David Letterman Was Primed to Take Over For Carson
David Letterman hosted a show called Late Night with David Letterman beginning in 1982. Letterman’s show aired right after Carson’s. For a while, both Carson and Letterman anticipated that Letterman would take over as host of The Tonight Show when Carson retired. But Leno became host instead, sparking a behind the scenes controversy detailed in the book The Late Shift, which would later be adapted into a HBO movie of the same name.