David Letterman's Best Late Show Moment Took Place Off-Camera, According To Employees

Summary

• David Letterman paid his writing staff during the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike, showcasing his true character.
• Worldwide Pants, Letterman's production company, was the first to guarantee financial support for its staff during the strike.
• Johnny Carson's similar actions in 1988 inspired Letterman's decision, and other celebrities like Fran Drescher, Drew Barrymore, and Bill Maher also took stances during the strike.

The SAG-AFTRA strike of 2023 was one of the biggest stories of the year. There were people who wondered how their favorite movies and television shows would continue. There were writers and actors who were hoping to receive more fair, just treatment.

It is something that caused talk shows to ponder how they would continue. When Drew Barrymore and Bill Maher decided to continue production despite the strike, they received backlash from the public. This caused them to reverse their decision.

However, when the 2007-2008 writer's strike was ongoing, David Letterman made a very different move. It was this move that showed Letterman's true character, according to his writing staff. This was something they continue to say was his best moment during his entire late-night run.

Letterman Paid His Writing Staff Out Of His Own Pocket During The 2007-2008 Writer's Strike

The Writers Guild of America strike that took place during Letterman's late-night run began November 5, 2007 and ended February 12, 2008. Letterman paid The Late Show with David Letterman and The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson staffers out of his pocket during this time, something those staffers are still grateful for.

Bill Scheft wrote for Letterman for 24 years, and told Rolling Stone that Letterman wouldn't continue the show without the writers.

“To me, it was one of his finest moments,” Scheft said.

Scheft said it isn't fair to compare Letterman to current late-night shows due to declines in ratings. He also noted a shifting media landscape as another way the current hosts are under different circumstances.

Letterman’s production company, Worldwide Pants, released a statement when the ‘07-’08 writers’ strike began, affirming that it would continue to pay its non-writing staff of The Late Show and The Late Late Show to the end of the year. This made it the first company to guarantee its staff financial support during the strike. This wasn't the case for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Letterman's late-night rival, Jay Leno, later promised to pay staffers for at least a week.

“It is important to Dave that our staff members have some degree of support during this uncertain time,” read the Worldwide Pants statement. “Therefore, Worldwide Pants, which independently produces both shows, will continue to pay the non-writing staff of the shows – fully compensating lower-salaried employees, and providing a substantial portion of salaries for those at the higher end — at least through the end of the year.”

Letterman was owner of The Late Show and The Late Late Show at that time. Since CBS paid a licensing fee to air the shows, Worldwide Pants was responsible for compensating its writers. A deal was granted in late December 2007 by Letterman and the WGA granting interim agreements to both talk shows. This allowed them to continue production with its union writing staff. The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Late Night with Conan O’Brien also resumed production during that time, but it happened without their writers.

According to Scheft, Letterman had “survivor’s guilt” after everyone went back to work. To deal with this, Letterman delivered pizza to striking writers on the picket lines.

“We had got lucky and that was only because our boss owned the show,” Scheft remembered.

• The longest strike, at 22 weeks, took place during the 1968 writer's strike.
• Johnny Carson owned The Tonight Show and paid his staffers out of pocket while pursuing an interim agreement before returning sans writers in May 1988.
• This was what inspired Letterman to do the same.

Barbara Gaines was an executive producer for 35 years on Letterman’s show, and revealed that lower-salaried employees were paid in November and December.

“Dave himself is a writer,” Gaines said. “He always respected the writers very much. [You] can’t do a comedy show without writers.”

Fran Drescher Spoke Out Against Hollywood Executives While Announcing 2023 SAG-AFTRA Strike

The 2023 strike between the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the Writers Guild of America (WGA) received a lot of attention. It ignited in July 2023 when guild president Fran Drescher announced SAG-AFTRA was going on strike.

During her passionate speech, Drescher spoke out against Hollywood executives, saying they're greedy and "on the wrong side of history." She also said the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) "cannot change the business model as much as it has changed and not expect the contract to change too."

"At some point you have to say no more," Drescher told The Associated Press. "I think that it’s taken on a bigger scope, it’s greater than the sum of its parts. I think it’s a conversation now about the culture of big business, and how it treats everybody up and down the ladder in the name of profit."

Drescher reflected on how the business has changed since she got her big break on The Nanny.

"I’m very grateful that I got my big break during that time and not this time," she said. "When I started on The Nanny at CBS, that was still a family owned business. You knew who the owners were and you could talk to them. And everything has changed."

"Now, when you have a business model where the CEOs are more connected to the shareholders and not to the people that actually make the product that they’re selling," Drescher continued. "I think that you have a breakdown that is unsustainable."

At the time of Drescher's interview with The Associated Press, she said the AMPTP had not yet reached out to SAG-AFTRA, despite beginning talks with the WGA.

"I’m not really understanding what the silent treatment is," Drescher said. "It could be a tactical strategy to see if they can wait us out until we lose our resolve and then they can make a better deal for themselves."

However, Drescher said there is no way that would happen.

"This is an inflection point," she said. "I don’t think anybody that’s in charge of the AMPTP quite understands that. This is not like any past negotiation. We’re in a whole new ball game. And if things don’t change radically, quite frankly, I think that they’re going to ultimately get very hurt by this strike."

Drew Barrymore and Bill Maher Both Paused Production On Their Shows After Public Backlash

Scheft picketed The View in 2023, since the show was still in production amid the strikes. Drew Barrymore initially decided to go on, but later announced that she would pause her daytime talk show after backlash from the public.

When she originally announced her show's premiere, Barrymore insisted the show would be "in compliance with not discussing or promoting film and television that is struck of any kind," adding, "I own this choice."

"We launched live in a global pandemic. Our show was built for sensitive times and has only functioned through what the real world is going through in real time," she said at the time. "I want to be there to provide what writers do so well, which is a way to bring us together or help us make sense of the human experience."

Barrymore also said there were other reasons she decided to go on with her show amid the strike.

"We aren't gonna break rules, and we will be in compliance. I wanted to do this because, as I said, this is bigger than me, and there are other people's jobs on the line," Barrymore said.

However, she would later reverse her decision just a week later, as she issued an apology on social media.

"I have listened to everyone, and I am making the decision to pause the show's premiere until the strike is over," Barrymore wrote on Instagram. "I have no words to express my deepest apologies to anyone I have hurt and, of course, to our incredible team who works on the show and has made it what it is today. We really tried to find our way forward. And I truly hope for a resolution for the entire industry very soon."

Bill Maher was another host who initially decided to resume production on his show Real Time with Bill Maher amid the strike. However, like Barrymore, Maher also received public backlash for his decision. He later announced on Twitter that he would be pausing production on his show.

"My decision to return to work was made when it seemed nothing was happening and there was no end in sight to this strike," Maher wrote. "Now that both sides have agreed to go back to the negotiating table I'm going to delay the return of Real Time, for now, and hope they can finally get this done."

Scheft later said he was happy that Maher, who he worked with during the first season of ABC’s Politically Incorrect, decided to stay off the air.

“I’m happy that he reconsidered,” Scheft told Rolling Stone of Maher. “I just think that it was a bad look.”

Scheft was a liaison between the Writers Guild and Letterman’s late-night writers. He also marched on the picket lines in 2007. Scheft has also been a friend of Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg from The View for decades. He said that he believes they would've been out on the picket lines if it wasn’t for their roles as co-hosts.

“They’re the draw. People don’t come to watch the ABC logo,” Scheft theorized.