After 33 years of hosting, David Letterman signed off on the Late Show for the last time. The 68-year-old talk show legend left the screen in style with an all star cast of famous friends dropping by to bid their goodbyes.
The hour-long finale, which aired in the US today (Australian time) and will be airing locally on Channel Ten at 9.45pm tonight, features a segment called ‘Things I’ve always wanted to say to Dave’ in which the likes of Jerry Seinfeld, Jim Carey, Chris Rock, Tina Fey, Alex Baldwin, and Barbara Walters take the stage to share the oft-hilarious things they’ve always wanted to say to the talk show great.
Bill Murray, who was the first ever guest on Letterman’s Late Show (watch the clip below – it’s a must view) fittingly and hilariously popped out of a cake for the occasion…
In addition, the show features a montage of clips dating all the way back to Letterman’s NBC morning show in 1980 until now. In typical Letterman style, the montage was a far cry from a soppy, sentimental ‘Story of My Life’ and was instead full of laugh-out-loud moments that proved exactly why this man has stood the tricky test of talk show time.
At the end of it all, when Letterman dropped his trademark ‘thank you and goodnight’, he got a little sentimental thanking his staff and crew as we as his audience, before The Foo Fighters closed the show with their classic Everlong. It was a fitting tribute as Letterman, who frequently cited The Foo Fighters as his favourite band, once chose them to be the musical guest when he returned to work after a life-threatening heart attack and quadruple bypass surgery back in 2000.
As Letterman retires from the post he’s kept for so many years, comedian Stephen Colbert is no-doubt nervously gearing up to fill some much loved shoes.
Before we tune in tonight, we’ve flashed back to David Letterman’s first ever late night show with Bill Murray as guest…