93-460: Enid Strict , better known as The Church Lady , is a fictional character portrayed by Dana Carvey on American sketch comedy television show Saturday Night Live . The character appeared on the show from 1986 to 1990, and again in 1996, 2000, 2011, and 2016. She also appeared on The Dana Carvey Show in March 1996, reading a Top Ten List , "New Titles for Princess Diana ." Dana Carvey developed
186-573: A "Wayne's World" sketch. On June 14, 2008, Carvey filmed a second HBO stand-up special, the first in 13 years, entitled Squatting Monkeys Tell No Lies . In 2010, Carvey appeared in the Funny or Die original comedy sketch Presidential Reunion . He played the role of President George H. W. Bush alongside other current and former SNL president impersonators. In early 2010, Carvey and comedian/writer Spike Feresten created and starred together in Spoof ,
279-528: A Variety or Music Program. He has a total of six Emmy nominations. Carvey has returned to host SNL four times, in 1994, 1996, 2000, and 2011 in addition to numerous cameo appearances. Carvey made more regular appearances in 2024 to play Joe Biden and Elon Musk in the immediate lead-up and aftermath to the 2024 presidential election . Musk notably criticized Carvey's performance of him on X , saying that he did not believe that it sounded like him, which Carvey later agreed with. In 1994, Carvey starred in
372-479: A celebrated comic essay in The New Yorker , "Yma Dream" by Thomas Meehan), he started off by introducing Uma Thurman to Oprah Winfrey, and then both of them to Keanu Reeves : "Oprah...Uma. Uma...Oprah," "Have you kids met Keanu?" This and many of his other jokes fell flat. Although Letterman attracted the highest ratings to the annual telecast since 1983, many felt that the bad publicity he generated caused
465-489: A close relationship with Carson through his break with NBC. Three years after he left for CBS, HBO produced a made-for-television movie called The Late Shift , based on a book by The New York Times reporter Bill Carter, chronicling the battle between Letterman and Leno for the Tonight Show hosting spot. Carson later made a few cameo appearances as a guest on Letterman's show. Carson's final television appearance
558-580: A decline in the Late Show 's ratings. Letterman recycled the apparent debacle into a long-running gag. On his first show after the Oscars, he joked, "Looking back, I had no idea that thing was being televised." He lampooned his stint two years later, during Billy Crystal 's opening Oscar skit, which also parodied the plane-crashing scenes from that year's chief nominated film, The English Patient . For years afterward, Letterman recounted his hosting
651-536: A different time slot. Late Night with David Letterman debuted February 1, 1982; the first guest was Bill Murray . Murray went on to become one of Letterman's most recurrent guests, guesting on his later CBS show's celebration of his 30th anniversary in late-night television, which aired January 31, 2012, and on the final CBS show, which aired May 20, 2015. The show ran Monday through Thursday nights at 12:30 a.m. Eastern Time , immediately following The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (a Friday night broadcast
744-513: A doctor and nurse who'd helped perform the emergency quintuple-bypass heart surgery that saved his life in 2000. "These are people who were complete strangers when they opened my chest," he says. "And now, eight years later, they're among my best friends." Additionally, Letterman invited the band Foo Fighters to play " Everlong ", introducing them as "my favorite band, playing my favorite song." During Letterman's last show, on which Foo Fighters appeared, Letterman said that Foo Fighters had been in
837-736: A few Sundays, and their turns of the heads, that 'Well! Good to see they finally made it!' attitude." Writer Rosie Shuster helped Carvey develop the concept of the Church Chat talk show. Carvey recalled that he was prompted by executive producer Lorne Michaels to introduce the character (when it was still in SNL rehearsals) at a Neil Young concert at Madison Square Garden , which Church Lady interrupted, fussing and fuming: "What are we doing here? What's all this noise?" The Church Lady made numerous appearances on SNL , and Nora Dunn recalled that "everybody loved that character." The Church Lady
930-412: A film again until 2011's Jack and Jill . In 2004, he ranked number 90 on Comedy Central 's list of the 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time. Carvey eventually withdrew from the limelight to focus on his family. He later said in an interview that he did not want to be in a career in which his kids would already be grown with him having neglected spending time with them, a major reason for his declining
1023-512: A guest appearance on Mork & Mindy (as a parody of EST leader Werner Erhard ) and appearances on game shows such as The $ 20,000 Pyramid , The Gong Show , Hollywood Squares , Password Plus , and Liar's Club , as well as the Canadian cooking show Celebrity Cooks (November 1977), talk shows such as 90 Minutes Live (February 24 and April 14, 1978), and The Mike Douglas Show (April 3, 1979 and February 7, 1980). He
SECTION 10
