My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Genre | Talk show |
Directed by |
|
Presented by | David Letterman |
Composer | Paul Shaffer |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 5 |
No. of episodes | 28 |
Production | |
Executive producers |
|
Producers |
|
Cinematography |
|
Editors |
|
Running time | 44–61 minutes |
Production companies | |
Original release | |
Network | Netflix |
Release | January 12, 2018 – present |
My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman (commonly referred to as My Next Guest) is an American television talk show hosted by David Letterman that premiered on January 12, 2018, on Netflix. The series consists of interviews with one guest per episode both inside and outside a studio setting. The show has received generally positive reviews, with its format, Letterman's hosting, choice of guests, and insightful conversations receiving praise. My Next Guest has been nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special four times.
On August 8, 2017, Netflix announced it had ordered a six-episode interview series starring David Letterman. Each hour-long episode was set to feature Letterman conducting a long-form conversation with a single guest and in-the-field segments, in which he would explore topics on his own. [1]
On January 5, 2018, it was announced that Letterman's guests in the first season would include Barack Obama, George Clooney, Malala Yousafzai, Jay-Z, Tina Fey, and Howard Stern. It was also announced that the series would premiere on January 12, 2018, with Letterman's interview with Obama. This interview was Obama's first since leaving office. [2] [3]
On December 14, 2018, it was announced that Netflix had renewed the series for a second season consisting of six episodes. [4] On May 31, 2019, five new episodes were released. On June 21, a bonus episode was released.
The show's theme song and bridging music were written and recorded by Letterman's long-time bandleader, Paul Shaffer. [5] Soon after it was announced publicly that Netflix had given the series an order, Shaffer received a phone call from Letterman asking him to work on the show. Soon after, Shaffer began to receive cuts of episodes from the first season and he started to put music in afterwards where the director thought it was needed. [6]
In developing the sound of the show's music, Shaffer initially looked to Letterman for guidance. Finding none, he remembered his and Letterman's shared love for the sort of music produced at the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Sheffield, Alabama describing it as "the honesty you hear, the southern soul feeling." The score initially included drums but the show's producers and director thought that the music should "feel like it's Dave's old friend Paul playing," so it was ultimately stripped down to solely include piano, organ, and bass guitar. [6]
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Guest | Original release date | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | "Barack Obama" "It's a Whole New Ball Game Now" [lower-alpha 1] | Barack Obama | January 12, 2018 | |
Cold open: Letterman interviewing then-President Obama on Late Show with David Letterman . On-location segment: Walking with Congressman John Lewis across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, site of the civil rights movement's Bloody Sunday in 1965. | |||||
2 | 2 | "George Clooney" "You Be the Newsman, I'll Be Liz Taylor" [lower-alpha 1] | George Clooney | February 9, 2018 | |
Cold open: Letterman and Clooney outside of LAX watching planes land and eating fast food. On-location segment: At the home of Nick Clooney meeting Iraqi refugee Hazim Avdal whom the Clooney family is sponsoring. | |||||
3 | 3 | "Malala Yousafzai" "You Know, She Has a Nobel Peace Prize" [lower-alpha 1] | Malala Yousafzai | March 9, 2018 | |
Cold open: Letterman accompanies Yousafzai as she leads a tour group at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. On-location segment: Yousafzai continues to lead the tour group as Letterman tags along, the pair browse in the University of Oxford shop, and Letterman eats lunch with Yousafzai's father. | |||||
4 | 4 | "JAY-Z" "I Had a Paper Route Too" [lower-alpha 1] | Jay-Z | April 6, 2018 | |
Cold open: None On-location segment: Letterman visits Shangri La Studio, speaks with music producer Rick Rubin and listens to Madison Ryann Ward recording. | |||||
5 | 5 | "Tina Fey" "It's Just Land Mine Hopscotch" [lower-alpha 1] | Tina Fey | May 4, 2018 | |
Cold open: None On-location segment: Letterman and Blues musician Buddy Guy eat chicken and fries at the Athenian Room, one of Tina Fey's Chicago hangouts, while talking about the origins of the Chicago Blues. Later, Guy performs “Skin Deep”, accompanied by Paul Shaffer, at his nightclub, Buddy Guy’s Legends. | |||||
6 | 6 | "Howard Stern" | Howard Stern | May 31, 2018 | |
