Talk show · CBS
Late Show with David Letterman
Who's in it
Cast
The principal ensemble across the run of the series.
David Letterman
Self - Host
4252 eps
Paul Shaffer
Self - Musical Director
4252 eps
Bill Wendell
Self - Announcer
439 eps
Alan Kalter
Self - Announcer
3813 eps
Scarlett Johansson
Self
4 eps
Edd Hall
Voiceover Announcer (voice)
13 eps
Regis Philbin
Self
5 eps
Jay Thomas
Self - Guest
3 eps
Darlene Love
Self - Musical Guest
5 eps
Sharon Jones
Self - Musical Guest
3 eps
Drew Barrymore
Self - Guest
18 eps
Bill Murray
Self - Guest
4 eps
Rupert Jee
Self
15 eps
Jack Hanna
Self - Guest
5 eps
Jennifer Love Hewitt
Self - Guest
3 eps
Al Franken
Self - Guest
3 eps
Sirajul Islam
Self
4 eps
Mujibur Rahman
Self
4 eps
Dolly Parton
Self - Guest
9 eps
Faith Hill
Self - Musical Guest
3 eps
Biff Henderson
Self
38 eps
Calvert DeForest
Self
6 eps
Lou Reed
Self - Musical Guest
8 eps
Elvis Costello
Self - Musical Guest
4 eps
Rachel Weisz
Self - Guest
5 eps
Sharon Stone
Self - Guest
6 eps
Bruce Willis
Self - Guest
26 eps
Eva Longoria
Self - Guest
4 eps
Kurt Russell
Self - Guest
6 eps
Jake Johannsen
Self - Guest
4 eps
Dave Grohl
Self - Musical Guest
4 eps
Sarah Michelle Gellar
Self - Guest
6 eps
Kim Gordon
Self - Musical Guest
5 eps
Thurston Moore
Self - Musical Guest
6 eps
Steve Shelley
Self - Musical Guest
5 eps
Lee Ranaldo
Self - Musical Guest
5 eps
Spike Lee
Self - Guest
4 eps
Bill Clinton
Self - Guest
5 eps
William Shatner
Self - Guest
4 eps
Tony Mendez
Self
14 eps
The Nutevio profile
TV DNA
How Late Show with David Letterman actually feels to watch, measured on the traits our editors track across every series.
Signature profile
Late Show with David Letterman reads strongest on Humour, Character Depth and Bingeability.
How often the series is genuinely funny, by design.
How fully written and psychologically layered the ensemble is.
How hard it is to stop after one episode.
The sustained pressure the series keeps you under.
Visual ambition — scale, craft and set-piece filmmaking.
The scale, internal logic and texture of the world.
How much the series is designed to affect you.
How often an episode ends on a hook you can't ignore.
How much each hour depends on the one before it.
The story
What it's about
David Letterman uses mature humor to appeal to his audience in this weeknight series, which gets its music from a house band led by Paul Shaffer. Among the show's most-famous segments are the Top Ten List and Stupid Pet Tricks, the latter of which subsequently led to an additional recurring segment called Stupid Human Tricks.
The run
Seasons
22 seasons · 4252 episodes.
- Poster unavailableSeason 1
Season 1 · Complete
Season 1
1993219 episodes
7.1IMDbBest episode · S01E01 Bill Murray, Tom Brokaw, Paul Newman, Billy Joel
- Poster unavailableSeason 2
Season 2 · Complete
Season 2
1994220 episodes
4.0IMDbBest episode · S02E138 Show #0357
- Poster unavailableSeason 3
Season 3 · Complete
Season 3
1995210 episodes
9.5IMDb - Poster unavailableSeason 4
Season 4 · Complete
Season 4
1996213 episodes
- Poster unavailableSeason 5
Season 5 · Complete
Season 5
1997203 episodes
6.0IMDb - Poster unavailableSeason 6
Season 6 · Complete
Season 6
1998213 episodes
- Poster unavailableSeason 7
Season 7 · Complete
Season 7
1999196 episodes
6.0IMDb - Poster unavailableSeason 8
Season 8 · Complete
Season 8
2000197 episodes
- Poster unavailableSeason 9
Season 9 · Complete
Season 9
2001208 episodes
6.0IMDb - Poster unavailableSeason 10
Season 10 · Complete
Season 10
2002187 episodes
- Poster unavailableSeason 11
Season 11 · Complete
Season 11
2003189 episodes
- Poster unavailableSeason 12
Season 12 · Complete
Season 12
2004193 episodes
6.0IMDb - Poster unavailableSeason 13
Season 13 · Complete
Season 13
2005197 episodes
6.0IMDb - Poster unavailableSeason 14
Season 14 · Complete
Season 14
2006199 episodes
7.0IMDb - Poster unavailableSeason 15
Season 15 · Complete
Season 15
2007168 episodes
5.9IMDb - Poster unavailableSeason 16
Season 16 · Complete
Season 16
2008200 episodes
6.0IMDb - Poster unavailableSeason 17
Season 17 · Complete
Season 17
2009245 episodes
6.0IMDb - Poster unavailableSeason 18
Season 18 · Complete
Season 18
2011181 episodes
- Poster unavailableSeason 19
Season 19 · Complete
Season 19
2012178 episodes
- Poster unavailableSeason 20
Season 20 · Complete
Season 20
2013179 episodes
- Poster unavailableSeason 21
Season 21 · Complete
Season 21
2014118 episodes
- Poster unavailableSeason 22
Season 22 · Complete
Season 22
2014139 episodes
6.0IMDb
Where the series peaks
Best Episodes
The hours that define the show, ranked by audience response and editorial signal.
Recently aired
Latest Episodes
S22E138
The Final Late Show with David Letterman
S22E149
Episode 149
S22E137
Bill Murray, Bob Dylan
S22E136
Tom Hanks, Eddie Vedder
S22E135
Oprah Winfrey, Norm Macdonald
S22E134
Al Pacino, George Clooney, Tom Waits
Behind the series
Created by
Showrunners, creators, executive producers and the writers who set the voice of the series.
The craft
Key Crew
Directing, writing, production, camera, music and editing.
Executive production
- Eric StangelExecutive Producer
- Eric StangelProducer
Writing
- David LettermanWriter
Where to watch
Streaming
Availability verified against regional listings.
Checking regional listings…
If you liked this
Similar Series
Series that share this one's texture, not just its genre tags.
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
1993
Sharp comic writing · Similar storytelling style
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
2003
Sharp comic writing · Similar storytelling style
Late Night with Seth Meyers
2014
Sharp comic writing · Similar storytelling style
Martin
1992
Sharp comic writing · Similar storytelling style
The Daily Show
1996
Sharp comic writing · Similar storytelling style
The Graham Norton Show
2007
Sharp comic writing
Conan
2010
Sharp comic writing
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
2014
Sharp comic writing
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
2014
Sharp comic writing
Girls
2012
Sharp comic writing · Similar storytelling style
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
2015
Sharp comic writing
Improbably Poppy
2024
Sharp comic writing
Where to go from here
Watch Next
Our editors' suggestion for the show you should start tonight — and why.
The Daily Show
1996
Need something lighter afterwards? Start here.
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
2014
A palate cleanser with real writing behind the jokes.
Frasier
1993
Need something lighter afterwards? Start here.
Psych
2006
Another morally complex epic for anyone who wanted more grey.
Teach You a Lesson
2026
Need something lighter afterwards? Start here.
Futurama
1999
If the world-building is what held you, this is the next map to walk.
Never stop watching
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