David Letterman will bow out as host of CBS’ Late Show on Wednesday, May 20, his Worldwide Pants production house said this morning.

News comes the morning after his replacement, Stephen Colbert, hosted CBS’ Late Late Show replacement, James Corden, on his current Comedy Central show The Colbert Report — and two days after Colbert hosted President Obama, the night after hosting the Kennedy Center Honors ceremony, for broadcast on CBS.



“David Letterman has given to all of us a remarkable legacy of achievement and creative brilliance that will never be forgotten,” CBS Corp President and CEO Leslie Moonves said in today’s announcement. “It’s going to be tough to say goodbye, but I know we will all cherish the shows leading up to Dave’s final broadcast in May.”

The longest-tenured late night talk show host at more than 32 years, Letterman has hosted his CBS show for 22 years. Taping his broadcast last April 3, he surprised everyone, including the network, by announcing he would retire in 2015. Since its CBS premiere on August 30, 1993, Letterman’s Late Show has won nine Emmy Awards and a hefty 73 Emmy nominations. Letterman debuted on the late-night scene February 1, 1982 with the premiere of his groundbreaking Late Night With David Letterman, which ran on NBC for more than 11 years and was honored with five Emmys.

As of May 20, 2015, Letterman will have hosted 6,028 total episodes of both Late Night and Late Show.

From today’s announcement: