It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with kinship terminology. (Discuss) Proposed since April 2012.

Four generations of mothers and daughters, 1931.

A daughter is a female offspring; a girl, woman, or female animal in relation to her parents. The male equivalent is a son. Analogously the name is used on several areas to show relations between groups or elements.^[1]

Etymology[link]

The word daughter comes from the Old English dohtor, from Proto-Germanic *dochter, related to Dutch dochter and German Tochter, from Proto-Indo-European *dhugheter, shared by Sanskrit duhitar and Greek θυγάτηρ (thugatēr),^[2] Mycenaean Greek tu-ka-te, written in Linear B syllabic script.^[3] (Note: an asterisk before a word indicates that this is a reconstructed form, not an attested word.)

Plants[link]

A daughter plant is an offspring grown out of a part of the plant, for example, from a cutting of a leaf.

General relationship[link]

The term can also refer to the subordinate in any relationship where the superior entity is referred to as mother, for example, a daughter ship. It may depend on time relations or on structure relations.

References[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: daughters

Jerry O'Connell
Jerry O'Connell, 2008
Born	Jeremiah O'Connell (1974-02-17) February 17, 1974 (age 38) New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, screenwriter, producer, director
Years active	1986–present
Spouse	Rebecca Romijn (m. 2007–present; 2 children)

Jeremiah "Jerry" O'Connell (born February 17, 1974) is an American actor, best known for his roles in the TV series Sliders, Andrew Clements in My Secret Identity, Vern Tessio in the film Stand by Me, Charlie Carbone in Kangaroo Jack, and Detective Woody Hoyt on the drama Crossing Jordan. He starred as Pete Kaczmarek in the CBS TV series The Defenders until its cancellation in 2011. He also had a starring role in the horror films Scream 2 and Piranha 3D.

Early life and Education[link]

O'Connell was born in New York City, the son of Linda (née Witkowski), a Polish art teacher, and Michael O'Connell, an advertising agency art director.^[1] His maternal grandfather, Charles S. Witkowski, was the mayor of Jersey City, New Jersey.

O'Connell is of Irish descent on his father's side and Polish ancestry on his mother's.^[2] O'Connell was raised in Manhattan with his younger brother, Charlie O'Connell, also an actor. As a teenager, he attended Manhattan's Professional Children's School.

He attended New York University (NYU) from 1991 to 1994,^[3] majoring in film. While there, he studied screen writing and competed on the NYU fencing team, serving a stint as captain of the sabre squad.

Career[link]

O'Connell began his acting career at a young age. As a child, he did commercial work for Duncan Hines cookies. Shortly after at the age of eleven, he landed his first feature film role as the character Vern Tessio in Rob Reiner's Stand by Me.

O'Connell starred in the Canadian science fiction sitcom My Secret Identity from 1988 to 1991 as the teen hero who develops superhuman traits. During a summer break from NYU, Jerry starred in the feature film Calendar Girl alongside Jason Priestley and Gabriel Olds. He also appeared in the short-lived ABC sitcom, Camp Wilder with Jay Mohr and Hilary Swank in 1992. In his Junior year, O'Connell auditioned for the TV pilot Sliders (also filmed in Canada). He was offered the role of Quinn Mallory in the series, which ran for three seasons on Fox and two seasons on the Sci-Fi Channel. He served as producer during his fourth and final season, and is credited with writing and directing several episodes.

O'Connell has since gone on to star in such movies as Jerry Maguire, Body Shots, Mission to Mars, Tomcats, Scream 2, and Kangaroo Jack. O'Connell has also tried his hand at screenwriting and sold his first screenplay, for First Daughter, to New Regency in 1999. The film was released in 2004 by 20th Century Fox-based Davis Entertainment. O'Connell served as executive producer on the film, which starred Katie Holmes and Michael Keaton.

