List of David Letterman Sketches - Kalter Introduction

Kalter Introduction

Announcer Alan Kalter's (and before him, Bill Wendell's) introduction of Letterman, while technically not a skit, assigns a bizarre modification to Letterman's name and appears at the beginning of every show. ("And now: Microscopic Sea Creature, David Letterman!") Letterman's title changes every night and often makes reference to a current event. ("And now: Disenfranchised French Youth, David Letterman!") Prior to September 11, 2001, the first line of Kalter's introductions contained humorous descriptions of New York City ("From New York! Where the rats hate the subways, too!"). Once the Late Show returned to air on September 17, 2001, the introduction changed simply to, "From New York! The greatest city in the world!" It has not changed since; however, "The greatest city in the world!" is omitted from episodes with guest hosts, as is the host 'title'. In 2011, Kalter took to shortening 'David' to 'Dave', in his introduction of Letterman. At some point prior to late 2012, he once again returned to using 'David'.