#17327931510251116-413: A local kiddie show, hosted a late-night TV show called "Freeze-Dried Movies" (a show in which he once acted out a scene from Godzilla (1954) using plastic dinosaurs), and hosted a talk show that aired early on Saturday mornings called Clover Power , in which he interviewed 4-H members about their projects. In 1971, Letterman appeared as a pit road reporter for ABC Sports ' tape-delayed coverage of
1209-567: A montage of scenes from both his CBS and NBC series set to a live performance of " Everlong " by Foo Fighters. The final episode of Late Show with David Letterman was watched by 13.76 million viewers in the United States with an audience share of 9.3/24, earning the show its highest ratings since following the 1994 Winter Olympics on February 25, 1994, and the show's highest demo numbers (4.1 in adults 25–54 and 3.1 in adults 18–49) since Oprah Winfrey's first Late Show appearance following
1302-574: A moving train. Carvey was a finalist for the hosting role on the Nickelodeon TV game show Double Dare . He ultimately withdrew his name from consideration after he was cast on Saturday Night Live . The job would go to Marc Summers . In 1986, Carvey became a household name when he joined the cast of NBC 's Saturday Night Live . He, along with newcomers Phil Hartman , Kevin Nealon , Jan Hooks , and Victoria Jackson , helped to reverse
1395-460: A new commute." Letterman further joked about the subject by pulling up his right pants leg, revealing a tattoo, presumably temporary, of the ABC logo. "Thirteen years ago, David Letterman put CBS late night on the map and in the process became one of the defining icons of our network," said Leslie Moonves , president and CEO of CBS Corporation. "His presence on our air is an ongoing source of pride, and
1488-411: A nurse who had given him bed baths—"This woman gave me a bath!"), including Drs. O. Wayne Isom and Louis Aronne , who frequently appeared on the show. For a number of episodes, Letterman continued to crack jokes about his bypass, including saying: "Bypass surgery: it's when doctors surgically create new blood flow to your heart. A bypass is what happened to me when I didn't get The Tonight Show! It's
1581-405: A radio talk show host on WNTS and on Indianapolis television station WLWI (which changed its call sign to WTHR in 1976) as an anchor and weatherman . He received some attention for his novel on-air delivery, which included congratulating a tropical storm for being upgraded to a hurricane , as well as for predicting hailstones "the size of canned hams". Letterman also occasionally reported
1674-546: A recurring Top 10 list , the Monkey-Cam (and the Audience Cam), a facetious letter-answering segment, several "Film[s] by My Dog Bob" in which a camera was mounted on Letterman's own dog (often with comic results) and Small Town News, all of which moved with Letterman to CBS. Other episodes included Letterman using a bullhorn to interrupt a live interview on The Today Show on August 19, 1985, announcing that he
1767-1006: A series of commercials for Uber Eats . The original spot first ran during Super Bowl LV . In 2022, Carvey began co-hosting the Fly on the Wall podcast with fellow Saturday Night Live alum David Spade . Guests include former cast members and hosts of SNL . In 2024, the Superfly video podcast (a spinoff of Fly on the Wall ) co-hosted by Spade was launched. In 1979, Carvey married his childhood sweetheart Leah. During his marriage, while performing at The Other Cafe in San Francisco , Carvey met and became romantically involved with Paula Zwagerman. Subsequently, Leah and Dana divorced in 1980. Dana and Paula became engaged in 1981 and married in 1983. The couple had two children. The elder son, Dex, died from an accidental drug overdose on November 15, 2023, at
1860-518: A short-lived prime-time variety show on ABC . The show was most notable for launching Robert Smigel 's cartoon " The Ambiguously Gay Duo ", as well as the careers of Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert . In 2002, he returned to films in the spy comedy The Master of Disguise . Released a week after former colleague Mike Myers' successful film Austin Powers in Goldmember , most critics compared
1953-423: A sketch comedy pilot for Fox . This included a sketch of a trailer for "Darwin", a mock film in which he played the evolutionary biologist, as well as a spoof of the hit TV series Lost . Both of these sketches can be seen on YouTube . On the animated TV series The Fairly OddParents , Carvey voiced Cosmo Cosma 's con artist brother Schnozmo. On April 29 and 30, 2016, Carvey recorded two live performances at
SECTION 20
#17327931510252046-415: A style heavily influenced by the 1950s and 1960s programs of Steve Allen . The show often featured quirky, genre-mocking regular features, including "Stupid Pet Tricks" (which had its origins on Letterman's morning show), Stupid Human Tricks, dropping various objects off the roof of a five-story building, demonstrations of unorthodox clothing (such as suits made of Alka-Seltzer , Velcro and suet ),
2139-797: A teaching job. When he was three years old, his family moved to San Carlos, California , in the San Francisco Bay Area . He attended Tierra Linda Junior High in San Carlos, Carlmont High School in Belmont, California (where he was a member of the Central Coast Section champion cross country team), College of San Mateo in San Mateo, California , and earned his bachelor's degree in broadcast communications from San Francisco State University . In 1977, he won