Cold open: Letterman interviewing Stern on Late Night with David Letterman. On-location segment: Letterman rides horses with paleontologist/geologist Christa Sadler at Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument. |
No. overall | Title | Guest | Original release date | |
---|---|---|---|---|
7 | "You're David Letterman, You Idiot" | Jerry Seinfeld | May 8, 2018 | |
In a behind-the-scenes Netflix event, Jerry Seinfeld and David Letterman interview each other. |
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Guest | Original release date | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
8 | 1 | "Kanye West" | Kanye West | May 31, 2019 | |
On-location segment: David visits Kanye's house and tries some of his clothes. | |||||
9 | 2 | "Ellen DeGeneres" | Ellen DeGeneres | May 31, 2019 | |
On-location segment: Behind the scenes on The Ellen DeGeneres Show . | |||||
10 | 3 | "Tiffany Haddish" | Tiffany Haddish | May 31, 2019 | |
On-location segment: David joins Tiffany Haddish in her backyard to do some gardening. [7] | |||||
11 | 4 | "Lewis Hamilton" | Lewis Hamilton | May 31, 2019 | |
On-location segment: Letterman races young drivers on a go-kart track; Hamilton drives laps in a 2019 Mercedes AMG F1 W10 EQ Power+ and drives Letterman around a circuit in a Mercedes-AMG E63, Letterman drives Hamilton in a station wagon. [8] Lewis Hamilton's father, Anthony Hamilton, is in the audience. | |||||
12 | 5 | "Melinda Gates" | Melinda Gates | May 31, 2019 | |
On-location segment: Gates joins Letterman in a self-driving car simulator; Letterman meets Bill Gates at the offices of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. [9] |
No. overall | Title | Guest | Original release date | |
---|---|---|---|---|
13 | "Zach Galifianakis" | Zach Galifianakis | June 21, 2019 | |
Joining Dave at a special Netflix event, Zach Galifianakis pays tribute to childhood idols and shares juicy tidbits from the Between Two Ferns set. |
No. overall | Title | Guest | Original release date | |
---|---|---|---|---|
14 | "My Next Guest with David Letterman and Shah Rukh Khan" | Shah Rukh Khan | October 25, 2019 | |
"King of Bollywood" Shah Rukh Khan opens up about his rise to fame, his family, and his billions of fans as he and David meet up in Mumbai and New York. |
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Guest | Original release date | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
15 | 1 | "Kim Kardashian West" | Kim Kardashian West | October 21, 2020 | |
On-location segment: Kardashian and Letterman shop for test supplies in a CVS Pharmacy. | |||||
16 | 2 | "Robert Downey Jr." | Robert Downey Jr. | October 21, 2020 | |
On-location segment: At the home of Robert Downey Jr. in Malibu checking Robert’s mini-zoo. | |||||
17 | 3 | "Dave Chappelle" | Dave Chappelle | October 21, 2020 | |
On-location segment: An audience at "Chappelle Summer Camp", Chappelle walks Letterman through his hometown of Yellow Springs, Ohio [10] | |||||
18 | 4 | "Lizzo" | Lizzo | October 21, 2020 | |
Music superstar Lizzo invites Dave to lay down a track at her home studio as they chat about flutes, protests, her time working with Prince and more. |
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Guest(s) | Original release date | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
19 | 1 | "Billie Eilish" | Billie Eilish, Finneas O'Connell | May 20, 2022 | |
Dave visits Billie Eilish to discuss inspiration, influences and imposter syndrome — and even manages to work in a little go-karting and Auto-tuning. | |||||
20 | 2 | "Will Smith" | Will Smith | May 20, 2022 | |
Will Smith recalls his rap origins, the lasting impact of his parents, spiritual explorations, and one very fateful night at Quincy Jones' house. | |||||
21 | 3 | "Cardi B" | Cardi B | May 20, 2022 | |
Cardi B and Dave split a chopped cheese in a Bronx bodega and chat hooky parties, hip-hop, parenting, political science and protesting injustice. | |||||
22 | 4 | "Ryan Reynolds" | Ryan Reynolds | May 20, 2022 | |
Ryan Reynolds makes pizza for Dave while he discusses his youth in Canada, early days as an actor, life as a father and love of Welsh football. | |||||
23 | 5 | "Kevin Durant" | Kevin Durant | May 20, 2022 | |
Dave and Kevin Durant go one-on-one in basketball, shuffleboard and conversation as they cover family, focus, trash-talking, social media and more. | |||||
24 | 6 | "Julia Louis-Dreyfus" | Julia Louis-Dreyfus | May 20, 2022 | |
Julia Louis-Dreyfus takes Dave fishing and talks growing up with two families, serving Gumby tea on Saturday Night Live and reality overtaking fiction with Veep . |
No. overall | Title | Guest | Original release date | |
---|---|---|---|---|
25 | "My Next Guest with David Letterman and Volodymyr Zelenskyy" | Volodymyr Zelenskyy | December 12, 2022 | |
No. overall | Title | Guest | Original release date | |
---|---|---|---|---|
26 | "My Next Guest with David Letterman and John Mulaney" | John Mulaney | April 30, 2024 | |
John Mulaney returns to his Chicago high school with David Letterman as they candidly discuss addiction, fatherhood and the state of stand-up comedy. |
