THE DRAMATIC BEHIN D-THL
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REVISED AND
UPDATED-WITH
A CHAPTER
OF ALL
NEW
MATERIAL
"Bill
Carter has written
a detailed and remark-
LETTERMAN
LEN0,&TH
NETWOR
ably gripping account.
Unfailingly
balanced,
thoroughly researched,
filled
with scoops and
fresh insight."
—The New York Times
Book Review
BATTLE
FOR THE
NIGHT
- BILL
CARTE
r
^
2r
r
Shift
r
S H
F T
LETTERMAN,
LENO.AND THE
NETWORK
BATTLE FOR
THE NIGHT
BY
BILL CARTER
in YPERION
NEW YORK
r
Copyright© 1994, 1995 William J. Carter
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in
any manner whatsoever without the written permission of the
Publisher. Printed in the
address Hyperion,
1
United States of America. For information
New York, New York 1001 1.
14 Fifth Avenue,
Design by Joel Avirom
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Carter, Bill
The
night
/
late shift
by
p.
:
Letterman, Leno, and the network battle for the
Bill Carter.
—
1st ed.
cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 0-7868-8089-9
Tonight show (Television program) 2. Letterman, David.
4. Talk shows
United States. I. Title.
Jay.
PN1992.77.T63C37 1993
791.4572— dc20
93-47992
CIP
1.
3.
—
Leno,
FIRST PAPERBACK EDITION
1098
7
6543
2
1
To Beth, with
love always
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
primary source material for this book
is
my own
firsthand re-
conducted several hundred interviews with more than
one hundred people connected with the business and the proporting.
I
The
gramming of late-night
story spoke with
several times.
me
The
television. Every important figure in the
most agreed
at least once;
level of cooperation
I
to be interviewed
received was truly ex-
traordinary.
I
my
supplemented
reporting with information from various
newspaper and magazine
the
and the
St.
sulted the
GQ,
New
articles.
Most helpful were
articles
from
York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe,
Louis Post-Dispatch.
Among
many magazine
the
most useful came from Time, Newsweek, Esquire,
People, Success,
ABC News program,
M, and
Buzz-
"20/20."
I
articles
I
con-
Rolling Stone,
was also aided by the reporting of the
Two pieces from
The
New Yorker magazine,
one on Helen Kushnick by Peter Boyer and one on the courting of David
Letterman by Ken Auletta, were
also very helpful.
Helpful books included King of
the
Night by Laurence Learner, The
World of Jay Leno by Bill Adler and Bruce Cassiday, and Arsenio: Prince of
the Night by Aileen Joyce.
I
I
am
first and foremost my agent Kathy Robbins for her
me and for her hard work and support in making the book happen.
wish to thank
faith in
also grateful to her colleague Elizabeth
pecially for her boundless encouragement.
I
Mackey
for all
also wish to
her
thank
efforts, es-
my
editor
Brian DeFiore for his enthusiasm in pursuing this project.
Two
other editors
made
crucial contributions to this effort: Martin
Arnold, the Media Editor of the
Deputy Media Editor of the
than bosses.
New
New
York Times and Peter Kaufman, the
York Times. They are
much more
friends
Many
individuals provided significant help in assembling the informa-
tion for this book.
my
Some who have
asked not to be included by
name have
profound thanks.
The
long
list
of people
I
tant contributions includes:
would like to thank by name for their imporAlan Baker, Cindy Berger, Phil Beuth, Susan
Binford, Curt Block, Teri Garr, Michael Gartner, Jules Green, Brad Grey,
Dan
Arsenio Hall, Peggy Hubble, Mark Kern,
Kraus, Merrill Markoe,
Conan O'Brien, Steve
Klores,
Ken Kragen, Lucy
Bud Rukeyser, Lucie
Rivers,
Salhany, Garry Shandling, Stu Smiley, Jeff Sotzing, Hayley Sumner, and,
for his always
don
unique insight into
the television
game
is
played, Bran-
Tartikoff.
