Latest David Letterman Stories

U.S. Sen. John McCain scored a hit for funnyman David Letterman, delivering the largest audience for "Late Show with David Letterman" in nearly three years. The Republican presidential nominee was a guest on Letterman's show Thursday night after having canceled on Sept. 24 at the last minute. Preliminary figures indicate the show had roughly 6.5 million viewers, Nielsen said. When the candidate walked onto the stage of the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York, he pretended to cower as Letterman...

By Gary Levin NEW YORK -- John McCain made peace Thursday with David Letterman, three weeks after the presidential candidate drew the comedian's wrath by abruptly canceling an appearance under false pretenses only to head for a sitdown with news anchor Katie Couric. In an extended interview on CBS' Late Show, McCain said he "screwed up" but added: "Look at all the conversation I gave you. I haven't had so much fun since my last interrogation." Letterman didn't press McCain on why he had...

U.S. Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain is set to appear on "Late Show with David Letterman," CBS said Sunday. The network said McCain has agreed to be a guest on Thursday's edition of the show. This will mark his first appearance on "Late Show" since he canceled his Sept. 24 appearance at the last minute, a move that provided much grist for the Letterman joke mill. Letterman said at the time that McCain personally called him and told him he was "racing back to Washington" to...

By Blake Hannon Election day is less than a month away. We've seen both presidential and vice presidential candidates debate the big issues and campaign relentlessly for the votes of Americans. Wait a second. What am I doing talking about politics? Isn't this supposed to be an entertainment column? Don't worry, I'm not flip-flopping. But there is no denying that one of many things elections remind us of is the cultural relevance and political importance of late- night television. And it...

By Norm Clarke The O.J. Simpson jury got a thumbs up from talk-show host David Letterman. "Here's what happened," said Letterman, turning serious during his monologue Monday. "The jury did a little something unusual for an O.J. jury. What they did is they paid attention to the evidence." The comment, more of an observation than a joke, drew loud applause. Letterman had plenty of O.J. fodder on Tuesday's show, too. "Did you hear what O.J. said after the trial? 'How does a nothing incident...

David Letterman said he was disappointed Sen. John McCain backed out of an appearance on his show so he could be interviewed by Katie Couric. The Republican U.S. presidential candidate, who Letterman described as a "real American hero," was scheduled to drop by "The Late Show with David Letterman" Wednesday. But Letterman said McCain personally called him shortly before the episode was to be taped and canceled his appearance, telling Letterman he was "racing back to Washington" to help out...

By Jeff Simon Let me tell you what was happening when this column began in TV Topics in the fall of 1978. The new fall shows included "Mary,"""W.E.B,""American Girls" and "Sword of Justice.""Saturday Night Live" was already in its third season. The worm was already eating the apple. Irony was poised to devour us all. What WAS that gunk, you might well ask now? Only one of those shows is important to remember -- Mary Tyler Moore's three-week variety show "Mary" because in her Carol Burnett-...

David Letterman wants to stick with CBS' "Late Show" through his contract - and maybe longer - as rival Jay Leno prepares to surrender the "Tonight" reins next year. "The way I feel now, I would like to go beyond 2010, not much beyond, but you know, enough to go beyond. You always like to be able to excuse yourself on your own terms," Letterman said in an interview in Rolling Stone magazine. "If the network is happy with that, great. If they wanna make a change in 2010, you know, I'm fine...

By Associated Press LOS ANGELES -- David Letterman wants to stick with CBS' "Late Show" through his contract -- and maybe longer -- as rival Jay Leno prepares to surrender the "The Tonight Show" reins next year. "The way I feel now, I would like to go beyond 2010, not much beyond, but you know, enough to go beyond. You always like to be able to excuse yourself on your own terms," Letterman said in an interview in Rolling Stone magazine. "If the network is happy with that, great. If they...

By Daniel Neman, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va. Jul. 18--Comedian Jim Gaffigan knows that to stay popular on a national level, he has to cover subjects that everyone understands. "If someone is paying to see it, they don't want to see jokes about things they don't know about," he said from his home in New York City. For instance, although he watches "Law & Order" -- or he used to watch it -- he refrains from telling jokes about it because not everyone has seen it. Which explains why he...