has remained successful and draws millions of viewers each week. This show has been so successful that it even passed
The Jay Leno Show in ratings for 4 nonconsecutive years; this is a great accomplishment because many people did not think Letterman would be able to make it if he left
NBC.
The Late Show started broadcasting in HD in mid 2005 and the crew has since won an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video for a Series". The show has also won six awards for "Outstanding Varity, Music or Comedy Series"; these awards were won consecutively.
Letterman has always been able to get very interesting guests to appear on his program; on September 21, 2009 The Late Show featured special guest president Barack Obama. President Obama went on the show as part of his campaign to inform the general public about his new health care reform proposal. This episode of The Late Show received some of the highest ratings in late night television history breaking records set by Nightline and Tonight Show. Another very notable episode is the one right after a failed extortion attempt. A blackmailer had threatened Letterman demanding two million otherwise a book would be written slandering Letterman's name. Needless to say, this did not go to well for the blackmailer who ended up arrested and behind bars.
Letterman has definitely earned all his awards. Over the years he has proven time and time again that television after 9 o'clock does not have to be junk. So if you stay up that late go check out The Late Show on
CBS.