2232-474: A tribute to Carson, all the opening monologue jokes during the first show after Carson's death were by Carson. Lassally also claimed that Carson had always believed Letterman, not Leno, to be his "rightful successor". During the early years of the Late Show ' s run, Letterman occasionally used some of Carson's trademark bits, including " Carnac the Magnificent " (with Paul Shaffer as Carnac), "Stump
2325-475: A whole different thing." In a later running gag, he lobbied Indiana to rename the freeway circling Indianapolis ( I-465 ) "The David Letterman Bypass". He also featured a montage of faux news coverage of his bypass surgery, including a clip of Letterman's heart for sale on the Home Shopping Network . Letterman became friends with his doctors and nurses. In 2008, Rolling Stone wrote: He hosted
2418-416: A year that Leno was ranked fifth. Leno was higher than Letterman on that poll three times during the same period, in 1998, 2007, and 2008. On March 27, 1995, Letterman hosted the 67th Academy Awards ceremony. Critics blasted what they deemed his poor performance, noting that his irreverent style undermined the traditional importance and glamor of the event. In a joke about their unusual names (inspired by
2511-461: Is a mature woman named Enid Strict who is the uptight, smug, and pious host of her talk show Church Chat. Her show includes guests, usually celebrities whom she interviews, played by other cast members of SNL or by the celebrities themselves. However, the interviews are only a guise for her to call out the guests on their various alleged sins, which are often publicly known news events of the day. They initially receive sarcastic praise from her, until
2604-537: Is an American television host, comedian, writer and producer. He hosted late-night television talk shows for 33 years, beginning with the February 1, 1982, debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC and ending with the May 20, 2015, broadcast of Late Show with David Letterman on CBS . In total, Letterman hosted 6,080 episodes of Late Night and Late Show , surpassing his friend and mentor Johnny Carson as
2697-537: Is money! "). He appeared in the music video for the Greg Kihn song "Lucky" in 1985. He also appeared in the short-lived film-based action television series Blue Thunder . His big break came in 1986, when he co-starred opposite Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster in Tough Guys . As a lifelong Douglas fan, Carvey threw in an affectionate impression of his mentor, while describing a hairy scene they did together on
2790-442: Is over." It also featured cameos from The Simpsons and Wheel of Fortune (the latter with a puzzle saying "Good riddance to David Letterman"), a Top Ten List of "things I wish I could have said to David Letterman" performed by regular guests including Alec Baldwin , Barbara Walters , Steve Martin , Jerry Seinfeld, Jim Carrey , Chris Rock , Julia Louis-Dreyfus , Peyton Manning , Tina Fey , and Bill Murray , and closed with
2883-544: The 2024 presidential election to impersonate outgoing President Joe Biden as well as Trump advisor, businessman, and billionaire Elon Musk . Carvey is also known for his film roles in comedies such as Tough Guys (1986), Opportunity Knocks (1990), Trapped in Paradise (1994), and The Master of Disguise (2002), as well as reprising his role of Garth Algar in the SNL spin-off film Wayne's World (1992) and its sequel Wayne's World 2 (1993). Carvey
The Church Lady - Misplaced Pages Continue
2976-701: The Ball State Daily News , he originally wanted to attend Indiana University , but his grades were not good enough, so he instead attended Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana . He is a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity, and graduated in 1969 from what was then the Department of Radio and Television. A self-described average student, Letterman later endowed a scholarship for what he called "C students" at Ball State. Though he registered for
3069-566: The Indianapolis 500 , which was his first nationally telecast appearance (WLWI was the local ABC affiliate at the time). He was initially introduced as Chris Economaki , but this was corrected at the end of the interview ( Jim McKay announced his name as Dave Letterman). Letterman interviewed Mario Andretti , who had just crashed out of the race. In 1975, encouraged by his then-wife Michelle and several of his Sigma Chi fraternity brothers, Letterman moved to Los Angeles , California, with
3162-493: The Late Show instead. After Leno returned to The Tonight Show , Leno regained his lead. Letterman's shows have garnered both critical and industry praise, receiving 67 Emmy Award nominations, winning 12 times in his first 20 years in late night television. From 1993 to 2009, Letterman ranked higher than Leno in the annual Harris Poll of Nation's Favorite TV Personality 12 times. For example, in 2003 and 2004 Letterman ranked second in that poll, behind only Oprah Winfrey ,
3255-405: The Late Show with David Letterman . The new show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was taped at the historic Ed Sullivan Theater, where Ed Sullivan broadcast his eponymous variety series from 1948 to 1971. For Letterman's arrival, CBS spent $ 8 million in renovations. CBS also signed Letterman to a three-year, $ 14 million/year contract, doubling his Late Night salary. But while the expectation
