Bill Murray was the first guest to ever appear The Late Show with David Letterman in 1993, and as a friend of Letterman’s, he’s appeared countless times since. Tonight, on the second-to-last episode of The Late Show with David Letterman, he said his on-air farewell to his friend and the legendary talk show host by…jumping out of cake.
David Letterman has, in this writer’s opinion, always been one of the interesting late night talk show hosts. He’s got a weird, droll sense of humor that’s occasionally really sharp and biting, and he’s never been afraid to make his guests feel uncomfortable. Obviously, that jibes perfectly with Bill Murray’s sense of humor, which is similar. In fact, his appearances on The Late Show have often been highlights of the series, as was the case again tonight.
With just one more episode to go until David Letterman’s run on The Late Show is over, expect to see a whole lot more videos like the one above that sort of honor Letterman’s tenure – not just via CBS, but also from other shows covering Letterman’s exit. For example, Jimmy Fallon – the current host of The Tonight Show on NBC – had some very heartfelt words to share regarding Letterman and the impact he had on his career (and many others’).
Watch it below:
Whatever you think of Fallon as the Tonight Show host (I’m not a huge fan, to be honest), that was a pretty touching tribute to Letterman. I think a lot of people – especially younger people – don’t really understand the impact Letterman has had on the world of comedy and late night, and don’t really get his comedy either. Part of that is just the age gap, part of that is that a lot of younger people don’t even watch cable TV (or late night talk shows, for that matter). That’s a shame, I think, but at least we’ve got people like Fallon – and Jimmy Kimmel, who’s showing a re-run tomorrow night in honor of Letterman – reminding them of Letterman’s importance.
When David Letterman bows out as The Late Show host tomorrow, there will be a 3-month+ gap before Stephen Colbert takes over the show on September 8th, 2015. It seems like a strange way to handle the transition. After all, when Jay Leno left The Tonight Show (the second time, that is), Jimmy Fallon took over immediately. Regardless, he’ll have some very big shows to fill, and it’ll be interesting to see how he constructs his show both similar and dissimilar to Letterman’s.
The final episode of The Late Show with David Letterman airs tomorrow @11:35pm on CBS. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert premieres September 8th, 2015.
