>> howard schneider accused of performing unneeded procedures on children. a special report, david letterman says good night starts now. i happen to be the most powerful man in american broadcasting. there was no preparation. it was spontaneous. carson was the show. dave created the anti-show.

>> i have more memories of the letterman show than my own from that time. >> before kimmel, conan, and seth or fallon, there was dave. the king of quips. >> and welcome to the damn show. >> stupid pet tricks and outrageous thanks. >> behind the scenes it was not all laughs. >> he was devastated. >> nbc has no use for these people. >> this is black male. >> a late night legend signs off. >> this means paul and i can be married. a cnn special report, david

letterman says good night. >> i still have to do things like answer viewer mail letters. >> what's the deal with the sneakers? we decided this letter should be answered in person. 1986 and steve o'donnell was a writer. >> we would seek them out. >> this is a house right here. one example of how dave changed the game. >> let me ring the bell. >> late night was both deliver and unconventional. can you show us your sister's stuff? >> he showed us the girl's room and took us to where she worked at the mall.

>> that was a kind of model for spontaneous guerilla tv making. >> at the time that was electric. >> it wasn't something you ever saw. the idea of johnny carson going into someone's house. dave was wearing the completed pants and the adidas. he walked out of the and was going through their stuff had a huge impact on me. >> a huge impact on pop culture and all the shows that came after his. not bad for a boy next door from indianapolis, indiana. his dad was a floorest and his mom a church secretary. his mother later wrote a cookbook with photos of dave and his two sisters.

an all american family who loved a good laugh and watching television. >> our household was full of arthur godfrey productions. >> they're don't do anything. they sit there. >> i can just remember being fascinated by when they would open the television part of the simulcast. there was something about the earphones and the head phones i found fascinating. >> dave was a good ball player and not a great student. >> i can remember doing so poorly and my mom was upset about it. she said we will get you into a trade school. one semester i took a public speak course. this might be my lifeline and i might be able to turn this into doing something. >> he turned it into his major. >> he decided to be a speech major in college. >> the author covered the industry for more than 25 years.

>> he was not a student or anything. he joined the radio station and then he comes out and becomes the local weather man. >> the higher ups removed the border between indiana and ohio making it one giant state. personally i'm against it. >> when a troem became a hurricane, i would wish her well. they didn't like that because it would destroy millions of dollars of property. >> dave was not suited for news, but he was suited for comedy. at 21 years old, he married his college sweetheart michelle cook and headed out to hollywood. >> she was a steady lovely girl apparently. totally supportive of his dreams at that point. a lot of people didn't know him. he behaved badly right. these young girls were so smitten with him. >> as dave built an audience on the stand up circuit, his marriage fell apart. >> i got back from reno.

they had a cheap jacuzzi. we had to take turns going -- >> in 1975, dave talked about the struggles of stand up. >> you go to the comedy store and do real well. you get done and you are excited for about five or ten minutes and say wait a minute, i made 80 drunk people laugh. >> what was new about this? >> he was ironic is the main thing. he had a detachment. he was very cool and verbal. >> by 1978 he hit the big time. >> here's johnny! >> a guest spot with his long time idol. >> if your dog is constipated, why screw up a good thing? >> he was the biggest star in television and i was a kid who followed the beacon of his light out of burbank. to be on his show was endlessly nerve racking. >> there was a fire in lauerle canyon and i lost an entire set

of dishes. paper burns. >> just like that. >> johnny carson fell hard for dave. >> nobody buys an original house. formerly owned by her cousin. >> squiggy's old place. >> they could really banter. he became a protege which was hard to do. >> you will be working a lot out of that comedy store. >> after a few appearances he went from guest. >> david letterman. >> to guest host and game a network favorite. >> the david letterman show live. >> they were so commiten, he got his own morning talk show. the veteran director. >> it wasn't fun to begin with. there was no room to do musical acts. it was like a sitcom.

