david letterman, what are you -- what are you doing here? the 23rd hour of the "today" show? [ laughter ] >> jimmy: no, no, no. this is -- this is "the tonight show." >> david: jimmy? >> jimmy: yeah, hi. [ laughter ] >> david: oh, my -- paul, what are you doing here? >> paul: you know, it's a funny story. have you ever taken too much ambien, and then you wake up somewhere with no clue how the hell you got there? >> david: wow, you've been reading my diary. [ laughter ] ♪ listen. jimmy, by the way, congratulations. this is fantastic. i'm telling you this is perhaps the greatest rehearsal i've ever been part of. [ laughter ] >> jimmy: no, this is the -- this is the -- >> david: huh? >> jimmy: this is the real show. >> david: whoa. it's -- paul and i -- right, paul, used to do a show. >> paul: we sure did. >> david: pretty much exactly like this. >> paul: yes. >> david: yeah, we didn't do the chuck e. cheese crap. but we -- [ laughter ] >> paul: i thought there was something different. >> david: it's very similar. >> jimmy: david, since you're h

david letterman's a really hardworking guy. [ laughter ] and he made his crew and all the people that worked on his show, they really wanted to make the show good for him. they were really devoted in the way a military man would -- a general would inspire his troops. and, you know, i think that i get that feeling from your people, too. >> seth: that is very nice of you to say. you of course were -- you were the established guy when you did that show in 1982. but you came into "snl" second season. and so at that point was this hit show, you were the only new guy they brought in. >> right. >> seth: and what were your rly shows like? do you feel as though you fit in right away? >> no. well, actually, the first day they hired me sort of to come for a look-see. and they wrote me three great sketches that i killed. i was great. [ laughter ] i was really good. and i was like, "god damn, this is great." well, then that was it. no one ever wrote a sketch for me for like seven months or so. i was the second cop, the second fbi man, the s

good laugh, but oversaturating the talk show circuit may have had unintended consequences, as david letterman he appeared on the "late show" in 2009. the more you talked and the more you repeated your innocence, the more i said to myself, "oh, this guy's guilty." [laughter] so during the period from your impeachment to your trial and your sentencing, you did a lot of media appearances. what was the strategy behind that? my feeling was like, "look, i didn't do any of that stuff," and what does somebody do who's being lied about? but you have a tremendous desire to get out at the highest mountain and yell out, "i didn't do it." well, letterman said that the louder you yelled it, the more it made him think you were guilty. yeah. yeah, i mean, i didn't-- i didn't convince him, but, uh, i think i convinced donald trump. that's why i got invited on "celebrity apprentice," right? i have great respect for your tenacity, for the fact that you just don't give up. but, rod...you're fired. ♪ what i saw over the course of rod's career was a guy who started off as kind of a charming rogue and a guy who rea

conan o'brien, david letterman. you've got actors. you've got athletes. you've got musicians on the show. do they approach it in different ways? athletes compared to actors? >> yeah. i'm curious your take on this. i do think genre to genre, there is a difference in how they approach it. like in an an athlete, when they're doing "hot ones," they approach it in a one more rep kind of way. you can see the athlete wiring in them on the show. and then actors, artists very like i need to immerse myself in the experience. [ laughter ] and then musicians are just worried we might have fried their vocal cords, destroyed their career while appear this talk show. >> jimmy: i feel like a glutton, i guess, is the way i approach it. it's funny, because i looked at some of the comments after i did it on youtube, and people are very impressed that i ate the whole wing, which i didn't know. it never occurred to me not to eat the whole wing. >> i know this about you. so i think that's an exalted category in "hot ones" guests, ones th

. >> john: i remember al gore smashing a $20 ashtray with a $50 hammer on david letterman's show a longly. >> john: nobody seemed to complain about that but the democrats definitely seem to be fearmongering because there was a d.o.g.e. visit to parkersburg, west virginia, the bureau of fiscal service, part of the treasury department's payments operation. the former president and ceo of paypal to say, look, democrats need to stop fearmongering, but it's also incumbent upon the trump administration to add some clarity here. he wrote in part, quote, p or mongering by democrats is scaring people and they have a responsibly to be clear, honest, and transparent about wt danger it holds, the trump administration and musk should know people are nervous about the breakneck change that is happening, the federal government is not an unmanned rocket ship that we can blow up and learn lessons from. so it is kind of a little bit, i don't want to say it is a pox on both houses but it is a little both sides have some responsibility here, to be clear with the american people and be transparent and be fa