3348-464: The Netflix series My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman . Letterman was born in Indianapolis , Indiana, on April 12, 1947, and he has two sisters, one older and one younger. His father, Harry Joseph Letterman (April 15, 1915 – February 13, 1973), was a florist. His mother, Dorothy Marie Letterman Mengering (née Hofert; July 18, 1921 – April 11, 2017), a church secretary for
3441-679: The Second Presbyterian Church of Indianapolis , was an occasional figure on Letterman's show, usually at holidays and birthdays. Letterman grew up on the north side of Indianapolis, in the Broad Ripple area, about 12 miles (19 km) from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway . He enjoyed collecting model cars, including racers. In 2000, he told an interviewer for Esquire that, while growing up, he admired his father's ability to tell jokes and be
3534-791: The Wilbur Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts for a Netflix special released later in the year. His two sons, Tom and Dex, opened the show for him. Carvey was a guest on Conan O'Brien 's podcast, Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend , on January 27, 2019. Carvey was subsequently featured in a six episode mini-series of the podcast titled " Deep Dive with Dana Carvey ", released in August 2019. Carvey has regularly done sketch impressions on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert playing, among others, President Joe Biden and former national security advisor John Bolton . On August 1, 2019, Carvey appeared on
3627-450: The 12:30 slot. Additionally, because of intellectual property disagreements, Letterman was unable to import many of his Late Night segments verbatim, but he sidestepped this problem by simply renaming them (the "Top Ten List" became the "Late Show Top Ten", "Viewer Mail" became the "CBS Mailbag", etc.). Time magazine wrote, "Letterman's innovation ... gained power from its rigorous formalism"; as his biographer Jason Zinoman puts it, he
3720-814: The Band", and the "Week in Review". Oprah Winfrey appeared on Letterman's show when he was hosting NBC's Late Night on May 2, 1989. After that appearance, the two had a 16-year feud that arose, as Winfrey explained to Letterman after it had been resolved, as a result of the acerbic tone of their 1989 interview, of which she said that it "felt so uncomfortable to me that I didn't want to have that experience again". The feud apparently ended on December 2, 2005, when Winfrey appeared on CBS's Late Show with David Letterman in an event Letterman jokingly called "the Super Bowl of Love". Winfrey and Letterman also appeared together in
3813-476: The Church Lady reading David Letterman's Top Ten List. Dana Carvey Dana Thomas Carvey (born June 2, 1955) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, podcaster, screenwriter and producer. Carvey is best known for his seven seasons on Saturday Night Live , from 1986 to 1993, which earned him five consecutive Primetime Emmy Award nominations. He returned to the show during and immediately after
The Church Lady - Misplaced Pages Continue
3906-511: The Oscars, although the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences continued to hold Letterman in high regard and invited him to host the Oscars again. On September 7, 2010, he made an appearance on the premiere of the 14th season of The View , and confirmed that he had been considered for hosting again. On January 14, 2000, a routine checkup revealed that an artery in Letterman's heart
3999-730: The San Francisco Stand-Up Comedy Competition. Carvey had a minor role in Halloween II in 1981, and co-starred in One of the Boys in 1982, a short-lived television sitcom that also starred Mickey Rooney , Nathan Lane , and Meg Ryan . In 1984, Carvey had a small role in Rob Reiner 's film This Is Spinal Tap , in which he played a mime , with fellow comedian Billy Crystal (who tells him " Mime
4092-476: The age of 32. In 1995, Carvey had a home in the San Fernando Valley , and his parents relocated to Murrieta, California , to be near his mother's sister, Shirley Miller. In 1997, Carvey underwent heart bypass surgery for a blocked coronary artery . The artery was buried deep in myocardium and difficult to find; the surgeon mistakenly performed the bypass on another accessible artery that
4185-484: The appearance of interacting with the live Bush and Clinton—Carvey eschewed the show's signature "Live from New York" opening line, telling Bush "Why don't you do it, live-boy?" Carvey left SNL in 1993. In 1992, Carvey joined Mike Myers in Wayne's World , the film. A sequel, Wayne's World 2 , was filmed and released in 1993. Carvey's SNL work won him an Emmy Award in 1993 for Outstanding Individual Performance in
4278-448: The appearance were posted on YouTube by audience members and widely reported in the media. In 2016, Letterman joined the climate change documentary show Years of Living Dangerously as one of its celebrity correspondents. In season two's premiere episode, Letterman traveled to India to investigate the country's efforts to expand its inadequate energy grid, power its booming economy, and bring electricity to 300 million citizens for
4371-490: The character in his stand-up comedy act prior to joining SNL. He said, "At one point it was a schoolteacher being very condescending to kids as they made sailboats." Carvey decided to make the character a religious figure when his mother said his impersonation reminded her of women from their churchgoing days who would keep track of people's attendance. "Mom would bring a casserole to potluck dinners, and then feel inferior. I remember walking into church after our family had missed