O'Connell starred as Detective Woody Hoyt on the NBC crime drama Crossing Jordan (2001) until its cancellation in May 2007, and was engaged to actress Rebecca Romijn. He starred opposite her in the Ugly Betty episode "Derailed". O'Connell has also starred as Hoyt in several episodes of Las Vegas. In 2004, he wore a diaper on Last Call with Carson Daly, during a mock commercial skit for the GoodNites bedwetting product.^[4] The National Enquirer caught him filming the skit and printed a photo of him in his diaper.^[5][6]

In 2005, O'Connell guest-starred in one episode of the animated series Justice League Unlimited. In the episode, titled "Clash", he played Captain Marvel. He reprised the role of Captain Marvel in the "DC Universe Animated Original Movies" short film, Superman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam along side George Newbern who reprised the role of Superman, having done the voice for the animated series.

His younger brother Charlie O'Connell, an alumnus of NYU who was most recently seen as The Bachelor, is also an actor who has appeared with Jerry in several productions, usually playing the brother of Jerry's character, such as in Sliders and Crossing Jordan.

In 2007–08 Jerry O'Connell starred in ABC's Carpoolers, which ran from October 2, 2007 to March 4, 2008.

In early 2008, O'Connell acted in a widely circulated Internet video parody of the leaked Tom Cruise video on Scientology.^[7] He also co-wrote and appeared in a video parody called "Young Hillary Clinton," satirizing Hillary Clinton's 2008 primary campaign.^[8] On February 2, 2008, O'Connell hosted VH1's Pepsi Smash Super Bowl Bash, which aired the night before Super Bowl XLII and featured musical guests Maroon 5 and Mary J. Blige.^[9][10] On April 28, 2008, O'Connell appeared as a guest star on ABC's Samantha Who?.

In the fall of 2008 O'Connell starred in Fox's Do Not Disturb, co-starring Niecy Nash, but Fox cancelled the show after only three episodes.^[11][12]

Most recently, he appeared in the 2009 thriller film Obsessed as "Ben", the best friend and co-worker of the film's protagonist Derek Charles (Idris Elba).

Jerry appeared in Eastwick on ABC, alongside his wife who starred in the series. Jerry played a good man hiding a horrible secret. His character was a single father, a widower, with a young son who is a part of this secret. Kat was drawn to him, and she was put in danger as a result.^[13]

O'Connell portrayed Derrick Jones in Alexandre Aja's Piranha 3D,^[14] which also stars Adam Scott and Elizabeth Shue.^[15]

O'Connell co-starred with David Tennant in the pilot for legal drama Rex Is Not Your Lawyer^[16] which NBC has placed under consideration for the fall season, though earlier reports suggested a spring 2010 airing.^[17] In 2010, O'Connell starred with Jim Belushi in the CBS comedy-drama "The Defenders", which CBS cancelled on May 15, 2011 after one season.

O'Connell is currently appearing at the Golden Theatre in the new Broadway play " Seminar", by Theresa Rebeck. The play, directed by Sam Gold, opened on November 20, 2011, starring Alan Rickman, Lily Rabe, Hamish Linklater and Hettienne Park.

Personal life[link]

On July 14, 2007, O'Connell married actress and former model Rebecca Romijn.^[18][19][20]

After weeks of officially stating that the couple were "trying" to get pregnant, a publicist for the pair confirmed that Romijn was pregnant with twin girls. When talking about having children, O'Connell said "I am excited I am having girls. I know guys are supposed to say, 'I want a boy. I want to play baseball,' but I think I'm going to be good raising girls...I can't wait. They're going to be tough chicks. They're only having sex when I'm dead. If they don't date boys at all and just want them to be infatuated with their father, that's what I'm really going for."^[21] O'Connell and Romijn welcomed twins in 2008.^[22]

O'Connell enrolled in Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles in August 2009.^[23]

Filmography[link]

Film[link]

Television[link]

Producer[link]

• Sliders (1995) TV series (producer: 1998–1999)
• First Daughter (2004)

Director[link]

• Sliders (1997) TV series – "Stoker"
• Sliders (1999) TV series – "Slidecage", "Lipschitz Live," "Data World", "Roads Taken"

Writer[link]

• Sliders (1999) – "Way out West",
• First Daughter (2004) – screenplay

Music videos[link]

