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The (very) Late Show with David Letterman

Why is it that TEN is screening The Late Show with David Letterman at the super-late time of 1:15am?

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Why is it that TEN is screening The Late Show with David Letterman at the super-late time of 1:15am?

Fans have to wait until ten year old episodes of Ally McBeal have finished in reruns, in order to see a show hot off the satellite.

Very strange. It doesn’t even air at 12:30 when it could logically follow the 11:30 screening of Craig Ferguson on ELEVEN.

A TEN spokesperson explained, “Letterman’s always been a late night show, and for now we are running some dramas but Letterman may well move up earlier later in the year, depending on other commitments.”

Clear as mud?

31 Responses

  1. Where do channel 10 hire their programmers??? Ten late news every night at 1030 on the dot, followed by Letterman and Fergusson makes perfect sense to me. If Ten stay consistent on this they are onto a winner.
    Viewers are creatures of habit. 1030 – catch up on news before bed. Go to bed, turn on TV in bedroom and watch Letterman and Fergusson. It’s not rocket science.

  3. Craig was pushed back after Craig himself knew that he has a great following in Australia! I noticed Letterman (10) was on before Craig (11) and was in shock! Why?!??! Craig should be on the same time every night! Same with Letterman! Why is Sex and the city even on too?!?!?

  6. We used to enjoy ELEVEN’s Saturday nights ‘retro’ line up of Raymond & Frasier. Having 2 year old twins at our place the days of a big Saturday night are out the window.

    Naturally they realised people actually might be watching their network so they’ve completely killed Saturday night viewing on ELEVEN (and TEN now too BTW).

  7. OMG, thank you for looking in to this!!

    I have been so frustrated going to watch Letterman and find Ally McBeal on – I loved it back in the day, but I want to watch Letterman dammit!!

    At least Conan is mostly consistent with its 11.30pm starts – most of the time!

  8. I’m really happy David!! that you spoke to the stupid Ch10 staff.
    I’m sick and tired of them putting Letterman so late and especially the funniest talk show host Craig Ferguson at 11:30 or later than 12am. What’s wrong with them don’t they know how to manage a network, didn’t they even study before they got their jobs. Nobody gives a rats ass about there useless ally Mcbeal crap!! And get rid of the 3rd episode of star trek at 10:30 you don’t need that much, get rid of Frasier or put it on after and I agree with those other comments to put a replay of ferguson the next day at 12pm or 1pm and take away all those old crappy shit old shows The Love Boat, Dr Quinn’s Ass, Charmed, jag, and Mcgyver nobody watches these pathetic shows.

  9. Would you expect reasonable programming from a network that shows girly movies like ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ almost monthly, and even plays the same programs simultaneously on its main channel and its super-unsuccessful One sports channel?
    I have given up watching Letterman (which incidentally commences in the US on week nights at 11:35pm) due to the erratic nature of Ten’s programming!

  10. Unlike the US, you don’t see people staying up until 1:30am watching tv programs.

    The only blessing in disguise is that Letterman and Ferguson aren’t on at the same time anymore.

    I’d prefer that both shows have the same consistent timeslot. It’s just unfortunate that any decent shows from the US are slated for late night timeslots (30 Rock, Parks & Rec, Curb Your Enthusiasm). I don’t know what that means about Australians when shows like Two & A Half Men are shown prime time and repeated all the time, yet brand new smarter shows are shown late at night or not at all.

  11. I phoned up 10 and they told me that they had requests from some people for other shows and they were giving it a try..they also said Letterman might come back to a midnight timeslot after the Olympics..
    I told them the sooner the better , but even midnight was too late..

  12. @Jennome Actually, it’s not that much like any of Graham Kennedy’s show. But fair point that it’s a format that has been around almost since TV began.

  13. @Jennome – and he doesn’t even have a robot skeleton.

    I’ve pretty much given up on both programs (Letterman and Ferguson) because of the erratic and sometimes very late start times. Presumably Ten feels that old Ally McBeal and Frasier are more advertiser-friendly.

  14. I don’t know why anyone would watch Letterman, it’s soooo old hat. It’s the same sort of format that Graham Kennedy was doing here in the 60s, and no doubt a lot of that was pinched from the US at the time.

    We get the pain in the arse musical director, the equally unfunny ‘voice over comments man’, the same old top 10, most of it not even amusing (to me anyway, it’s very local), a special guest or two who are sometimes worth waiting for, and the ubiquitous screaming audience.

    And an extremely unattractive host!

    What’s to enjoy??

  15. Another one to agree, Lettermen’s and Ferguson’s shows have been all over the place too many times and shifted to be on so late, that I have now just given up on both. Just another example why TEN are loosing loyal viewers in droves!!!

    Move them back to earlier times, or one after each other on TEN, or Eleven. I wish Ferguson could go first since I like him better 🙂 and then during the day on Eleven, heres an idea instead of showing re-runs of old shows replay the last nights episode. I would happily watch both, or watch the next day if I missed it that night!

  16. The late time isn’t a problem if both Letterman and Ferguson episodes shown at night, were repeated on Eleven from 12 – 2 pm on weekdays, so people could record them, instead of repeats of ancient shows currently shown at those times. The same with Leno that was shown on 7TWO or 7 Mate at a 12 pm timeslot, but got taken off.

  18. Putting on a repeat of Star Trek, Ally McBeal etc, making the excellent Craig Ferguson push back to 11:30 or later makes no sense. Sure, I could IQ it, but watching a day later isn’t the same.

    Make the Star Trek/Ally fans IQ their show since it doesn’t matter when they watch it.. Come on, Ten! Bring the Ferg and the Robot back to a decent time!

  19. Im starting to think that televison programmers must go to stupid school… i mean why put a show that is only hours old on a time that most of the population are asleep…. its alot easier now to download a sho and not record it… so if they want people to stop downloading shows…then program them at a time when people wont feel the need. It’s just reality. There is fanbase out there, just look at the comments below… and its not just TEN, but stupid school graduates are at Nine and Seven as well

  20. Surely it’s time to move Letterman to Eleven,then run it before Craig Ferguson,just like it is in the USA.
    Putting 10 year old eps of Ally McBeal on before it is just dumb,but should we expect any less from Ten ?

  22. It’s very strange indeed … why bother paying for the rights to a new program just to show it to almost nobody who would be awake past 1am.

    Then again, Ten have done this sort of thing in the past. I recall the first run CBS series Harper’s Island ran after 2am on Friday nights (I just recorded it).

  23. TEN has completely lost the plot. I think they should of repeated Ally on ELEVEN, but anyway. Thanks for asking TEN about it. Hopefully they’ll change it. I still want Craig Ferguson back at 10:30.

  24. Here in QLD it’s not even been shown on SC10 most night, only Fridays (Sat morning) which is weird. Did you ask them about that David?

    The only upside to being on so late is no conflict with Ferguson so I can record both because seriously who is up at those hours apart from shift workers?

    I’ve said it before why doesn’t TEN just put both late night talk shows on the same channel, then we’d have no conflicts and they could run from 11 after the late news on TEN?

  25. Ten’s programming of both Letterman and Ferguson (on Eleven) is very erratic. Some nights Letterman follows straight after the late news, while on other nights it can be much later, as you pointed out.

    Same with Ferguson on 11. It started out as a 10.30 show, but these days is at least 11.30 or well after midnight.

    Very inconsistent programming, but consistent with commercial television’s contempt for the viewer. Why do the networks expect us to remain loyal to their programs if they make them unwatchable?

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