4464-423: The comedian to the ground (Lawler and Kaufman's friend Bob Zmuda later revealed that the incident was staged ). In 1992, Johnny Carson retired, and many fans, and Carson himself, believed that Letterman would become the new host of The Tonight Show . When NBC instead gave the job to Jay Leno, Letterman departed NBC to host his own late-night show on CBS, opposite The Tonight Show at 11:30 p.m., called
4557-535: The creativity and imagination that the Late Show puts forth every night is an ongoing display of the highest quality entertainment. We are truly honored that one of the most revered and talented entertainers of our time will continue to call CBS 'home.'" According to a 2007 article in Forbes magazine, Letterman earned $ 40 million a year. A 2009 article in The New York Times , however, said his salary
4650-428: The crowd after walking on stage. "I was happy. I'll make actual friends. I was complacent. I was satisfied. I was content, and then a couple of days ago Donald Trump said he was running for president. I have made the biggest mistake of my life, ladies and gentlemen" and then delivering a Top Ten List roasting Trump's presidential campaign followed by an onstage conversation with Martin and Short. Cellphone recordings of
4743-512: The draft and passed his physical after graduating from college, he was not drafted for service in Vietnam because he received a draft lottery number of 346 (out of 366). Letterman began his broadcasting career as an announcer and newscaster at the college's student-run radio station— WBST —a 10-watt campus station that is now part of Indiana Public Radio . He was fired for treating classical music with irreverence. He then became involved with
SECTION 50
#17327931510254836-418: The ending of her feud with Letterman on December 1, 2005. Bill Murray, who had been his first guest on Late Night , was his final guest on Late Show . In a rarity for a late-night show, it was also the highest-rated program on network television that night, beating out all prime-time shows. In total, Letterman hosted 6,080 episodes of Late Night and Late Show , surpassing friend and mentor Johnny Carson as
4929-473: The film Clean Slate . The following year, Carvey filmed his first HBO stand-up special Critic's Choice . The show featured Carvey doing many of his SNL impersonations, as well as making fun of the premium channel's name, pronouncing it "hobo". He turned down a role in Bad Boys because he felt overwhelmed as a new father. He reprised many of his SNL characters in 1996 for The Dana Carvey Show ,
5022-420: The final months of his first stint as host of The Tonight Show , Leno beat Letterman in the ratings by a 1.3 million-viewer margin (5.2 million to 3.9 million), and Nightline and the Late Show were virtually tied. Once O'Brien took over Tonight , Letterman closed the gap in the ratings. O'Brien initially drove the median age of Tonight Show viewers from 55 to 45, with most older viewers opting to watch
5115-403: The first guest. In October 2022, Letterman traveled to Kyiv, Ukraine, to film a special standalone episode of My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman , interviewing Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy . In spite of Johnny Carson's clear intention to pass his title to Letterman, NBC selected Jay Leno to host The Tonight Show after Carson's departure. Letterman maintained
5208-765: The first time. He also interviewed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and traveled to rural villages where power is a scarce luxury and explored the United States' role in India's energy future. On April 7, 2017, Letterman gave the induction speech for the band Pearl Jam into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame at a ceremony held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York City . Also in 2017, Letterman and Alec Baldwin co-hosted The Essentials on Turner Classic Movies . Letterman and Baldwin introduced seven films for
5301-637: The founding of another campus station—WAGO-AM 570 (now WCRD , 91.3). He credits Paul Dixon , host of the Paul Dixon Show , a Cincinnati-based talk show also shown in Indianapolis while he was growing up, for inspiring his choice of career: I was just out of college [in 1969], and I really didn't know what I wanted to do. And then all of a sudden I saw him doing it [on TV]. And I thought: That's really what I want to do! Soon after graduating from Ball State in 1969, Letterman began his career as
5394-505: The guest panel of the fourth episode of Lights Out with David Spade and also in costume as Tony Montana in a number of later episodes. In 2021, Carvey began hosting the comedy podcast "Fantastic! with Dana Carvey". The podcast features mini sketches involving Carvey's many celebrity impressions, as well as interview segments with Carvey's family members and other friends from the stand-up comedy world. That same year, Carvey reprised his role of Garth Algar alongside Myers' Wayne Campbell in
