David Letterman To Say Goodbye In Mystery Last ‘Late Show’ Tonight

After a 33-year run, David Letterman will bring down the curtains on three decades of late-night comedy and fun when he says goodbye to the Late Show with David Letterman on CBS tonight. Letterman, who turned 68 last month, is easily the longest-serving late-night talk show host in television history, starting with the then Late Night with David Letterman show which debuted on NBC on February 1st, 1982.

Letterman announced his retirement in April 2014 and CBS later named his replacement — Stephen Colbert, who has hosted another popular late-night show, The Colbert Report, since 2005. Letterman’s last show details remain a mystery, but according to Us Weekly, the network promises a show full of surprises and one last edition of Letterman’s famous top ten list.

Letterman’s last guest, on Tuesday night’s show, was one of his most frequent guests, actor Bill Murray — he is also the guest on Letterman’s very first night on air back in 1982 — who returned to the show for the 44th time. The show also featured a cameo by Regis Philbin and a live performance from the rather less ubiquitous Bob Dylan, who returned for the first time since 1994.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YW8MY9CD-tQ

Indeed, the last two weeks of Late Show has been more or less a farewell package, with celebrity A-listers taking turns on Letterman’s couch. Julia Roberts, Tina Fey, Norah Jones, Cher, and U.S. President Barack Obama have all dropped by the Late Show to pay their tributes and say goodbye.

Monday night featured Oscar winner Tom Hanks — returning for the 60th time — as well as a performance by Pearl Jam’s lead vocalist Eddie Vedder, who was backed up by Letterman’s regular sidekick, Paul Schafer, and the CBS Orchestra.

Tonight’s show will be the last of a total 6028 broadcasts that won Letterman 16 Emmy awards, according to USA Today, and brought its fair share of drama and controversy. Letterman started his TV career as a weatherman in Indianapolis, but got his late-night break following guest appearances on Johnny Carson’s The Tonight Show in the late 1970s. Letterman’s brand of edgy, quirky comedy earned critical and popular acclaim on Late Night, but after NBC named Jay Leno as Carson’s replacement in 1992, Letterman — who had expected to get the job — left the network and started Late Show on CBS, in direct competition with The Tonight Show.

Letterman’s competition with Leno and Tonight would dominate the late-night talk scene for many years, but there was also his 16-year spat with daytime talk show host Oprah Winfrey, which ended in 2005, and the blackmail threat that led to on-air admission of sexual relations with several female members of his staff in 2009.

Colbert, 50, will officially step into Letterman’s shoes when the new Late Show with Stephen Colbert debuts on September 8th.

(Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images)