Lengthy earlier than they have been spending hundreds of thousands on CGI dragons and John Oliver’s Supreme Court docket payoffs, HBO’s authentic content material was a tad extra low-key. One in every of their most talked-about authentic films again within the Nineties was The Late Shift, based mostly on the ebook by Invoice Carter, which dramatized the behind-the-scenes battle between David Letterman and Jay Leno over who would get to host The Tonight Present. Take into account that this was again in a time when The Tonight Present was one of the vital iconic applications on tv, not a platform for sketch comics to hawk their cartoon primate collections.
Although his stand-in wasn’t the one with a Dick Tracy-esque prosthetic chin, Letterman wasn’t too blissful along with his portrayal within the film. The Letterman character was performed by the hilarious John Michael Higgins, who would go on to look in Ready for Guffman, Greatest in Present and each different mockumentary directed by Christopher Visitor.
On the time, Letterman — who had solely seen clips, not the entire film — criticized Higgins’ efficiency, telling Leisure Weekly, “I’m certain he’s a superb actor, however his interpretation appears to be… properly, a circus chimp. He seems like he’s insane, like he’s a budding psychopath.” He later stated that the film was “the most important waste of movie since my wedding ceremony images,” and as soon as once more blasted Higgins, by likening his portrayal to a “psychotic chimp.”
Letterman appeared particularly aggrieved at Higgins’ hairpiece. “He’s taking part in me with crimson hair,” Letterman informed visitor Deal with Williams in 1996. Williams performed Letterman’s agent Michael Ovitz in The Late Shift. Once they threw to a “clip” from the film, it was Letterman taking part in Higgins taking part in Letterman, full with an ill-fitting crimson wig.
Whereas it’s comprehensible that Letterman wouldn’t be thrilled about having his soiled laundry aired on cable tv, beating up on Higgins, an unknown, struggling actor, appears fairly unfair. Higgins later revealed that the primary purpose he took the job was as a result of he desperately wanted $300 to repair the steering wheel of his Subaru. “I used to be clutching a coupon for an $8 haircut, whereas Letterman was pounding away at me each night time on his present. It was so surreal,” he informed The Boston Globe in 2021.
Letterman finally booked Higgins to be a visitor on The Late Present. As Higgins waited to go on, Letterman joked in his monologue that Higgins was so convincing in The Late Shift that “he’s already been requested to not host subsequent yr’s Academy Awards.” However after a chronic opening phase, and appearances from superstar company Julia Roberts and James Brown, there was no time left within the present for Higgins. The Los Angeles Instances identified that Letterman bumping the actor appeared prefer it was “virtually as if to punish Higgins for being him in a film he opposed.”
“My apologies to John Michael Higgins, who performs me in Late Shift,” Letterman stated. “He’ll be right here at his subsequent earliest comfort. Or he’ll be within the foyer, when you persons are actually that upset about it,” Letterman added “with a smile.”
Was Higgins actually booked simply so Letterman may mess with him? The Instances did pay attention to a sure mischievous “gleam” in Letterman’s eyes as he bumped the actor, however the Late Present employees assured the press that Higgins can be “rescheduled” (he wasn’t).
Invoice Carter later wrote a follow-up to The Late Shift, all in regards to the Conan-Leno drama, so perhaps sooner or later HBO will make a sequel, ideally starring Jim Carrey.
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