>> our very own staff member with a gardening chance will be here. >> wildly inappropriate for his style. >> when we return, a devastating blow for david letterman. >> mr. letterman was sure we were doomed like it was the end of everything. ♪ and i'll never desert you ♪ ♪ i'll stand by you yeaaaah! yeah. so that's our loyalty program. you're automatically enrolled, and the longer you stay, the more rewards you get. great! oh! ♪ i'll stand by you ♪ won't let nobody hurt you ♪ isn't there a simpler way to explain the loyalty program? yes. standing by you from day one. now, that's progressive.

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the powerful tool that shows blyou what should pay.r. it gives you a fair purchase price that's based on what others recently paid for the same new car and kelley blue book's trusted pricing expertise. kbb.com >> david letterman. that's david letterman hosting a live morning talk show in 1980. >> why do you have this stuff? >> and this was one of the few people watching. >> everything about it was

arresting. >> an electronic wizard, conan o'brien, then in high school. >> it's hard to explain that to people today. this guy was 180 degrees different from anything you had seen in that format. >> would you like a tissue? >> the whole thing felt wrong-perfect. >> perfect for conan, but poor for the time slot. after four months, david letterman was canceled. he thought he thought his career was over. >> he was about as devastated as you can be. he remained for a lot of his career consumed with self doubt. >> nbc brass had other plans for dave. >> david letterman! 1982 lave landed late night at 12:30 a.m. after his hero, johnny carson. >> that's what they are doing. >> a dream job in a time slot so

late, he could do anything he wanted on air. >> right over there is the "today" show. >> prime time program was my idea and i'm not wearing pants. >> it was a completely unique talk show. infused with dave's sarcasm. >> america's favorite couple summertime pastime, destruction by gravity. >> and wacky starts. >> throwing stuff at buildings, i remember my friends and i washing that thinking it was the greatest thing ever. >> the turkey is a flightless bird. i don't think so. >> new territory for a show. he smashed the fourth wall, turning to his own team for inspiration. >> what do you do with the jacket when i'm done? >> i added to the big ball of sports coat. >> have any questions?

>> paul, a good question. how do you get out of there? >> there really was no preparation. it was spontaneous. >> we are going to bust them. i love paul. he has the perfect reaction and love the rhythm they have together. >> here he is again. what's his name. >> band leader and sidekick, paul schaefer. >> you are giving me the one-name treatment. just paul. >> i didn't have anything to say. i instructed myself. one day i started talking. dave got a kick out of it. >> i used to do weather on? >> you did? i used to be a swimsuit model. >> he said hey, that was great. do more of that. >> i watched johnny carson. and you are no johnny carson. >> sometimes we had a bigger

audience than "the tonight show." >> here started a routine with you where he would talk to you during the show. >> hal! hal! >> hilarious and innovative. everyone was along for the ride. there was guest camp and monkey camp. >> they had a 360 degree camp where the show slowly over the course of the hour rotated. that was ridiculous. >> we achieved 180 degrees. >> they did a show on a plane and i felt like it was somehow for me. the heavens had opened up. >> letterman fan boy, jimmy kimmel. >> there was a picture from your 18th birthday? what was the cake? >> late night. my mom had a letterman jacket made for me like ones they had on the show. i played no sports and i wore a

letterman jacket. they said l 8 nite. >> please clear the hall way. beat it, will you? thank you. >> just remember save balking all the way down the hall with one camera following him. it's live. >> don't get on that elevator. >> it seemed like such a waste of network television time. i loved it. >> what are you doing with the keys? >> they started a new kind of humor. >> here's one of the smaller offices right there. >> carson had rules that we were not supposed to break. the request was that dave shouldn't talk to an announcer and dave shouldn't do an opening monologue. i remember thinking that's it? that's all the things we are not to do? that leaves everything. >> merrill marco was the brains behind much of late night. she and dave were involved