I
had
essential assistance
networks involved in
Howard
Stringer,
and emotions.
Susan Tick,
I
Perth,
from numerous individuals
this story.
who was
would
From CBS
I
am most
at
both of the
deeply indebted to
generous with time, thoughts, recollections,
also like to give special thanks to
Tom Goodman,
network's public relations
this
how
Ann
Morfogen,
Gail Plautz, Michael Silver, and the rest of
well as
staff, as
Ed Grebow, Tony Malara, Rod
David Poltrack, and George Schweitzer.
And
certainly not least,
book could not have been completed without the voluminous and ex-
tremely gracious contributions of Rosemary Keenan,
first
of NBC, then of
CBS, but always oi the Letterman show. She has my heartfelt thanks.
From NBC I am grateful for the considerate assistance of the network's public relations professionals, including Beth Comstock, Ed Markey, Mary Neagoy, Rosemary O'Brien, and especially Pat Schultz and Judy
Smith. Numerous NBC executives provided invaluable help. I would like
to
thank Sissy Biggers, Dick Ebersol, Betty Hudson, Pier Mapes, Robert
Niles,
Don Ohlmeyer, and
Company,
I
would
like to
Jeff Zucker.
And
from the General Electric
thank chairman Jack Welch
for his
generous
comments.
Three
am
NBC executives made
enormously
Warren
grateful.
Littlefield
indispensable contributions for which
John Agoglia was graciously open and
I
helpful.
was candid, colorful in his accounts of events, and ex-
ceptionally generous in every way.
And Bob Wright
very kindly
made
his
network and himself accessible to me.
From the Creative
warm,
Artists
facilitating help,
Agency,
I
wish to thank
Anna Perez for her
and Lee Gabler and Michael Ovitz
for their
thoughtful assessments and candor.
From "Saturday Night
an important, and always
Live," executive producer
Lome
Michaels was
cordial, resource.
From the "Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson," I am greatly indebted to Johnny Carson for contributing his time and insights. His law-
THE LATE SHIFT
yer,
Ed Hookstratten, made
enormously
special efforts
From the "Tonight Show with
writing partner and
my
who
nick,
I
thank him
would
I
like to
Jimmy Brogan, and
thank
Jay's
Jay's cheer-
Helga Pollock.
assistant,
my deep appreciation and
also wish to express
I
Jay Leno,"
old college friend,
and accommodating
ful
on my behalf and
as well.
thanks to Helen Kushgave freely of her time, her analysis of the business, and her
opinions on late-night television.
From "Late Show with David Letterman,"
I
was lucky enough to
re-
ceive the most gracious and helpful support of Julie Bean and Susan Shreyar, the assistants to the
executive producers, and Laurie Diamond, David
Letterman's executive assistant.
his extremely valuable help
and
I
owe
ideas.
way
for his significant contributions.
ton,
I
owe my deepest thanks
though tfulness, and
great appreciation to
would
I
To
for their
also like to
Ken Lehrer for
thank Jim Jacko-
Peter Lassally and Robert
welcoming openness,
Mor-
their abiding
their endless generosities.
This book could not have been written without the willing participa-
Leno and David Letterman. Both stars shared their thoughts
and opinions freely and with spectacular grace and generosity. am pro-
tion of Jay
I
foundly in their debt for their professionalism and their kindness, and for
all
the fun they have provided
me
—on and
off the air
In the course of pulling this project together,
and colleagues have played
comrades, Marc Gunther,
who was
And
vital roles.
my
I
—
many
in the past year.
friends, relatives,
wish to thank two of my journalist
former co-author, and especially Eric Mink,
invaluable in sharing ideas, information, and overall strategy.
for special help
with getting
me where
I
had
to be, thanks to
Diane
Guercio.
