For one last time, it's the Late Show with David Letterman! On the eve of his final late-night episode, Letterman was honored by big stars such as Bill Murray, Jimmy Kimmel, and Ellen DeGeneres.
The iconic comedian, 68, who will complete his 33-year stint on late-night television on Wednesday, May 20, introduced Murray to his New York City stage on Tuesday evening. "Ladies and gentlemen, Bill Murray," Letterman began, pulling back the curtain to reveal a huge multi-tiered cake reading, "Goodbye Dave."
As two assistants stood on either side of the cake and clapped along to the music, it soon began to break with Murray himself emerging from the top of the huge treat. The Rushmore star, 64, protected himself from the frosting in a jumpsuit and a pair of goggles, and grabbed a handful of cake to rub on Letterman's head.
The cake-covered Murray handed out frosting to the audience and the CBS orchestra before finally taking a seat next to Letterman for his final goodbye.
Over on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, host Kimmel had a more subdued but emotional reaction to Letterman's departure. The star, 47, got choked up even before he began speaking, only falling apart further as he paid tribute to his inspiration.
"I wanted to be an artist when I was a kid and I loved to draw," Kimmel explained. "Every night after my parents went to bed, I would sit at my desk in my room and I would draw until it was very late. While I was doing that, I would watch a television show that is very important to me, as you can tell. It was called Late Night with David Letterman."
Kimmel went on to recall his childhood love for the show, spending years drawing pictures of Letterman, throwing Late Night-themed birthday parties and show-viewing parties, and even getting a Late Night-branded vanity plate for his first car.
"I watched the show every night, I never missed it," he continued. "Little did I know that many years and many pounds later, that watching the show was a great education for me… Watching Late Night, not only did I learn how to do everything from Dave, the reason I have this show is because the executives at ABC saw me when I was a guest on Dave's show and hired me to host this show."
"I want to thank Dave and his writers and producers," added an emotional Kimmel, who is not filming on Wednesday to honor Letterman. "I want to say, tomorrow night is Letterman's farewell show and I'd like it if you'd make sure to watch that instead of our show. We will have a show on tomorrow night, it's gonna be a rerun, please do not watch it. Especially if you're a young person who doesn't understand what all the fuss is about, Dave is the best and you should see him."
Finally, DeGeneres chimed in on Wednesday's episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, sending a message to Letterman on his last day.
"So I'm sure you know that tonight is a big night on television," the comedienne, 57, began. "David Letterman is airing his final show — he is retiring — and what a career he's had. I think 33 years on television. He is, for me personally, it was an inspiration and it was a goal to be on The David Letterman Show. It was a big deal if you got to be on The Letterman show and I was lucky enough to be on there many times. And I love you David, we'll miss you a lot."
Watch tributes from DeGeneres, Murray, and Kimmel in the videos above, and catch Letterman's final episode of the Late Show at 11:35/10:35c on CBS!