5487-592: The hope of becoming a comedy writer. He and Michelle packed their belongings in his pickup truck and headed west. As of 2012, he still owned the truck. In Los Angeles, he began performing comedy at The Comedy Store . Jimmie Walker saw him on stage; with an endorsement from George Miller , Letterman joined a group of comedians whom Walker hired to write jokes for his stand-up act, a group that at various times also included Jay Leno , Paul Mooney , Robert Schimmel , Richard Jeni , Louie Anderson , Elayne Boosler , Byron Allen , Jack Handey , and Steve Oedekerk . By
5580-409: The hosting spot for Late Night that ultimately went to Conan O'Brien. Carvey has said that he generally prefers stand-up comedy to acting in movies and regularly performs lucrative corporate dates, boasting of "a few million-dollar months" during a 2016 Howard Stern interview. Carvey made an appearance at the 2008 MTV Movie Awards , reprising his SNL character Garth Algar with host Mike Myers for
5673-404: The interview degrades into a tirade against their apparent lack of piety and their secular lifestyles, culminating with her judgmental admonishments and condemnation. She often takes others to task for following the desires of their "tingling" and/or "engorged" "naughty parts." Sometimes the Church Lady was accompanied by a character known as "Minister Bob," played by Chevy Chase . He seemed to be
SECTION 60
#17327931510255766-441: The late-night talk show tradition of "guest hosts" that had virtually disappeared on network television during the 1990s, allowing Bill Cosby , Kathie Lee Gifford , Dana Carvey , Janeane Garofalo , and others to host new episodes of the Late Show . Upon his return to the show on February 21, 2000, Letterman brought all but one of the doctors and nurses on stage who had participated in his surgery and recovery (with extra teasing of
5859-434: The lead guest, served as a guest host while Letterman was ill with a stomach virus. In March 2002, as Letterman's contract with CBS neared expiration, ABC offered him the time slot for long-running news program Nightline with Ted Koppel . Letterman was interested, as he believed he could never match Leno's ratings at CBS due to Letterman's complaint of weaker lead-ins from the network's late local news programs, but
5952-402: The life of the party. Harry Joseph Letterman survived a heart attack at the age of 36 when David was a young boy. The fear of losing his father was constantly with Letterman as he grew up. The elder Letterman died of a second heart attack in 1973 at the age of 57. Letterman attended his hometown's Broad Ripple High School and worked as a stock boy at the local Atlas Supermarket. According to
6045-711: The longest-serving late-night talk show host in American television history. He is also a television and film producer. His company, Worldwide Pants , produced his shows as well as The Late Late Show and several primetime comedies, the most successful of which was the CBS sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond . Several late-night hosts have cited Letterman's influence, including Conan O'Brien , Jimmy Fallon , Seth Meyers (each of whom succeeded Letterman on Late Night ), Stephen Colbert (his successor on The Late Show ), Jimmy Kimmel , and Jon Stewart . Since 2018, he has hosted
6138-631: The longest-serving late-night talk show host in U.S. television history. In the months following the end of Late Show , Letterman was seen occasionally at sports events such as the Indianapolis 500, during which he submitted to an interview with a local publication. He made a surprise appearance on stage in San Antonio , Texas when he was invited up for an extended segment during Steve Martin's and Martin Short 's A Very Stupid Conversation show, saying "I retired, and...I have no regrets," Letterman told
6231-615: The middle of a South American tour that they canceled to play on his comeback episode. In February 2003, Letterman again handed the reins of the show to several guest hosts (including Bill Cosby , Brad Garrett , Whoopi Goldberg , Elvis Costello , John McEnroe , Vince Vaughn , Will Ferrell , Bonnie Hunt , Luke Wilson , and bandleader Paul Shaffer) when he was diagnosed with a severe case of shingles . Later that year, Letterman made regular use of guest hosts—including Tom Arnold and Kelsey Grammer —for shows broadcast on Fridays. In March 2007, Adam Sandler , who had been scheduled to be
6324-522: The movies and panned Carvey's effort. However, the movie did manage about $ 40 million at the North American box office. In March 2007, review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes ranked the film as the 18th worst-reviewed movie of the 2000s decade, with an approval rating of 1% based on 103 reviews. Comedian and former Mystery Science Theater 3000 host Michael J. Nelson named the film the third-worst comedy ever made . Carvey did not appear in
6417-439: The only person the Church Lady admired. During a church picnic an inebriated woman interrupted the gathering, shocking all the old ladies present, and saying how the Church Lady acts so high and mighty but is out of touch with the problems of people in everyday life. Minister Bob then acts more down to Earth than the Church Lady, saying it is the responsibility of a pastor to deal with people with problems. When he seems to be leading
6510-439: The person who influenced his career the most. On June 23, 1980, Letterman was given his own morning comedy show on NBC , The David Letterman Show . It was originally 90 minutes long but was shortened to 60 minutes in August 1980. The show was a critical success, winning two Emmy Awards , but was a ratings disappointment and was canceled, the last show airing October 24, 1980. NBC kept Letterman on its payroll to try him in
