The summer of 1993.. historic in nature. A new president. Bill Clinton. Lampooned by Rush Limbaugh–thus beginning the fate of future politics … Jurassic Park released… thus beginning a wave of dinosaurs movies..
And David Letterman makes his grand entrance onto the stage of the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City for his new show, Late Show with David Letterman.
Can you believe it has been 25 years already since this pop culture moment…?
Where were you in August 1993…?
This is how the New York DAILY NEWS assessed the situation in 1993..
The show’s celebrated Top 10 list, for example, developed during the 12 years Letterman did “Late Night” for NBC, was prominently displayed as the “Late Show Top 10.”
The bit – “Top 10 Ways the New Show Will Be Better” – offered a new, elaborately produced electronic introduction, but otherwise it was indistinguishable from the feature that became a hallmark of Letterman’s show on NBC.
Letterman, in fact, used a prominent NBC personality – “Nightly News” anchor Tom Brokaw, a favorite guest on the show for years – as part of an on-air segment ridiculing NBC’s assertion of “intellectual property” rights to past Letterman characters, titles and routines.
And the rest was history..
Billy Joel’s NO MAN’S LAND after Bill Murray painted Dave’s desk.. Al Gore with a hammer.. A flash dance by Drew Barrymore.. Madonna with a cigar. David Letterman’s 1990s show defined the era..
Sure his ratings suffered after Hugh Grant appeared on Jay Leno after sleeping with a prostitute.. but it was in third place where Letterman reigned supreme. When he was bitter.. angry..
For anyone who lived through the pre-911 era, the 90s were a set of innocent years. Special times of mostly inconsequential events…
In 2001, after the World Trade Center attacks, Letterman reconvened a new decade of programming with a new summation of the era.
The decade(s) of irony and sarcastic wit were over.. Letterman still gave us what we mostly wanted. As most things go, everything became stale by his retirement..
But this month, August, we can look back on 1993 with fond and amazing memories of a time when TV was exciting. When the pimp and circumstance of a new show on CBS captivated the nation. And when we, as a nation, were devoid of terror threats and still innocent of the charges other countries provide us…
Yes.. those were the days.
The fine days of 1993 …
David Letterman. Forever in our years 25 years later.
