--- title: David Letterman: Watch Conan O'Brien's Emotional Tribute to the Host description: Conan O'Brien had a strange message for his viewers Wednesday night: change the channel and watch David Letterman. canonical: https://time.com/3892289/conan-obrien-david-letterman-goodbye/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-05-21T14:32:14.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:03:22.896Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Watch Conan O'Brien's Emotional Tribute to David Letterman og:description: "You cannot miss out" og:url: https://time.com/3892289/conan-obrien-david-letterman-goodbye/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltba25bd23df169241/6988511ef887dc5240e90943/conan-obrian.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Television personality Conan O'Brien enters the Tao Lounge on May 13, 2015 in New York City. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch Conan O'Brien's Emotional Tribute to David Letterman twitter:description: "You cannot miss out" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltba25bd23df169241/6988511ef887dc5240e90943/conan-obrian.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Watch Conan O'Brien's Emotional Tribute to David Letterman  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson May 21, 2015 2:32 PM UTC  Television personality Conan O'Brien enters the Tao Lounge on May 13, 2015 in New York City. Television personality Conan O'Brien enters the Tao Lounge on May 13, 2015 in New York City.Ray Tamarra—Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson May 21, 2015 2:32 PM UTC Conan O’Brien said something on his show Wednesday night that was rather strange for a television host. He told viewers to change the channel, and watch another host’s show instead. The reason, as O’Brien said, was that Wednesday was “no ordinary night.” It was [David Letterman’s last show](http://time.com/3891833/david-letterman-finale-last-late-show-review/), which aired during O’Brien’s segment. “There simply are no words that can encapsulate the sheer magnitude of what Dave has achieved,” O’Brien said. “He’s been the North Star for me and for every comic of my generation.” O’Brien spoke about the time Letterman came on his show while he was struggling early in his career: “It’s easily one of the happiest nights of my professional life,” he said, saying his career would not have taken off if not for Letterman’s visit. That was when he told everyone to change the channel. “I’m going to let you know the exact moment when Dave’s show is starting,” he said, telling viewers to record his show so they could switch over to watch Letterman. “You cannot miss out,” he said. Watch O’Brien’s emotional tribute above. ### Bill Murray is Dave’s first guest (1982) For Letterman, Murray has dressed like Liberace, a Kentucky Derby jockey and a Renaissance fop. His first visit set the tone of the show when, after a long rant in which Murray decried the host’s “mind games,” Letterman responded, “Now that you’re well-known, is it harder to be funny?” ### Andy Kaufman challenges wrestler Jerry Lawler to a match (1982) In a hoax bit, comedian Kaufman got pro wrestler Lawler to slap him in the face as Letterman smirked behind the desk. The stunt confirmed Dave’s status as a comedy chaos magnet—a master at remaining calm while hysteria swirled around him. ### Dave gets dunked in a suit made of 3,400 Alka-Seltzers (1984) What some do for science, Dave did for comedy. With a snorkel and goggles in place, Dave was dunked into a fizzy experiment in laughter. He’s helpless in his harness, floating in an effervescent water tank surrounded by the volcanic chaos of bubbles. The experiment was duplicated with the likes of sponges, marshmallows and velcro, showing how far Dave would go for a laugh. ### The very first top 10 list (1985) “Heats.” “Rice.” “Moss.” These were the initial entries in the show’s first Top 10 list, “Things That Almost Rhyme With Peas.” Sometimes presented by politicians, celebrities, sports champions and everyday heroes, the lists—more than 4,600 of them—became Letterman’s signature bit. ### Cher calls Dave an a–hole (1986) Dave’s meta-deconstruction of the late night form led to uncomfortable truths — such as in this segment, where an interview with Cher centered on why it took four years for her to agree to appear on the show. Her casual reasoning — “because I thought you were an a–hole” — became part of the show’s disarming folklore. ### Madonna won’t stop stop cursing (March 31, 1994) Letterman often had a flirty effect on female guests, causing many to leave filters at the door. Here, Madonna and Dave giggled and teased, discussing their underwear and making innuendos. Madonna sweetly told Dave he was a “sick f-ck.” Never has that term sounded quite so loving. ### Drew Barrymore flashes Dave for his birthday (April 12, 1995)  NEW YORK - APRIL 12: Drew Barrymore turns to the audience after flashing host David Letterman during the April 12, 1995 taping of the Late Show with David Letterman in New York City. This show was taped on Dave's Birthday. This photo is provided by CBS from the Late Show with David Letterman photo archive. (Photo by Alan Singer/CBS via Getty Images) Alan Singer—CBS/Getty Images In a ’90s version of Marilyn Monroe’s “Happy Birthday, Mr. President,” a 20-year-old, braless Barrymore surprised Dave with a dirty dance on his desk, followed by lifting her shirt. Dave’s reaction—confused but joyful surprise—contributed to the buzz. ### Dave gets personal (2000 & 2009) It’s one thing to be a great host with a knack for comedic moments. It’s another entirely to tap into the national psyche. Dave was long regarded as the king of irony, but that died in 2000, when he dropped all comedic facades to pay tribute to the surgical team that saved his life. It was a rare but powerful moment when Dave the host became Dave the man—a feeling that would be replicated as his messy personal cheating scandal went public nine years later—and his brittle realness drew us even closer to the legend we thought we knew. ### Dave gives a heartfelt post-9/11 monologue (2001) The first late-night host to return to TV, Letterman gave viewers real catharsis following a national tragedy. His eight-minute introduction was halting, honest and vulnerable, tapping into our collective fear and sadness. By the end, he also provided what we needed most: courage and hope. ### Joaquin Phoenix is bizarre and rambling (Feb 2009) Phoenix devised a meta-hoax that found him growing a long beard and claiming to have left acting for hip-hop. Included in this, for reasons not quite clear, was appearing on Letterman like he had no idea what was happening around him. Letterman fired questions at Phoenix despite the guest’s inability to string together a sentence. Ending the interview with, “Joaquin, I’m sorry you couldn’t be here tonight,” cemented the segment as a classic. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3892289/conan-obrien-david-letterman-goodbye/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3892289/conan-obrien-david-letterman-goodbye/"},"headline":"Watch Conan O'Brien's Emotional Tribute to David Letterman","datePublished":"2015-05-21T14:32:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:03:22.896Z","description":"Conan says having Letterman on his show was one of the highlights of his professional career","url":"https://time.com/3892289/conan-obrien-david-letterman-goodbye/","keywords":["Television","David Letterman","Conan O'brien"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltba25bd23df169241/6988511ef887dc5240e90943/conan-obrian.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltba25bd23df169241/6988511ef887dc5240e90943/conan-obrian.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Television personality Conan O'Brien enters the Tao Lounge on May 13, 2015 in New York City.","caption":"Television personality Conan O'Brien enters the Tao Lounge on May 13, 2015 in New York City.","creditText":"Ray Tamarra—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/3892289/conan-obrien-david-letterman-goodbye/","name":"Watch Conan O'Brien's Emotional Tribute to David Letterman"}}]}] ```