My
fondest thanks also to Denise and Phil Andrews, Deirdre Car-
mody, Rich and Nikki Carter, Richard and Teresa Carter, Kathy and Tony
Garrett, Frank Guercio, James Houston, Catharine and Thomas Keating,
Nancy Keating, Patrick and Julie Keating, Aine and Paul McCambridge,
Diego and Mary Lou Merida, Frank Murphy, Catherine and Dan O'Neill,
Lori and Thorn Peters, Jeanne Shatter, and Gerard and Jan Uehlinger.
Certainly the most important contribution to
the
members
of
my
family,
who
my work
was made by
sustained this intensely consuming effort
with unending supplies of patience, support and love.
And so
I
thank most
and Daniel Carter, whose laughter and love surand my wife, Bech Keating Carter,
inspiration,
of
forms
other
pass all
encouraging, life and family managediting,
whose extraordinary skills at
of
all
ing,
my
children, Caela
and loving without
limit are reflected in every
word on these
pages.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
NO MORE TO COME
1
THE EMPIRE OF THE NIGHT
13
THE CAMPAIGN
33
STUPID NETWORK TRICKS
51
BRIDGES BURNED
70
GOOD
COP, BAD COP
PSYCHOLOGY
THIS
IS
.
.
.
93
111
101
CBS
133
THE EAST/WEST GAME
157
CHOOSE YOUR PARTNERS
187
THE SECOND FRONT
221
CLASH BY NIGHT
247
WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY?
275
POSTSCRIPT:
INDEX
SHOWDOWN
IN
MIDTOWN
283
301
SHIFT
NO MORE
TO COME
behind a podium on the
far left
of the deep, elegant stage
Warren Littlefield was finishing up his debut as
NBC's entertainment programming. It was May 23,
of Carnegie Hall,
Tucked
maestro
of
1991, a sparkling spring afternoon in Manhattan. In front of a
full-house audience of advertising agency executives and station
managers from NBC's
onto the stage the
Cosby
Pauley, Bill
affiliated stations, Littlefield
full roster
—
NBC
stars
—Ted Danson, Jane
trying to complete with a flourish his
presentation of the upcoming
NBC's
of
was bringing
fall
first
television schedule.
ratings fortunes had, in the previous television sea-
son, started a steep plunge after six years of dominating prime time. (Or, as
Preston Beckman, an
NBC
research executive, described
took a bungee jump off the Empire State Building.")
tives
had assembled
their
Now
most important constituencies
Carnegie Hall and, in an
effort to impress,
"Our ratings
NBC's execu-
it:
in the grandeur of
they were reaching for rabbits
from every conceivable form of headwear.
More than two hours
satellite
earlier,
interview between
George Bush, who, a year
season, was pressing a
NBC
the session had started with a rambling
anchorman
Tom
prior to the start of a
little flesh
Brokaw and President
new
presidential election
electronically with the managers of local
television stations. This group was
one of growing importance to
politi-
cians seeking access to local newscasts. Littlefield, at that point pacing off-
found the interview interminable and unfathomable. He relished
the chance to introduce the next act: Jay Leno, permanent guest host of
stage,
the "Tonight" show,
who
in the last several years
NBC
hackup to Johnny Carson
tation as the hest
had polished
his repu-
had ever had on
its
"Tonight" show depth chart. Leno came out and did ten minutes of
c
rackerjack stand-up.
Hanson did a warmly received walk-on, minus his hairpiece, which
few in the crowd seemed to notice. And Cosby, NBC's leading man since
the mid-eighties, turned up to voice his appreciation for
all
the support his
"Cosby Show" had received, helping make him a millionaire another couple of
hundred times over.
Littlefield
had the
stage to himself as
new shows he had picked
others from the
like "Eerie, Indiana," "Pacific Station,"
he introduced these
for
NBC's
fall
stars
and
schedule, shows
and "Man of the People,"
all
of
which were being celebrated as the new wave from the House of Hits.
