David Letterman Returning to TV With Netflix Talk Show

Lesley Goldberg, writing for The Hollywood Reporter: Two years after signing off CBS' The Late Show, David Letterman is returning to the small screen. The longest-serving host in U.S. late-night TV history is set to topline a new talk show for Netflix. The untitled six-episode series will premiere in 2018. Unlike The Late Show, each hourlong episode of the Netflix series will be prerecorded and feature Letterman conducting longform conversations with a singular guest as well as exploring topics on his own -- outside of the studio. A guest list has not yet been revealed. "I feel excited and lucky to be working on this project for Netflix. Here's what I have learned, if you retire to spend more time with your family, check with your family first. Thanks for watching, drive safely," Letterman said.

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[CeasedCaring]

I'd rather see the 6,000,000 god-botherer channels canned.

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[DontBeAMoran]

Because xyz is on the Internet.

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[pr0t0]

Letterman is not. A talk show on Netflix is.

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[Rockoon]

Its not the first talk show in netflix. However it might be the first good talk show on netflix.

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[Anonymous Coward]

Letterman is an unfunny fucking tool. I wouldn't piss on him if he was on fire. A prime example of what happens when you start believing your own bullshit. Stay retired fuck stick.

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[oldmac31310]

What the AC said 1,000,000 times.

because he might not be wearing pants

[swschrad]

appeals to hackers in mom's basement

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[Jhon]

"Since WHEN is David Letterman Slashdot material?"

Since he looks like Alfred E Newman.

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[Anonymous Coward]

He wants a forum for the group-think he used to ruin his variety show.

Re:Oh yea...

[dbialac]

Even if he is a "has been", it's still better than your "never was". Meanwhile, those of us over the age of 14 know that when he moved into the time slot he had on CBS, he can't do the really edgy stuff that he used to do at the later slot.

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[Oswald McWeany]

I think my parents used to think he was funny back in the 80s.

He'd have a few funny moments and a lot of dull moments. It goes back to the time when if you only had 4 or 5 TV networks and no cable TV, you pick the best of the bad.

Now you have unlimited instant streaming choices on Netflix and others, I can't imagine too many people picking Letterman over the other options.

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[tattood]

Now you have unlimited instant streaming choices on Netflix and others, I can't imagine too many people picking Letterman over the other options.

That's the beauty of Netflix (and online streaming in general). You don't have to choose between watching one show or another. You can watch them both if you want because they are on-demand. You don't even have to watch them when they come out. Since Netflix owns the content, it will be available as long as Netflix is around.

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[Maltheus]

No they didn't. Which is why they applaud, when he tells jokes, instead of laughing at them.

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[tattood]

No they didn't. Which is why they applaud, when he tells jokes, instead of laughing at them.

Your parents must have been weird. My parents never applauded at the TV when watching Letterman.

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[Anonymous Coward]

From the home office in Wahoo, Nebraska - Top Ten Reasons your parents had you in the 80's.
10. Nothing to watch on TV, only 5 channels available
9. Sex ed and discussing contraception was taboo
8. Scientist paid them to have a test tube baby
7. All the other cousins were doing it
6. Well, they used to be an attractive couple before they had kids
5. Let me tell you about what happened to Daddy's mistress ...
4. Had an advance to write a book about the rhythm method.
3. Really wanted a pet dog, but decided they'd pr

What?

[DontBeAMoran]

David Letterman is returning to the small screen.

I have a 2000" TV, you insensitive clod!

Signed,
Frank.

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[antdude]

Prove it! :P

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[DontBeAMoran]

There's even a wikipedia page [wikipedia.org] that mention it.

Jay Leno

[dbialac]

...has been overheard plotting ways to outmaneuver him and grab the slot.

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[oldmac31310]

What? The slot between his teeth?

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[tattood]

I can certainly see the appeal to signing with a streaming company. They are not (currently) regulated by the FCC, so you can do whatever you want, and say whatever you want.

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[apraetor]

And never will be. The FCC mandate to regulate comes from the finite nature of radio bandwidth; that's the same reason the FCC cannot regulate cable TV. Check the FCC FAQs and you'll see -- they can only accept indecency complaints related to broadcast TV and radio (although broadcast TV retransmitted over cable is included, since it was still broadcast).

Ha-Ha! /Nelson

[DontBeAMoran]

"if you retire to spend more time with your family, check with your family first."

Lauren Hutton And...

[pr0t0]

Actress Lauren Hutton had a one-on-one show in the mid-90's called "Lauren Hutton And..." [imdb.com], and it was very good. It was more like a casual conversation without contrived softball questions, similar maybe to "Fresh Air" by Terry Gross. Unfortunately, I was one of only a few who liked it so it only lasted one season.

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[oldmac31310]

She had a gap in her teeth too! Uncanny coincidence.

