Part I: Education of a talk-show host, 1947-1979. Shock jock ; When David met Merrill

Part II: The anti-talk show, 1980-1984. The art of stupid ; Not tonight ; The Harvard takeover

Part III: The archangel of irony, 1984-1987. The founding fathers of late night ; The writer under the stairs ; The Letterman generation ; The two Daves

Part IV: Writer's block, 1988-1993. Comedy is not pretty! ; Meg and Mom

Part V: The very big show, 1993-2015. The agony of victory ; The Oscar myth ; Hinky ; More fun than humans should be allowed to have.