• "David Duchovny" – Bree Sharp
• "Heartbreaker" – Mariah Carey (1999)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Jerry O'Connell at the Internet Movie Database

Chris O'Donnell
Attending the premiere of Max Payne in Hollywood, October 13, 2008.
Born	Christopher Eugene O'Donnell (1970-06-26) June 26, 1970 (age 42) Winnetka, Illinois, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1990–present
Spouse	Caroline Fentress (m. 1997–present; 5 children)

Christopher Eugene "Chris" O'Donnell (born June 26, 1970) is an American actor. He played Robin in two Batman films, Batman Forever and Batman & Robin, Charlie Simms in Scent of a Woman, Finn Dandridge in Grey's Anatomy, Peter Garrett in Vertical Limit, and more recently, Jack McAuliffe in The Company. O'Donnell currently stars as NCIS Special Agent G. Callen on the CBS crime drama television series NCIS: Los Angeles.

Early life[link]

O'Donnell, the youngest of seven children (with four sisters and two brothers), was born in Winnetka, Illinois. He is the son of Julie Ann Rohs von Brecht and William Charles O'Donnell, Sr., a general manager of WBBM-AM, a CBS radio station.^[1][2] O'Donnell is of paternal Irish and maternal German descent;^[3][4] he was raised in a devout Roman Catholic family and attended Roman Catholic schools,^[5] including Loyola Academy in Willmette, Illinois, for high school, graduating in 1988. O'Donnell attended Boston College and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in marketing.

O'Donnell began modeling at the age of thirteen and was featured in several commercials.

Career[link]

O'Donnell was discovered when he was cast in a McDonald's commercial, in which he served Michael Jordan. His first television role was an appearance on the series Jack and Mike in 1986. At the age of 17, he was offered a chance to audition for a part in the movie Men Don't Leave, with Jessica Lange, and he won the role. In the early 1990s, O'Donnell was a featured player in many successful movies such as Fried Green Tomatoes (1991), School Ties (1992), and Scent of a Woman (1992) with Al Pacino (receiving a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor, which he lost to Gene Hackman for Unforgiven). He was named one of the 12 Promising New Actors of 1992 in John Willis' Screen World, Vol. 44.

After the success of Blue Sky (1994) and Circle of Friends (1995), O'Donnell played Dick Grayson/Robin in Batman Forever. He reportedly was part of a field of candidates that included Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jude Law, Ewan McGregor, Corey Haim, Corey Feldman, Toby Stephens, and Scott Speedman.^{[citation needed]} Producers narrowed their choices to DiCaprio and O'Donnell. At a comic book convention, they asked a group of 11-year-old boys, the target audience, which actor could win a fistfight. After the boys overwhelmingly declared O'Donnell the winner,^{[citation needed]} he was ultimately given the role. By coincidence, O'Donnell was said to be 20th Century Fox's favorite choice to play Jack Dawson in Titanic, but DiCaprio ended up with the role.^{[citation needed]}

O'Donnell followed with a starring role in 1996's The Chamber, based on the John Grisham novel. He subsequently reprised his role in the Batman sequel, Batman & Robin, in 1997. Although a box office success, the movie was critically panned and O'Donnell himself has called it a low point in his career.^[6] He was considered for the lead role in Spider-Man, when the project was in development with James Cameron directing in 1996. Tobey Maguire was ultimately cast.

O'Donnell did not appear in another movie for two years. He was the producers' original choice for the role of James Edwards in Men in Black (1997), but, after he turned it down, the role went to Will Smith.^{[7][citation needed]} The Robert Altman film Cookie's Fortune, The Bachelor (1999) and Vertical Limit (2000) were only moderately successful. Following Vertical Limit, a four-year hiatus led some to believe Batman & Robin had damaged his career. However, he came back in 2004 with the widely praised Kinsey. O'Donnell also appeared in the 2004 episode of Two and a Half Men entitled "An Old Flame With A New Wick." O'Donnell took a lead role in the Fox Network television series Head Cases in 2005. The show was the first show of the fall 2005 season to be canceled, and only two episodes were aired. He was subsequently cast as veterinarian Finn Dandridge on the ABC drama Grey's Anatomy.