Netflix needs live streams

[butchersong]

Content like this would be more compelling with live streams. You can always go back and watch earlier aired content but there is something compelling about watching events like this as they happen.

Am I The Only One...

[Tempest_2084]

Who never found Letterman funny? I tried and tried to see what my friends saw in him (they all thought he was the be all and end all of comedy), but for whatever reason I never 'got it'. Maybe it was just his style of humor, but other than his top ten lists (which I admit were funny most of the time) most of his jokes just fell flat with me. It always seemed like he would make a random statement, look over to Paul (who would mumble something unintelligible), then Letterman would laugh like he just told the punchline and then stare at the camera for a bit making odd faces while the audience burst into laughter for a minute or two.

Not that I liked Leno or anything (please stop telegraphing the punchline for 5 min while you set up a painfully unfunny joke), but at least what he was doing seemed like an attempt at humor to me. Letterman always seemed to be an experiment to simulate a new form of humor that wasn't working.

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[mcmonkey]

Who never found Letterman funny?

Yes.

Also, your experiment to start a sentence in the subject and finish it in the comment isn't working.

On the less snarky side, what Letterman did was about half parody of a talk show host (in the same vein as Steve Martin's stage comedy was a parody of stand-up comedians) and about half homage to/theft of old Ernie Kovacs routines.

If you don't know who Ernie Kovacs is, then it's understandable that you might not get the joke.

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[Tempest_2084]

>> Yes

Ok, I'm honestly willing to accept that. Sometimes certain people just don't 'get' certain types of humor. I guess I'm just one of those people.

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[oldmac31310]

No. Letterman just is not funny. I always thought it was snarky humour for stupid people who like to think they are superior. Works for average intelligence people, but smart people don't like to be condescended to by a stupid sarcastic guy.

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[Maltheus]

Yeah, while I never found either particularly funny, whenever I'd flip between the two channels, people would laugh at Leno's jokes and applaud Letterman's jokes. The audience was just happy to be there and understood their part. But they almost never laughed, it was strange.

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[MightyMartian]

The chief problem was the move from NBC and the earlier time, which meant he had to reign himself in. The more interesting talk shows have always been the later ones. While Letterman became pretty blah, Craig Ferguson, during his tenure on the late show, was frequently brilliant.

In the end, it turns out that only Carson could pull off that time slot, but that's because he was, by the 1970s, probably the single most powerful person on television. No network will ever let their talk show personality have that

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[Straif]

Leno's type of neutral humor played well at 11:30 but Letterman and later Conan were generally much edgier and better suited for 12:30; it's hard for the nightly news to lead directly into the Masturbating Bear.

The taming down of their jokes and skits just took most of the funny out of their comedy. I actually think Conan made a better transition but it still wasn't as great as his 12:30 stuff. Ferguson seems to have understood that the same would happen to him so when the shakeups started happening at CB

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[MightyMartian]

I'm not that hopeful. I think Letterman really has become the curmudgeon he used to play on TV.

Now if they'd give Ferguson a show on Netflix, that would be truly awesome. His standup is pretty brilliant, and given a venue where even the lighter fetters of late night censors isn't present, I think he'd be brilliant.

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[Tempest_2084]

He'll probably end up like Arsenio. Lots of hype about how the greatest thing you ever knew was coming back, a decent first show but nothing special, lots of mediocre crap, then quiet cancellation.

Letterman Humor

[MarcusOutrageous]

Tempest - your point is well taken. What happens is a LOT of humor is like religion or art. Recognition of it serves as a loci around which a Resource Sharing Group (Mennonites, Matisse enthusiasts, Letterman fans) can self organize. Letterman was extremely influential in entertainment and thus benefited from the aggregate loci of Bill Murray, Tom Hanks, and every other celeb who loved him. A very long run for any locus and its orbiting Resource Sharing Groups also results in inside jokes. Look at the insid

Good, we were having a shortage.

[ScentCone]

That's a relief! We were running short of people spending all of their airtime bashing deplorables and Trump. I mean, there's almost nobody doing that anymore, so somebody has to pick up the slack.

Stopped watching not long after CBS

[p51d007]

I gave up on Dave...all that money changed him. He turned into a sex crazed liberal moron. I guess living in the "Hamptons" (north east USA) does that to people. With him being on Netflicks, he'll be able to cuss, call anyone he wants anything he wants...other than a curiosity, I can't see people paying extra, if that is what happens, for this crap. Just retire and GO AWAY.

Craig Ferguson

[Bender Unit 22]

I'd prefer Craig Ferguson. He had some bloody good shows.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]

Perhaps the only late night talk show I miss.
Of course not all the shows where good but I liked them.

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[CrashNBrn]

Craig was awesome. I imagine if he was on today, he'd have "Geoff Peterson" doing 'Trump' bits.

check with your family first.

[martinX]

Here's what I have learned, if you retire to spend more time with your family, check with your family first.

Sounds like they didn't like him either.