1927 | |
11/30/27 | Hammerstein's Theater opens for its first play. On December 10, 1967, the theater takes its most-recent name, The Ed Sullivan Theater. |
1978 | |
11/24/78 | Dave first appears on the Tonight show. |
1982 | |
2/01/82 | first episode of Late Night with David Letterman, with Bill Murray, Warren Zevon and Mr. Wizard |
2/04/82 | Stupid Pet Tricks premiere (a bunny on a skateboard and a dog using a phone) |
1984 | |
1/03/84 | The Conspiracy Guy - last episode |
2/22/84 | Reverse Image Show |
3/27/84 | 2nd Custom Show |
9/06/84 | The Suit of Alka Seltzer® |
9/11/84 | Dog Poetry |
10/15/84 | The Guy Under the Seats premieres |
12/84 | Kenny the Gardener's first visit |
1985 | |
1/26/85 | NBC 3rd Anniversary Special |
2/14/85 | Jungle Jack Hanna's first visit |
2/14/85 | The Human Sponge |
5/13/85 | Los Angeles shows |
6/12/85 | the Late Night Anthem |
6/16/85 | Thrill Cam first used |
June '85 | goodbye to the old wood desk |
7/23/85 | first stereo broadcast |
7/31/85 | Miss Humidity crowned |
8/19/85 | Dave annoys the Today show with a bullhorn. The feud with Bryant Gumbel begins. |
9/18/85 | first Top Ten list (Top Ten Things That Almost Rhyme with Peas) |
9/22/85 | an Emmy for writing |
11/20/85 | "Too Tired to Do a Show" (from the 14th floor) |
11/21/85 | The Fugitive Guy - last episode |
11/26/85 | Japanese Show |
11/30/85 | David Letterman's Holiday Film Festival |
11/30/85 | the WMDB's "Dress Cool" video premieres |
12/12/85 | first Guest Cam (Tom Hanks) |
12/18/85 | first Band Cam |
1986 | |
2/01/86 | NBC 4th Anniversary Special |
2/12/86 | Larry "Bud" Melman looks for defectors outside the Soviet Mission. |
2/17/86 | Chris Elliott as Gerard Mulligan's baby |
2/17/86 | Lip-Synced Show |
2/25/86 | Parents' Night (from 14th floor) |
3/19/86 | LNMC2 Premiere (monkey cam) |
4/03/86 | the actor-singer dies |
4/08/86 | G. E. corporate handshake |
5/05/86 | Anton Fig's first day as a regular |
5/14/86 | the Neanderthal skull on wheels |
5/21/86 | Jack Coleman & Morgan Brittany provide color commentary |
6/16 to 8/21/86 | shows taped in studio 8H |
6/27/86 | Dave appears on Tonight (with Judge Wapner) to settle the dispute with Johnny Carson over Dave's junky pick-up. |
7/15/86 | Confetti Cannon - first appears |
7/15/86 | Relief Host (Bridget Jackson) |
8/07/86 | Dave answers Colleen Boyle's "Viewer Mail" letter in person. |
9/21/86 | Dave hosts the Emmy awards. |
9/21/86 | an Emmy for writing |
10/30/86 | Jack Hanna's camels' humps break the ceiling tiles |
11/05/86 | Late Night Cow Cam |
11/12/86 | Mr. November |
11/25/86 | the Suit of Magnets |
11/28/86 | 2nd David Letterman's Holiday Film Festival |
12/08/86 | "Hungry Are the Damned" by the Peace Through Dramatization Players |
12/09/86 | 360° Rotation Show / 360° achieved at :55 minutes |
12/22/86 | Julia Child cooks with a blowtorch |
1987 | |
1/05/87 | Home Office moves to Scottsdale, Arizona |
2/07/87 | NBC 5th Anniversary Special |
3/19/87 | 360° Thrill Cam Plus |
6/12/87 | first Friday show |
6/29/87 | day one of the 118-day NABET strike against NBC |
7/15/87 | first show during the NABET strike |
7/28/87 | Dave calls "Larry Bud" Calvert for the first time on-air |
8/04/87 | Barry Sand's last day as producer of LNDL |
8/05/87 | Robert Morton's first day as producer |
9/15/87 | The Dancing Waters are now The Prancing Fluids |
9/20/87 | an Emmy for writing |
9/21/87 | Rerun Plus |
9/29/87 | Paul Shaffer's Prancing Fluids, Jr. - first appearance |
10/28/87 | Tom Jones sings the theme for "Supermarket Finds" |
11/13/87 | Sonny and Cher sing "I've Got You Babe" |
11/18/87 | first visit with the pregnant Connie Plescoe |
11/20/87 | first real glass in the set windows |
11/20/87 | The Suit of Rice Krispies® |
12/25/87 | Christmas Show (with Connie Chung, Ted Nugent and the Doodletown Pipers |
1988 | |
1/05/88 | Home Office moves to Lincoln, Nebraska |
1/05/88 | Late Night Bubble Machines - first appearance |
1/19/88 | first Dave's Lumberyard Finds |
2/04/88 | Chris Elliott, Jr. Show - premiere |
