Just like Jay Leno before him, a legend will be retiring when David Letterman hangs up the coffee cup and rides off into the sunset, The Late Show host announced during last night's show.
Luckily we're still at least nine months away from Letterman's pending retirement, because he said that he will be retiring sometime in 2015.
"The man who owns this network, Leslie Moonves, he and I have had a relationship for years and years and years, and we have had this conversation in the past, and we agreed that we would work together on this circumstance and the timing of this circumstance," Letterman said on-air on Thursday night's show. "And I phoned him just before the program, and I said 'Leslie, it's been great, you've been great, and the network has been great, but I'm retiring.'"
Fox News reports that Letterman's decision to retire comes because he feels that the current late night show scene is experiencing a changing of the guard, namely Jimmy Fallon and his skyrocketing Tonight Show. Fallon took over for Jay Leno after the Sochi Olympics and has produced great results, boasting a Nielsen score greater than Letterman and Jimmy Kimmel's late night shows combined.
"David is older now; he had heart surgery some time ago and sees both Jimmy Kimmel [of ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live!] as well as the more formidable Jimmy Fallon now gaining on him..." a source close to Letterman told Fox News. "Fallon is getting record ratings so Letterman will segue out while he's still on top. It's dignified. If Fallon weren't so hot, he might have stuck around longer."
It's arguable if Letterman is still "on top" if his ratings are plummeting compared to Fallon and Kimmel, but it's still admirable that he wants to retire before he's too far past his prime. Letterman is a legend, and much like when Jay Leno (eventually) retired, it'll be a real loss for television.
Now the topic will be, who's taking over for Letterman? Now that he's essentially "put in notice" that he's retiring, the rumor mill can officially start. Who would be your pick to compete with the charismatic Fallon?
