David Letterman Intro Compilation

(This video is for pure entertainment purposes only. I make no ownership claims.) As David Letterman wraps up 33 years of late night television, here are the ways his program has been introduced over the years. Here a quick rundown (All dates are approximates):

0:00 (First Show): A special one time only intro to kick off Letterman's late night career. Thought it was appropriate to add it to this compilation.

2:38 (1982-1986): The "Lights Out" intro that defined the early Letterman years.

3:55 (1987-1992): Features the now-unsettling opening flying shot of the Twin Towers. 9/11 implications aside, this intro ran during the peak of Letterman's popularity and is probably the intro most people remember from the NBC days. There is also a variant with the WTC replaced by a shot of the East River at night.

5:36 (1992-93): Nearly missed this one. This was the short lived "space" intro that was used during the tail end of the NBC run. Kind of a drastic change for the intro, but then again, far more drastic changes were ahead for Dave and company.

7:17 (1993-1996 v.1): Added the 'CBS' cold open from the first "Late Show" for kicks. The 'Neon' intro, as well as the remixed theme, gave us that same "Late Night" feel, but with the special 11:30pm touch that inevitably came with a new network and a bigger budget.

8:58 (1993-1996 v.2) Same as the previous intro, except the main logo's form up, and the announcer (Alan Kalter replacing the retiring Bill Wendell in 1995).

10:16 (1996-1999) This was the intro that first introduced me to Letterman and is my favorite Late Show intro. We now get the familiar arrangement of the theme, coupled with the introduction of the 'Bridge' set that will remain with Dave for the next two decades. This was also the first time the intro included name graphics for that night's guests. By 1998, the intro was shortened by scrapping everything between the names of the guests and the shot of Paul and the band.

11:40 (1999-2001): "Late Night" and "The Late Show" always liked to incorporate the WTC in its intros, and we get treated in this intro with a beautiful opening shot of the Twin Towers and Lower Manhattan at night. At least, we WERE treated to an beautiful opening shot...

12:41 (2001-2007): In his first show after 9/11, Dave called New York City "The greatest city in the world". From that point on, that quote, as well as the dynamic shot of the Statue of Liberty, led off the show for the next decade or so. This particular version of the intro lasted for the next few years. (FYI, Alan Kalter & Paul Shaffer were not available during this particular episode)

13:48 (2007-2013): The jump to HD brought relatively few changes to the intro, save for the reveal of the logo, a new setting for Paul and the band, and a more dynamic reveal of the Ed Sullivan Theater.

14:59 (2013-2015): For the first time since 1999, the intro gets a complete overhaul. Perhaps overdue, but still a sudden shock to those who had gotten used to Lady Liberty. There were some slight variations between this version and the final version of this package, which was used until Dave's final episode.