2/04/88 | NBC 6th Anniversary Special |
3/01/88 | Camera Night (14 cameras instead of 4) |
3/07/88 | beginning of a 16-week writers' strike |
6/28/88 | first new show after the writers' strike |
6/29/88 | Hal Gurnee's Network Time Killer - premiere |
7/05/88 | Late Night with David Letterman Show #1000 |
7/12/88 | Late Night Fig Cam - first used |
9/06/88 | Toast Launcher - first used |
11/04/88 | Henry Mancini conducts his Viewer Mail theme |
11/11/88 | beginning of Calvert DeForest's Pan American Tour |
11/29/88 | Jumpsuit Night |
12/22/88 | Elf Night |
1989 | |
2/01/89 | Home Office moves to Oklahoma City |
2/02/89 | NBC 7th Anniversary Special |
2/10/89 | Chris Elliott as a barking desk maggot |
4/04/89 | first show in Dolby® |
6/07/89 | Late Night Crash Cam - first used |
6/07/89 | William F. Buckley, Jr. stands in for Paul |
1990 | |
1/30/90 | Home Office moves to Lebanon, Pennsylvania |
2/01/90 | NBC 8th Anniversary Special |
3/03/90 | Viewer Mail assisted by the Unimation® Puma 206 robotic arm |
5/02/90 | Dave calls Johnny Carson and has him fax a joke. |
10/05/90 | retirement of the Unimation® Puma 206 robotic arm |
1991 | |
1/16/91 | the only show never aired (Gulf War coverage pre-empted it after taping) |
6/11/91 | Andrea Sande's first appearance |
8/25/91 | Hal Gurnee wins an Emmy for directing |
1992 | |
2/06/92 | NBC 10th Anniversary Special |
3/19/92 | Home Office moves to Tahlequah, Oklahoma |
1993 | |
1/14/93 | Dave announces he's leaving Late Night |
4/07/93 | Paul's daughter, Victoria Lilly, is born |
5/07/93 | Home Office now in Oneonta, New York |
6/25/93 | last new Late Night with David Letterman / Bruce Springsteen blows the roof off the dump. |
8/30/93 | first Late Show with David Letterman (with approx. 23 million viewers) / Bill Murray is the first guest. |
8/30/93 | Home Office now in Sioux City, Iowa |
9/10/93 | last Late Night with David Letterman repeat shown on NBC |
9/20/93 | Rupert Jee's first appearance (comes in for a standing ovation) |
11/11/93 | Dave calls Johnny Carson for permission to do Stump the Band |
11/22/93 | Mujibur Rahman's and Sirajul Islam's first appearance |
12/16/93 | Nadine Hennelly's first appearance |
12/23/93 | Pete Fatovich retires (sort of). |
1994 | |
3/31/94 | Madonna is a guest, and drops about 13 F bombs. |
5/09/94 | It's the first of five nights from Los Angeles. |
6/10/94 | Mujibur and Sirajul's Coast-to-Coast Tour begins |
11/21/94 | Prime Time Special #1: Paul Newman drops by, and there's a taped bit with Zsa Zsa. |
12/02/94 | Dave and Rupert bother people with "Rupert and Me." |
1995 | |
4/12/95 | 20-year-old Drew Barrymore dances on Dave's desk (and flashes him). |
5/15/95 | A week of London shows begins. |
5/19/95 | Dave's mom Dorothy's first visit to the set |
5/26/95 | Hal Gurnee retires as director |
6/05/95 | Jerry Foley's first day as director |
6/12/95 | Home Office now in Grand Rapids, Michigan |
8/18/95 | Bill Wendell retires as announcer |
9/04/95 | Alan Kalter's first day as announcer |
1996 | |
2/19/96 | Prime Time Special #2 |
5/03/96 | Home Office moves to Wahoo, Nebraska |
5/06/96 | It's the first of five shows from San Francisco. |
5/08/96 | DDY attends his first Letterman taping, compliments of CBS. |
8/26/96 | first compilation repeat |
9/20/96 | Commercial-Free Show |
11/01/96 | It's an episode from Boston. |
11/15/96 | It's an episode from Chicago. |
11/25/96 | first issue of the Wahoo Gazette |
1997 | |
2/24/97 | Prime Time Special #3 |
4/25/97 | Indianapolis Night (first show with an audience from one city) |
5/02/97 | St. Louis Audience Night |
5/16/97 | Denver Audience Night |
6/06/97 | Farrah Fawcett, under the influence of something, has a memorable appearance. |
1998 | |
1/26/98 | The home office is in Worcester, Massachusetts for one night. |
5/01/98 | Paul's head is shaved for LSDL episode #1000. |
5/01/98 | Late Show episode #1000 |
5/15/98 | New Orleans Audience Night |
10/20/98 | It's the 3000th show Dave has hosted in late night. |
11/23/98 | Prime Time Special #4 / CBS 5th Anniversary Special |
