"Who leads ""The CBS Orchestra"", the house band for ""The Late Show with David Letterman""?"
Late Show with David Letterman Late Show with David Letterman 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. Of the major U.S. late-night programs, "Late Show" ranked second in cumulative average viewers over time and third
Late Night with David Letterman retained rights to the name after Letterman retired in 2015), was Shaffer's idea. Notably, however, "Stupid Pet Tricks" originated on Letterman's 1980 early morning show "The David Letterman Show", to which Letterman, not NBC, owned the rights. This meant "Stupid Pet Tricks" was able to cross over to the CBS show with its name and concept unchanged. With Carson retired, Letterman was also granted free use of some of Carson's sketches, and in due time, "Stump the Band" and "Carnac the Magnificent" (with Shaffer as Carnac) entered the "Late Show" rotation. Both "Late Show" and "CBS Orchestra" are names from