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Guest(s) | Original release date | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
27 | 1 | "Miley Cyrus" | Miley Cyrus | June 12, 2024 | |
Miley Cyrus performs an intimate show at the Chateau Marmont and opens up to Dave about songwriting, sobriety and separating herself from Hannah Montana. | |||||
28 | 2 | "Charles Barkley" | Charles Barkley | June 12, 2024 | |
Charles Barkley goes golfing with Dave and shares his unfiltered opinions on the NBA and WNBA, his transition to analyst and the fight against racism. |
The first season of My Next Guest Needs No Introduction has been met with a positive response from critics. On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the first season holds an 83% approval rating with an average rating of 6.79 out of 10 based on 29 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "My Next Guest may not be groundbreaking, but a more intimate setting provides ample room for intelligent, insightful interviews with interesting subjects that go beyond standard late-night conversations." [11] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the season a score of 70 out of 100 based on 13 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [12]
Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2018 | Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards | Outstanding Informational Series or Special | My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman | Nominated | [13] [14] [15] |
2019 | Nominated | ||||
2021 | Nominated | ||||
2022 | Nominated |
David Michael Letterman is an American television host, comedian, writer and producer. He hosted late-night television talk shows for 33 years, beginning with the February 1, 1982, debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC and ending with the May 20, 2015, broadcast of Late Show with David Letterman on CBS. In total, Letterman hosted 6,080 episodes of Late Night and Late Show, surpassing his friend and mentor Johnny Carson as the longest-serving late-night talk show host in American television history.
Late Night with David Letterman is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on NBC, the first iteration of the Late Night franchise. It premiered on February 1, 1982, and was produced by Letterman's production company, Space Age Meats, and Carson Productions. Letterman had previously hosted his own morning talk show on NBC from June to October 1980. The show's house band, The World's Most Dangerous Band, was led by music director Paul Shaffer. In 1993, Letterman announced that he would leave NBC to host the Late Show with David Letterman on CBS. The final episode of Late Night was broadcast on June 25, 1993. The series has continued as Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and Late Night with Seth Meyers.
The Late Show with David Letterman is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the Late Show franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants, and CBS Television Studios. The show's music director and leader of the house band, the CBS Orchestra, was Paul Shaffer. The head writer was Matt Roberts and the announcer was originally Bill Wendell, then Alan Kalter. In most U.S. markets the show aired from 11:35 p.m. to 12:35 a.m. Eastern and Pacific Time, and recorded Monday to Wednesdays at 4:30 p.m., and Thursdays at 3:30 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The second Thursday episode usually aired on Friday of that week.
Paul Allen Wood Shaffer is a Canadian singer, composer, actor, author, comedian, and musician who served as David Letterman's musical director, band leader, and sidekick on the entire run of both Late Night with David Letterman (1982–1993) and Late Show with David Letterman (1993–2015).
Jerome Allen Seinfeld is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He played a semi-fictionalized version of himself in the sitcom Seinfeld, which he created and wrote with Larry David. The show aired on NBC from 1989 until 1998, becoming one of the most acclaimed and popular sitcoms of all time. As a stand-up comedian, Seinfeld specializes in observational comedy. In 2004, Comedy Central named him the 12th-greatest stand-up comedian of all time.
Worldwide Pants Incorporated is an American television and film production company founded and owned by comedian and talk show host David Letterman.
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that first aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009. It resumed production on March 1, 2010, and ended on February 6, 2014.
Zachary Knight Galifianakis is an American comedian and actor. In film, Galifianakis played Alan in The Hangover trilogy (2009–2013). He hosted the Funny or Die talk show Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis (2008–2018). On television, he starred in the FX series Baskets (2016–2019), which he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series in 2017.
