The show's opening credits featured a series of shots of New York City as the CBS Orchestra performed the Late Show theme (a livelier variation of the more jazzy Late Night theme). The announcer presented the names of that night's guests, as well as Paul Shaffer and the CBS Orchestra, then introduced Letterman. On rare episodes, the show began with a cold open as Letterman, dressed casually, briefly interacted with a celebrity or performed a short sketch backstage before the traditional opening sequence began. As with his previous shows, the copy for the open included non sequiturs about New York and Letterman, though the former would change after the September 11 attacks to simply "the greatest city in the world".
the show's opening credits featured a series of shots of new york city as the cbs orchestra performed the late show theme (a livelier variation of the more jazzy late night theme) the announcer presented the names of that night's guests as well as paul shaffer and the cbs orchestra then introduced letterman on rare episodes the show began with a cold open as letterman dressed casually briefly interacted with a celebrity or performed a short sketch backstage before the traditional opening sequence began as with his previous shows the copy for the open included non sequiturs about new york and letterman though the former would change after the september 11 attacks to simply "the greatest city in the world"