6603-620: The previous contract. On the February 3, 2011 edition of the Late Show , during an interview with Howard Stern , Letterman said he would continue to do his talk show for "maybe two years, I think." In April 2012, CBS announced it had extended its contract with Letterman through 2014. His contract was subsequently extended to 2015. During the taping of his show on April 3, 2014, Letterman announced that he had informed CBS president Leslie Moonves that he would retire from hosting Late Show by May 20, 2015. Later in his retirement Letterman occasionally stated, in jest, that he had been fired. It
6696-408: The ratings from the time that Hugh Grant came on Leno's show after Grant's arrest for soliciting a prostitute. Leno typically attracted about five million nightly viewers between 1999 and 2009. The Late Show lost nearly half its audience during its competition with Leno, attracting 7.1 million viewers nightly in its 1993–94 season and about 3.8 million per night as of Leno's departure in 2009. In
6789-549: The series. In 2018, Letterman began hosting a six-episode monthly series of hour-long programs on Netflix consisting of long-form interviews and field segments. The show, My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman , premiered January 12, 2018 with Barack Obama as its first guest. The second season premiered on May 31, 2019. Season 3 premiered on October 21, 2020, and includes Kim Kardashian West , Robert Downey Jr. , Dave Chappelle and Lizzo as guests. Season 4 premiered on May 20, 2022, with Billie Eilish as
6882-519: The show's declining popularity and made SNL "must-see" TV once again. An important part of the show's revival was Carvey's breakout character, the Church Lady , the uptight, smug, and pious host of Church Chat . Carvey said he based the character on women he knew from church while growing up, who would keep track of other churchgoers' attendance. He became so associated with the character that later cast members such as Chris Farley referred to Carvey simply as "The Lady". The Church Lady's discontinuation
6975-560: The summer of 1977, Letterman was a writer and regular on the six-week summer series The Starland Vocal Band Show , broadcast on CBS. He hosted a 1977 pilot for a game show called The Riddlers (which was never picked up), and co-starred in the Barry Levinson -produced comedy special Peeping Times , which aired in January 1978. Later that year, Letterman was a cast member on Mary Tyler Moore 's variety show, Mary . He made
7068-497: The trailer ends. The Church Lady appeared on ABC's The Dana Carvey Show as part of a larger sketch where a viewer letter asked whether Dana Carvey's SNL characters were to appear on the show. The sketch responded by claiming that ABC used Disney's high-profile lawyers to engage NBC in a hostile takeover , gaining the rights to Carvey's SNL characters, as well as some of the IPs of David Letterman 's show on CBS . It then cuts to
7161-564: The weather and the day's very high and low temps for fictitious cities ("Eight inches of snow in Bingree and surrounding areas"). On another occasion, he riffed that the state border between Indiana and Ohio had been erased, when a satellite map accidentally omitted it, jokingly attributing it to dirty political dealings: "The higher-ups have removed the border between Indiana and Ohio, making it one giant state. Personally, I'm against it. I don't know what to do about it." Letterman also starred in
7254-462: The woman into why problem drinking is a bad idea, he ends with saying "...because of SATAN!", and joins the Church Lady in her Superior Dance. The Church Lady made her first appearance on the season premiere of season 12 . It was not until the twelfth episode of that season, where Willie Nelson performs a duet of " You Don't Bring Me Flowers " with the Church Lady, that the character became more popular. The Jim Bakker and Tammy Faye Bakker scandal
7347-458: Was "a fascinatingly disgruntled eccentric trapped inside a more traditional talk show." The Late Show 's main competitor was NBC's The Tonight Show , which Jay Leno hosted for 22 years from 1992 to 2014, except from June 1, 2009, to January 22, 2010, when Conan O'Brien hosted. In 1993 and 1994, the Late Show consistently gained higher ratings than The Tonight Show . But in 1995, ratings dipped and Leno's show consistently beat Letterman's in
7440-463: Was added in June 1987). It was seen as edgy and unpredictable, and soon developed a cult following (particularly among college students). Letterman's reputation as an acerbic interviewer was borne out in verbal sparring matches with Cher (who even called him an "asshole" on the show), Shirley MacLaine , Charles Grodin , and Madonna . The show also featured comedy segments and running characters, in
7533-410: Was also screen tested for the lead role in the 1980 film Airplane! , a role that eventually went to Robert Hays . Letterman's brand of dry, sarcastic humor caught the attention of scouts for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson , and he was soon a regular guest on the show. He became a favorite of Carson and was a regular guest host for the show beginning in 1978. Letterman credits Carson as