Seth Adam Meyers is an American comedian, television host, actor, writer, producer, and podcaster. He currently hosts Late Night with Seth Meyers, a late-night talk show on NBC. Prior to Late Night, Meyers was a cast member on NBC's sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 2001 to 2014, and served as the show's head writer and anchor of their news parody segment, Weekend Update, from 2006 until his departure in 2014.
Eli Attie is an Emmy-winning writer, producer, and former White House staff member. He served as Vice President Al Gore's chief White House and campaign speechwriter through Gore's concession of the 2000 presidential election, which Attie and Gore wrote together. Attie then became a longtime writer and producer on the drama series The West Wing, House, and more recently, Billions. He is currently a writer and producer on Netflix's political thriller The Diplomat and on Netflix's upcoming limited series Zero Day, which will star Robert De Niro.
John Edmund Mulaney is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Mulaney first rose to prominence for his work as a writer for the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 2008 to 2013, where he contributed to numerous sketches and characters, including Stefon, a recurring character that he and Bill Hader co-created. Since his departure from SNL, Mulaney has hosted it several times, becoming a member of the SNL Five Timers Club in 2022.
Eric Lange is an American actor. He is known for his extensive work on television, where he has appeared in a wide variety of both supporting and leading roles.
Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis is an American talk show hosted by comedian Zach Galifianakis which features celebrity guests. Episodes last several minutes, in which the interviewer (Galifianakis) and guests trade barbs and insults. In addition to the online series, there is a Comedy Central television special, and a Netflix original movie Between Two Ferns: The Movie.
Benjamin Joseph Schwartz is an American actor and comedian. He has guest starred as Jean-Ralphio Saperstein on the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation and Clyde Oberholt on the Showtime series House of Lies; voiced Randy Cunningham in Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja, Dewey Duck in DuckTales, and Leonardo in Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; and appeared many times in the CollegeHumor web series Jake and Amir.
Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee is an American television talk show directed and hosted by comedian Jerry Seinfeld. The series premiered on digital network Crackle on July 19, 2012, and has since run on Netflix. As of May 2015, it had been streamed nearly 100 million times. The series moved to Netflix in 2018 for the debut of its tenth season. Its eleventh season premiered on July 19, 2019. Seinfeld has since indicated that he may be done working on the series.
The Real is an American syndicated talk show created by SallyAnn Salsano. The series initially received a trial run on Fox-owned markets in the summer of 2013 and premiered for full syndication in 2014. It was last co-hosted by singer and actress Adrienne Bailon, comedian and actress Loni Love, television host and fashion stylist Jeannie Mai, and actress and model Garcelle Beauvais. It was cancelled in 2022.
Norm Macdonald Has a Show is an American Netflix talk show hosted by Norm Macdonald that premiered on September 14, 2018. It was produced by Macdonald, Lori Jo Hoekstra, K.P. Anderson and Daniel Kellison. Macdonald and Hoekstra were also its showrunners.
Red Table Talk is an American talk show starring Jada Pinkett Smith, Willow Smith, and Jada's mother, Adrienne Banfield-Norris. The series premiered on May 7, 2018 on Facebook Watch, and would run for 5 seasons and 129 episodes on the streaming service. The series also spawned a spinoff, Red Table Talk: The Estefans, led by Gloria Estefan, Emily Estefan and Lili Estefan. Facebook Watch ended the series run in April 2023 as part of the cancellation of all TV shows of original programming on Facebook Watch, although Red Table Talk producers, Westbrook Studios, will continue the project and are reportedly seeking a new home for the series, which is slated to return in 2024.
Higher Ground Productions, also known simply as Higher Ground, is an American production company which was founded in 2018 by former United States President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama.
Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend is a weekly podcast hosted by American comedian and retired talk show host Conan O'Brien. It is co-hosted by O'Brien's assistant, Sona Movsesian, and producer, Matt Gourley. The podcast debuted in November 2018 and features O'Brien talking with comedians and actors in the industry, including Jeff Goldblum, Adam Sandler, Stephen Colbert, David Letterman, Bill Burr, Tom Hanks, and Tina Fey, along with personal friends, such as Lisa Kudrow and Timothy Olyphant, people he admires such as Carol Burnett, Neil Young, and Robert Caro, and political figures, such as Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama.