Letterman's Final 'Late Show' Confirmed For May 20

  • 10 December 2014

Attention late night TV lovers: here’s a date to put in your diaries. After months of speculation, CBS has confirmed that David Letterman’s final show as host of ‘The Late Show’ on May 20th next year.

Farewell: Letterman's final episode as host of 'The Late Show' after 32 years will be May 20th.
Image caption Farewell: Letterman's final episode as host of 'The Late Show' after 32 years will be May 20th.

The 67 year old will bring to an end his 32 year reign on that day. Assuming that he doesn’t miss any shows until then, his last performance of ‘The Late Show’ (and its previous iteration on NBC, ‘Late Night’) will be his 6,028th.

Leslie Moonves, CBS Corp. President and CEO, said in a statement: "David Letterman has given to all of us a remarkable legacy of achievement and creative brilliance that will never be forgotten. It's going to be tough to say goodbye, but I know we will all cherish the shows leading up to Dave's final broadcast in May."

More: Stephen Colbert named as Letterman’s successor on ‘The Late Show’

Letterman announced that he would be retiring way back in April, and though CBS were pretty quick to hand the job on to Stephen Colbert, the precise date of Letterman’s departure has been unconfirmed until now. Colbert himself will front his last ever edition of ‘The Colbert Report’ over on Comedy Central in little over a week’s time.

Image caption Stephen Colbert will replace David Letterman as 'The Late Show' host next year

There aren’t many TV personalities as beloved as David Letterman, who has become something of an American institution. He made his first appearance on ‘Late Night’ on February 1st 1982, switching the format to CBS once NBC overlooked him in favour of Jay Leno as Johnny Carson’s successor on that network’s ‘The Tonight Show’.

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