As the long ceremony wound down toward its close, it was a moment
of
some triumph
aiming
one he had been
for the thirty-nine-year-old Littlefield,
for all his professional life;
not because he had ever longed to walk
out into the spotlight at Carnegie Hall, but because he had waited a dec-
ade to walk out from under the
shadow of Brandon
tall
who had been named chairman
koff,
earlier,
had
led
NBC's charge from doormat
in the mid-eighties, piling
up annual
Tartikoff. Tarti-
of Paramount Pictures a
month
to king of the prime-time hill
profits of
up to $500 million
for the
network. Along the way Tartikoff had charmed the powers of Holly-
wood
end
—and even more importantly the
as the
showman
premier
Littlefield,
shorter,
press
—
to carve for himself a leg-
of the living-room box.
with a neatly trimmed, carrot-
redder-faced,
colored beard and a taste for conspicuously colorful
tikoff's principal lieutenant,
Tartikoff 's side at previous
a close relationship
often disagreeing
party, Tartikoff
fall
had grown
ties,
standing like the dutiful
had been Tar-
little
brother at
What had once been
end, with the two men
season presentations.
fractious toward the
on program and
casting choices.
was overheard calling
Littlefield
At one Hollywood
and another
NBC
pro-
gramming executive, Perry Simon, the "Milli Vanilli of programming,"
after the singing duo who were exposed for lip-synching songs sung by
other people. Littlefield, who had always had a vulnerability and sweetness
about him, tried to shrug the insult
ers at times
want
Fearing his big
lose a large part of his
tlefield
off,
saying, "Brothers fight,
punch that hurts."
show had drifted on too long and
and broth-
to inflict a
audience to long-delayed
trips to
urged a final round of applause for the whole
he had introduced that afternoon.
THE LATE SHIFT
He
that he might soon
the restroom, Lit-
"NBC family of stars"
promised a "final special
visitor
from the West"
as the last celehrity
memher of the
NBC pi ink M lme family
exited the stage.
my whole life for this," Littlefield said, revving up his
somewhat high-pitched voice: "Ladies and gentlemen, the king of
"I've waited
thin,
late-night television, soon to begin his thirtieth season
Johnny!" The theme song, "Da-Dat-Dat-DA-DA,"
on
NBC
.
.
.
kere'a
anyone
anyone who'd
as familiar to
who owned
a television set as the National Anthem was to
gone to a ballgame, rose to match the applause. Johnny Carson strode
his elegant, stiff-legged style to center stage.
plause, rolling
him
in
it
toward the stage in waves,
The audience
as
in
kept up the ap-
though trying to embrace
warmth and enthusiasm. They were genuinely
surprised; Carson's
appearance had been totally unbilled and effectively kept from the press by
the few
NBC executives who'd planned
As much
it.
American television audiences had come to love Carson,
the managers of NBC's television stations had several million stronger reasons for their ardor. Almost thirty years into his nightly role as the nation's
chief cultural color commentator, Carson was the single biggest money
as
generator in television history.
medium
Carson smiled broadly
dent
He was also
the greatest individual star the
had ever created.
and I'm very
grateful."
And
a fast-paced afternoon!"
stretched
it:
as
he drank in the applause, touched by
"Thank you very much," he
sincerity.
"You
folks
then
As
its
evi-
said.
"That's very nice of you
after a perfectly
timed pause: "Gee, what
the huge laugh was just dying down, Carson
must be
just short of a
coma."
And he was off and running, tossing off quick-hit jokes about Ivana
Trump, the cheapness of NBC's corporate parent General Electric, even
the afternoon's host: "You get a little awestruck being on this stage, to
think of all the great men who have graced this stage at Carnegie Hall:
Jascha Heifetz, Vladimir Horowitz, Isaac Stern, and today (pause) Warren
Littlefield."
He
tacked on a rebound laugh with: "Kind of knocks hell out
of Darwin's theory, doesn't
Then he shifted
it?"
to Jay Leno, the latest in a seemingly
unending
line of
Leno kept driving me nuts backstage, coming up
feeling? Feel okay? How's your thyroid? Your
you
'How
minutes:
every few
presumed
successors. "Jay
thyroid okay?'
about
I
like Jay
my health.
