The author and podcaster Scott Ryan discusses his longtime allegiance to David Letterman and writing his new oral history The Last Days of Letterman: The Final Six Weeks (Fayetteville Mafia Press, 2018), with Joseph Planta.

The Last Days of Letterman: The Final Six Weeks by Scott Ryan (Fayetteville Mafia Press, 2018). Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: The Last Days of Letterman

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, at TheCommentary.ca.

What my guest now Scott Ryan has done with his new book is provided a great service for fans of late night television and admirers of David Letterman. The Last Days of Letterman: The Final Six Weeks gives the reader insight into the production of the last 28 episodes of the Late Show with David Letterman. Mr. Ryan interviews writers, directors, and producers of the CBS program, and gets the scoop on what it was like in and around the historic Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City, and just how memorable moments in that last run of shows were crafted, either spontaneously or produced. I think that’s the thing that you get out of the book is an appreciation of Letterman and how in his professional relationships with fellow comedians or musicians he’s an admirer of, how those brilliant moments that might be off-the-cuff come about through his wit, talent, and timing. Those last six weeks featured memorable shows, evoking the end of the Johnny Carson Tonight Show in 1992, and that featured touching moments that Letterman was able to have once more with Bill Murray, Martin Short, Barack Obama, Julia Roberts, George Clooney, Bob Dylan, Norm Macdonald, and many others. Scott Ryan is the author of thirtysomething at thirty: an oral history, and Scott Luck Stories. He is the managing editor of the Twin Peaks magazine the Blue Rose, and the host of the Red Room Podcast. There is also The Art of Letterman, a podcast, which I’ll ask him about. Visit www.scottryanproductions.com, and follow him on Twitter at @ScottLuckStory. This new book is published by Fayetteville Mafia Press. Its foreword is written by Bill Scheft. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, in Columbus, Ohio, Scott Ryan; Mr. Ryan, good morning.

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