He figured prominently in the TNT miniseries The Company (which incidentally, also featured former Bruce Wayne/Batman actor Michael Keaton, who didn't co-star with O'Donnell in Batman Forever and Batman & Robin) as fictional CIA case officer Jack McAuliffe, in a performance that subtly portrayed his character's progression from spoon-fed Yale elitist to jaded, post-Cold War cynic. Film projects for 2008 included Kit Kittredge: An American Girl and Max Payne.

In 2010, O'Donnell appeared in the sequel to the 2001 movie Cats & Dogs, Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore.

O'Donnell stars in NCIS: Los Angeles, a spin-off of NCIS, as G. Callen,^[8] an NCIS Special Agent in charge of the Office of Special Projects Team stationed in Los Angeles. CBS describes Callen as "a chameleon who transforms himself into whomever he needs to be to infiltrate the criminal underworld."^[9]

Personal life[link]

O'Donnell filming with Mark Harmon the two-episode backdoor pilot "Legend" for NCIS: Los Angeles in 2009.

O'Donnell was once in a relationship with the actress Reese Witherspoon. He has a home in Islesboro, Maine. In 1996, O’Donnell proposed to girlfriend Caroline Fentress; he met her while in college and they married in 1997. The couple have five children – three sons and two daughters:

• Lily Anne O'Donnell (born September 6, 1999)
• Christopher Eugene "Chip" O'Donnell Jr. (born October 24, 2000)
• Charles McHugh O'Donnell (born July 11, 2003)
• Finley O'Donnell (born March 24, 2006)
• Maeve Frances O'Donnell (born December 10, 2007).^[10]

Writing[link]

In 2012 Random House will release O'Donnell's autobiography I Never Hosted Saturday Night Live. The book is described as a meditation on fame and celebrity in Hollywood.

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: O'Donnell, Chris

• Chris O'Donnell at the Internet Movie Database
• Chris O'Donnell at the Internet Broadway Database
• Feature article on O'Donnell in June 2008 issue of Men's Vogue

David Letterman
Letterman performing on his show in June 2011.
Pseudonym	Earl Hofert
Born	(1947-04-12) April 12, 1947 (age 65) Indianapolis, Indiana, United States[1]
Medium	Stand-up, talk show
Nationality	American
Years active	1974–present
Genres	Observational comedy, surreal humor, deadpan
Subject(s)	Self-deprecation, everyday life
Influences	Steve Allen,[citation needed] Johnny Carson,[2] Jack Paar,[citation needed] Paul Dixon[3]
Influenced	Jimmy Kimmel, Jim Gaffigan, Jon Stewart, Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Fallon
Spouse	Michelle Cook (1969–1977) Regina Lasko (2009–present)
Domestic partner(s)	Regina Lasko (1986–2009)
Notable works and roles	Host of The David Letterman Show (NBC) Host of Late Night with David Letterman (NBC) Host of Late Show with David Letterman (CBS)
Signature
Website	CBS.com/latenight/lateshow
Emmy Awards
Outstanding Host or Hostess in a Variety Series 1981 The David Letterman Show Outstanding Individual Achievement — Writers 1981 The David Letterman Show Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program 1984 Late Night with David Letterman 1985 Late Night with David Letterman 1986 Late Night with David Letterman 1987 Late Night with David Letterman Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series 1994 Late Show with David Letterman
American Comedy Awards
Funniest Male Performer in a TV Special (Leading or Supporting) Network, Cable or Syndication 1989 Late Night with David Letterman 1995 Late Show with David Letterman: Video Special Funniest Male Performer in a TV Series (Leading Role) Network, Cable or Syndication 1994 Late Show with David Letterman 2001 Late Show with David Letterman

David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host and comedian.^[1] He hosts the late night television talk show, Late Show with David Letterman, broadcast on CBS. Letterman has been a fixture on late night television since the 1982 debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC. Letterman recently surpassed friend and mentor Johnny Carson for having the longest late-night hosting career in the United States of America.^[4]

Letterman is also a television and film producer. His company Worldwide Pants produces his show as well as its network follow-up The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Worldwide Pants has also produced several prime-time comedies, the most successful of which was Everybody Loves Raymond, currently in syndication.

