David Letterman: last Late Show a 'terrific' upbeat affair

Last night marked the end of an era for US television as veteran talk show host David Letterman hosted his final Late Show, ending a career in late night entertainment that has spanned four decades. His farewell was a largely upbeat affair, full of showbiz razzamatazz, celebrities and jokes.

Letterman, now 68, has been a fixture on late night television since 1982, when he debuted his Late Night with David Letterman on NBC. In 1993 he moved to CBS to helm the Late Show. Over a period of 33 years, he hosted 6,028 episodes of Late Night and Late Show.

His Late Show finale, which he had called "the most important show of my life", kicked off with recorded send offs by Bill Clinton, George Bush, and President Obama who each said: "Our long national nightmare is over", a reference to the Watergate scandal. Obama added: "Letterman is retiring."

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The opening set the tone of the show, which was filled with self-deprecating humour, says the Los Angeles Times. And Letterman's swansong featured a line-up of luminaries including Steve Martin, Tina Fey, Chris Rock and Bill Murray.

Murray read out his Top Ten Things I've Always Wanted to Say to David Letterman, beginning with: "Dave, I'll never have the money I owe you."

Letterman also found time to joke about his career disappointments. "I'll be honest with you, it's beginning to look like I'm not going to get the Tonight Show," he said, in reference to losing out to Jay Leno to replace Johnny Carson as host of The Tonight Show in 1992, which is still regarded as the cream of late-night talk shows.

Commentator's praised the show and paid tribute to the host, who has become one of the most respected and recognisable talk-show presenters.

"Letterman's last Late Show was nostalgic but not maudlin, gracious but not mournful, valedictory but not a eulogy," says James Poniewozik in Time. Letterman's finale was "as heavy on the laughs as on the thank-yous", he adds. "It was true to Dave, it was fun and it was terrific."

Rob Crilly in the Daily Telegraph agrees, and says: "In a world of glitzy, sycophantic hosts, he was sticking to his own brand of crankiness that helped him mould late-night American TV over 33 years."

Dave Itzkoff in the New York Times, also praises Letterman for going for "laughs rather than tears". To the end, says Itzkoff, "Letterman remained true to a personal sensibility of delivering sarcastic comedy with a straight face, and rarely allowed mawkish sentimentality to creep into the show."

Letterman hasn't said much about what's in store for him, other than joking that he hopes "to become the new face of Scientology". But he will be moving out of the Late Show studio very soon as satirical comedian Stephen Colbert is set to move in and take over as the next Late Show host.