And Now, a Word From Our Hosts : Letterman: ‘This Is a Show for Grown-Ups. . . . Now’s Our Chance’

David Letterman indicated Friday that his off-the-wall NBC series will go more mainstream when he moves into an earlier, 11:30 p.m. time slot on competing CBS later this year.

In a phone interview from his NBC headquarters in New York, Letterman, whose 12:35 a.m. series has been propelled by a youthful, contemporary approach, said: “This is a show for grown-ups. This is a show for adults. Now’s our chance. I didn’t get to do ‘The Tonight Show.’ This will be the show that I think I could have made ‘The Tonight Show.’ ”

Letterman spoke the day after he confirmed he was moving to CBS for an estimated annual salary of $14 million because he didn’t get the “Tonight” series. The same day, NBC also confirmed that the current “Tonight” host, Jay Leno--who succeeded Johnny Carson last May--will continue in the job.

Some TV observers have said that one of the problems Letterman might face at CBS is delivering his offbeat, often acerbic humor to mainstream audiences used to middle-ground comedians such as Carson and Leno. Asked if he now, too, would move a little more toward the middle, Letterman said:

“Me, personally--sure. Undeniably. You know, I’m 45. When I first started the show, I was 34 years old, and I had nothing to lose and everything ahead of me. And at that point, we were coming off a (morning) show that had been canceled, and we just had fistful after fistful of ideas that we thought would be great to try on television.

“That was kind of the motivation to get on the air so we could try all of these great ideas. Well, it’s 11 years later and we’ve tried all of those ideas and we’re pretty much tapped out. So we want to try something else. I just want it to be the best possible version of a new show that we can make it. I’m not saying it will be sterile and cold and nothing like the old show.”

Letterman noted that his executive producer, Peter Lassally, “was an integral part” of Carson’s series “for many years.” Lassally was executive producer of “Tonight” when he left the show for “Late Night With David Letterman” in 1992.

“I think what we’re going to do now,” said Letterman, “is take a look at the best possible version of an 11:30 show, not just for us but for the rest of the country. I think it would be silly not to make this kind of change and also not to change the show.”

Lassally said in an interview that although “there will not be significant changes” and that CBS basically wants the show that Letterman has been doing, “We may broaden the guest list from the type of people we’re doing into an 11:30 direction. There’ll be a wider audience with a wider age group.”

The producer also acknowledged that the Letterman series will be going more mainstream: “Yes, but only partially.”

Letterman, who paid tribute to Carson as his “role model” in the Thursday news conference confirming his switch to CBS, said he talked to the longtime “Tonight” host last Sunday about his move and that the conversation “helped me realize I was making the right decision.”

The talk “was not a factor in my decision to move to CBS,” said Letterman, but he added that Carson “was very, very helpful and very supportive and helped me look at things in a real positive light. He gave me his best assessment of the situation and kind of his gut reaction to things.”

Asked about the short notice that NBC gave Letterman about Leno taking over “Tonight”--which many industry observers regarded as tactless behavior toward a significant star--Letterman said the network “originally wanted to try and do it with a phone call. And we sort of decided we would wait and try to do it in person.

“There’s nothing for me to gain now by criticizing anything that was done in the past. And believe me, I know they have many, many things to criticize me for. So I’ll just let it go at that.”

Nonetheless, asked whether he will continue to take shots at NBC and its owner, General Electric, until his series ends on that network June 25, Letterman said:

“I think the show, yeah, will be pretty much the same as always. I mean, we’re just going to go ahead like nothing really has changed. I think it’s very gracious of NBC to let us continue because each night we can pretty much say or do whatever we want about the new show at CBS. So I think it’s a great opportunity for us.”

Letterman’s move culminated months of intense negotiations involving NBC and others who wanted his services. Asked about a remark last year by NBC Entertainment President Warren Littlefield that Letterman “is a complex man and it’s hard to know sometimes what he’s thinking,” the comedian said:

“Well, honestly, I didn’t know what he was talking about because he and I had not much of an ongoing relationship at all. Oddly enough, toward the end I felt much closer to, and felt I had a more honest exchange with, Bob Wright (president of NBC) than I ever did with anybody else, or anybody in programming. I mean, Robert Wright and I seemed to have more commonality.”

Letterman said he regarded Littefield’s comment as “just one of those things you say. I just don’t think it had any bearing actually on the negotiation.”

Was there anything NBC could have done to keep him other than giving him “The Tonight Show”?

“No,” said Letterman. “If CBS had said, ‘We’re going to let you do a prime-time special once a week’ or ‘We’re going to give you a sitcom,’ that wouldn’t have been interesting to me either. I just feel like this is what I want to do, what we’ve had some success with doing. And if I couldn’t do this and if I couldn’t do it at 11:30, I don’t know what anybody could offer that would keep me anywhere.”

One of the points that may have to be ironed out in Letterman’s move to CBS is whether he can take with him several of his most famous routines--his Top 10 lists and Stupid Pet Tricks. NBC owns the show and Littlefield said Thursday that such matters would have to be worked out. Lassally also said the legal aspect would have to be looked into. But Letterman was confident:

“The Top 10 list is probably easy, free and clear. And I believe Stupid Pet Tricks was an idea that Merrill Markoe came up with on the morning show, which we owned. So I believe that there’s an equal claim to that there. I don’t anticipate a problem.”

Anyway, Lassally said, in case a problem arises, “I think if we call it ‘Dave’s Top 10,’ you can do it.”

If NBC tried to prevent Letterman from taking along such staples created on his own show, one can imagine the roasting the network would get from the comedian on the air.

Will Letterman’s coming CBS show continue in New York or move to Los Angeles?

“My real leanings (are that) I couldn’t be more comfortable here (in New York),” he said. “I lived in Los Angeles and loved it there, and when I moved to New York City I resisted New York City, and then I’ve grown to love it here too. Just for reasons of personal comfort, I would rather stay here, but that’s not the ultimate determinate.”

Added Lassally: “CBS told us they’ll be happy with whichever coast.”

Letterman is also aware of skepticism that his hip humor might not register with CBS’ traditional audience, which is older.

“Yeah, I’ve heard that,” he said, “but I’m not sure what that means. I think you do a show and if people like it, they’re going to watch it regardless of their age. I watch all kinds of television myself and it doesn’t make any difference to me whether the person is younger or older.”

At CBS’ Thursday news conference ballyhooing the acquisition of Letterman, the network was noticeably not only gleeful--its top executives, including tough chairman Laurence Tisch, showed clear respect and even some deference toward the star. Did Letterman feel that perhaps he didn’t get the due he deserved at NBC?

“I must say, I’ve had a relationship with NBC since 1978, and I know there were many, many times and many, many things (about which) they probably felt that I treated them with disrespect or without respect. And the same happens here too. It’s just like anybody--you have a wife for 11 years, you have a boss for 11 years, there’s going to be times when they’ve pissed you off, times when you’ve pissed them off. I think that ultimately, in the final year and a half, they showed grand patience. And I appreciate that.”

Declining to take another shot at NBC, Letterman said: “I know that I was trouble for them too.”