David Spade has an autobiography out and in this interview with Esquire, he says that he forgot to mention in the book that he was offered Late Night on NBC after David Letterman left. If he'd taken it, Conan O'Brien might still be writing on The Simpsons or something.
A friend wrote to ask if I think it's true that Spade was offered it and said no. Given that two of the three men he says took him to lunch and made the offer are still around and could deny it if it was a fib, I'd say yeah, that meeting probably happened pretty much as he describes it. But the thing to remember is that his saying yes would have been step one in the process, followed by negotiations and other folks approving and working out logistics and such.
In other words, it's possible that if Spade had wanted the gig, it still might not have happened…or as he got deeper into the details, he might have changed his mind. Before they made that offer to Spade, they'd apparently offered it to Dana Carvey, gotten a tentative yes and then Carvey backed out.
Sometimes, it's as simple as if I say I want to sell my car and you say you want to buy it. We don't really have a deal you could say yes or no to until we settle on a price or until you get it inspected or until we figure out who'll pay the license transfer fees and so on. A lot of agreements fall apart as you work out the finer points. Or as one or both parties face the reality of what they've tentatively agreed-to. There are rumors about stars who were offered talk shows, said yes…and then began to realize how much work one of those things is and how great the career gamble would be for them.
I'm always a bit skeptical when someone in Show Biz tells me they were offered some great job but they turned it down. A lot of times, that's wishful thinking…or exaggerating a slight chance at something into a firm offer. But people do sometimes turn things down…and there's also a grey area where it was sorta/kinda offered and they sorta/kinda said yes but then they didn't do it or the offer evaporated or got vetoed upstairs or something.
I have no idea, by the way, how Late Night with David Spade might have been. I've generally enjoyed the guy when I've seen him but I haven't seen him a lot. And there's a big difference between being funny now and then, and being funny five nights a week, week in and week out. A friend of mine told me once that his brother had been scouted as a pitcher for the Dodgers and the verdict was that the guy was one of the best pitchers they'd ever seen…for about an inning and a half. After throwing to four or five batters, he lost all control and was pretty much useless. A lot of performers are like that, too.