Problem: David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host, comedian, writer, and producer. He hosted a late night television talk show for 33 years, beginning with the February 1, 1982, debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC, and ending with the May 20, 2015, broadcast of Late Show with David Letterman on CBS. In total, Letterman hosted 6,028 episodes of Late Night and Late Show, surpassing friend and mentor Johnny Carson as the longest-serving late night talk show host in American television history. In 1996 Letterman was ranked 45th on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time.

In 1975, encouraged by his then-wife Michelle and several of his Sigma Chi fraternity brothers, Letterman moved to Los Angeles, with hope of becoming a comedy writer. He and Michelle packed their belongings in his pickup truck and headed west. As of 2012, he still owned the truck. In Los Angeles, he began performing comedy at The Comedy Store. Jimmie Walker saw him on stage; with an endorsement from George Miller, Letterman joined a group of comedians whom Walker hired to write jokes for his stand-up act, a group that at various times would also include Jay Leno, Paul Mooney, Robert Schimmel, Richard Jeni, Louie Anderson, Elayne Boosler, Byron Allen, Jack Handey, and Steve Oedekerk.  By the summer of 1977, Letterman was a writer and regular on the six-week summer series The Starland Vocal Band Show, broadcast on CBS. He hosted a 1977 pilot for a game show entitled The Riddlers (that was never picked up), and co-starred in the Barry Levinson-produced comedy special Peeping Times that aired in January 1978. Later that year, Letterman was a cast member on Mary Tyler Moore's variety show, Mary. Letterman made a guest appearance on Mork & Mindy (as a parody of EST leader Werner Erhard) and appearances on game shows such as The $20,000 Pyramid, The Gong Show, Hollywood Squares, Password Plus and Liar's Club, as well as the Canadian cooking show Celebrity Cooks (November 1977), talk shows such as 90 Minutes Live (February 24 and April 14, 1978), and The Mike Douglas Show (April 3, 1979 and February 7, 1980). He was also screen tested for the lead role in the 1980 film Airplane!, a role that eventually went to Robert Hays.  His dry, sarcastic humor caught the attention of scouts for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and Letterman was soon a regular guest on the show. Letterman became a favorite of Carson and was a regular guest host for the show beginning in 1978. Letterman credits Carson as the person who influenced his career the most.

Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?

Answer with quotes: Letterman credits Carson as the person who influenced his career the most.


Problem: Danity Kane was an American girl group comprising members Aubrey O'Day, Wanita "D. Woods" Woodgett, Shannon Bex, Dawn Richard and Aundrea Fimbres. Formed on the third iteration of MTV's Making the Band reality television series in 2005, they were soon signed to Bad Boy Records by Diddy. Danity Kane's self-titled debut studio album was released in 2006 and achieved success in the United States, shipping a million copies domestically, while spawning two singles with top 10 single "Show Stopper" and the ballad "Ride for You." Their second studio album, Welcome to the Dollhouse, was released in 2008, following the release of their second top 10 single "Damaged".

After months of recording, the band's self-titled debut album was released to mixed reviews on August 22, 2006 in the United States. Produced by Timbaland, Scott Storch, Rodney Jerkins, Mario Winans and Ryan Leslie among others, the album sold over 90,000 copies in the first day of release, and over 234,000 in the first week of release. It debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 albums chart, knocking veteran Christina Aguilera's Back to Basics from the top spot and out-selling hip-hop duo OutKast. The album received a platinum certification from the RIAA in November 2006. The album's lead single "Show Stopper," produced by Jim Jonsin, was serviced to radio on August 4, 2006, and subsequently debuted at number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100; it however peaked at number 8 on that particular chart. Outside the United States, the song became a top-30 success in Germany and Lithuania. The selection for the album's second single, the Bryan Michael Cox-produced "Ride for You", was influenced by a fan poll that was distributed through e-mails, MySpace, and the group's official web site. The music video for the song premiered on MTV's Total Request Live on December 5, 2006, the same day the band released a holiday song called "Home for Christmas", which was written by Richard.  Between February 2007 to May 2007 Danity Kane performed as an opening act, along with The Pussycat Dolls, on Christina Aguilera's Back To Basics Tour. In the meantime, the band intensified work on their second album, which was initially scheduled for a late 2007 release but was eventually pushed back to 2008.  Ever since the creation of the group in 2005, Danity Kane was plagued by rumors of the group's demise, largely due to the group's reality television origins, their management, record label, and mentor. In the summer of 2007, during a hiatus between their first and second albums, speculation concerning the possibility of a disbandment by fans and the media circulated the internet and entertainment news outlets. The rumors were fueled by quotes taken out of context (most notably when Aubrey O'Day was questioned by TMZ about her relationship to the successful pop girl group the Pussycat Dolls and their television show Pussycat Dolls Present: The Search for the Next Doll) and by work the group members had done outside of Danity Kane since the release of their debut album. D. Woods's association with another girl group, The Girl's Club, was specifically cited as adding credibility to breakup rumors. Additionally, reports of solo careers and of new groups forming from various combinations of members of the group were rampant. Over the course of these rumors, the members of Danity Kane often published personal online responses to the breakup speculation. It was not until July 25, 2007 that Danity Kane released an official statement on their group MySpace page stating that they were still together and working on their second album

Was the general populace happy that they were just rumors?

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