--- ---  # David Letterman Farewell Special to Air in CBS Primetime by [Christopher Rosen / Entertainment Weekly](https://time.com/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Christopher Rosen / Entertainment Weekly Apr 23, 2015 5:49 PM UTC  David Letterman in New York City on March 2, 2015. David Letterman in New York City on March 2, 2015.Kevin Mazur—SeriousFun Children's Network/Getty Images by [Christopher Rosen / Entertainment Weekly](https://time.com/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Christopher Rosen / Entertainment Weekly Apr 23, 2015 5:49 PM UTC CBS announced Thursday that it will air _David Letterman: A Life on Television_ in primetime, a little over two weeks before Letterman signs off from _The Late Show_ for good. The 90-minute retrospective, set for May 4, will be hosted by Ray Romano. According to the press release, [_A Life on Television_ will “mine the video vault”](http://www.cbspressexpress.com/cbs-entertainment/releases/view?id=42478)—meaning fans can expect interview highlights, a look at Letterman’s best Top Ten Lists, Stupid Pet and Human Tricks and more. Letterman’s take on world events, including his Sept. 17, 2001 broadcast following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, will also be featured on the show. Letterman’s last _Late Show_ is set for May 20\. Guests expected to appear during his final run of shows include [George Clooney, Oprah Winfrey, Howard Stern and Tom Hanks](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/04/13/late-show-announces-lineup-david-lettermans-final-episodes). _This_ [_article_](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/04/23/david-letterman-life-television-cbs-special) _originally appeared on_ [_EW.com_](http://www.ew.com/)_._ David Letterman Farewell Special to Air in CBS Primetime ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3833280/david-letterman-tribute-special-cbs/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3833280/david-letterman-tribute-special-cbs/"},"headline":"David Letterman Farewell Special to Air in CBS Primetime","datePublished":"2015-04-23T17:49:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T06:37:30.262Z","description":"Ray Romano will host","url":"https://time.com/3833280/david-letterman-tribute-special-cbs/","keywords":["Television","David Letterman"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt11f54ec776627780/6987ec93f887dc041de8e1bc/david-letterman1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Christopher Rosen / Entertainment Weekly"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt11f54ec776627780/6987ec93f887dc041de8e1bc/david-letterman1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"David Letterman in New York City on March 2, 2015.","caption":"David Letterman in New York City on March 2, 2015.","creditText":"Kevin Mazur—SeriousFun Children's Network/Getty Images","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/3833280/david-letterman-tribute-special-cbs/","name":"David Letterman Farewell Special to Air in CBS Primetime"}}]}] ```