NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: More than eight years after signing off as host, David Letterman was met with a prolonged round of applause in his grand comeback to the Ed Sullivan Theater, the home of 'The Late Show'.
The former host of the late-night show received a standing ovation from the crowd, including his successor Stephen Colbert, when he returned to his old stomping grounds on Monday, November 20.
Crowd cheers David Letterman's return to 'The Late Show'
The audience erupted in cheers and applause as Letterman entered the set, taking in the love and support from the audience.
Letterman's successor, Stephen Colbert, introduced him, saying, "Ladies and gentlemen, my guest tonight certainly needs no introduction. Please welcome back to the Ed Sullivan Theater — Mr David Letterman."
After extending a warm greeting, Letterman glanced at his watch and asked Colbert to "control your people" as he sat down.
Colbert addressed Letterman's statement that the late-night chair is a "strange job that a lot of people don’t understand" at other points in the conversation.
"I’m lucky enough to have my friend John Stewart to talk about this weird job with and my friends in Strike Force Five," he said.
"Was there anybody for you, when you were in the chair, that you were you could do that with? Somebody you could call and just talk about it. Could you call Johnny [Carson]?" Colbert enquired.
In response, Letterman said he was "orphaned in the talk show world," though he had "great respect for these guys."
The audience applauded him unanimously when he spoke, but Letterman cut himself off with, "Well, I don’t appreciate the sarcasm."
According to Deadline, this was Letterman's first appearance on the CBS late-night program since his exit in May 2015 after a 23-year tenure.
Following his departure, Letterman has been the host of the Netflix interview series 'My Next Guest Needs No Introduction'.
Letterman has made appearances as a guest on several shows, including 'Jimmy Kimmel Live', 'Late Night With Seth Meyers', and the season finale of 'The Late Late Show With James Corden' earlier in 2023.
However, Monday's broadcast was the first time he returned to the show he started on CBS back in 1993.
Internet goes bonkers over David Letterman's return
Letterman's return to his former base at 'The Late Show' has left social media users in a state of frenzy. One took to X (formerly Twitter) to exclaim, "The one one is I would love to have back is “Late Night”/NBC David Letterman. That show was the best."
Another X user wrote, "The single greatest show that David Letterman did was his first show back after 9/11. That was a master class in broadcasting and just about sums up the genius of the man. He really was the last giant of late night."
Someone else chimed in, "I’m going to stay up tonight specifically to watch David Letterman on a late night show. The last time I did this was Letterman’s last show. Funny how quick the world has changed since then. It’s all clips now."
Other 'Late Show' fans flocked to the Instagram comment section to praise the former host, with one hailing Letterman as the "GOAT."
Another said, "Letterman is this generations’s 🐐. He could handle any guest with ease and STILL DOES! 🐐🐐🐐"
American businessman Jeremy Padawer commented, "Letterman would still get ratings today. We could use his pragmatism right now."
"I just had the longest smile of my life watching this! Welcome back Dave!!" exclaimed a fan.
Echoing a similar sentiment, another said, "Greatest to ever do it and it’s not even close. I fell asleep in most of English classes in junior high because I stayed up late watching him."
"Dave rules. His exit was coincidentally the beginning of the end of network television," someone added.
