It began very similar to the way in which it ended for David Letterman.
There he got here, striding onto the stage on the Ed Sullivan Theater on Monday night time, to a standing ovation and a refrain of chants of “Da-vid! Da-vid!”
The one distinction this time was that Mr. Letterman, in a full grey beard, was a visitor of “The Late Present,” and Stephen Colbert, its host since 2015, led him to a chair that was not behind a desk.
“Stephen,” Mr. Letterman stated as he sat down. “Management your individuals!”
Mr. Letterman’s look on “The Late Present” — the collection he started for CBS in 1993 and hosted till Mr. Colbert changed him — introduced some decision to one of many odder mysteries in present enterprise: Why wouldn’t he go to together with his successor?
Mr. Letterman has been no stranger to the limelight since he stepped down from his late-night gig. He hosts his personal Netflix long-form interview present, “My Subsequent Visitor Wants No Introduction,” and he has visited loads of different reveals. He has performed Jimmy Kimmel’s ABC present a number of occasions; Seth Meyers’s late night time present; Ellen DeGeneres’s daytime discuss present; Howard Stern’s radio present; Dax Shepard’s podcast; Marc Maron’s podcast; Conan O’Brien’s podcast. He even did the Busy Philipps podcast.
All of these appearances made his absence from Mr. Colbert’s present much more conspicuous. In any case, it’s one thing of a tv custom for grand eminences of late night time to go to their successors.
Jay Leno has joined Jimmy Fallon on “The Tonight Present.” Jon Stewart visited his successor, Trevor Noah, on “The Each day Present.” Mr. Letterman, then at rival CBS, visited Mr. O’Brien on “Late Night time,” the 12:30 a.m. NBC present that he had created over a decade earlier.
Was being again on the Ed Sullivan Theater an excessive amount of to bear for Mr. Letterman?
Was it the truth that it took Mr. Colbert lower than two years to grow to be the most-watched host in late night time, a designation that eluded Mr. Letterman for many of his run?
Or was one thing else at play?
In a 2015 interview with The New York Instances, Mr. Letterman stated he had initially been bothered that he wasn’t consulted about who would exchange him. He additionally appeared stunned that Mr. Colbert had been chosen so rapidly after Mr. Letterman introduced that he was retiring.
“They didn’t need to put a lot thought to it, did they?” he stated in 2015. “I feel it was the very subsequent day.” (Mr. Colbert was employed every week later.)
Throughout his look on Monday, which took up greater than 20 minutes of airtime, Mr. Letterman and Mr. Colbert averted the subject. As a substitute, Mr. Letterman mentioned, amongst different issues, visiting CVS pharmacies, his son going off to varsity, and the way he made his approach into the studio on Monday.
“I got here to the present this afternoon, and other people had been saying, ‘Sure, might I make it easier to?’” Mr. Letterman stated. “And I stated, ‘I’m Ed Sullivan.’ Bought me proper in.”
Mr. Colbert requested Mr. Letterman if he missed something about internet hosting a late night time present.
“I miss every part,” Mr. Letterman replied. “Principally, it’s enjoyable. Only a few issues in life present one the chance — and I can’t converse for you on this matter — however for me, when you muck one up, 24 hours later, you get to attempt once more.”
The ice might have damaged a couple of weeks in the past when Mr. Letterman was a visitor on “Strike Drive 5,” a podcast that a number of of the present late-night hosts, together with Mr. Colbert, began in the course of the Hollywood writers’ strike. Throughout the interview, Mr. Colbert used the event to clear the air about how he had been employed.
Over a number of minutes, Mr. Colbert defined that CBS executives first approached him in 2013 to debate the potential for changing Mr. Letterman. On the time, Mr. Colbert stated, he wished assurances from CBS that Mr. Letterman was conscious of this assembly. He was instructed that the community had Mr. Letterman’s blessing to satisfy with individuals.
Six months later, in April 2014, Mr. Letterman introduced that he would step down from “The Late Present.” However, Mr. Colbert defined within the podcast, he then acquired an odd message that made him surprise if Mr. Letterman had truly identified concerning the outreach.
Mr. Letterman stated on the podcast that CBS executives may need thought he was contemplating retirement — however that he had by no means explicitly instructed them to start a seek for his alternative.
“I’m sure that that half didn’t occur,” he stated.
Mr. Letterman then recalled on the podcast how he had discovered himself in an analogous scenario years earlier when NBC executives wished him to host “The Tonight Present” half time with Johnny Carson. When Mr. Letterman came upon that Mr. Carson was not conscious of the association, he declined to take part.
As Mr. Letterman’s “Late Present” look reached its finish, he made a request of Mr. Colbert: May he sit behind his desk? Mr. Colbert instantly sprung up, and gave up his chair for Mr. Letterman.
With Mr. Letterman behind the desk, Mr. Colbert had a query.
“Only a few individuals know what it’s prefer to host one in every of this stuff,” he stated, gesturing to the bottom of his desk. “What do you consider my provides? Was that something such as you had down there?”
“What?” Mr. Letterman replied. “All this weed?”
