David Letterman Returns

A few minutes ago on Headline News, they said David Letterman would be back on Monday, March 31 after recovering from shingles. I think they said Billy Crystal will be on the show. No other details were given.

 

Letterman Returns to Eye Duty

Letterman Returns to Eye Duty

by Bridget Byrne
E! Online

Now, for the Top 10 Things that Make You Itch...

Yes, kids, after a month in sick bay, Dave's headed back to the home office.

CBS announced on Friday that Late Show goofball David Letterman has recovered from his shingles attack, a viral infection akin to chicken pox, and will resume late-night hosting duties beginning on Monday. His first guests will be comedian Billy Crystal and 18-year-old whistling champ Michael Barimo.

Letterman first began complaining about an eye problem back on the February 25 show, saying, "It's either an irritation, inflammation or infection--for the love of God, does it hurt!"

The next day he called in sick with what CBS initially called an eye infection. He reportedly had hoped to return March 10, but, once shingles was diagnosed, he was forced to stay away longer.

It was only the second time in his 20-year stint headlining his own late night show he'd taken sick leave. In January 2000, he had emergency quintuple bypass heart surgery. After five weeks away, he made an emotional return, scoring his highest ratings in seven years.

This time around, 14 guest hosts sat in behind the desk in Gotham's Ed Sullivan Theater while Letterman was indisposed, causing only a mild dip in ratings. Season to date, the showhas been averaging a 3.8 rating and a 9 share in overnight tallies. With Dave away, the Late Show fell to a 3.5 rating but maintained a 9 share.

Many of the substitutes were actors with comedy credentials but limited or no talk show hosting experience. Bruce Willis, who had been booked as a guest, hosted at short notice the first night of Dave's unplanned hiatus, finding himself questioning CBS anchor Dan Rather about his interview with Saddam Hussein.

Others, like Whoopi Goldberg and Regis Philbin brought know-how to the task.

Everybody Loves Raymond's Emmy-winning Brad Garrett, Bonnie Hunt, Vince Vaughn, Will Ferrell, comic Tom Dressen, Will & Grace's Megan Mullally, Elvis Costello and ex-tennis great (and, lest we forget, host of the brief cruel game show The Chair) John McEnroe also took a stab as fill-ins.

This week, on a schedule impacted by the NCAA basketball tournament, only three shows were taped, Monday to Wednesday. Hosts were Late Show bandleader Paul Shaffer, veteran comic Bill Cosby and actor Luke Wilson.

A spokesperson for Letterman's company World Wide Pants said Letterman had no comment for now.

 

I merged the two threads, for those playing along at home.

 

I thought a few of the guest hosts that I caught were really very good. Bruce Willis, Brad Garrett, and even Elvis were terrific hosts . Dressen was okay I guess, but he felt very out of place and might've been better subbing for Carson or Leno. Luke Wilson seemed quite uncomfortable in the role, but his awkwardness was almost endearing. Most shockingly, I thought Bill Cosby was really bad. I only saw the first 20 minutes or so, but he seemed completely out of it to me, as if he didn't know where the hell he was.

I'm looking forward to Dave's return, but I do hope they keep the occassional guest hosts instead of the repeats of shows only a few weeks old.

Ray

 

Didn't CBS or World Wide Pants learn from the previous Bill Cosby subbing, when Dave had his surgery. I thought back then that Cosby seemed out of it. Too bad they didn't bring back Kathy Lee Gifford. Most thought she was the best guest host first time around.

 

My mother had shingles shortly after one of her cancer chemotherapy treatments, since the immune system is pretty much thrown out of whack. Highly contageous, we had to stay away from visiting while she had them...and her doctor told her it was a form of venereal disease, which amused us no end.

Do I detect a common thread? Nobody cared for Cosby as a guest host for Dave, and over in the sitcom thread, someone mentioned not liking Cosby's sitcom(s). I go out of my way to avoid anything he's on...and my daughter won't even watch the Nickelodeon show "Little Bill". This is just a person who entirely rubs me the wrong way. Sort of the same way Bea Arthur does.

 

Well, let's not denigrate the Cos, here, ok?

Glad Dave is back! The fill-in hosts were hit-and-miss. CBS showed a rerun after basketball last night(at 1AM-I had insomnia). Shingles must be hell on earth from what I've heard.

Evan

 

Vince was pretty smooth. I thought Bonnie was a GREAT host. Man, she ought to get her own talk show, a real one, not a fictional one like on her sitcoms. It worked for Rosie O'Donnell (for awhile).

 

Poor David, The shingles are brutal! So much pain...A family member had a bad case...lasted for months. They say stress can be a contributing factor for an outbreak.

 

You have to eat the Jello
I think Cosby works well as a comdian, but I didnt see him host the show the other night, although I wanted to. I thought Elvis Costello and Bonnie Hunt were great though.

 

'Late Show' Host Letterman Returns to High Ratings

Reuters

LOS ANGELES - Comedian David Letterman received a big welcome back to the CBS "Late Show" from a monthlong illness, scoring his second-highest ratings this season and his biggest victory over NBC late-night rival Jay Leno in three years.

And Letterman said he owes his recovery to duct tape.

According to preliminary Nielsen Media Research figures from the nation's 55 largest media markets, Letterman's return on Monday night posted a 5.3 rating, his highest rating since self-help guru Dr. Phil McGraw appeared on the show Feb. 17.

It was only the second time this season (Dr. Phil's visit was the first), that Letterman bested NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" in overall ratings. And it marked the steepest percentage gain (23 percent) over Leno since Letterman returned to the program in February 2000 following open-heart surgery.

The 55-year-old star of the "Late Show with David Letterman" last hosted his own show on Feb. 25 of this year, when he complained on the air about the visible inflammation of his right eye, which turned out to have been caused by shingles, a viral infection related to chickenpox.

Insiders said swelling around Letterman's eye cleared up relatively soon, but lingering pain associated with the infection is what kept him away for so long.

Joking about the duration of the illness Monday night, Letterman alluded to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's insistence that the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq was proceeding according to plans.

"Thirty days it took me to get over the shingles. And according to Donald Rumsfeld, that's right on schedule," Letterman said.

Then, in a reference to supplies the U.S. government suggested Americans have on hand in the event of a biological or chemical weapons attack, he added: "You know what cleared this up? Duct tape."

Letterman's guests Monday night included actor-comedian Billy Crystal, who traded barbs with the host about his own past experience with shingles, and 18-year-old world whistling champion Michael Barimo.

During Letterman's absence, a parade of celebrities filled in for him as guest host, including actor Bruce Willis, tennis star John McEnroe and TV personality Regis Philbin. Before a heart operation took him off air in January 2000, Letterman had never missed an appearance in his more than 20 years of late-night television.

CBS is a unit of Viacom Inc. . NBC is a unit of General Electric Co.

 

Just out of curiousity, have you heard any of his old records from the 60s? That was his best work.

 

Cos was still great live as of around 1982 when I saw him. He kind of took a slide after his sitcoms, and from what I understand, he's never really recovered from the death of his son. Sad to see from a truly legendary performer.