david letterman is now headed for cbs.'e and jay prepared to go head to head, one thing is clear -- late night tv will never be quite the same. >> all of a sudden there's a talkshow war. >> start up your remote controls, the late-night race is about to begin. on monday, david letterman's new show debuts here on cbs, followed a week later by chevy chase on fox, and a week after that by conan o'brien on nbc. these combatants join the tonight show with jay leno, arsenio, and nightline. >> it became a crowded space, and the competition became that much more difficult. >> the third corner, his ratings fading rapidly, arsenio hall. some tv writers think that arsenio could be the big loser in this free for all. >> when letterman came in, it essentially diluted arsenio's brand, because there were so many alternatives. >> i'm sad to see you go, because america is going to have a big chunk missing out of this. >> losing arsenio, yeah. it was bad. he was the lone voice, gone. david letterman had the suits at nbc pausing for a moment.

i found this out i guest hosted for david letterman.e out as well but you came on and talked with me and i have a photo this is us 19 years ago on "david letterman." >> cute. >> jimmy: look at us [ audience aws ] buddy. [ laughter ] look at us >> look, i'm wearing the same dress. >> jimmy: you're wearing the same dress i mean, look at this we can -- let's recreate it. i'm trying to recreate it right now. let's do it. yeah, oh, yeah perfect. [ cheers and applause anyways, i'll never forget that thank you for doing that >> any time. >> jimmy: i mean, we have so much to talk about congratulations, you got married. i'm very - [ cheers and applause you actually -- this is your -- actually, you got married twice. >> twice to the same man >> jimmy: to the same man. yeah we'll have to get into this, because this is the first one. this is your picture here. this is city hall. congratulations. >> yes, you can -- you know, disguising with the black dress. a very large baby bump yes, a shotgun wedding yes. >> jimmy: yeah, so you had a a shotgun wed

will sat down with david letterman back in january for dave's netflix series, "my next guest needs noths before that infamous chris rock oscars slap. >> it's almost unreal, but what we know now makes what will said back then even more fascinating. >> what you see in the club all the time is a dude will be talking, and just -- bang!

. >> david letterman originally had a one-hour daytime show, and nbc, after like 13 weeks, decided toked? >> it was a dismal failure in terms of the ratings, but not in terms of introducing us to letterman. >> david, thank you for being with us tonight. >> thank you very much for having me, i appreciate it. >> in spite of all this nonsense that goes around in the background, stay with it, don't give up. stay with us here in new york. >> dave is back in new york. you're going to host a late-night television program that premieres monday night. what are critics likely to say tuesday morning? >> i don't much care because i found a way to deal with that, pills and whiskey. >> david, you're on. >> oh, i'm on? i'm sorry. >> proceed. >> i'm enjoying listening to you snort. >> they gave him "the late night show" after "the tonight show." and at the time, people thought who's going to watch television at 12:30 at night? who's up? i'll tell you who's up. young people. college people. >> is it going well? i know this is the first show and i think this guy needs a little support, dave letterman.

listen to this: "jerry seinfeld has appeared "on david letterman and the tonight show, "and he did ahere? he can't handle the truth. all right. this is too much fun. i gotta get back to work. so i called back? same state farm agent. texted the next day? same guy. is that even legal? and get this - he remembered my name. of course. (whispering) hey, blink twice if you're in danger. whoa, guys. at state farm, we actually get to know you. it's called service. come on! like a good neighbor, state farm is there.®

. >> jimmy: -- and david letterman and jay leno and all those guys -- >> yeah.y that we all cherish today were all there showcasing. occasionally you'd have people like steve martin would come in or redd foxx or richard pryor. >> jimmy: redd foxx would come in. wow. >> yeah. he was the dirtiest comic i've heard in my life. >> jimmy: and one of the greatest for sure. >> he had that character down that he did on television, the famous iconic character. >> jimmy: fred sanford. >> yeah. but he was raunchy. >> jimmy: yeah. >> also the comedians when they were on stage were pretty blue, you know. >> jimmy: and you were just a kid at that time. would you ever interact with redd foxx or rodney? >> i would watch a lot of the comedians at the time. you know. you remember freddie asparagus our friend that passed away. >> jimmy: yeah, fred asparagus. he used to be -- >> yeah. fred asparagus. >> jimmy: my friend don knows him. >> he was an amazing comic. but there's a lot of those comics on the periphery that are so talented but they're kind of -- they're in the -- >> jimmy:

no, no, no it's a funny movie i'll give you a hint -- oh, i'll give you a hint david letterman has aplay can you play us a little something? >> oh, let's see ♪ ♪ ♪ >> jimmy: do you play -- all jazz >> oh, i play on anything. >> jimmy: if i could play you a little, i know a little bit of - >> play something. >> jimmy: let me see if i can play it. ♪ ♪ i'm happy i'm feeling sad i've got sunshine in a bag i'm useless but not for long the future is coming on ♪ ♪ i'm happy feeling sad i've got sunshine in a bag i'm useless but not for long the future is coming on ♪ ♪ is coming o is coming on is coming on ♪ i don't know, i'm playing around [ cheers and applause you can play anything, and just get right into it. i think that's fun >> well, i'm a humble student, these guys know, but yes, i like to make things up >> jimmy: can you do maybe the theme to "jurassic park? >> wait a second do you know the lyrics to it ♪ [ cheers and applause ♪ ♪ in jurassic par scary in the dar i'm so scared that i'll be eaten ♪ [ cheers and applause >> jimmy: i didn't know there were lyrics. but you were telling m

. >> no, no, no. [ laughter ] >> joe -- >> david letterman was joking about that a decade ago. >> joe, there is maybe something to be said for the fact, and i am especially the queen of wearing a mask. i should wear a mask for practically everything now. doing the show, no. but, you know, i wear a mask when i travel. i think we all have been so separated and we've been so careful and masking, i wonder if just getting out into the world again, we're catching just normal viruses. i wonder if there is something to that. >> i think there is something to that. i also think, though, that, again, the lesson of china is if you have a zero covid tolerance policy, what you're going to do is drive down everybody's resistance. when they do get back out in the world, at some point, they're all going to get sick. i think everybody should wear -- you know, i'll tell you, when i go to a store and somebody is wearing a mask, if it is an older person, i usually have one on, i'll put it on out of courtesy getting on and off of planes. they say when everybody is packed in, that's a smart time to d