professionally and romantically for a decade. >> everything i found in the phone book that made a claim, i would ask them about it. if they said bulbs, i would say who else? >> she would send dave there to harass them? >> besides bulbs, what do you have? >> nothing. >> what can you get here? >> parker developed many of the trademark segments. >> i think i'm ground zero for dog videos. >> i hope they don't let him drive after this. >> that led to stupid pet tricks. stupid human tricks. and viewer mail. >> my dream job was to work for david letterman. >> in 1985, conan o'brien tried to get a job as a writer on the

show. >> it was between me and another guy from oklahoma. trying to be a mass murderer. a very prolific mass murderer and they went with the other guy and i was crushed. i had a dizzy dozen years. craziest job i ever had. >> steve o'donnell is not a mass murderer. he got a coveted writing game. >> it was like a cult college type show. but it wasn't necessarily clear that it would go on for a long time. >> o'donnell and the team came up with most of dave's crazy get ups. >> we have 3400 tablets on this fine piece of clothing. >> we did a bunch of stunts partly inspired by steve allen. >> i got the food on here. when they come out, i will pass it among you folks. snack your brains out. >> and crafted dave's classic top ten list.

>> on the first one, top 10 words that almost rhyme with pea s. >> and the number one word that almost rhymes with pea s is meats. >> that was supposed to be serious. >> off the charts and arguably dave's funniest material were his remotes, pranks outside the studio. >> i want to ask you a couple of questions. what do do you for a living? >> mail man. >> i have xerox copies of other people. this is bryant gumbel's. what do you see there? >> financial difficulty. >> no one knew who he was. he was there at 12:30 at night and a late went wait a second, i know you. >> nice to see you. >> you need authorization to drop off a fruit basket. >> he took it to a new level

when he mocked his own network. >> it will be fun to work with these people. to drop off a fruit basket you need paperwork. >> when he did the famous thing and he brings a 50 basket to them, the guy wouldn't shake his hand. >> what are is your name? >> will ask you to turn the cameras off, please. >> you felt like you were diso pay baying the bosses. >> that was an important agreement. we were all on the same side. they took it personally. >> i think he hurt his own future that way. dave wants to succeed more than anything. >> don't move your body into the driveway. >> here's the people who are going to make the decision. you are alienating them? >> you bet it's a ge. >> david letterman! >> but the audience loved dave. after a year on the air, he was

everywhere. late night, once a cult became must see tv. but dave never relaxed. >> having been canceled once, he felt another cancellation was imminent. he felt like there was an ax over his head and waiting for it to drop. >> ahead the ax drops and the war for late night. e? why are we so committed to keeping you connected? why combine performance with a conscience? why innovate for a future without accidents? why do any of it? why do all of it? because if it matters to you, it's everything to us. the xc60 crossover. from volvo. lease the well equiped volvo xc60 today. visit your local volvo showroom for details. i lost my sight in afghanistan, but it doesn't hold me back.

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>> david letterman could find humor anywhere. by the late 80s, all the cool kids wanted to hang with dave. including jay leno who came up doing stand up in the 70s. >> i'm not the kind of guy to brag. >> leno was our dream guest. we would have leno next thursday. it led to jay getting the job because he was so good with dave.

. >> when cher went on, it was not you're the best. he is prodding. >> after nearly 4 1/2 years did you decide to go on? >> i thought i would never top the do the show with you. >> why? because you thought i was -- >> an [ bleep ]. >> it was an electric moment. no one called carson an [ bleep ]. you would disappear from the face of the earth. >> dave was on a role and a shock announcement. carson was stepping down. >> i bid you a very heart felt good night. >> after a decade, he seemed the

heir apparent. >> would i like to have the show. oh, sure. i would look at new upholstery now. >> he wanted his chair and his time slot. >> that's what he was working for all those years. to do "the tonight show." unbenounced to dave -- >> when did it become apparent? >> they came to talk to him. we love you and we want to keep you where you are. he just said that's unacceptable and i want it on my contract and walks out. >> dave helped boost to success.

