Here are five times that David Letterman, never one to hide his disgruntled feelings, let CBS have it on its own Late Show…
New CBS Slogans After It Lost NFL Football to FOX
When CBS lost its NFL coverage to upstart FOX in 1994, Letterman must have wondered what he’d gotten himself into. Not only was football key to the network’s overall ratings, eight CBS stations around the nation decided to switch their affiliation to the FOX network. How was Letterman supposed to maintain his ratings lead over Jay Leno when his show disappeared from eight markets?
Don’t Miss
To commemorate the occasion, Letterman dedicated a Top Ten list to New CBS Slogans. Among the highlights:
- CBS = Could Be Sold!
- More Powerful Than the Weather Channel!
- We’re Number 4!
- El Television De Crappo!
- CBS, Now on Fox!
Honey, You Forgot Our Anniversary
As Letterman marked his 10-year anniversary with the network in 2003, he noticed that no one at the network mentioned it, much less promoted the milestone. “Maybe they don’t know,” he concluded. “And I’ll tell you why they don’t know. They don’t care.”
To prove his point, Letterman called the CBS switchboard during his show’s taping. After all, maybe he was just being too sensitive. Posing as a viewer, he asked the CBS rep on the phone how long Letterman had been on the air.
“I know it’s been years,” guessed Letterman’s fellow CBS employee. “I really don’t know what year it started.”
The Jay Leno Promotion
Letterman was never a big winner at the People’s Choice Awards, but he was nominated for Best Talk Show in 2004 alongside Oprah Winfrey and late-night rival Jay Leno. Oprah won the prize, but that wasn’t what Letterman ranted to his audience about.
That year, the People’s Choice Awards were on CBS. When the network promoted the big show on the CBS website, however, Letterman was nowhere to be found. Instead, CBS opted to hype its hit, Everybody Loves Raymond, alongside… Letterman’s arch-nemesis?
Worldwide Pants
“He’s not on CBS! I’m on CBS!” Letterman lamented. “We have to pull together as a team. And if you don’t, bad things will happen to your team. Sometimes I get the feeling our team never even gets off the bus.”
That Uncomfortable Embrace
Since CBS wasn’t congratulating Letterman on his anniversaries, the comedian brought the oversight to life by introducing “Lloyd Emerson, associate vice president of CBS East Coast Entertainment,” who in reality was a Late Show staffer in a suit.
“In honor of The Late Show’s 17th anniversary, the network has asked me to give you this,” said Emerson.
Worldwide Pants
“Okay,” Letterman replied. “Get off me.”
We’ll Get You Next Year
Two years later, on The Late Show’s 19th anniversary, the same staffer returned, this time as fictional CBS Vice President Bob Steckel. “I just want to say on behalf of the network how excited we are about your 19th anniversary here at CBS,” he said. “And it gives me great pleasure to announce that we will definitely do something to celebrate your 20th anniversary.”
“Wow,” deadpanned Letterman. “I can hardly wait.”
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