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David Letterman to retire in 2015

Video: "Sometime in the not too distant future, 2015 for the love of God, in fact, Paul and I will be wrapping things up," says Dave.

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2014-04-04_1026Say it isn’t so, Dave…

David Letterman has announced his retirement in 2015 after 31 years of television.

The late night host told his audience, “We don’t have the timetable for this precisely down,” he said. “I think it will be at least a year or so, but sometime in the not too distant future, 2015 for the love of God, in fact, Paul and I will be wrapping things up.”

“I just want to reiterate my thanks for the support from the network, all of the people who have worked here, all of the people in the theatre, all the people on the staff, everybody at home, thank you very much,” he told the audience. “What this means now, is that Paul and I can be married.”

Letterman hosted the Late Show on CBS for 22 years after 11 years as host of NBC’s Late Night before famously being passed over at NBC for Johnny Carson’s throne on The Tonight Show.

On Twitter there was plenty of reaction:

There are more than 10 reasons #DavidLetterman will be missed. – Barack Obama

David @Letterman announced he’s retiring in 2015. It’s been 31 incredible years. Television won’t be the same without you, Dave. – Ellen DeGeneres

Cheers to @Letterman. A king, a king-maker, and probably the man most to blame for inflicting me on America. See you soon. – Ricky Gervais

David @Letterman is the best there is and ever was. – Jimmy Kimmel

Wow, @Letterman retiring. He’s been a significant force in my “later” career. Thanks, Dave! – Steve Martin

Mr. Letterman, you have always been the best. I’ve had more fun on your show and you’ve been a class guy all the way. Enjoy ur final days. – Jason Alexander

I love Letterman but I am really excited about what this could mean for the diversification of late night. Trying not to be a pessimist… – Lena Dunham

Already the press is speculating as to who might replace him with such names as: Conan O’Brien, Chelsea Handler, Jimmy Kimmel, Russell Brand, Whoopi Goldberg, Jon Stewart, Craig Ferguson, Kathy Griffin, Arsenio Hall, Stephen Colbert, John Oliver and Carson Daly.

Source: Variety

20 Responses

  2. I’ve had the worst luck with Letterman. I’ve been to New York City 6 times and each time tried to get tickets to see the show but Dave’s either been on holiday or the show wasn’t in production on the nights I was available.
    I think Craig Ferguson is prepped to be a good takeover, though the suggestion of Whoopi Goldberg seems absolute genius.

  3. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Drew Carey get the gig, he has the audience from The Price Is Right who would tune in (and probably do now), plus he did a great job on The Late Late Show the other night.

    I think Craig Ferguson is happy where he is, besides his style wouldn’t transfer to earlier on for audiences I don’t think.

    Sure Letterman is retiring from the screen however it’s his company World Wide Pants that produces and owns the show (same as it does with The Late Late Show), so I think he’ll have a big say in his replacement (so no Leno hahaha).

  5. I keep seeing Neil Patrick Harris suggested. I think that would be an interesting choice.

    I love Ferguson and Colbert, but I think they would suffer the same fate as Conan a few years ago. So I would prefer them to stay where they are. Surely CBS has already secured the next host.

  7. Still one of the best, watch him all the time, mostly on the PVR. I would think Ferguson would takeover but maybe not if he prefers to stay put. Conan would be interesting depending on his contract on TBS.

    Bring on the jokes that Leno is taking his job LOL

  8. Colbert’s appearance and style of comedy are such you might think he’s Dave’s son or younger brother. Not surprised at all to read he is the favourite.

  9. Ferguson is the best comedian performer in front of the camera.

    But would he be able to take things a bit more seriously, do the plugs the network wants and stop swearing though?

  10. I have always enjoyed variety TV..Rove, Enough Rope, Tonight Live, Hey Hey and even Don if you want to go back that far….but I can not see the fascination with this guy. Certainly a TV legend in the US but I have no idea why. Just So Unfunny!!!! Americans will laugh at anything if in an TV audience!

  11. I’m not sure Ferguson wants Letterman’s job to be honest. I get the impression he’s happy being second banana to someone else. I’d love to see Conan go over to CBS and have a crack, I’m guessing it’ll come down to money at the end of the day!

  12. But yes, Letterman is the king of late night. So good he was copied here in Oz by Vizard and he certainly influenced Rove as well. It will be a shame to see him go as he is still as sharp as ever and his show is must watch TV.

  15. Thank God. David Letterman is one of the unfunniest people on television and he’s a terrible interviewer. It pains me whenever I want to see a celeb I like on there. Plus the forced applause after every joke in his monologue is almost unbearable.

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