One of the most beloved talk show hosts of the past three decades is making a comeback. David Letterman, the iconic comedian that hosted the “Late Night” from 1982 to 1993 and the “Late Show” from 1993 to 2015, signed a six-episode deal with the video streaming giant Netflix, announced on Tuesday.
Ted Sarandos, the chief content officer at Netflix, said in a statement, “David 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.” He jokingly added, “We’ll have to see if he keeps the beard,” according to a report from Tech Crunch.
The 70-year-old comedian actually plans to keep his beard for the Netflix series to “cover up a botched plastic surgery,” he quipped.
David Letterman’s reason for coming back to TV
The former “Late Show” host realized that he wanted to do more on television after going to India for a National Geographic special. Spending time with Al Franken, a former comedian turned politician, also contributed to Letterman’s decision to return, citing that he wanted to do something that might help people.
Letterman started talking with Netflix and Radical Media, and he was impressed by the two companies. He was also glad that it was only a six-episode commitment, which means it wouldn’t take much of his time as opposed to a 10-hour a day, five times a week engagement.
The combination of the idea of wanting to do something different and the added convenience was too irresistible, according to Letterman.
David Letterman’s time away from television
Letterman has been out of the public eye since his show in CBS ended in 2015. He only made a handful of appearances which include the time he became a correspondent on the National Geographic Channel documentary series called, “Years of Living Dangerously.” In this NGC special, Letterman went to India and met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
After learning that Donald Trump will run for president, Letterman briefly came out of retirement last year and made an appearance at Steve Martin and Martin Short’s “A Very Stupid Conversation” where he made fun of Trump’s presidential campaign.
Letterman’s new show on Netflix is scheduled to premiere in 2018, although the show doesn’t have a title yet as of this writing. In addition, the show’s format, topics or even guests have not been revealed by the streaming giant, and it seems that the series will not be a typical talk show.