>> bill carter wrote a best selling book and said they had doubts about letterman. >> they thought he's so experimental. can he do "the tonight show" format? they had a guy who would do anything. anything they asked times 10. they looked at that and said why can't we have both? >> public jostling went on for months. >> i guess it was this odd dynamic. and you had like an ongoing soap app ra and politics about the strategy and the big guy and the middle guy and the guy who didn't get the job. >> ultimately leno got the big. dave was crushed. r. >> he was devastated. jay was this wild comic who was a mainstream comic.

jay calculated what you need to do if you think about a late night show, jay wanted to win. dave didn't play the game. jay got the show. >> enjoy yourself. i'll be right back. >> dave's relationship with nbc was fractured, but all the other networks came courting. >> we went to los angeles and had the meetings with people and what made the difference is they would bring in plates of fresh fruit and it was first-rate produce. >> that are impressed you? >> not me, but every other bonehead that came in. >> ultimately he gets the most powerful agent in hollywood to represent him. >> that's why he came up with the idea that if it doesn't play at 11:30, there is a $50 million penally. that's how they got around that. >> cbs said we will make you the signature star of the network and you will be the guy for us. >> coming up, dave rolls the

dies. >> he was worried about going a new venue. the cbs thing was a gamble. >> check this now with the cbs attorneys and legally i can't continue to call myself dave. blap toenail fungus? seriously? smash it with jublia! jublia is a prescription medicine proven to treat toenail fungus. use jublia as instructed by your doctor.

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>> this morning i wake up and next to me in bed is the head of a peacock. i don't know. >> broadway's ed sullivan theater. >> it's a marvelous ed miss and we couldn't be happier to be here. >> the thing from day one, it was enormous. >> we have a wonderful program tonight. bill murray. billy joel. >> dave's first night on a new network. in a new time slot. when the dust of the late night war settled, jay leno had "the tonight show" and dave had a multimillion-dollar deal with cbs. it was a risky move. he didn't have anything. it was can't miss television. >> it's a joke, okay? >> it's me, you jerk.

every night he killed it and killed it. what is wrong with you? >> this is not a promo. this is the show. >> would you like me to do a dance for you. >> drew barrymore gave him an unforgettable birthday present. >> we have madonna on. one of my favorite reaction shots. madonna for some reason thought it would be funny if she used the f word over and over and over again. it got tiresome. >> i brought something to make a point. you are always [ bleep ] with me on the show. >> in the middle of all this f

word, there was an elderly woman and her husband sitting in the audience. they got a shot of her and got a big laugh. >> turn the volume down immediately. she can't be stopped. there is something wrong with her. >> nonstop laughs. writer steve o'donnell said dave never thought he was good enough. >> it could be painful to people close to him. i have saved dozens of little notes he would write and they alternated between i hate myself and stand by show. he would underline stand by show. >> even as he worried about his own success, dave paid it forward as carson had done for him. >> you better be as good as letterman? >> we will give it a shot. >> conan was a virtual unknown. >> i was being pummelled to death.

he had only bring home something in a couple of months. that was a huge deal. >> when i got this job, i came here to 30 rock. >> how did you get this job? >> always indebted to him for that. >> here for a free taco. >> he delivered everywhere he went and for a couple of years, he was golden. going head to head with his palate nbc and winning. >> from the nbc studios in burbank -- >> until a shocking celebrity scandal in 1995. >> question number one. a gigantic get when he landed hugh grant after soliciting a profit. >> what were you thinking? >> that epic interview and nbc's monster prime time hits and leno's fine tuning took a toll on the late show. >> it hurt letterman, i think.

it became a difficult struggle for him to counter all that momentum at nbc. >> if you want to influence the congressman, you want to sele them full beer cans. >> he won the ratings for 15 years. gradually dave made peace with it. >> he was more comfortable with the hipper, slightly skewed show with the attitude and being at %-p readyings are. it doesn't matter. the fact of the matter is that dave is the best there ever was. he starred something. >> in 2000, he showed a softer side after emergency heart bypass and five weeks off the air, he returned, giving a touching tribute to the hospital staff who helped him. >> these men and women saved my life. >> when dave shows his human side, it's a treat.