In 1996, David Letterman was ranked #45 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time.^[5]

Early life and career[link]

Letterman was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. His father, Harry Joseph Letterman (April 1915 – February 1973),^[6] was a florist of British descent; his mother Dorothy Letterman (née Hofert, now Dorothy Mengering), a Presbyterian church secretary of German descent, is an occasional figure on the show, usually at holidays and birthdays.

Letterman lived on the north side of Indianapolis (Broad Ripple area), not far from Speedway, IN, and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and he enjoyed collecting model cars, including racers.^[7] In 2000, he told an interviewer for Esquire that, while growing up, he admired his father's ability to tell jokes and be the life of the party. Harry Joseph Letterman survived a heart attack at age 36, when David was a young boy. The fear of losing his father was constantly with Letterman as he grew up.^[8] The elder Letterman died of a second heart attack^[9] at age 57.

Letterman attended his hometown's Broad Ripple High School at the same time as Marilyn Tucker (future wife of Dan Quayle) and worked as a stock boy at the local Atlas supermarket.^[10] According to the Ball State Daily News, he originally had wanted to attend Indiana University, but his grades weren't good enough, so he decided to attend Ball State University, in Muncie, Indiana.^[11] He is a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity, and he graduated from what was then the Department of Radio and Television, in 1969. A self-described average student, Letterman endowed a scholarship for what he called "C students" at Ball State.^[12]

Though he registered for the draft and passed his physical after graduating from college, he was not drafted for service in Vietnam due to receiving a draft lottery number of 352 (out of 365).^[13]

Letterman began his broadcasting career as an announcer and newscaster at the college's student-run radio station—WBST—a 10-watt campus station which now is part of Indiana Public Radio.^[14] He was fired for treating classical music with irreverence.^[14]

Letterman then became involved with the founding of another campus station—WAGO-AM 570 (now WWHI, 91.3).^[15]

Letterman credits Paul Dixon—host of the Paul Dixon Show, a Cincinnati-based talk show also shown in Indianapolis while Letterman was growing up—for inspiring his choice of career:^[3]

"I was just out of college [in 1969], and I really didn't know what I wanted to do. And then all of a sudden I saw him doing it [on TV]. And I thought: That's really what I want to do!"

Weatherman[link]

Letterman began his career as a radio talk show host on WNTS (AM), and on Indianapolis television station WLWI (now called WTHR) as an anchor, and weatherman. He received some attention for his unpredictable on-air behavior, which included congratulating a tropical storm for being upgraded to a hurricane and predicting hail stones "the size of canned hams."^[16] He would also occasionally report the weather and the day's very high and low temps for fictitious cities ("Eight inches of snow in Bingree and surrounding areas.") while on another occasion saying that a state border had been erased.^[17] ("From space you can see the border between Indiana and Ohio has been erased. I'm not in favor of this.") He also starred in a local kiddie show, made wisecracks as host of a late night TV show called "Freeze-Dried Movies" (he once acted out a scene from "Godzilla" using plastic dinosaurs),^[18] and hosted a talk show that aired early on Saturday mornings called "Clover Power,"^[19] in which he interviewed 4-H members about their projects.^[20]

In 1971, Letterman appeared as a pit road reporter for ABC Sports' tape-delayed coverage of the Indianapolis 500.^[21] David initially is introduced as Chris Economaki in his job as a corner reporter. Letterman interviews Mario Andretti who has just crashed out of the race and asks him a question about traffic on the course.

Move to Los Angeles[link]

In 1975, encouraged by his then-wife Michelle and several of his Sigma Chi fraternity brothers, Letterman moved to Los Angeles, California, with hope of becoming a comedy writer.^[22] He started off by writing material for comedian Jimmie Walker.^[23] He also began performing stand-up comedy at The Comedy Store, a proving ground for unknown comics.

