It’s David Letterman’s birthday so let’s do Late Night TV Trivia ! Back in my day late night TV consisted of Johnny Carson and the Tonight Show after the local news. That was it. He owned the format and hosted that show for 30 years. The beauty of his skill, which is sorely lacking today, is that he rarely offended anybody. Shows today are so politically partisan that they willingly alienate half the country. That’s why their ratings are pitiful.

Just a side note: We think one of the reasons the Shemon and Sheppard Show is such a ratings success in Southwest Florida is because we go out of our way to be non-partisan. No matter what is going on in the world we try to keep politics out of our show. Why alienate half our potential audience in a divided country?

Speaking of our show: Today, in honor of David Letterman’s birthday, we will do Late Night TV Trivia on Wiki-Pete-ia. Stump Pete for prizes every week day at 4:45ish on Wiki-Pete-ia on the Shemon and Sheppard Show on ESPN Southwest Florida. Just be caller number 9 at: 239-337-3776 or 239-337-ESPN. If you can’t get through then play at home or work with your family and friends. The questions and answers are below. Good luck!

• 1. THIS ICON HOSTED THE TONIGHT SHOW FOR 30 YEARS?

• A: JOHNNY CARSON

  

• 2. THIS FAMOUS HOST BEGAN HIS TV CAREER AS A WEATHERMAN IN INDIANAPOLIS?

• A: DAVID LETTERMAN

  

• 3. WHO SUCCEEDED CARSON ON THE TONIGHT SHOW?

• A: JAY LENO

  

• 4. WHO PRECEDED CARSON ON THE TONIGHT SHOW?

• A: JACK PARR

  

• 5. THIS HOST HAD A NUMBER OF SHOWS THAT RAN FOR A LONG TIME. HIS LATE NIGHT GIG ONLY LASTED A FEW YEARS BUT HIS STUDIO SET WAS FOUND BY KRAMER ON AN EPISODE OF SEINFELD?

• A: MERV GRIFFIN

  

• 6. THIS HOST MADE HIS AUDIENCE BARK ON ONE OF FOX'S FIRST LATE NIGHT OFFERINGS?

• A: ARSENIO HALL

  

• 7. A YOUNG FOX NETWORK OFFERED THIS FAMALE A LATE NIGHT SHOW. WHEN SHE TOOK IT, JOHNNY CARSON NEVER SPOKE TO HER AGAIN?

• A: JOAN RIVERS

  

• 8. THIS HARVARD GRAD WROTE FOR THE SIMPSONS AND SNL BEFORE GETTING HIS OWN SHOW?

• A: CONAN O'BRIEN

  

• 9. WHO HOSTS THE TONIGHT SHOW NOW?

• A: JIMMY FALLON

  

• 10. WHO LEADS THE LATE NIGHT RATINGS WAR NOW?

• A: GREG GUTFELD/FOX BEATS KIMMEL, FALLON, AND COLBERT

  

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