David Letterman returned to late night TV on Saturday, May 11, but it wasn’t at the familiar Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City. Rather, Letterman made a surprise appearance on TheNite Show in Bangor, Maine.
It’s the end of the show’s 15-year run on local TV and Letterman was a dream guest of host Danny Cashman. “Nobody in the audience knew he was coming until he walked through the doors, as the audience was only clued in on a ‘mystery guest’ for the final guest on the show’s penultimate episode,” the notes on the show’s YouTube account revealed.
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A clip of Letterman’s appearance on the program shows the studio audience going wild, jumping to their feet in a standing ovation once Cashman announces the famed late-night host’s name as the show’s band plays the familiar Late Show theme.
Letterman, sporting his now trademark grey beard, was wearing a suit and tie as he came out and stood and applauded with the crowd. He initially seemed stunned by the reaction. “Wow! Alright! OK! Thank you,” he said as he finally took a seat next to Cashman, jokingly saying, “Thank you, Paul!” referencing his former band leader Paul Shaffer.
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“I’m proud, I’m thrilled, I’m honored to be here,” Letterman added before launching into some jokes and observations about Bangor.
“The people here are so friendly and I’m driving around today in this wonderful city and here I come and I get to be on television,” he added. “You know, there’s a certain sensitivity about how you pronounce the name of this city. It’s Bangor. All my life [I’ve been saying] Banger. What are you going to do about it now?”
Letterman then joked that he may come out of retirement. “I’m thinking if there’s a job in television open, I may be coming to Bangor,” he said.
In the interview, Cashman, whose real job is working as a public relations executive, seemed overwhelmed by Letterman’s dream appearance. When Letterman asked him how he was doing, Cashman replied, “Oh my God! You have no idea how I’m doing.”
