If you guessed Oprah Winfrey, George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Steve Martin, Don Rickles, John Travolta, Tom Hanks and Tom Waits as being among David Letterman’s last guests before he signs off as host of CBS’ Late Show – you’re correct!
Also on the list of those appearing on Letterman’s final 28 broadcasts: Billy Crystal, Robert Downey Jr., Tina Fey, Jack Hanna, Michael Keaton, Bill Murray, Ray Romano, Paul Rudd, Jerry Seinfeld, Martin Short, Howard Stern, Bruce Willis, Elvis Costello, Dave Matthews Band, Mumford and Sons.
This coming week’s guests include: Sarah Jessica Parker, 2015 Masters champion Jordan Spieth, and Asleep at the Wheel on Monday; Billy Crystal, Julie Chen, and Chris Stapleton on Tuesday; Michael J. Fox, Amy Sedaris, Iron & Wine and Ben Bridwell on Wednesday; Kevin James, Tom Dreesen and Tracy Chapman on Thursday; and Alec Baldwin and John Mayer on Friday.
Letterman’s final Late Show broadcast is set for Wednesday, May 20. Stephen Colbert is taking over the show in the fall.
Noticeably missing from the list (besides Regis Philbin): Dave fave Brian Williams, who famously cancelled a long-scheduled appearance in the wake of an investigation into his creative moldings of the truth about taking enemy fire while in a helicopter in Iraq. Some industry navel gazers said back then, and continue to say now, he’s missing a great opportunity to begin doing the stations of the cross by visiting Dave. The booking was canceled under cover of a weekend, after NBC announced it was launching an internal fact-gathering investigation of this and other Williams claims over the years, and Williams announced he was taking himself off of Nightly News for “several days,” but before NBC News announced it was suspending Williams for six months.
Last month, Dave and guest Keith Olbermann cast their votes for Williams’ return to NBC Nightly News, with Dave explaining, “One would hope that, in this day and age, this can be overcome.” Letterman may still be hoping Williams will use Late Show to kick off a Road to Career Recovery Tour.
Earlier this month, Sen. Al Franken advised retiring Letterman to run for the U.S. Senate as his next career move, when Dave asked Franken how he could most embarrass the governor of his home state of Indiana over that politician’s controversial “religious freedom” law, which got blasted by some as an invitation for businesses to discriminate against LGBT people using religion as a cover.
“As a matter of fact, there’s an open seat there. The incumbent, Sen. Dan Coats, says he’s not running next year,” Franken began. “When people come to me and say, ‘How do you become a United State Senator?’ I say, ‘Do about 35-40 years of comedy and then run for the Senate’, ” Franken said. “And it’s worked every time. So, I think you should run.”
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