Worldwide Pants

Worldwide Pants Incorporated
Company type	Private
Industry	Television and film production
Founded	1991
Founder	David Letterman
Headquarters	Los Angeles, United States
Key people	Rob Burnett (President and CEO)
Owner	David Letterman

Adapted from the English Wikipedia article Worldwide Pants, available under CC BY-SA 4.0Updated 25 July 2025

Worldwide Pants Incorporated is a U.S.-based production company specializing in television and film, established and owned by comedian and talk show host David Letterman.

Initially located at the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City, the firm moved its operations to Los Angeles after the conclusion of the Late Show with David Letterman. The current president and CEO is Rob Burnett, who previously served as executive producer of the Late Show. The former senior vice-president, Peter Lassally, a seasoned executive producer known for his work on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and Late Show, retired from the role.

1990s

Before Worldwide Pants was founded, Space Age Meats produced Letterman's initial talk show, The David Letterman Show in 1980, and collaborated with NBC and Carson Productions to co-produce Late Night with David Letterman (1982–1990). The first production credited solely to Worldwide Pants was Late Night starting in 1991, which earned a Peabody Award for its innovative approach to the talk show genre.

In 1993, Worldwide Pants launched the sitcom The Building and debuted Late Show with David Letterman on CBS, a program that enjoyed a successful 22-year run. The company also originated the The Late Late Show franchise in 1995, producing versions hosted by Tom Snyder, Craig Kilborn, and Craig Ferguson until 2015. That same year, Worldwide Pants produced the short-lived sitcom Bonnie, featuring Bonnie Hunt.

The studio broadened its portfolio with the primetime hit Everybody Loves Raymond in 1996, a critically acclaimed series that aired for nine seasons. In 1997, David Kissinger joined Worldwide Pants as vice president, bringing experience from his previous role as senior vice president of comedy and drama at Walt Disney Television.

2002–2006

A 2002 article in Forbes highlighted Letterman's business model for Worldwide Pants: investing initial capital to develop concepts before attracting outside investors. Although Letterman was less involved after development phases, his personal brand helped secure network deals. Chris Albrecht, then HBO's programming president, commended the company’s unwavering creative direction.

Worldwide Pants ventured into film production with their first movie, Strangers with Candy, which premiered at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. Warner Independent Pictures initially handled North American distribution before rights transferred to ThinkFilm, which released it on a limited basis in 2006. The film earned just over $2 million against combined production and marketing expenses totaling $3.5 million.

In 2005, Worldwide Pants announced an animated comedy titled Barbarian Chronicles created by Brendon Small for the Sci-Fi Channel; however, this project was eventually canceled.

2007 WGA strike

On November 5, 2007, production of Worldwide Pants’ two CBS late-night talk shows ceased when writers joined the strike against the AMPTP. Subsequently, Worldwide Pants reached an independent interim collective bargaining agreement with the Writers Guild of America, enabling their full writing teams to resume work by January 2, 2008. This arrangement provided CBS with an advantage over NBC’s late-night programs, which continued without writers and faced limitations on guests and monologues.

2007–2015

In October 2007, Worldwide Pants ventured into non-comedic content by co-producing The Youngest Candidate, a documentary focusing on youthful political contenders, which debuted in 2008.

The year 2008 saw Worldwide Pants collaborate with Eco Media to develop original unscripted programming centered on environmental themes for television and digital outlets. That same year, the company secured a product placement arrangement with Ford to feature the Ford Flex during The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson through specially crafted skits.

In April 2010, Worldwide Pants introduced Clear Entertainment (C.E. Music), signing the pop-punk group Runner Runner as its inaugural artist.

By April 2012, CBS had entered into an extended agreement to co-produce The Late Late Show alongside Worldwide Pants, continuing its partnership with Craig Ferguson.

In October 2012, B&B Productions, a subsidiary of Worldwide Pants, obtained the film adaptation rights to Jonathan Evison's novel The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving.

Worldwide Pants' premier production, Late Show with David Letterman, concluded in 2015. The company's association with The Late Late Show ended following Craig Ferguson's exit and James Corden's succession; CBS assumed full ownership of both programs without involvement from Worldwide Pants.

Post-Late Show (2015–present)

After Letterman retired, the direction of Worldwide Pants became uncertain. CEO Rob Burnett indicated possible changes as he intended to concentrate on personal ventures after concluding work on Late Show. The firm moved its operations from its longstanding New York office above the Ed Sullivan Theater to Los Angeles.

In early 2017, Worldwide Pants prevailed in a lawsuit that settled disputes over royalties.

Letterman characterized the company as being "on pause" in 2017 due to evolving industry conditions impacting its traditional production framework but showed enthusiasm for exploring opportunities in new media beyond conventional network television.

Worldwide Pants holds an extensive archive of footage from its late-night productions. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Late Night in 2022, it released selected clips on YouTube.

Presently, Worldwide Pants co-produces David Letterman's Netflix series My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman in partnership with RadicalMedia.

CBS

Late Show with David Letterman (1993–2015)
The Building (1993)
Bonnie (1995–1996)
The Late Late Show with Tom Snyder (1995–1999)
Welcome to New York (2000–2001)
Everybody Loves Raymond (1996–2005, co-produced alongside Where's Lunch and HBO Independent Productions)
The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn (1999–2004)
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (2005–2014, co-produced with CBS Television Studios starting in 2012)
The Late Late Show (guest hosts) (Jan–Mar 2015, co-produced with CBS Television Studios)

ABC

The Knights of Prosperity (2007, co-produced with B&B Productions and Touchstone Television)

HBO

The High Life (1996)
Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways (2014, produced in collaboration with Roswell Films, Therapy Content, and Diamond Docs)

NBC

Late Night with David Letterman (1982–1993, produced jointly with Carson Productions)
Ed (2000–2004, co-produced alongside Viacom Productions)

PBS

Coming Home: Military Families Cope with Change (2009, a joint production with Sesame Workshop and Lookalike Productions)
Families Stand Together: Feeling Secure in Tough Times (2009, similarly co-produced)
Sesame Street: When Families Grieve (2010)

Netflix

The Fundamentals of Caring (2016)
My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman (2018–present, co-produced with RadicalMedia)
That's My Time with David Letterman (2022)

TBS

Stupid Pet Tricks (2024–present)