As David Letterman enters his final weeks as Late Show host, following a late-night career that has spanned more than three decades, many of his favorite guests have stopped by the Ed Sullivan Theater to bid farewell to him. Since Conan O'Brien, who took the reins of NBC's Late Night program after Letterman left to host CBS' Late Show in 1993, is likely too busy filming his own show to visit Letterman, he penned a touching tribute for Entertainment Weekly to the man who inspired him to venture into late night.
In his appreciation, O'Brien offered a brief history of comedy in the early Eighties before Letterman erupted onto the scene with his "subversive" brand of comedy and unlikely television looks. O'Brien wrote, "His front teeth had a massive gap that looked almost painted-on as a joke. Throughout college, everyone my age watched Dave and discussed his show the next day. By 1985, when I graduated from college and was ready to try my hand as a comedy writer, Late Night With David Letterman had been the Holy Grail for several miraculous years."??