worldwide pants
Letterman's Company Starts Record Label, Signs First Act
David Letterman is ready to rock and/or roll. The late night host's company, Worldwide Pants, has started yet another venture that has nothing to do with pants: a record label. Letterman has signed California pop/punk rockers Runner Runner to his new Clear Entertainment/C.E. Music label. The band's catchy, if not so groundbreaking, first single, 'So Obvious,' is streaming now on their MySpace page. The label will release Runner Runner's debut album later this summer.
Four Reasons Why Conan Will Thrive On TBS
It goes without saying that when Conan O'Brien announced that he had signed with TBS to do a new late night show, mostly everyone who follows these things was shocked. TBS? Didn't they already have George Lopez at 11PM? What happened to Fox, FX and Comedy Central? Is anyone even going to see Conan on cable?But it didn't take long to realize that going to TBS was the right move for Conan, especially after some of the details of the deal were revealed. In fact, the longer you look at it, the better the deal looks, for these four reasons.
1. Conan will own the show. This is a big one. TBS had no problem letting Conan own his show and just paying him a licensing fee to air it. Fox was never going to allow him to do that. And control was a big deal to Conan, according to The Daily Beast's Peter Lauria, especially after everything he went through with NBC and 'The Tonight Show.'
Craig Ferguson's Late Night "Experiment" Should Be Done More Often

If you tuned into Tuesday night's 'Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson,' you might have found yourself questioning if there was something wrong with your hearing, your brand new surround sound speaker system, or both.
Nothing was wrong, though. The show didn't have a monologue. It didn't have any pre-planned comedy bits or hand puppets talking about Lindsey Lohan's latest coke binge. It didn't even have an audience.
The entire hour just featured two guys sitting in two chairs talking about anything and everything all at once. It was the most normal hour of late night television I've seen, despite the fact that both of them were taking an occasional sip of water from angry rattlesnakes.
What should happen to Letterman?
David Letterman's confession last Thursday was the last we've heard from him on the subject (Friday's show is taped earlier in the week - he returns tonight). The columnists and pundits and fans have had their say, though. Some people defend him, some dislike him, and some aren't fazed by it at all.But beyond the "creepy" factor of it (that's Dave's own word), what about the moral and/or legal side of it? Should Letterman be fired? Reprimanded? Will he be sued? Should people stop watching him? Should advertisers leave his show? Should one of the women come out and do a "Ten Things About Dating David Letterman" list?
| Nothing, let's move on. | |
|---|---|
| Suspend him. | |
| I hope advertisers leave in droves. | |
| Fire him! |
Letterman beating O'Brien with old shows
NBC must be doing a lot of regretting these days for moving Jay Leno to 10 p.m., and not just because it screws up the perfect headline alliteration with his former competition. It seems that David Letterman's Late Show reruns are getting higher ratings than Conan O'Brien's brand-spanking new Tonight Show episodes.
The margins aren't very wide, but it must hurt when a rival is kicking your lily-white hide and he's not even throwing any punches. It's like getting your ass kicked by a one legged Stephen Hawking.
Letterman has the last laugh on Palin's "Jokegate"
Not only did the "Fire David Letterman" crowd completely fail at their attempt to oust the late night host from his desk chair, but they actually helped him. That makes them the least successful protest effort since 1977's memorable campaign to "Keep Pies Away from Anita Bryant." I believe it had something to do with preventing the spread of diabetes.
Variety reports that Letterman surpassed The Tonight Show in the ratings for the first time in nearly three-and-a-half years while the whole Palin family "Jokegate" debacle was still slowly being scraped off the fan.
What you missed last night: Ray Romano gambles with his kids
What You Missed Last Night: Andy Kindler talks to college grads
Amy Sedaris developing new sitcom
Amy Sedaris is creating and will write and star in a new sitcom co-produced by 20th Century Fox TV. Paul Dinello, her Strangers With Candy co-creator, is also involved. The show is being co-produced by David Letterman's Worldwide Pants.It's sad that the third co-creator of Strangers With Candy couldn't be involved with this production, but I think Stephen Colbert is a little busy right now with that television show of his. Strangers With Candy itself was considerably risqué and I doubt whatever she's developing will be suitable for network television. Perhaps she'll go back to Comedy Central? Hopefully, it won't land on Fox where anything of quality is canceled prematurely.
I have been lucky enough to see Amy Sedaris live on two occasions (as well as watching many episodes of Strangers With Candy) and think she has buckets of talent. Whatever she's developing, I'm confident will be better than 95% of the crap on television.
Letterman makes deal with WGA - BREAKING NEWS
And then there were none.
David Letterman has struck a deal with the Writers Guild of America, and both his show and The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson (both produced by Letterman's Worldwide Pants) will return next Wednesday, January 2. The other shows are coming back on that day too, but a key difference is that Letterman's show will be coming back with his writers, thanks to this deal hammered out by Rob Burnett and others. Both sides have been trying to come to an agreement for the past couple of weeks, and it actually looked like things might have fallen through last week.
No deal for Letterman and his writers
According to AOL, talks between David Letterman's production company Worldwide Pants and the WGA have fallen through. Letterman tried to create an independent deal with the writers not involving the network so his late night talk show could return with a writing staff (unlike other late night shows which will be returning without one).Without a deal in place, the odds of The Late Show with David Letterman returning to the air by their goal of January 2nd is in doubt. This could be a major problem for Letterman considering that his major competitor, Jay Leno, returns to late night on January 2nd.
I don't see this turn of events as catastrophic for Dave, since he's always been very good at improvisation. This situation could be the true test of those abilities. Improvising when the guest makes a funny remark is one thing. Improvising a whole show is another.
WGA to seek individual deals to break impasse with AMPTP
As the strike lingers on and the Writers Guild of American (WGA) and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) seem no closer to bridging their philosophical and monetary gap, the WGA is set to try a new tactic. According to Variety, the WGA is going to make a "legal demand" today for individual members of the AMPTP to schedule bargaining meetings with the WGA. However, at this point it isn't clear if the companies are legally obligated to do so, and if not, will they?
More late night headaches: Craig Ferguson might leave too
Just when we started to get into this whole "who will replace Conan O'Brien" guessing game, we might have to find a host for another late night show: Craig Ferguson hints he might leave at the end of his contract.
Ferguson reveals to the St. Petersburg Times that he could leave at the end of his six year contract because he doesn't like being famous.
"I just don't know if I like being that visible," he said. "I don't know if I would want to ramp that up any more, you know. And people here find that, I think, quite difficult to (understand)."
What's going on with Letterman?
Hey, Letterman fans: have you been watching the show the past few weeks? Have you noticed the changes on the show? I think Dave has a new energy that we haven't seen in a while.
I mean, the show is always good, in my opinion, even in the times that the critics have said "Dave's not as good as he used to be." But something is different the past few weeks. Dave has gotten a little crazy again. He's doing surreal segments, like having staff member Sue come out in the middle of his talking to the audience with a bowl of trail mix and asking him if he wants any (and when he says "no," swearing at him and walking offstage). He's doing really irreverent stuff too, like having fake "experts" come on to be interviewed and having something crazy happen in the middle of the interview. There have been odd "breaking news" stories that lead nowhere, and he even had a running gag last week that showed a clip of The Tonight Show's Kevin Eubanks laughing at jokes (I'd love to know how they got permission to do that, if they did). And last night's episode! Dave not only had an opening little sketch (with ex head writer Gerard Mulligan), but he had a cigar in his mouth! (Not sure if it was lit, but it looked like it might have been).
So, Dave is always good, but lately he's been really good.
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