Leno, and as a matter of fact, he
In fact, he insisted that
I
is
very concerned
jog through Central Park about
midnight tonight."
Leno
didn't hear the cracks.
ater immediately
after his
own
He was
long gone, having bolted the the-
stand-up spot to grab a limo to the airport.
There, a private plane commissioned by
NBC
would take him back to
NO MORE TO COME
Lake Tahoe and the gig
festivities.
at the hotel
As Johnny was
he had interrupted to open the
speaking, Jay was already
sylvania, working, as always,
on more
jokes.
Carson's next target was also absent: Brandon Tartikoff, the
tertainment executive Carson had
NBC
somewhere over Penn-
NBC en-
come to like best and respect most. "I
"He talked me into staying and then
love Brandon Tartikoff," Carson said.
he jumped ship."
For some
who knew Carson
well, the last statement didn't
sound en-
tirely like a joke. They believed that Carson felt somewhat abandoned
when Tartikoff decided to leave NBC for Paramount, though Johnny him-
self
never said that was the case. But with Tartikoff gone, Carson was shar-
ing his
Burbank headquarters with a group of executives that he was not
nearly as close
to.
Carson did have some reason to be disenchanted with
work had seen
fit,
for the first
challenge his hard-earned prerogatives.
Persian Gulf war,
local
NBC
had responded
news time by pushing the
The
to
previous February, during the
its
stations' requests for
starting time for the
five minutes, to 11:35 p.m. in the East. It
stations to start squeezing
NBC: The net-
time in his run as sovereign of late night, to
was a convenient excuse
to 11:35
to take the risk.
NBC's
11:30, but the
executives believed the
move
was necessary to maintain the loyalty of the stations to the "To-
night" show.
With
syndicated shows like "Entertainment Tonight" and
reruns of "Cheers" churning out big profits for
late-night time period,
it
non-NBC
was becoming increasingly
hold together the lineup of stations that provided
for the
for the
more commercials into their newscasts.
NBC could have fought the stations to hold the line at
network didn't want
more
"Tonight" show back
stations in the
difficult for
full
NBC
to
national clearance
show. That 100 percent clearance rate was the backbone o{ the
"Tonight" show's dominance of late night.
NBC had been under pressure for some time from stations that wanted
to delay the start of
"Tonight" until midnight so they could plug in one of
those syndicated shows.
ple of reasons:
The
The
syndicated programs were enticing for a cou-
stations got to sell all the time in those shows, while
NBC gave them only half the commercial minutes in the "Tonight" show;
and the
stations
had noticed that the audience
gray along with the
That was
for
Carson was
starting to
star.
a potentially fatal trend.
The
television business
so youth-oriented that viewers over the age of
fifty
were
Advertisers bought commercial time almost exclusively
all
had become
but worthless.
on the
basis of the
demographic makeup of the audience. A show needed good young
"demos" to make big profits because advertisers had concluded that only
THE LATE SHIFT
young customers were
audience in
likely to switch brands.
larson
C
but the game had changed:
late night,
still
The
had the biggest
point was
no
lon-
ger to have a big audience, but to have the right audience.
NBC's entertainment executives had been nervously eyeing Johnny's
for several years. The Gulf war provided a somewhat graceful way to
demos
piece out of Johnny to placate the station managers, who were
wonder what sort of young female demos they could get with
"Love Connection" at 11:30.
take a
little
starting to
As Carson saw
the stations were simply eating up the
it,
utes of his access to the public, and he didn't like
who had
in the face to Carson,
per with his show.
If it
had happened
it.
first five
min-
was certainly a slap
He knew you
Carson would
earlier in his career,
this
understood the television business
ever worked in
It
always resisted every network effort to tam-
have threatened to quit and stopped
He
it.
encroachment dead
as well as
in
its
tracks.
any executive who had
could never permit the stations to
start
nibbling at your show, because the next year they might decide they'd like
to nibble
you back to an 11:45
start.
