by Carter, Bill
For Jay, as always, the answer remained in hard work. He had trimmed down physically with the help of steady pounding on a treadmill. He continued to work the kinds of hours possible only to college students in exam week and other human beings for whom sleep is of no consequence. And it was music to Jay’s ears to hear that Dave occasionally felt burned out by the long hours and the pressure. Because for Jay, working endless hours for days and weeks without letup was no problem at all.
“When I have an hour or two off, I don’t know what to do with myself,” Jay said. “I honestly feel that we can increase the workload another 30 to 40 percent.”
Inside the Letterman shop, where they seemed already to be working at more than full capacity, nobody believed in that form of insanity. To add more work on top of what the Oscar show already represented, was to create the possibility of overwinding Letterman’s already high-tension spring.
On “Late Show,” as the program approached its second anniversary, the goal was more elusive: not more work, but more work of distinction, more work that touched on originality, more work worthy of the magic that now seemed attached to the man who continued to rule late-night television—America’s host: David Letterman.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The primary source material for this book is my own firsthand reporting. I conducted several hundred interviews with more than one hundred people connected with the business and the programming of late-night television. Every important figure in the story spoke with me at least once; most agreed to be interviewed several times. The level of cooperation I received was truly extraordinary.
I supplemented my reporting with information from various newspaper and magazine articles. Most helpful were articles from the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Among the many magazine articles I consulted the most useful came from Time, Newsweek, Esquire, Rolling Stone, GQ, People, Success, M, and Buzz. I was also aided by the reporting of the ABC News program, “20/20.” 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 Leamer, The World of Jay Leno by Bill Adler and Bruce Cassiday, and Arsenio: Prince of the Night by Aileen Joyce.
I wish to thank first and foremost my agent Kathy Robbins for her faith in me and for her hard work and support in making the book happen. I am also grateful to her colleague Elizabeth Mackey for all her efforts, especially for her boundless encouragement. I also wish to thank 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 New York Times and Peter Kaufman, the Deputy Media Editor of the New York Times. They are much more friends than bosses.
Many individuals provided significant help in assembling the information for this book. Some who have asked not to be included by name have my profound thanks.
The long list of people I would like to thank by name for their important contributions includes: Alan Baker, Cindy Berger, Phil Beuth, Susan Binford, Curt Block, Teri Garr, Michael Gartner, Jules Green, Brad Grey, Arsenio Hall, Peggy Hubble, Mark Kern, Dan Klores, Ken Kragen, Lucy Kraus, Merrill Markoe, Conan O’Brien, Steve Rivers, Bud Rukeyser, Lucie Salhany, Garry Shandling, Stu Smiley, Jeff Sotzing, Hayley Sumner, and, for his always unique insight into how the television game is played, Brandon Tartikoff.
I had essential assistance from numerous individuals at both of the networks involved in this story. From CBS I am most deeply indebted to Howard Stringer, who was generous with time, thoughts, recollections, and emotions. I would also like to give special thanks to Ann Morfogen, Susan Tick, Tom Goodman, Gail Plautz, Michael Silver, and the rest of network’s public relations staff, as well as Ed Grebow, Tony Malara, Rod Perth, David Poltrack, and George Schweitzer. And certainly not least, this book could not have been completed without the voluminous and extremely gracious contributions of Rosemary Keenan, first of NBC, then of CBS, but always of 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 Jeff Zucker. And from the General Electric Company, I would like to thank chairman Jack Welch for his generous comments.
Three NBC executives made indispensable contributions for which I am enormously grateful. John Agoglia was graciously open and helpful. Warren Littlefield was candid, colorful in his accounts of events, and exceptionally generous in every way. And Bob Wright very kindly made his network and himself accessible to me.
From the Creative Artists Agency, I wish to thank Anna Perez for her warm, facilitating help, and Lee Gabler and Michael Ovitz for their thoughtful assessments and candor.
From “Saturday Night Live,” executive producer Lorne Michaels was an important, and always cordial, resource.
From the “Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson,” I am greatly indebted to Johnny Carson for contributing his time and insights. His lawyer, Ed Hookstratten, made special efforts on my behalf and I thank him enormously as well.
From the “Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” I would like to thank Jay’s writing partner and my old college friend, Jimmy Brogan, and Jay’s cheerful and accommodating assistant, Helga Pollock.
I also wish to express my deep appreciation and thanks to Helen Kushnick, who gave 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 receive 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. I owe great appreciation to Ken Lerer for his extremely valuable help and ideas. I would also like to thank Jim Jackoway for his significant contributions. To Peter Lassally and Robert Morton, I owe my deepest thanks for their welcoming openness, their abiding thoughtfulness, and their endless generosities.
This book could not have been written without the willing participation of Jay Leno and David Letterman. Both stars shared their thoughts and opinions freely and with spectacular grace and generosity. I am profoundly 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 past year.
In the course of pulling this project together, many friends, relatives, and colleagues have played vital roles. I wish to thank two of my journalist comrades, Marc Gunther, my former co-author, and especially Eric Mink, who was invaluable in sharing ideas, information, and overall strategy. And 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 Carmody, 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 Thom Peters, Jeanne Shatter, and Gerard and Jan Uehlinger.
Certainly the most important contribution to my work was made by the members of my family, who sustained this intensely consuming effort with unending supplies of patience, support and love. And so I thank most of all my children, Caela and Daniel Carter, whose laughter and love surpass all other forms of inspiration, and my wife, Beth Keating Carter, whose extraordinary skills at editing, encouraging, life and family managing, and loving without limit are reflected in every word on these pages.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bill Carter joined the New York Times as a national media reporter in 1989. He is the author of New York Times bestseller The The Late Shift and two other books on the television in
dustry—Monday Night Mayhem and Desperate Networks—and has written numerous articles for the New York Times Magazine and other publications. Carter has been a guest on Nightline, Today, CNN, Charlie Rose, NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, and many other shows. A graduate of the University of Notre Dame, he lives in New Jersey with his wife. They have two children.
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
Copyright © 1995, 2019 by Bill Carter
Cover design and illustration by Amanda Shaffer
ISBN: 978-1-5040-5884-1
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