The David Letterman Show was made possible by the cancellation of three of them: High Rollers, Chain Reaction, and the long-running daytime version of Hollywood Squares.

The writing staff initially consisted of Merrill Markoe (head writer), Valri Bromfield, Rich Hall, Harold Kimmel, Edie McClurg, Gerard Mulligan, Paul Raley, Will Shriner, Bob Sarlatte and Ed Subitsky.

[1] (Bromfield, McClurg, Kimmel, and Sarlatte left before the show's end; added to the staff through the run were Ron Richards, Gary Jacobs and Letterman himself, not credited as a writer on early episodes.)

They include: "Small Town News", "Stupid Pet Tricks", and an ever-changing non-sequitur opening introduction immediately before Letterman is seen on camera.

(e.g., "And now, a man whose recipe for triple fudge brownies includes two quarts of vodka, sauerkraut, and a heaping tablespoon of love...David Letterman!")

The production staff consisted of George Callahan, Kim Carney, Lee B. Chernick, Barbara Gaines, Edd Hall, Tim Holton, Brian J. McAloon, Meg Mortimer, Dency Nelson, and David Reale.

Valri Bromfield, Edie McClurg, Rich Hall, Gerard Mulligan, Ed Subitzky, Merrill Markoe and Paul Raley all appeared on the show and served as writers.

Among guests who appeared were Steve Allen, Andy Kaufman, Wil Shriner, Dinah Shore, Tom Snyder, photojournalists Jon & Keiko Alpert, keyboardist Suzanne Ciani, Dr. Isaac Asimov and Jeff Greenfield, who reviewed the first show while it was on the air.

The show's musical guests included Loudon Wainwright III, The Drifters, Janis Ian, Irene Cara, Maria Muldaur, Nell Carter, Judy Collins, John Sebastian, Tom Rush, Lionel Hampton, Charles Aznavour, Tracy Nelson, Linda Hopkins, Esther Satterfield, Lacy J. Dalton, Michael Franks, Gerard Kenny, John Hartford, and Harve Mann.

[7][8] For the next year, NBC paid him $1,000,000 ($20,000 a week) to do nothing except not work for someone else without their permission, which included guest-hosting The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson on multiple occasions.