On Wednesday, David Letterman is retiring, "after 33 years of innovation, fun, and just plain weirdness," said Jimmy Fallon on Monday's Tonight Show, "but mostly fun." Fallon followed Letterman (and Conan O'Brien) as host of NBC's Late Night — as, weirdly, Fallon's eighth grade teacher predicted he would — but all late-night talk shows owe Letterman a huge debt of gratitude, Fallon said. He "taught us how to be smart and stupid for comedy," and proved you could be both at the same time.
Fallon talked about his last time on Letterman's Late Show, recounted Dave's most inspirational moment, and explained why late night hosts don't appear on each other's talk shows. He also gave voice to what an entire generation of comedians, and night owls, is thinking about Letterman's last week: "I, like every kid who grew up watching him, will miss him." Watch Fallon's farewell message to Letterman below. —Peter Weber
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Gaza Humanitarian Foundation: the group behind Gaza's controversial new aid programmeThe Explainer Deadly shootings and chaotic scenes have been reported at aid sites after US group replaced UN humanitarian organisations
-
Is UK's new defence plan transformational or too little, too late?Today's Big Question Labour's 10-year strategy 'an exercise in tightly bounded ambition' already 'overshadowed by a row over money'
-
How much should doctors trust parental intuition?In The Spotlight Study finds parents' concern can be better at spotting critical illness than vital signs
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposesspeed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wifespeed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
-
Giant schnauzer wins top prize at Westminster showSpeed Read Monty won best in show at the 149th Westminster Kennel Club dog show
-
Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar take top GrammysSpeed Read Beyoncé took home album of the year for 'Cowboy Carter' and Kendrick Lamar's diss track 'Not Like Us' won five awards
-
The Louvre is giving 'Mona Lisa' her own roomSpeed Read The world's most-visited art museum is getting a major renovation
-
Honda and Nissan in merger talksSpeed Read The companies are currently Japan's second and third-biggest automakers, respectively
-
Taylor Swift wraps up record-shattering Eras tourSpeed Read The pop star finally ended her long-running tour in Vancouver, Canada
-
Drake claims illegal boosting, defamationSpeed Read The rapper accused Universal Music of boosting Kendrick Lamar's diss track and said UMG allowed him to be falsely accused of pedophilia
