Late Night Bumpers
The 40th Anniversary Book
Late Night With David Letterman premiered February 1, 1982 on NBC and ran till June 25, 1993. February 1, 2022 will be the 40th Anniversary of the show.
The Letterman Bumpers are the collection of iconic photographic images, many with hand crafted collage graphics, that were used before and after the commercials that ran on the show for eleven years. The official book of Bumpers will be available to millions of fans of the NBC show, the CBS show and more fans of the new Netflix Letterman series — and a new show STUPID PET TRICKS on TBS.
About: The purpose of the bumpers was to creatively identify the show to channel surfing viewers and to put a “cushion” between the show and the commercials in case a TV spot was switched a few seconds late or early by the local station... hence the word, “bumper”.
The Letterman Bumpers have become a storied photographic documentation of New York City and a cultural statement of the historic journey and were seen on TV by millions of viewers 5 nights a week during the halcyon days of Late Night.
Theme: “Nobody” was watching Late Night With David Letterman at 12:30 am in the ‘80s. Nobody, except for every high school and college student in America — and everyone who connected to Dave’s irreverence and prickly resentment of pretentiousness. The show defined a generation which was empowered by a style of humor which re-defined television, talk shows, variety shows, and the beginnings of reality television.
Keep in mind, this was a time where everyone watched television in real time — pre-internet, there were no video games and there was no other network late night shows at 12:30 am. Just LATE NIGHT.
Dave had a loyal and captive audience. Fans, superfans and nerds of this era still see Letterman as a cultural hero, and other than a t-shirt, have little to hold on to that connects them to this momentous period of their lives.
Stats: Late Night With David Letterman aired 200 shows per year with with an average of 2 million viewers per night with 5 bumpers per night over 11 years.
200 shows/year x 5 bumpers/show = Bumpers aired 1,000 times per year
1,000 bumpers/year x 2,000,000 viewers = 2B impression/year
2B impression x 11 years = 22B impressions for the Bumpers
Click on first image below to see the book comp slide-show:
About Marc Karzen / Photographer: Marc Karzen occupied a unique position on the “Late Night” crew as the official still photographer, accidental logo designer, and creator of the show’s iconic “bumpers” — single-frame visual segues in and out of the commercials.
The bumpers became the icons of the show and a cultural thread that punctuated the moments with Letterman and his guests. Through-line: A photographic journey through NYC in the 80’s.
Late Night With David Letterman was a creative cultural launch pad for writers, producers, musicians and many celebrity guests.