1999 | |
3/29/99 | premiere of "Know Your Cuts of Meat" |
5/21/99 | Boston Audience Night |
9/16/99 | NADINE AND ANDREA'S FIRST HI HO DUTY |
12/31/99 | The millenium ends with a Prime Time Video Special. Mayor Giuliani, Dick Clark and Kevin James are guests. |
2000 | |
1/14/00 | Dave has quadruple bypass surgery |
2/07/00 | Backstage #1 (Dave's home recovering from his bypasses.) |
2/21/00 | Dave returns to television! |
12/19/00 | Tusla, Bosnia show for Task Force Eagle |
2001 | |
6/25/01 | premiere of "Is This Anything?" |
9/17/01 | Dave's first show after 9/11/01 |
2002 | |
2/01/02 | 20th Anniversary Show (NBC + CBS years combined) |
2/06/02 | premiere of "Will It Float?" |
6/07/02 | Paul's Cape Thing - premiere (David Letterman on cape) |
2003 | |
2/26/03 | GH7 / Dave's bout with shingles begins. |
3/31/03 | Dave returns to the Late Show. |
4/08/03 | Jude Brennan's first day as executive producer |
6/06/03 | GH21 / Dave tries taking Fridays off. |
8/29/03 | CBS 10th Anniversary observed tonight |
9/02/03 | first appearance of the Late Show bear |
11/03/03 | GH25 / Paul Hosts. Harry Joseph Letterman is born near the midnight hour. |
12/24/03 | Dave, Paul and Biff quietly go to Afghanistan to entertain U. S. troops. |
2004 | |
12/24/04 | Dave, Paul and Biff quietly go to Afghanistan to entertain U. S. troops. |
2005 | |
5/10/05 | premiere of "Ape or Artist?" |
7/01/05 | It's the first appearance of Johnny Dark. |
8/29/05 | first episode in High Definition |
10/03/05 | last appearance of the Late Show bear |
12/01/05 | Oprah Winfrey appears on the Late Show for the first time in 16.5 years. |
2006 | |
4/30/06 | premiere of "Great Moments in Presidential Speeches" |
5/10/06 | premiere of "Late Show Fun Facts" |
9/18/06 | It's the beginning of Ventriloquist Week. |
2007 | |
9/10/07 | Dave appears on Oprah. |
11/05/07 | Writers Guild of America strike begins. |
2008 | |
1/02/08 | first new Late Show episode in almost two months |
2/05/08 | first visit of "Lyle the Intern" |
9/02/08 | Dave shares the cover of the Rolling Stone with Tina Fey. |
9/23/08 | Late Show Fun Facts is released by Hyperion. |
9/24/08 | Senator John McCain no-shows — Keith Olbermann stands in at the last minute |
10/13/08 | episode 3,000 of Late Show with David Letterman — no mention made |
12/12/08 | Paul Shaffer is awarded the Order of Canada. |
2009 | |
1/28/09 | last episode of "Great Moments in Presidential Speeches" |
3/02/09 | U2 perform in the first of five straight Late Show episodes. |
3/19/09 | Dave and Regina Lasko are married in Choteau, Montana. |
10/06/09 | Paul Shaffer's book, We'll Be Here For the Rest of Our Lives: A Swingin' Show-biz Saga, is released. |
2010 | |
1/10/10 | Jay Leno swipes the Tonight Show from Conan. |
4/20/10 | Demi Moore teaches Dave how to use Twitter. |
1/14/10 | Dr. O. Wayne Isom is a guest, 10 years after saving Dave's life. |
4/20/10 | Demi Moore teaches Dave how to use Twitter. |
6/25/10 | Jay-Z and Eminem both perform on the roof of the Ed Sullivan Theater |
8/25/10 | Dave appears on The View |
9/17/10 | Letterman Lecture Series: A Conversation with Biz Stone, at Ball State |
11/04/10 | Bill Carter's book, The War for Late Night, is released. |
2011 | |
8/22/11 | Umar al-Basrawi declares a fatwa on Dave for smarting off about al Qaeda leader Ilyas Kashmiri. |
12/02/11 | Letterman Lecture Series: A Conversation with Rachel Maddow, at Ball State |
2012 | |
1/12/12 | Dave welcomes his next door neighbors, Steak 'n Shake. (video) |
5/07/12 | It's the first visit from Jane Gabbert as Dave's nursing home nurse. |
5/29/12 | Regis interviews Dave for Piers Morgan Tonight. |
6/11/12 | Dave announces the development of Dave Letterman Park at Broadway & 53rd St. |
6/26/12 | Dave's make-up artist noticed a basal cell carcinoma on his forehead, and it's been removed. |
11/26/12 | Letterman Lecture Series: A Conversation with Oprah Winfrey, at Ball State |
12/02/12 | Dave is recognized by The Kennedy Center Honors. |
12/26/12 | The Kennedy Center Honors broadcast date |
2013 | |
