The Late Shift

Synopsis: HBO movie about the behind-the-scenes network politics responsible for the changes in late-night talk-show hosts, after the retirement of Johnny Carson from the Tonight Show on NBC. Jay Leno and David Letterman were both vying for the position, but Leno's tough manager Helen Kushnick got him the spot. In the wake of her 'stepping on the toes' of powerful network executives and 'playing hardball' tactics with guest bookings, she found herself being pushed out of her job as Tonight Show Executive Producer and Jay's manager. Letterman, devastated by his being passed over, brought in superagent Mike Ovitz to negotiate on his behalf, resulting in his move to CBS.
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Director(s): Betty Thomas
Production: HBO Video
  Won 1 Golden Globe. Another 4 wins & 10 nominations.
 
IMDB:
6.9
R
Year:
1996
95 min
454 Views


( people chattering )

( man chuckling )

Uh, jeez, how late

is Fotomat open?

( all laughing )

( Howard )

I do want to thank you all for your patience.

We are now obviously

ready to go.

I'm Howard Stringer,

and as president

of C.B.S. Entertainment,

it is my singular pleasure,

and a great moment for us

to be able to bring

this great star to C.B.S.:

David Letterman.

( people applauding )

I never dated Amy Fisher.

I... I... I... I fixed her car,

I helped her

with her homework,

and, that's all.

All right, thank you.

All right,

I'll take some questions,

and then, uh, Colin Powell

will be in here

and update you

on the bombing.

( all laughing )

I do want to thank C.B.S.

for their... for their support,

and... and, of course,

for their generosity.

I mean, wow,

this is a deal that would

put a smile on

Jack Benny's face,

and that's in the condition

he's in right now.

( all laughing )

Does G.E. make

the best managers for a television network?

( coughing )

( all laughing )

What was the question?

Oh, yeah. No, you know,

I don't know about that,

but they make

a darn fine toaster oven.

( all laughing )

Come on, Paul,

we got... we got to do a show.

Dave, I have a terrible case

of the hiccups.

Oh, really? You tried

holding your breath?

Everything.

( hiccupping )

I got an idea. Hold on.

What are you doing?

Here just put that

on your head there,

( hiccupping )

and breathe... breathe normally there, Paul.

Ok.

I'm breathin'.

How is that?

You, uh, feel any better?

( hiccupping )

Oh, gosh.

( hiccupping )

Sorry...

Must have been

something I ate.

IT'S BLOODY MARVELOUS.

( announcer on T.V. )

The Tonight Show.

Johnny's guest host

tonight is Jay Leno.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Jay Leno!

( band playing on T.V. )

Thank you.

Wonderful, wonderful.

That's nice to hear.

Now, did you all

see the paper?

There's a survey that says

you're safer,

and now this is true,

you're safer on an airplane

than you are in

your own bathroom.

Do you believe that?

I mean, do you... do you think

that's true? I don't know.

I've never slipped

on the toilet seat and fallen 35,000 feet.

( both laughing )

You know, I mean, I never

adjusted the shower rod

and had a fireball come out

and incinerate me.

So you can't imagine...

SO, WHY CAN'T WE JUS THROW MONEY AT ONE OF THEM?

WHAT SORT OF OFFER

DO YOU HAVE IN MIND?

WHAT DOES IT MATTER?

LATE NIGHT'S MAKING

$70 MILLION A YEAR FOR N.B.C.

WHERE'S OUR BLOODY PIECE?

THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN

MR. SAJAK.

OH, CHRIST,

WHAT A DISASTER.

HE'S GOT A LOCK ON EVERY

BLUE-HAIRED OLD BIDDY

WHO EVER WATCHED

WHEEL OF FORTUNE.

DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY STATIONS

ARE CANCELING HIM FOR ARSENIO?

IT'S LIKE THEY'RE

CANCELING HIM BEFORE WE CAN.

LOOK AT THESE:

F***ING NUMBERS

WHEN LENO FILLS IN

FOR CARSON.

AND LETTERMAN.

N.B.C. HAS HIM SIGNED

THROUGH '93.

WELL...

WHAT ABOUT LENO?

N.B.C. ONLY HAS A ONE-YEAR

HOLDING DEAL WITH JAY.

THAT'S NOTHING.

HE COULD BE RIPE.

SO LET'S STEAL HIM.

I MEAN, WE CAN GIVE HIM A SHOW

NOW FOR CHRIST'S SAKES.

I'LL PUSH SAJAK OVER A CLIFF

IF WE COULD GET LENO.

THEY MIGHT FIGHT FOR HIM.

LET THEM.

THEY CAN'T FIGHT EQUALLY

FOR LENO AND LETTERMAN.

THEY'RE NOT GONNA

OFFER THEM BOTH:

CARSON'S SPO WHEN HE RETIRES.

THIS IS THE BES OPPORTUNITY WE'VE EVER HAD

TO BREAK N.B.C.'S

STRANGLEHOLD ON LATE NIGHT.

OK, HOWARD.

LET'S GO STIR SOMETHING UP.

And, you know,

we can knock it out in one fell swoop.

Oh!

OH! WHOA! WHOA!

BOUNCY UP HERE.