what's going on here? who is this person? >> the episode earned an emmy nomination, days after september 11th, dave couldn't hold back emotions. >> we are told they were zealoted fuelled by religious fervor. >> he was pacing and figuring out what he was going to say. >> if you live to be a thousand years old, will that make sense to you? will that make any god damn sense. >> he was the first late night host back on air. >> he made it okay to start laughing again. >> father hood also changed him. >> in 2003 he and his girlfriend had a son, harry, named after dave's late father. >> it has been sweet to get to see the big moments from his heart surgery to the birth of his son and as he got older, we got to know him. >> your life doesn't begin in the important ways until you have a child.

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>> thank you very much for being on the program. it has been years and i will say off the top, you look different than i remember. >> the late show, january 2009. >> joaquin phoenix was acting crazy. >> what do you have them on? >> i'm sorry? >> what are you -- >> it was like watching a surgeon. a really good surgeon. it was better than that. he was just watching a maestro. >> what you can tell us about your days with the unibomber. >> he told you without telling you that person was a nut. for me when i see somebody on the show, i have a good idea of whether he is going to lining them or not. it influences me. i like them and he likes them. if he doesn't, they are idiots. >> joaquin, i'm sorry you couldn't be here tonight. >> 25 years and dave still nailed it. when jay leno left a few months

later. >> two more shows left to do. dave crushed the competition. >> welcome to the tonight show with conan o'brien. thank you. >> there was much drama at nbc with conan getting "the tonight show" and renno resting it back from him. >> good to be home. >> pa in 2012, they joked about the mess, both of them deprived of the dreams by a scheming jay leno. >> he is getting a live feed in a satellite truck right now. he is watching every second. >> here are two guys and nobody should feel bad for them. they both have been through the same hellish experience because of this other guy. >> it was just one of those nice moments that comes along every now and then where everything lines up.

>> how about your relationship with jay. you knew jay before he demanded he get his show back. >> i was assures none of this would come up tonight. >> dave was leading the late night pack when a joke about sarah palin's daughter fell flat. >> one awkward moment in the seventh inning, her daughter was knocked up by alex rodriguez. >> adding fuel to the fire, dave messed up and targeted the wrong daughter. >> he took shots at the daughter and a lot of people think that's over the line. >> i told a joke that was beyond flawed. >> that was nothing compared to what came next. >> i have a story i would like to tell you and the home viewser. the 62-year-old confessed to a cheating scandal after he and his girlfriend tide the knot. >> this was embarrassing because it was kind of an open secret. he had relationships with women who worked on the show. >> and people on the show were

aware of that. i don't think people were aware of this one. >> dave's shocking confession drew a pause. >> i have had sex with women who work for me on this show. now, my response to that is yes, i have. i have had sex with women who work on this show. >> dave's confession came after an extortion attempt who demanded millions to keep hush dave's affairs with staffers. >> would it be embarrassing if it were made public? perhaps it would, especially for the women. >> the fact that he had an affair is conventional, but the guy tries to black mail him and i think it's very letterman that instead of paying this guy off to keep it quiet, he said no, i'm not doing that and went right to the cops.

>> i want to thank the people at the special prosecution bureau and the manhattan district attorney's office. >> he hates humiliation. >> he pleaded guilt tow attempted grand larceny and spent four months in jail. a week after the scandal, dave apologized to his wife on air. >> my wife regina has been horribly hurt by my behavior and when something happens like that, if you hurt a person and it's your responsibility, you try to fix it. so let me tell you, folks, i have my work cut out for me. >> dave called this the lowest point in his life. the couple did reconcile and they are still together. >> talk about electric television. it's just television like nothing else you have ever seen. >> his ratings went up. >> his ratings went up, but they never recovered much from the early days. he has been playing from behind.

at some point he stopped feeling like he could win. >> coming up, dave, say it oint so. >> i was goofing around with my son, harry. i said hare, what if i retired. why would you retire?