1/02/13 | new intro: "From the heart of Broadway, broadcasting across the nation and around the world, it's the Late Show with David Letterman!" |
1/06/13 | Dave appears on Oprah's Next Chapter. |
2/15/13 | With tape rolling, Dave fires Bruce and Linda of the Weekend Late Show. (video) |
3/11/13 | The Live on Letterman series debuts. |
8/29/13 | The Late Show premiered on August 30, 1993. Favorite guest Bill Murray drops by for the 20th anniversary observance. (video) |
10/04/13 | Dave and Les Moonves agree on a contract extension through 2015. |
10/15/13 | Steve Young's book, Everything's Coming Up Profits: The Golden Age of Industrial Musicals, is released. |
11/05/13 | Dave's book, This Land Was Made for You and Me (But Mostly Me): Billionaires in the Wild, is released. |
11/20/13 | Jennifer Lawrence isn't feeling well. The stagehands provide a pink blankie. Jennifer and Dave share the blankie. (video) |
11/27/13 | The Late Show honors crack-loving mayor Rob Ford with this compilation of guests, in Ken Burns' The Statement." |
2014 | |
2/09/14 | Dave visits with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr on the 50th anniversary of their first appearance in the Ed Sullivan Theater. |
4/03/14 |
|
4/10/14 | In this press release, CBS announces Stephen Colbert as the new host. |
4/23/14 | Stephen Colbert is a guest after being announced as new Late Show host. (YouTube) |
5/02/14 | Tonight's guest, the adorable Don Rickles, says of Dave's announced retirement, "It's time." |
6/03/14 | Martin Short has another hilarious appearance, and performs "Swimsuit Season." (video) |
6/24/14 | Bill Scheft's book, Shrink Thyself, is released today. |
7/23/14 | CBS announces that Stephen Colbert will air the Late Show from New York. |
8/18/14 | Dave delivers a touching eulogy for Robin Williams. |
9/04/14 | Dave offers a moving and humorous eulogy for Joan Rivers. |
10/08/14 | Today marks the last day on cue cards for Tony Mendez. Todd Seda will take over tomorrow. |
10/13/14 | Many musicians have sat in with the CBSO. Foo Fighters begin an entire week on the Late Show. |
11/12/14 | Jennifer Lawrence has another blockbuster appearance. (video) |
12/08/14 | Joaquin Phoenix, 5' 8", tells about his first yoga lessons from his 6' 2" instructor. She put him in a contorted position called "harnessing the hog," and now they're engaged. Hours later, Joaquin goes on Good Morning America and announces the story was hogwash. (video) |
12/10/14 | CBS announces that Dave's last Late Show will air on May 20, 2015. |
12/19/14 | For the 21st and final time, Darlene Love sings "Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)" on Dave's shows. (video) |
12/19/14 | Tonight also marks the final Cher impression by Paul Shaffer, and appearance by Jay Thomas for his Lone Ranger story and the Quarterback Challenge |
12/30/14 | Dave introduces Tom Hanks at the 2014 Kennedy Center Honors. |
2015 | |
1/14/15 | Dave announces that today marks the 15th anniversary of his quintuple bypasses. |
2/06/15 | Dave, from his monologue mark on the Ed Sullivan Theater stage: "Fifty-one years ago, The Beatles made their first appearance, right here, fifty-one years ago. Now look what you get." |
2/10/15 | Chris Elliott, in his last appearance, emotionally thanks Dave for being his mentor, for his start in show business and his family, and closes with his song, "To Dave, with Love." (video) |
2/10/15 | In his desk chat, Dave comments on Brian Williams, who had to cancel his appearance because of his war zone helicopter story whopper. Dave announces, "I just want to tell you something. I've been on television... Paul and I... a long, long time. And most of everything I have said in my 33-year career on television is not true." |
2/20/15 | It's the final appearance of "Kid Scientists." (video) |
3/18/15 | Norm Macdonald, in his 25th and final appearance with Dave, kills with tales of Jack Warden, George Miller and Bob Uecker, and gives us his take on "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas." (video) |