Scott Kowalczyk/CBS
See the Billboard Music Awards
It’s been more than eight years since I quit being the host of late showDavid Letterman was welcomed back to the Ed Sullivan Theater on Monday with a huge standing ovation.
“Ladies and gentlemen, my guest tonight needs no introduction,” his successor Stephen Colbert declared, just before the audience started chanting “David.” As the crowd roared louder, Letterman smiled broadly and quipped, “Are we going to get in trouble?”
Elsewhere in the interview, Colbert commented on Letterman’s statement that being a late-night host is “a weird job that a lot of people don’t understand.” He continued, “Luckily, his friend Jon Stewart was there and I was able to talk to him about this odd job and his friends. strike force five… When you were sitting in the chair, was there someone who could do it with you? Someone you can call and talk about it.Could you please call Johnny? [Carson]? ”
Letterman responded that while he had “a lot of respect for them,” he was “an orphan in the talk show world.” His answer drew unanimous sympathy from the crowd, but the former host interjected, “Well, I don’t like the irony of that.”
To close out the night, The National delivered a heartfelt performance of “Space Invaders” to welcome the return of the late-night legend. Prior to the band’s performance, Letterman told Colbert, “This is the second time in my life this has happened here tonight.” night screening. “So this guy, two groups, I’ll love them forever,” Letterman said.
Even after his retirement, Letterman continues to appear on late-night television. late show — He made a guest appearance jimmy kimmel live and Late Night with Seth Meyerssimilarly The last episode of of James Corden’s Late Late Show Earlier this year – Monday’s episode marked his first return to the show, which he launched on CBS in 1993.