In the summer of 1977, Letterman was a writer and regular on the six-week summer series The Starland Vocal Band Show, broadcast on CBS.^[24] He hosted a 1977 pilot for a game show entitled The Riddlers^[25][26] that was never picked up and co-starred in the Barry Levinson-produced comedy special Peeping Times that aired in January 1978. Later that year, Letterman was a cast member on Mary Tyler Moore's variety show, Mary.^[27] Letterman made a guest appearance on Mork & Mindy (as a parody of EST leader Werner Erhard^[28]) and appearances on game shows such as The $20,000 Pyramid,^[29] The Gong Show, Password Plus^[30] and Liar's Club, as well as talk shows such as The Mike Douglas Show.^[31] He was also screen tested for the lead role in the 1980 film Airplane!, a role that eventually went to Robert Hays.^[32]

His dry, sarcastic humor caught the attention of scouts for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and Letterman was soon a regular guest on the show. Letterman became a favorite of Carson's and was a regular guest host for the show beginning in 1978. Letterman credits Carson as the person who influenced his career the most.^[2]

NBC[link]

Letterman at the 38th Primetime Emmy Awards in 1986

Morning show[link]

On June 23, 1980, Letterman was given his own morning comedy show on NBC, The David Letterman Show. It was originally 90 minutes long, but was shortened to 60 minutes in August 1980.^[33] The show was a critical success, winning two Emmy Awards, but was a ratings disappointment and was canceled in October 1980.

[edit] Late Night with David Letterman

NBC kept Letterman under contract to try him in a different time slot. Late Night with David Letterman debuted February 1, 1982; the first guest on the first show was Bill Murray.^[34] Murray also guested on January 31, 2012 – 30 years later. The show ran Monday through Thursday at 12:30 a.m. Eastern Time, immediately following The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (a Friday night broadcast was added in June 1987). It was seen as being edgy and unpredictable, and soon developed a cult following (particularly among college students). Letterman's reputation as an acerbic interviewer was borne out in verbal sparring matches with Cher^[35] (who even called him an asshole on the show), Shirley MacLaine,^[36] Charles Grodin, and Madonna. The show also featured comedy segments and running characters, in a style heavily influenced by the 1950s and 1960s programs of Steve Allen.^[37] Although Ernie Kovacs is often cited as an influence on the show,^[38] Letterman has denied this.^[2]

The show often featured quirky, genre-mocking regular features, including "Stupid Pet Tricks^[39] ", dropping various objects off the roof of a five-story building,^[40] demonstrations of unorthodox clothing (such as suits made of Alka-Seltzer,^[41] Velcro^[42] and suet), a recurring Top 10 list, the Monkey-Cam^[43] (and the Audience Cam), and a facetious letter-answering segment.^[44] The Top 10 list, several "Film[s] by My Dog Bob" in which a camera was mounted on Letterman's own dog^[45] (often with comic results), Stupid Human Tricks,^[46] Small Town News,^[47] and Stupid Pet Tricks^[48] (which had its origins on Letterman's morning show) all eventually moved with Letterman to CBS.

Other memorable moments included Letterman using a bullhorn to interrupt a live interview on The Today Show, announcing that he was the NBC president while not wearing any pants; interrupting Al Roker on WNBC-TV's broadcast of Live at Five by walking into their studio (which occupied the same floor of 30 Rockefeller Plaza as Letterman's studio); and staging "elevator races", complete with commentary by NBC Sports' Bob Costas. In one infamous appearance, in 1982, Andy Kaufman (who was already wearing a neck brace) appeared to be slapped and knocked to the ground by professional wrestler Jerry Lawler (though Lawler and Kaufman's friend Bob Zmuda later revealed that the event was staged.)^[49] In another memorable exchange, sex expert Dr. Ruth Westheimer included cucumbers in a list of handy sex objects that women could find at home. The following night, guest Ted Koppel asked Letterman "May I insert something here?" and Dave responded "OK, as long as it's not a cucumber."^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Late Show with David Letterman

