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Letterman May Stick Around For Another Two Years
By
Garth Johnston
Published Jan 12, 2012
Modified Jan 12, 2012
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By
Garth Johnston
Published Jan 12, 2012
Modified Jan 12, 2012
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Take that Leno! David Letterman is reportedly close to a deal with CBS that would keep the 64-year-old as the Late Show host until 2014—which would make him the longest-running late-night star in TV history. Less certain is the fate of Craig Ferguson, whose hilarious and incredibly low-budget Late Late Show airs after Letterman. Wonder if the arrival of Steak 'N Shake in the Ed Sullivan theater will help seal the deal for the Indiana native?
According to the Times's sources "a final deal with Dave is very close" to keep Letterman at it for a record-breaking 32 years (which is two more than Letterman's hero, Johnny Carson worked the shift). All of which means we can expect more crotchety old man scenes like the time Dave wrote his first tweet:
As for Ferguson—who, seriously, you should watch—The hangup on a new contract doesn't appear to be about succession (*cough* Conan *cough*) but money. After all, He's already got "a clause in his contract that would guarantee him the 11:35 show if Mr. Letterman chose to step down." No, what is keeping the former Drew Carey Show star from signing up, it seems, is money. According to the Times, "the issue of whether Mr. Ferguson will stay at CBS or seek a new direction in his career is expected to come down to whether CBS improves his salary, and perhaps improves the production budget for his Late Late Show." We have a hunch (dream) that CBS will give him a little more money though—after all, in the past two years not only did they let him "hire" a co-host in the guise of the awesome and strange robot Geoff Peterson but they also let him go to on a bizarre shoe-string trip to Paris with Kristen Bell (really, you want to TiVo this show).
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