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♪ dave and pop star lady gaga. >> hello, new york. >> nice to see you. >> there was no stopping me. my mom was really supported. yrv been doing this a long time and i had a lot of rejection. >> when i got fired at nbc, my mom brought me here to cbs. >> that was 23 years ago. >> is it weird that it's lasted this long? it's 2015. >> it's weird in that he thought it was going to be canceled all the time. i'd like to go back to that version and oh, you're going to be on for the rest of your life. >> or at least longer than his idle, johnny carson. in 200013, david letterman became the longest running late

night host in history. >> the one fixed point in the ever changing late night sky. >> he's had more than 18,000 guests. >> howard stern. >> many of them regulars. ♪ >> a little thing right in there. yeah. julia roberts [ applause ] >> you know, there was a time, dave, when i asked you on a date. >> turn off the cameras. clear the audience, turn off the cameras. >> after more than 30 years on air for letterman, his younger rivals are grabbing those coveted younger viewers. >>. ♪ i want to rock right now >> he's not surprising anyone at this point by being david letterman. and yet he's still doing things

you absolutely have to see. >> there you go. >> late night observer bill carter has been seeing signs that dave has been winding done. >> he really hasn't done any of the bits he used to do. he doesn't even go to rehearsals. i think it's been fairly hard for him. >> when this show stops being furngs fun, i will retire 10 years l s later. >> and then last year he made an announcement. >> i said, leslie, you've been great, the network has been great. >> there was no indication before we went into the wings and he said, i've told the guys that i'm are retiring and i said you did this.

>> yes i did. >> wow. do i have a m minute to call my cousin. wow and then next thing i know i was on the stage and ♪ these coast girls are hip and thinking what did i just hear. but it was as fast as that. >> there's the bird. look at that. look at that animal right there. >> he said the epifany came after bird watching with his son. >> and i'm talking to my wife regina and she says how was work and i said i think we identified the bird and she says that's great. who was on the show? i said i don't remember. [ laughter] so, that's when i started thinking in terms of how long does a guy want to do a tv show? >> oh, boy, here we go.

♪ there simply is no better man, than good old david letterman ♪ >> thank you. >> his friends have been less than understanding. >> believe me, you will have nothing to do pretty soon. >> this whole pudding idea is the silliest thing i ever heard. >> you're still an. [ bleep] >> i was thinking me and you could play some dominos. >> i think he'll have the same legacy as richard pryor a. >> people pointing out to me that i'm the old guy now. i went from who the hel is he to is he still here?

>> long ago on the "tonight show" dave couldn't imagine he'd be here still. >> could you imagine 12 years later doing your tonight show? i bid you very heart felt good night. ♪ >> dave's final show was not sentimental. >> please be seated. >> but it was a chance to land one more dig. >> it's beginning to look like i'm not going to get "the tonight show." >> the last top 10 list featured his celebrity bffs. >> i'm just glad your show is being given to another white guy. >> thanks for letting me take part in another hugely disappointed series finale.

>> that was so funny. >> i want to thank my own family. >> but he saved his most touching moment for his wife, regina, and son, harry. >> just thank you for being my family. i love you both and really nothing else matters, does it? [ applause ] >> what the heliam i going to do with myself every day at 4:00 p.m. >> and dave, what is he going to do? >> he gets laughs. so, i wouldn't put him on the porch. >> paul and i will be debuting our new act at seicaesar's pala with our white tigers. >> i know he would be the very last person to say he's better than johnny, but he is better than johnny. >> for the very last time on a television program, thank you

and good night. [ applause ] ♪ fz my grandparents teach that there are some people who have been in madagascar before. they were very little people and they live in forests and they respect their environment. but then comes many people from