7626-407: Was announced soon after that comedian and political satirist Stephen Colbert would succeed Letterman. Letterman's last episode aired on May 20, 2015, and opened with a presidential sendoff featuring four of the five living American presidents, George H. W. Bush , Bill Clinton , George W. Bush , and Barack Obama, each mimicking the late president Gerald Ford 's statement "Our long national nightmare
7719-602: Was born in Missoula, Montana , the fourth of five (with three older brothers and one younger sister ) born to Billie Dahl, a schoolteacher, and William John (Bud) Carvey, a high school business teacher. He has some Irish ancestry. Carvey is the brother of Brad Carvey , the engineer/designer of the Video Toaster . The character Garth Algar is loosely based on Brad. Carvey was raised Lutheran . In 1957, his family moved to Anderson, California , where his father got
7812-431: Was estimated at $ 32 million. In June 2009, Letterman's Worldwide Pants and CBS reached an agreement to continue the Late Show until at least August 2012. The previous contract had been set to expire in 2010, and the two-year extension was shorter than the typical three-year contract period negotiated in the past. Worldwide Pants agreed to lower its fee for the show, though it had remained a "solid moneymaker for CBS" under
7905-507: Was mentioned in a sketch which satirized the film Misery with host Roseanne Barr playing the role of Annie Wilkes . Carvey's other original characters included Garth Algar (from Wayne's World ), who was based on his brother; Hans (from " Hans and Franz "); the Grumpy Old Man (from Weekend Update appearances); and Ching Chang, a Chinese poultry store owner. Throughout the election and presidency of George H. W. Bush , he
7998-526: Was on May 13, 1994, on a Late Show episode taped in Los Angeles, when he made a surprise appearance during a Top 10 list segment. In early 2005, it was revealed that Carson occasionally sent jokes to Letterman, who used them in his monologue; according to CBS senior vice president Peter Lassally (a onetime producer for both men), Carson got "a big kick out of it." Letterman would do a characteristic Carson golf swing after delivering one of his jokes. In
8091-431: Was parodied multiple times in sketches and helped make the Church Lady one of SNL ' s signature characters. In a teaser trailer for the 1990 film Opportunity Knocks (available on that film's DVD), the Church Lady interrupts, warning viewers not to see the film and is punched in the face and knocked to the floor by Dana Carvey who introduces himself. The Church Lady retaliates and the fight continues off-screen as
8184-408: Was reluctant to replace Koppel. He addressed his decision to re-sign on the air, stating that he was content at CBS and that he had great respect for Koppel. On December 4, 2006, CBS revealed that Letterman signed a new contract to host Late Show with David Letterman through the fall of 2010. "I'm thrilled to be continuing on at CBS," said Letterman. "At my age you really don't want to have to learn
8277-693: Was severely obstructed. He was rushed to New York Presbyterian Hospital for emergency quintuple bypass surgery. During the first weeks of his recovery, reruns of the Late Show were shown and introduced by friends of Letterman, including Norm Macdonald , Drew Barrymore , Ray Romano , Robin Williams , Bonnie Hunt , Megan Mullally , Bill Murray, Regis Philbin , Charles Grodin , Nathan Lane , Julia Roberts , Bruce Willis , Jerry Seinfeld , Martin Short , Steven Seagal , Hillary Clinton , Danny DeVito , Steve Martin , and Sarah Jessica Parker . Later, while still recovering from surgery, Letterman revived
8370-528: Was that Letterman would retain his unique style and sense of humor with the move, Late Show was not an exact replica of his old NBC program. The monologue was lengthened. Paul Shaffer and the World's Most Dangerous Band followed Letterman to CBS, but they added a brass section and were rebranded the CBS Orchestra (at Shaffer's request); a small band had been mandated by Carson while Letterman occupied
8463-532: Was the NBC News president Lawrence K. Grossman and that he was not wearing any pants; walking across the hall to Studio 6B, at the time the news studio for WNBC-TV , and interrupting Al Roker 's weather segments during Live at Five ; and staging "elevator races", complete with commentary by NBC Sports' Bob Costas . In one appearance, in 1982, Andy Kaufman (who was wearing a neck brace) appeared with professional wrestler Jerry Lawler , who slapped and knocked
8556-440: Was the designated impersonator of the president, making him the lead actor of the regular political sketches on SNL . During the 1992 US presidential election campaign , Carvey also did an impression of independent candidate Ross Perot ; in a prime-time special before the election, Carvey played both George H. W. Bush and Perot in a three-way debate with Bill Clinton , played by Phil Hartman . As Perot—recorded and timed to give
8649-679: Was unblocked. As a result, Carvey continued to suffer from angina pectoris and successfully sued for $ 7.5 million in damages, which he donated to charity; he later underwent additional corrective surgery. He told Newsday that, while he was in the hospital for his final angioplasty, Frank Sinatra died in the room adjacent to his. In the late 1990s, Carvey took a break to raise his two sons. Carvey and his family live in Mill Valley in Marin County, California . David Letterman David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947)
#24975