( glass shattering )

WE GOT TO DO:

A COMMERCIAL HERE, BOYS AND GIRLS.

WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK

WITH MORE SANDRA BERNHARD.

( audience applauding )

( band playing )

I'M HAVIN' A BLAST,

THANKS FOR HAVING ME

BACK ON, DAVE.

HOW YOU DOING?

WHAT DO YOU WANT,

THE NUMBER OF MY THERAPIST?

YOU SHOULD BE THRILLED

WITH YOUR LIFE.

THERE YOU GO.

IT WASN'T THAT BAD, DAVE.

OK, WE HAD A LITTLE TROUBLE,

BUT SANDRA WAS GOOD

AND YOU WERE GOOD WITH HER.

NO, I SUCKED, MORTY.

AND THE WHOLE SHOW SUCKED

BECAUSE I SUCKED.

I DON'T... I DON'T BELONG

IN NETWORK TELEVISION.

I BELONG IN THE MUNCIE,

DRIVING GRAVEL.

YOU GOT GREAT LAUGHS.

OH, BULLSHIT. IF THAT AUDIENCE

WERE ANY DEADER,

THERE'D BE GUYS IN LAB COATS

GOING THROUGH:

HARVESTING ORGANS.

THOSE DORKS AT N.B.C.

PROBABLY STEERED UP THE CROWD

WAITING IN LINE FOR

DONAHUE BY MISTAKE.

IT'S THEIR WAY

OF SENDING A MESSAGE.

WHAT MESSAGE?

THE MESSAGE.

LIKE GIVING JAY THE JOB

AS PERMANEN GUEST HOST FOR JOHNNY.

THEY DIDN'T DO

THAT TO MESS WITH YOU.

THEY DO EVERYTHING

TO MESS WITH ME.

LIKE RENTING OUT OUR

STUDIO IN THE MORNING TO MAURY POVICH.

LAURIE, I NEED SOME COFFEE.

GREAT SHOW.

YEAH.

I MEAN, YOU KNOW,

WH-WH-WHEN ARE... WHEN ARE WE SUPPOSED TO REHEARSE?

SHOULD I MOVE MY

CAMERA AROUND:

SOME BALD WOMEN WITH

EATING DISORDERS?

WE WON'T LE THAT HAPPEN, DAVE. WE'LL DO SOMETHING.

GOSH, MORTY, I KNOW,

WE COULD BOYCOTT THE SHOW.

THEY'LL PROBABLY USE THA AS AN EXCUSE TO FIRE ME.

OH, COME ON, DAVE.

I F***ED UP NUMBER 6...

NO, YOU DIDN'T.

IT WAS THE ONLY DECENT JOKE

IN THE WHOLE F***ING SHOW...

IT WAS FUNNY.

IT WAS FUNNY, I WASN'T.

LET ME SEE THE TAPE.

WHY DON'T YOU

TAKE A BREATHER?

GIVE ME THE F***ING TAPE.

( sighing )

F***.

( David )

OH, MAN.

FOR CHRIST'S SAKE.

JESUS, DO I SUCK!

OH, OH, THAT'S GOOD.

I SHOULD'VE JUMPED IN

RIGHT THERE!

( Helen )

LISTEN, YOU CHEAP, F***ING BASTARD,

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes

Bill Carter

Bill Carter (born 1966) is a writer and director. He directed the documentary film Miss Sarajevo, which consists of amateur video material he shot during his stay in the besieged city of Sarajevo. He is the author of Fools Rush In, his memoirs of working for an aid agency during the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He teaches journalism and film at Northern Arizona University. more…

All Bill Carter scripts | Bill Carter Scripts

0 fans

Submitted on August 05, 2018

Discuss this script with the community:

0 Comments

    Translation

    Translate and read this script in other languages:

    Select another language:

    • - Select -
    • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
    • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
    • Español (Spanish)
    • Esperanto (Esperanto)
    • 日本語 (Japanese)
    • Português (Portuguese)
    • Deutsch (German)
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • Français (French)
    • Русский (Russian)
    • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
    • 한국어 (Korean)
    • עברית (Hebrew)
    • Gaeilge (Irish)
    • Українська (Ukrainian)
    • اردو (Urdu)
    • Magyar (Hungarian)
    • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
    • Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Italiano (Italian)
    • தமிழ் (Tamil)
    • Türkçe (Turkish)
    • తెలుగు (Telugu)
    • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
    • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
    • Čeština (Czech)
    • Polski (Polish)
    • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Românește (Romanian)
    • Nederlands (Dutch)
    • Ελληνικά (Greek)
    • Latinum (Latin)
    • Svenska (Swedish)
    • Dansk (Danish)
    • Suomi (Finnish)
    • فارسی (Persian)
    • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
    • հայերեն (Armenian)
    • Norsk (Norwegian)
    • English (English)

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this screenplay to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "The Late Shift" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 24 Apr. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/the_late_shift_12308>.

    We need you!

    Help us build the largest writers community and scripts collection on the web!

    Watch the movie trailer

    The Late Shift

    Browse Scripts.com

    The Late Shift

    Soundtrack

    »

    The Studio:

    ScreenWriting Tool

    Write your screenplay and focus on the story with many helpful features.