David Letterman to Announce Retirement Tonight

[Nickdfresh]

David Letterman is reportedly announcing his retirement tonight
By Sean O'Neal
Apr 3, 2014 3:28 PM

Numerous sources have reported that David Letterman announced during the taping of tonight’s Late Show that he will be retiring in 2015, ending the months of speculation that he would do exactly that after his contract with CBS expires. (Not to mention all those preceding years of speculation.) The announcement is apparently part of Letterman’s broadcast, a special TV moment of the kind we are no longer allowed to have anymore because of Twitter. Tonight’s musical guest, Mike Mills of R.E.M. (sitting in with Joseph Arthur), tweeted that he’d just heard Letterman’s announcement, and this was soon followed by confirmations from CBS News anchor Jeff Glor, CNN media correspondent Brian Stelter, and Variety. So when you hear it from Letterman himself tonight, try to act surprised.

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I find this a bit sad as a lifelong fan, but glad he lasted longer than that cock Leno...

[FORD]

Sad to see him go. Hope he turns over the keys to somebody more worthy than Jimmy Fail-on.

[ZahZoo]

That's a real shame...

Far too many eras passing within my own lifetime!!

[ELVIS]

Maybe Leno can take over for Letterman and really stick it to Falloff and NBC...

[FORD]

Jay's retired twice now, so I suspect this time he actually meant it.

I wouldn't be surprised though if he took over Piss Morgan's time slot on CNN.

True, he's not a "news" guy but neither was Piss Morgan. Or Larry King. Or pretty much anybody else on CNN these days.

[ELVIS]

Jay didn't retire...

[Kristy]

Sad to see him go. Hope he turns over the keys to somebody more worthy than Jimmy Fail-on.

He's a boring bag of shit. Letterman is a AARP member with a dementia-suffering twat Jew as a sidekick. Unfunny as fuck. Painful to watch. He's tanking in the ratings next to Fallon and knows it. Love to see Ferguson take over but most likely the suits at CBS will fuck him over.

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Rumor is that Colbert (without the schtick) is the frontrunner at CBS....

And his contract expires at the end of this year....

[ELVIS]

And he's boring...

[Kristy]

Rumor is that Colbert (without the schtick) is the frontrunner at CBS....

Just...no.

[FORD]

It's hard to imagine Colbert without his "schtick", actually. He would probably still be more entertaining than Jimmy Fail-on though.

[FORD]

Actually, CBS News is running a poll right now, and currently more people seem to think Craig Ferguson deserves the promotion....

12% Jon Stewart
23% Craig Ferguson
5% Chelsea Handler
5% Jimmy Kimmel
19% Conan O'Brien
7% Jerry Seinfeld
5% Louis C.K.
10% Stephen Colbert
13% Someone else

It's common place for the 12:30 host to get the promotion when the other guy leaves (though Letterman himself failed to get the NBC gig when he was up for it) and Letterman's production company "Worldwide Pants" produces Ferguson's show, so he seems a logical successor on those fronts. The question there is whether he could make the transition to the type of show that Letterman does, or alternatively whether his current show could cut it in the 11:30 time slot. Admittedly, I've only seen Ferguson's show about half a dozen times during fits of insomnia. I still haven't seen Seth Meyers in his Fallon replacement gig.

I actually voted for Jerry Seinfeld, because I think he would be a natural for the format. I'm frankly surprised NBC didn't call him when Leno quit again. That network certainly owes him a lot more than they do Fail-on, for carrying their Thursday night lineup for a decade.

[FORD]

Oddly missing from that poll is Arsenio Hall. True, he's currently back on the air in syndication, but Conan is on TBS, Kimmel is on ABC, and Stewart & Colbert are on Comedy Central, so being on competing networks isn't a barrier to the poll.

I got the impression when Arsenio was trying to get his name back in the spotlight by appearing on Trump's reality trainwreck "The Apprentice" that he was really auditioning for the CBS gig, but then Dave extended his contract by 2 years (it was originally set to expire in 2013).

[twonabomber]

I don't think Arsenio is doing that well. He's on the local FOX station and they already moved his show from 11 to 11:30. I've watched a few times and he's nowhere as funny as the first time around. He's already had Magic Johnson on twice. Booking his friends all the time makes it look like he can't get real guests with something to promote.

Part of Letterman's deal was producing the 12:30 show, just like the first Late Night was a Carson production. They do the Ferguson show on the cheap, with no band and the robot sidekicks. I think Ferguson is funny but I don't know if he'd be good at 11:30. Can he go mainstream enough to get ratings? Would he welcome a move to NYC? Would Drew Carey campaign for his friend Ferguson, or would they offer the show to Carey?

FOX is still rumored to be working on a late night show of their own but are there enough viewers to make it profitable? Their advantage: an 11 pm time slot, since most local FOX news runs 10 to 11.

Haven't really heard talk of Howard Stern replacing Letterman yet. The Sirius contract is up in 2016 I think. His AGT gig seems to be a way to show America that he's "normal" and not the polarizing figure he once was, but he's not that much younger than Letterman so if CBS is looking for a long-term replacement he may not be a good choice. Besides, Stern doesn't do a full week of radio shows any more, would he be up for five TV shows a week, even if they shot two in one day like Letterman does?

[Zing!]

I couldn't give too shits about this. Sorry, late night folk.