Name: The Late Shift
ISBN: 9780786889075

Bill Carter

The basis of an HBO cable-television movie special, the behind-the-scenes story of the ratings battle between the television networks, NBC and CBS, and their top comedians, David Letterman and Jay Leno. Reprint. TV tie-in.

Letterman, Leno & the Network Battle for the Night

The Late Shift

Rachel

The main take away from this book is never assume you have the position you have if you work with NBC. They are so messed up. Reading this 2 decades after it was written is hilarious because NBC still makes huge fuck ups with the tonight show and just handles it horribly. The book does great at giving background on Letterman, Leno and all the behind the scenes people involved in the battle for The Tonight Show after Carson announced he was stepping down. I felt the book was a bit unfair to Leno at times making him come off as a the bad guy, but it does explain why so many people don't seem to like him. But the flip side to that Letterman came off as a complete ass at times, yet he's viewed as the better of the two. I guess because the book is older it captures the feelings at the time and has since changed.

New York Times Bestseller: A “gripping” true story of late-night comedy and behind-the-scenes drama (Los Angeles Times). When beloved host Johnny Carson announced his retirement after thirty years on The Tonight Show, millions of Americans mourned. But inside the television industry, the news ignited a battle between two amazing talents—Jay Leno and David Letterman—who both yearned to occupy the departing legend’s chair. For NBC, it would be a decision with millions of dollars at stake. Soon these two comedians with strikingly different styles, who had once shared a friendship as they worked the clubs together, would be engaged in a fierce competition for the prize. Based on in-depth reporting and interviews with those involved, and updated with a new introduction by the author, The Late Shift is a “vivid, behind-the-scenes, blow-by-blow account” of the fight that ensued, as stars, agents, and executives maneuvered for control of the most profitable program in TV history (Chicago Tribune). “Remarkably gripping . . . Takes us deep into the bizarre high-stakes world of broadcasting . . . A powerful story, and ultimately a sad one, filled with casualties as well as winners.” —The New York Times Book Review “Solid reporting, based on extensive interviews with the principals, lifts The Late Shift into a class of its own. . . . The insights into the people involved are what make [the book] a page-turner.” —Orange Country Register

The Late Shift Letterman, Leno & the Network Battle for the Night

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