And
after that
it
would be an easy
jump to dropping in a rerun of a sitcom at 11:30, pushing the "Tonight"
show back to midnight. Carson would never have allowed himself to be
nibbled to death that way if he hadn't concluded his time on the show was
growing short anyway. That made the threat to quit a bit pointless. So
Johnny decided not
to bother;
though he
let
NBC
know
it
surely didn't
make him happy.
But Carson had not come to
he was there to deliver a
had more jokes
He
special
New York
to
win back
his five minutes;
monologue, and a special message.
to attend to before
he got
down
took a few shots at Paramount, then more
clue about the entertainment business.
And he
to business.
at
GE for not having a
He noted all the pregnancies at the
"Today" show and suggested that even Willard Scott had morning
sick-
ness.
Then, without breaking his comic rhythm, he shifted gears. "We've
been doing this show many, many years. I've had a few problems. I've
never talked about them on the
let
air,
but since this
is
my
last year,
might
I
you in on a few things that have happened."
He had dropped
the line in so smoothly, so seamlessly, that
not even a ripple of reaction in the big audience
front row,
where the
NBC
over a few of the faces.
relations,
it
was
To
executives
sat.
it
stirred
—except down
in the
There quizzical looks fogged
Betty Hudson, the head of corporate public
like a faint buzzing in the ear that
you couldn't quite iden-
tify.
Johnny was onto
stories
about advertisers he'd offended over the
years:
NO MORE TO COME
the Sara Lee bakery, with his suggestion
actually a "little
on the
air
one night that Sara was
hooker from Cleveland who made those cookies on the
he learned from the president of the company that Sara Lee
side." Later
had been named
after the
man's daughter.
Carson was most amused by the reaction of Forest Lawn, the famed
Hollywood
final resting place, to his
"They take you
out, stand
comment about
you on tippy
their $39.95 funeral:
and drive you into the ground
toes,
with a croquet mallet. You don't even get a headstone. They
your hand up, holding your Diners Club card."
the director of Forest
voice. "Mr. Carson:
Lawn was
The
call
just leave
the next day from
delivered in an especially otherworldly
We shall have the last laugh."
That drew Johnny's biggest laugh of the day. He might have stopped
there and saved the row of NBC executives from further squirming, but
the responsive crowd and the setting and the emotion of the moment
seemed to be making him nostalgic. So Carson rolled amiably on, reminiscing about the seven presidential administrations he'd
made fun of,
reserv-
some special thanks that Dan Quayle had come along to provide so
much monologue material. Then he recalled a recent bit he'd done on the
show about "least-uttered expressions in the English langauge," including:
"That's the banjo player's Porsche," and "Oh, you're a Jehovah's Witness.
ing
Come on
in!"
The audience was
shell. Finally
"I
know
totally his
he came around to
now. Every
you've had a long afternoon, and
thing here, as you well know, this
night' show,
line
and
it's
went
off like a fireworks
his point:
is
the
last
I
would
year that
I
like to say for
one
am doing
To-
the
been a long, marvelous run."
Now the rumble rolled
through the audience, not a single member of
which knew that this was supposed to be Johnny Carson's last year on the
air. Heads began to turn, one to the other, in the row of NBC executives.
Just offstage,
Warren Littlefield could suddenly feel his
shirt sticking to his
back.
Backstage, Dick Ebersol, the president of
friend of Carson's, heard the words
NBC Sports and a longtime
and remembered that Johnny,
around a table with Ebersol, Danson, and Cosby a while
something about going out and
sol
had no idea he'd meant
telling
them
all
earlier,
sitting
had
said
he was leaving soon. Eber-
that soon.
John Agoglia, the executive vice president oi NBC and the man who
conducted every major talent negotiation for the network, sat up and
leaned forward in his chair.
Carson went on: "Brandon came to
and we had our annual talk."
THE LATE SHIFT
me
as
he has
for the last ten years,