The Late Shift (1996) (TV)

Director:

Betty Thomas

Writers (WGA):

Bill Carter (book)
Bill Carter (teleplay) ...

Release Date:

24 February 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Talk-Show

Tagline:

Two heads fighting for the late night crown - One head's gotta roll.

Plot:

A dramatization of the rivalry to be the successor of Johnny Carson as the host of "The Tonight Show."

Plot Keywords:

Manager | Television | Based On True Story | Based On Book

Awards:

Won Golden Globe. Another 4 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

Kathy Bates	...	Helen Kushnick
John Michael Higgins	...	David Letterman
Daniel Roebuck	...	Jay Leno
Bob Balaban	...	Warren Littlefield
Ed Begley Jr.	...	Rod Perth
Peter Jurasik	...	Howard Stringer
Reni Santoni	...	John Agoglia
John Kapelos	...	Robert Morton
Steven Gilborn	...	Peter Lassally
John Getz	...	Brandon Tartikoff
Lawrence Pressman	...	Bob Wright
Sandra Bernhard	...	Herself
Treat Williams	...	Michael Ovitz
David Brisbin	...	Alan Levine
Michael Chieffo	...	Rick Ludwin

MPAA:

Rated R for language.

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Australia:M | UK:15 | USA:R

Company:

Home Box Office (HBO)

Trivia:

A few days after the film's premiere, John Michael Higgins was booked on "Late Show With David Letterman" to talk about the movie and what it was like to portray Letterman. Higgins then sat in the green room as Letterman spent the next hour padding bits and doing filler, all the while promising Higgins was "coming up". At the end of the show Letterman apologized to Higgins for "running out of time", pointedly saying he hoped the actor could "come back again soon." Higgins was never re-booked.

Goofs:

Continuity: Between the two times that David is shown at the same CBS press conference, his denials about Amy Fisher are reversed.

Quotes:

Jay Leno: I may look stupid, but I'm Italian. I know how to find information!

Movie Connections:

References "Wheel of Fortune" (1975)

Soundtrack:

There's No Business Like Show Business

Well done and good original movie dramatization that's funny and tense while taking a behind the scenes look at the late night TV wars of the early 90's.

Over the years I've watched this movie many times from seeing it on "HBO" and I now own a copy on DVD. I must say it's very memorable and entertaining in the meantime it's interesting and educational too. As any TV fan can relate to the time of the early 90's when the time came up to replace Johhny Carson the TV living legend of "The Tonight Show" who's it gonna be Jay or Dave? This original film from HBO "The Late Shift" stays true to form and depicts the real events very well showing the behind the scenes battle between networks heads of NBC and CBS and even ABC they were all fighting for the services of Jay and Dave. The acting makes it seem real as very little actual TV footage is shown with real life people as the actors portraying Leno and Letterman make it seem so real. I haven't read the Bill Carter book so I don't know if it stayed true to the pages, but I have highly enjoyed this film over the years. From the moment when it starts showing CBS entertainment heads watching Leno sub for Johhny and they decide they want to get in on the late night game. Yet when Carson announces his unexpected retirement NBC wants to stay loyal with Leno yet conflict arrives when Letterman wants a crack at the slot at 11:30 too. It was fun to watch the wacky meeting with Michael Ovitz(Treat Williams)who makes all networks want to consider Letterman for a show. It was interesting to see the scene of Johhny telling Letterman by phone in a direct way to walk from NBC and consider CBS. And by the way Rich Little was terrific as Johhny Carson his portrayal couldn't be matched. And plenty of tense moments were provided by showing the bickering and firing of Leno's talent manager Helen which NBC heads pressured him to do. Overall great film that showed what TV is really like and it proves that networks are power and money hungry while showing that's it's a cutthroat business. Clearly there's no business like show business. Great work from HBO very memorable and a watch anytime it showed the true story of the late night wars.