Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Entertainment
  3. News

David Letterman steps out from behind the desk for a new talk show on Netflix

Parker Hall
By

david letterman
David Letterman/Facebook
Legendary talk show host and comedian David Letterman will soon return to small screens all over the globe as the host of a six-episode series for streaming on Netflix. The presently untitled series will feature hour-long episodes and will launch in 2018, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Letterman retired from his over 30-year role as the host of the Late Show With David Letterman (previously Late Night With David Letterman) two years ago, passing the reins to comedian Stephen Colbert.

Recommended Videos

“Here’s what I have learned: If you retire to spend more time with your family, check with your family first.”

Related

The new series will be produced in a collaboration between Letterman’s Worldwide Pants and RadicalMedia, which has worked on well-received Netflix productions such as What Happened, Miss Simone?, Oh Hello on Broadway, and Abstract: The Art of Design. 

For his part, the host seems ready to get back to work.

“I feel excited and lucky to be working on this project for Netflix,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “Here’s what I have learned: If you retire to spend more time with your family, check with your family first.”

In terms of content, the new series will be prerecorded and will showcase long-form conversations between the host and a guest in the studio, as well as explorations of topics of interest to Letterman that will be shot in the outside world. The production companies have yet to reveal a guest list for the new show, but they should have no problem booking virtually any star on Earth, given Letterman’s pedigree.

Executives at Netflix are elated at the opportunity to work with the iconic comedian, with Letterman helping to expand the streaming service’s talk show content outside of its weekly Chelsea series. It also can’t hurt that Letterman’s final episode of The Late Show on CBS garnered 14 million viewers and has a chance to be one of the most popular shows on Netflix.

“Just meeting David Letterman was a thrill; imagine how exciting it is for me to announce that we will be working together,” Netflix’s Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos said. “David Letterman is a true television icon, and I can’t wait to see him out in the wild, out from behind the desk and interviewing the people he finds most interesting. We’ll have to see if he keeps the beard.”

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Parker Hall
Parker Hall
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Parker Hall is a writer and musician from Portland, OR. He is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Oberlin…
The best new shows streaming on Netflix, Hulu, HBO and more in September
shameless season 8 renew showtime

As we gear up for fall and head into the latter part of the year, it’s time to get ready to binge. A stream (pun intended) of new series will be premiering this September, while popular shows will also be returning to the small screen.

From Netflix to Amazon, Hulu to HBO, here are the series premiering on streaming platforms in September that we’re excited about.
Disenchantment (Netflix)

Read more
Netflix raised prices and lost customers. Can a mobile-only plan win them back?
Netflix on mobile

Face it: streaming video is getting more expensive. Not only does the impending arrival of brand-specific streaming platforms like Disney+ and HBO Max mean that, if you want to watch everything, you're going to have to pay for multiple services, but Netflix recently raised its prices, driving away existing subscribers and sending its stock price plummeting.

What's a streaming service to do? Netflix might have already found the answer. Alongside its declining subscription figures, Netflix also announced plans to launch to a mobile-only subscription plan in India. For less than a regular Netflix subscription, customers will be able to watch all of Netflix's content on their phones -- and only on their phones -- at a resolution that's expected to top out at a mobile-friendly 480p.

Read more
HBO Max vs. Netflix: A very early look at how Warner’s new streamer stacks up
netflix vs hbo max friends

Another challenger approaches. Like Disney, CBS, Apple, and NBC before it, AT&T/WarnerMedia has its sights set on Netflix's streaming video crown. The company's new streaming service, which is expected to launch spring 2020, will be called HBO Max, and will combine HBO's award-winning programming slate with Warner Bros.' vast content library, as well as a handful of original movies and television series.

That's all well and good, but does HBO Max really have what it takes to cut into Netflix's reign? It's still too early to say. But if you're already trying to figure out your streaming budget for the next year or two, we've stacked up what we know about the new service against it's presumed biggest competition in a post we'll be constantly updating as the new service approaches.
Content

Read more