cheers and applause ] >> jimmy: my thanks to jim gaffigan, betty gilpin, mary ellen matthews, david lettermanadam lambert, once again! [ cheers and applause ] and paul shaffer and the world's most dangerous band. [ cheers and applause ] thank you for watching. stay tuned for "late night with seth meyers." good night, everybody! [ cheers and applause ] ♪ ♪ [ cheers and applause ] ♪ >> announcer: from 30 rockefeller plaza in new york, it's "late night with seth meyers." tonight -- graham norton, alex wagner. an all-new "closer look." ♪ [ cheers and applause ] and now, seth meyers. >> seth: good evening everybody. i'm seth meyers. this is "late night." we hope you're doing well. and now if you don't mind, we're going to get to the news. president-elect trump will be sworn in next week for his second term. "well, i'm out," said everyone doing dry january. [ laughter ] president biden on wednesday is set to deliver his farewell address from the oval office, though i think he already did that during the first debate. [ light laughter ] bye, bye. former vice president mike pence revealed on friday w

david letterman, adam lambert, once again! [ cheers and applause ] and paul shaffer and the world's most dangerous band. [ cheers and applause ] thank you for watching. stay tuned for "late night with seth meyers." good night, everybody! [ cheers and applause ] ♪ ♪ [ cheers and applause ] ♪ >> announcer: from 30 rockefeller plaza in new york, it's "late night with seth meyers." tonight -- colman domingo. from "snl," writer paula pell. an all-new closer look. ♪ [ cheers and applause ] and now, seth meyers. >> seth: good evening, everybody. i'm seth meyers. this is "late night." we hope you're doing well. and now, if you don't mind we're going to get to the news. during his fox news interview last night before the super bowl, president trump said that he was backing the kansas city chiefs. oh, man, that sure didn't work out. [ laughter ] who else -- who else were you backing last night? drake? [ ughter ] during the same interview, trump also said that he's serious about wanting canada to become the 51st state. and you know an id

i mean, paul spent 33 years as david letterman's musical director. well, guess what?ke, i feel like i died and woke up in morning television. >> what is it going to be like? you will be across the hall from your old studio? studio 6 a and studio 6b. i've done the jimmy fallon show one time. i substituted for quest love and the roots. yes, it is like going back in a time machine. he's right across the street where i wawith david letter man for some 12 years. we used to follow johnny carson at 12:30. so we were in the spot at that point. it is great to be here. what a way to kick it off. >> i know. and it's snl 50 week. the roots is off so that they could get ready for the show this weekend. but you have snl roots. i don't know if people can remember that. >> i was a host pianist in the band. the first five years. i wrote certain songs, funny songs for the group. but this was chevy chase, you know, when we started at bill murray theater and gilda radner, that whole crew, yes. and then the fifth season, i became what they called a featured player, actually, in some sketc

. >> david letterman, what are you -- what are you doing here? tonight show." >> jimmy? >> yeah! >> a little "today" show joke there. >> love that. >> don't say that too loud or there will be a 23rd hour. dave back in late night. jimmy offered him a chance to get back into the groove reading some jokes on cue cards. and here's how that turned out. >> hi. how are you? what's your name? >> roman. >> first night? >> okay, good. okay. okay. all right. let me see the -- come back. nah, i'm good. thanks. >> had a hard time finding what he liked there. there you go. >> by the way, those cue card guys that work on "snl" have the hardest job because it is like -- you have to be fast. you know when you can't get your papers. >> they get stuck together. >> it is so stressful. >> they're ad libbing, too. so you have to follow along. there is an art to it. wally is the best. he's done it forever. >> we should get joe fryer to do an homage to him. >> it's early in the week, savannah. >>> a full "popstart" is on the way. plus jenna is ready to go with a special

and, you know, al gore famously going on david letterman to try to show his examples. i remember at one point, the reagan administration, somebody saying to the washington post, you know, why did we even come here? you can't you can't do anything. you can't update anything. so this is something that that we've heard administrations complain about for 40 years. the biggest concern, of course, has been one, whether they were doing it in a constitutional, lawful manner. and two, the lack of transparency. i'm curious what you saw yesterday in this press conference by elon musk, and we will get to the conflicts of interest, which obviously is a is a glaring red light there. but but on these other issues, what what were your thoughts about the press conference? >> so the scene itself. >> was bizarre. >> you had musk and his maga hat dressed all in black, a long coat that looked almost like a cape with his young son, x climbing all over him, climbing on the floor, president trump often looking uncomfortable at the scene. so the scene itself was bizarre. the point you make tha