Letterman’s Farewell: ‘A Classy Lesson in Blubber-Free Humility’

Letterman’s farewell: “A classy lesson in blubber-free humility”
David Letterman always resisted being sappy and partaking in a lovefest, so his final Late Show was as subdued as you’d expect, says Hank Stuever. “He let the moment mostly speak for itself,” says Stuever. “If viewers at home wanted to cry, well, that was up to them. This also meant that the send-off was probably lacking any particular moment that we’ll watch over and over again in one of those history-of-TV retrospectives years from now.” PLUS: The final night was nostalgic but not maudlin, gracious but not mournful, Letterman seemed serene and lighthearted, Letterman ended his show the way he started it — with irreverence, self-mockery and mischief, it was more upbeat than Johnny Carson’s somber farewell, Letterman wished good luck to Stephen Colbert, Dave reportedly used a fake limo as a decoy to escape to his after-party, 4 U.S. presidents helped kick off the final Late Show, read Norm Macdonald’s live-tweet of Dave’s final show, Jennifer Lawrence and many celebs celebrated Dave on social media, the star-studded Top 10 list included Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ crack at the Seinfeld finale, watch Keith Olbermann’s final goodbye, and the epic final montage has been in the works since December.

Watch Conan flash a “Turn on Dave!” sign at 11:35
Conan O’Brien urged his viewers to switch over to David Letterman’s final show — and record the remainder of his show to watch later. PLUS: Patton Oswalt tells Conan how Letterman shaped his teenage sensibility.

James Corden followed Letterman finale by busking with Sting outside the Ed Sullivan Theater
Corden also offered his own Top 10 list in honor of David Letterman. PLUS: Watch Corden’s Carpool Karaoke with Justin Bieber.

Mindy Kaling and Chris Messina will guest on Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Hit Record on TV
The Mindy Project co-stars will appear on the Season 2 premiere of the Pivot series.

Introducing the Survivor‘s “Second Chance” cast
Season 1’s Kelly Wiglesworth and other Survivor alums tell what they’ll do differently this time. PLUS: Jeff Probst considers Mike “one of our top winners.”

Report: Booted Bachelorette contestant claims producers urged him to do a striptease
Josh S. is especially livid, according to TMZ, because Chris Harrison called the striptease “creepy” in a blog post.