LOS ANGELES — The love just keeps flowing for David Letterman.
On Tuesday night, fellow late night host Jimmy Kimmel got emotional on his show as he bid farewell to Letterman who will end an era Wednesday night when he bows out of his “Late Show with David Letterman.”
Kimmel talked about watching Letterman’s show as a youngster while he stayed up late drawing. Letterman made quite an impression on the aspiring artist, who started drawing pictures of Letterman in his textbook covers, wore a Letterman varsity jacket and got a Letterman vanity plate for his first car.
“We had no VCR, so I would have David Letterman viewing parties at my house in the middle of the night,” he shared. “My friends who also loved the show would come over – my parents would be asleep – at midnight and we would drink soda and watch the show. Looking back, I figured out why none of the girls at school wanted to have sex with me.”
Kimmel also gave Letterman credit for him getting hired as the host of “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”
“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. So I want to thank Dave and his writers and producers,” Kimmel said, his voice breaking.
Kimmel also urged his audience to tune into the final “Late Show with David Letterman” instead of his own show, which will be a rerun.
On Monday, the other late night Jimmy (Fallon) took some time on his “Tonight Show” to praise Letterman.
“David Letterman is courageous,” Fallon said. “Have a nice retirement, Dave!”
