DAVID LETTERMAN TO SAY `UM' FOR 1,617,408TH TIME TONIGHT

DAVID LETTERMAN TO SAY `UM' FOR 1,617,408TH TIME TONIGHT

NEW YORK (Wireless Flash) -- Today (Jun. 23) marks David Letterman's 20th anniversary in television. On June 23, 1980, Letterman made his TV debut on NBC with a short-lived morning program called "The David Letterman Show." Letterman became a late night fixture in February, 1982, and tonight marks his 3,328th TV broadcast. If he holds true to form, he should also say his 1,617,408th "um" sometime during the broadcast. That's according to University of California at San Diego psychologist Dr. Nicholas Christenfeld, who once calculated Letterman averages 8.1 "ums" per minute -- about 486 per show. Although that's a lot of "um," a CBS spokesperson admits Letterman has no plans to celebrate his "um-niversary."