David Letterman returning with new Netflix conversation series
For the first time since retiring at the end of The Late Show, the legendary host will star in a six-episode Netflix series where he gets out from behind the desk and interviews in hour-long formats people he finds interesting. He will also do some more field pieces exploring some of what he finds curious about the world today.
In a statement, here’s what Letterman had to say:
“I feel excited and lucky to be working on this project for Netflix. Here’s what I have learned, if you retire to spend more time with your family, check with your family first. Thanks for watching, drive safely.”
Meanwhile, the streaming provider’s head Ted Sarandos added the following:
“Just meeting David Letterman was a thrill; imagine how exciting it is for me to announce that we will be working together. 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.”
(For those who haven’t seen it, Letterman’s beard has become tremendous in his time away from television — which included more than a whopping 6,000 episodes of television. We don’t know how he singles many of them out.)
This move does make a tremendous amount of sense for Letterman given that his interviews always were one of the best skills that he brought to the table on the show. He would unnerve some of his guests in a most amusing way, and find a way to get them to discuss things that they certainly were not planning to beforehand. In general, he’s also just a really fascinating guy: He’s quirky, enjoys his privacy, and doesn’t really speak all that much about some of his interests aside from his family. There should be something very appealing about learning more about him in this forum. We would’ve been equally fine had he just released a podcast, but we aren’t mad about the idea of getting to watch him again.
After all and as mentioned, we never thought that we’d get this chance again. Let’s just celebrate that he’s not going to have to sit at a desk and tell the same jokes about weather and politics every night. This is him getting a chance to do something that appeals to him now as opposed to what he wanted to do on Late Night or The Late Show for so many years.
What do you think about the idea of Letterman getting a six-episode Netflix series, and do you hope it becomes an institution for the provider in its own way? Share below. (Photo: Netflix.)