Name: David Letterman Press Conference, January 14, 1993, Raw Footage
Uploaded: 2017-07-01T03:35:18.000Z
Description: Watch the stand-up comedy video 'David Letterman Press Conference, January 14, 1993, Raw Footage' from Don Giller on Comedy Buff. Published 2017-07-01. Transcript available.

Watch the stand-up comedy video 'David Letterman Press Conference, January 14, 1993, Raw Footage' from Don Giller on Comedy Buff. Published 2017-07-01. Transcript available.

David Letterman Press Conference, January 14, 1993, Raw Footage

Is there more blue slips coming in this way than you would like?
Thank you.
I'm going to come out of the front.
Come on, Rob.
You're more interested to the lighting.
Are you getting closer?
What is it?
We probably just met.
And the guy, Rob, can you back up a little bit?
Can you back up?
I can't go any wider.
Just a fish, Ben.
Right here.
Nice cigar.
Oh, yeah, sure.
Just a fish.
Would you like David's cigar?
For sure.
Just a fish.
Would you like David's cigar?
I admired it previously.
Thanks for coming.
Good night, everybody.
Would you like this one, please?
How late is Photoman open?
All right.
Okay.
Let's just sit there.
Thank you.
Let me sit over there and figure out any other questions.
Well, yes.
I like these chairs.
If anyone doesn't know them, this is Peter LaSalle, executive producer of what
used to be called
something with David Letterman, and Rob Morton on my right.
This, of course, is our chief executive officer and everything else.
And this, he's famous.
It's, and somewhere in the room is the vice president of late night, Rod Perth,
I believe.
You can wave.
There's Rod Perth.
And somewhere out in the hinterland at the other end of cameras is our
distinguished president
of entertainment, Jeff Sagansky.
Jeff, where are you?
Sure.
Thank you very much.
Now, what happens if I have to move?
And before I introduce David Letterman and Larry Tish, I also, at this time,
would like
to thank Michael Ovitz, Lee Gabler, and, and CEA for a negotiation of matchless
skill and
great integrity.
Four or five years ago, the beat was too long.
It won't make the cut.
Five, four or five years ago, when Larry charged us with making the network
number one in prime
time, we had a lot of goals.
And one of them was to get the morning news back on track.
First of all, get the morning news back and then get that up.
But the most elusive goal was, was late night television.
It has been for CBS for decades.
It's the empty piece in a jigsaw puzzle that's glared at us over the decades.
And there seemed, from two years ago, three years ago, clear to me that there
was only
one person to fill it.
The other day I was asked, I, I, I, I suggested that David Letterman was in the
great, beyond
the fringe, Monty Python, Saturday Night Live tradition, and, and Dudley Moore
was being
interviewed, and he was asked if he agreed with that.
And I was put in the spot because they said, Howard Stringer says, says that
David is in
the great tradition.
And Dudley Moore thought for a few moments, and he said, absolutely, he said, I,
I love to
watch that show.
He's smart, he's sophisticated, he's quick, he'd fit in.
And for years, um, I thought the same thing.
It's a show I watched with great regularity, and it seemed to me that it, it
was a, he would
be a signature for this network, the likes of which we haven't seen in years,
for all
those reasons.
Because he's smart, because he's thoughtful, because he's original, because he's
daring,
and he's fun.
And he's going to get his own back on anything I say about it.
So it's a great moment for CBS, if you excuse the expression, a red letterman
day.
Whoa!
My last shot of the day.
A great moment for CBS, and a great moment for all of us, Jeff and Larry, and
for the rest,
all those who've worked for this.
But before I get David up here to have fun at my expense, and Larry's expense,
and your
expense, um, it was also worth remembering that a long time ago, Mr. Paley put
up the
cash for Jack Benny at a big turning point in this network.
And Larry Tish has just done the same thing with considerable enthusiasm and
total resolution
to bring David Letterman to this network and turn another facet of its history
into something
special.
So I'd first like to call on Larry Tish to say a few words.
And I'm going to see this chair.
Thank you very much, Howard.
We are truly delighted to welcome this great star to the CBS network.
And in doing that, I want to compliment Howard Stringer and his staff for
making it all possible.
They had the vision.
They are truly carrying out CBS's long-term strategy of being number one in
every day part.
We've made it in prime time.
We've made it number one in daytime with David Letterman.
We think we will be number one in late night.
In fact, we're pretty sure of that.
And I just want to tell you, David, how delighted we are to have you part of
the CBS family.
Thank you very much, Howard.
David, it's my turn to be a new chair, Howard.
First of all, thanks to Mr. Tish, and thank you very much to Howard, and thanks
to you folks
for that stirring ovation.
By the way, I'm sorry to hear about Knott's Landing.
I never dated Amy Fisher.
I fixed her car.
I helped her with her homework.
I never laid a hand on Amy Fisher.
As some of you may know, for the last year and a half, I've kind of been
interested in doing
a show a little earlier than the one I'm doing now.
And that reality has come to pass here today.
And I'm happy because of that reason, but what really makes me ultimately very
happy and very
satisfied is the fact that I get to come here and do it at CBS.
And I just want to, at this point, thank these people for certainly their
patience.
I mean, could it have dragged on a little longer?
And I want to thank them for their support.
And also, I would like to thank them for their generosity because...
This deal certainly would have put a smile on Jack Benny's face, even in the
condition
he's in now, he would have found reason to celebrate this.
I guess what we'll do is we'll take some questions, we'll take some discussion
on this, and then
when we're finished, Colin Powell will come out and update you on the bombing.
So...
Whoever...
Yes, ma'am.
Okay, David, on your show today, you said the nation in New York defines cheap
enough
parking space.
I didn't say cheap enough, ma'am, and I resent being misquoted right off the
top here.
Could I see some credentials, by the way?
I'm paraphrasing.
Nonetheless, are you going to stay in New York with $14 million that you can
afford to be
part of your case you want?
Say part of that again, will you?
There's just one little phrase I'd like to hear again.
No, we are considering the possibility of moving the show.
We have not decided, and one of the factors is we would obviously, I think we
would like
to stay in New York because we're familiar with New York City.
The one thing that would cinch the deal probably is if we can come up with
reasonable hourly
parking rates.
Then we're here.
By the way, thanks again for that stirring ovation.
And could we get a little more carpet for this room, please?
How much of the letterman staff will be coming over to CBS for Shaper and the
writers?
You're looking at it.
As far as we know, we would like everybody who can come with us to please make
the transition.
We feel like we're very comfortable with the people.
They've proven themselves to be great at what they do.
And so we're hopeful and optimistic that everybody who wants to can make the
move with us.
Have you put stupid metrics?
Yes, absolutely.
You know, I want to also thank NBC for their patience in this because I'm
thinking if it
were me, I would have certainly gotten fed up with this situation a long, long
time ago.
And we had to do a show for those people each and every night as all of this
happened.
And I think that they certainly behaved honorably and as gentlemen.
And I do have nothing but great thoughts about my 11 years at NBC.
And I'll tell you right now what I will miss most would be the, if I think
about my years at NBC,
what I'll miss most, I guess, the back rubs from Irving R. Levine.
But the man is a master, yet there's a certain gentleness to him that I find
incomparable.
Yes, ma'am.
How would you characterize your relationship with Jay?
What other would you find?
Have you told Jay Jay to change his relationship?
No, I was not, strictly speaking, negotiating with Jay.
So we are still maintaining a relationship much as we've had since I first met
him years and
years ago in California.
So how do you feel about going up against this?
You know, I'm happy about the opportunity.
First of all, I wanted to do a show at 11.30.
And, you know, obviously there's competition in the picture now.
And we feel that, you know, we've done this a little bit.
It's not like we just got off a bus.
Well, some came on a bus.
So we feel like this is good for us.
We're eager.
And I think, honestly, that we should not have too much difficulty being
competitive.
I mean, we've been doing it for 11 years.
And let me promise you one thing right now.
Oh, I like that.
Let me tell you one thing.
This show, we're going to, when we go on the air here at CBS, and by the way,
we'll go on
the air just as soon as my plastic surgery heals.
But when we do, the show will really be much better than we used to do.
I mean, that was a contractual issue, and we said, sure.
All right, we'll let you have that one.
It'll be a much better show.
It'll be a much better show.
Okay.
I'm sorry?
You know, I'm not certain.
Do we have a...
When can you make it, ma'am?
In August, sometime.
In August, we believe.
Some critics have said that a bitter big letterman or an angry big letterman is
a funnier big letterman.
With this kind of contract, you can't be bitter or angry.
Oh, come up here and let's settle this now.
I don't have to take this.
I'm not sure how to respond to the question.
You know, with regard to bitterness, I've never considered myself to be a
bitter person.
When Johnny Carson retired and I was not given the job as host of The Tonight
Show, I was disappointed.
But to my way of thinking, it was not bitter.
But, you know, there are many, many other things to make fun of in this world,
like, you know, beginning with your tie, for example.
Yes, sir?
Do you think General Electric makes the best management of the National
Television Network?
I'm sorry, do they make the best what?
Do you think General Electric makes the best management of the Television
Network?
I don't know about that, but have you tried their toaster ovens?
They're not a bad product.
Yes, sir?
Was there ever an offer from NBC to do this?
I shall accept this over money or no offer at all?
There was a negotiation.
I believe there was a 30-day period.
I was never quite clear on a lot of this.
I just wasn't paying attention.
And I believe there was negotiation right up until pretty much the last
possible contractual moment.
And I think the issues discussed are of extreme confidence, and I can't really
get into that.
Yes, sir?
Hi.
Some of these resources in Hollywood are being quoted as the same.
It's the only way you would have stayed at the NBC if the network had gotten
rid of the Littlefield.
If the network had gotten rid of Warren Littlefield?
No, no, no.
We, you know, Warren and I, you know, I've known Warren for a long time, but
what's the point of why would you want somebody out of a job, for heaven's sakes?
You know, no, that's silly.
I'm sorry.
Yes, sir, in the back.
Right there, you, sir.
Yeah, there were a lot of your viewers, sir, concerned that it changed the CBS,
but it was going to be a changing format.
Can you tell us there's going to be a changing format with the show?
Is there something wrong with the present format, sir?
No way.
No, you know, I've heard, I've had a lot of the people say to me, not only are
you changing time periods, you're moving from 1230, 1235, to 1130, and you're
moving from NBC to CBS, will this be a problem?
And this suggests, it's kind of insulting, it suggests that people who watch my
show don't understand the complexities of the remote control.
So, I don't think that's going to be, you know, I'm not, I'm not co-anchoring
the evening news with Dan, rather.
So, I don't, I don't find it as that stretch of the imagination too, too
drastic.
So, I wonder, are you going to be on NBC with the time between, and when did
you start at this year?
When did you start at this year?
I think I'm officially finished at NBC June 25th.
Were you going to be off the air as of Jun