The Ed Sullivan Theater, where Late Show with David Letterman is recorded

In 1992, Johnny Carson retired, and many fans believed that Letterman would become host of The Tonight Show. When NBC instead gave the job to Jay Leno, Letterman departed NBC to host his own late-night show on CBS, opposite The Tonight Show at 11:30 p.m., called the Late Show with David Letterman. The new show debuted on August 30, 1993 and was taped at the historic Ed Sullivan Theater, where Ed Sullivan taped his eponymous variety series from 1948 to 1971. For Letterman's arrival, CBS spent $8 million in renovations.^[50] In addition to that cost, CBS also signed Letterman to a lucrative three-year, $14 million/year contract,^[51] doubling his Late Night salary. The total cost for everything (renovations, negotiation right paid to NBC, signing Letterman, announcer Bill Wendell, Shaffer, the writers and the band) was over $140 million.

But while the expectation was that Letterman would retain his unique style and sense of humor with the move, Late Show was not an exact replica of his old NBC program. Recognizing the more formal mood (and wider audience) of his new time slot and studio, Letterman eschewed his trademark blazer with khaki pants and white sneakers wardrobe combination in favor of expensive shoes, tailored suits and light-colored socks. The monologue was lengthened and Paul Shaffer and the "World's Most Dangerous Band" followed Letterman to CBS, but they added a brass section and were rebranded the "CBS Orchestra" as a short monologue and a small band were mandated by Carson while Letterman occupied the 12:30 slot. Additionally, because of intellectual property disagreements, Letterman was unable to import many of his Late Night segments verbatim,^[52] but he sidestepped this problem by simply renaming them (the "Top Ten List" became the "Late Show Top Ten", "Viewer Mail" became the "CBS Mailbag", etc.)

Popularity[link]

The main competitor of The Late Show is NBC's The Tonight Show, which was hosted by Jay Leno for nearly 16 years, but from June 1, 2009, to January 22, 2010, was hosted by Conan O'Brien. In 1993 and 1994, The Late Show consistently gained higher ratings than The Tonight Show. But in 1995, ratings dipped and Leno's show consistently beat Letterman's in the ratings from the time that Hugh Grant came on Leno's show after Grant's arrest for soliciting a prostitute.;^[53] Leno typically attracted about 5 million nightly viewers between 1999 and 2009. The Late Show lost nearly half its audience during its competition with Leno, attracting 7.1 million viewers nightly in its 1993–94 season and about 3.8 million per night as of Leno's departure in 2009.^[54] In the final months of his first stint as host of The Tonight Show, Leno beat Letterman in the ratings by a 1.3 million viewer margin (5.2 million to 3.9 million), and Nightline and The Late Show were virtually tied.^[55] Once O'Brien took over Tonight, however, Letterman closed the gap in the ratings.^[56][57][58] O'Brien initially drove the median age of Tonight Show viewers from 55 to 45, with most older viewers opting to watch The Late Show instead.^[59]

Following Leno's return to The Tonight Show, however, Leno has regained his lead.^[60]

Letterman's shows have garnered both critical and industry praise, receiving 67 Emmy Award nominations, winning 12 times in his first 20 years in late night television. From 1993–2009, Letterman ranked higher than Leno in the annual Harris Poll of Nation's Favorite TV Personality 12 times.^[61] For example, in 2003 and 2004 Letterman ranked second in that poll, behind only Oprah Winfrey, a year that Leno was ranked fifth.^[62] Leno was higher than Letterman on that poll three times during the same period, in 1998, 2007, and 2008.^[61]

Hosting the Academy Awards[link]

On March 27, 1995, Letterman acted as the host for the 67th Academy Awards ceremony. Critics blasted^[63] Letterman for what they deemed a poor hosting of the Oscars, noting that his irreverent style undermined the traditional importance and glamor of the event.^{[citation needed]} In a joke about their unusual names (inspired by a similar joke by Woody Allen), he started off by introducing Uma Thurman to Oprah Winfrey, and then both of them to Keanu Reeves: "Oprah...Uma. Uma...Oprah," "Have you kids met Keanu?"^[64] This and many of his other jokes fell flat.^{[citation needed]} Although Letterman attracted the highest ratings to the annual telecast since 1983, many felt that the bad publicity garnered by Letterman's hosting caused a decline in the Late Show's ratings.^[65]