--- description: The How I Met Your Mother star said that he was approached for the job by CBS, but declined because he thought he'd get bored of the repetitive format. The network also approached him about replacing Craig Ferguson, but he again declined title: Neil Patrick Harris Could Have Replaced David Letterman on Late Show image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9500db7433381cd4/69868f67d0b6f25a88304488/neil-patrick-harris-late-show.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Neil Patrick Harris Had a Shot at the _Late Show_ Hosting Gig by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 14, 2014 8:52 PM CUT  Neil Patrick Harris attends The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute Benefit on May 2, 2014 in New York City. Neil Patrick Harris attends The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute Benefit on May 2, 2014 in New York City.Julian Mackler—BFAnyc/SIPA USA by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 14, 2014 8:52 PM CUT Neil Patrick Harris could have been the next host of the _Late Show_, but the actor told [Howard Stern](https://soundcloud.com/howardstern/nphlatenight "undefined") on Wednesday he didn’t want the gig. During an appearance on the Howard Stern radio show, Harris said that while he and CBS executives never etched out a specific deal, the network approached him about taking over for David Letterman, who will retire in 2015\. The _How I Met Your Mother_ star said he wasn’t interested. “In that instance I felt like I knew what my skill sets were,” Harris said. “I was surprised that he pitched me that idea, and I sort of sat for a minute with it and told him the things that concerned me about the longevity of that kind of gig… I think I would get bored of the repetition fast.” Harris is instead toying with the idea of hosting a weekly variety show, something he said CBS execs might be interested in. When asked about taking over the 12:30 show, which Craig Ferguson will be leaving in December, Harris still said no.“It’s still nightly, you’re still coming out with the same content,” he said. “And now you’re just getting bitter that no one is watching. Listen to the full interview [here](https://soundcloud.com/howardstern/nphlatenight "undefined"). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/99842/neil-patrick-harris-late-show-host-offer/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/99842/neil-patrick-harris-late-show-host-offer/"},"headline":"Neil Patrick Harris Had a Shot at the Late Show Hosting Gig","datePublished":"2014-05-14T20:52:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:50:32.514Z","description":"The How I Met Your Mother star said that he was approached for the job by CBS, but declined because he thought he'd get bored of the repetitive format. The network also approached him about replacing Craig Ferguson, but he again declined","url":"https://time.com/99842/neil-patrick-harris-late-show-host-offer/","keywords":["Television","David Letterman","Neil Patrick Harris","late show"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9500db7433381cd4/69868f67d0b6f25a88304488/neil-patrick-harris-late-show.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9500db7433381cd4/69868f67d0b6f25a88304488/neil-patrick-harris-late-show.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Neil Patrick Harris Late Show","caption":"Neil Patrick Harris Late Show","creditText":"Julian Mackler—BFAnyc/SIPA USA","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/99842/neil-patrick-harris-late-show-host-offer/","name":"Neil Patrick Harris Had a Shot at the Late Show Hosting Gig"}}]}] ```