The Late Shift (1996)

Directed by

Betty Thomas

Genre

docudrama, comedy drama

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 35m

Rated

R

Rating

6.4 of 10 from 65 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

The film follows the real-life rivalry between Jay Leno and David Letterman to take over Johnny Carson's spot hosting The Tonight Show. It shows the backroom negotiations and public relations battles at NBC as both comedians fight for the job.

inside-baseballbittersweetfast-pacedsardonictenseobservational

What happens

The Late Shift is a 1996 American made-for-television biographical film directed by Betty Thomas, and written by New York Times media reporter Bill Carter and George Armitage. Released by HBO Pictures and produced in conjunction with Northern Lights Entertainment, the film premiered on HBO on February 24, 1996. Based on Carter's 1994 book of the same name, the film chronicles the late-night television conflict between Jay Leno and David Letterman in the early 1990s, surrounding NBC's appointment of Leno to succeed Johnny Carson as host of The Tonight Show, and Late Night host Letterman's resulting efforts to negotiate out of his contract with the network to host his own competing talk show for CBS. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

• The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962)
• The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992)
• Dying to do Letterman (2011)
• Tin Cup (1996)
• The Jay Leno Show (2009)
• Sports Night (1998)
• Mother (1996)
• Carson's Comedy Classics (1983)