The programme opened with a huge musical number featuring cheerleaders, The Roots and a whole host of wackiness.

Guests on the live show included fellow Saturday Night Live alumni Adam Sandler & Andy Samberg, and members of the New York Giants team – the Super Bowl 2012 champions.

Jimmy’s signature impressions also made an appearance, including parodies of the Real Housewives programme.

Watch clips of some of the best bits from the live show below:

Jay Thomas told his Lone Ranger story that we never grow tired of – one of the best anecdotes ever told. This year the story-telling had a bit of a twist with the addition of a video segment at the end of it featuring Dave as the Lone Ranger himself!

Dave and Jay threw footballs at the meatball & pizza on top of the Late Show Christmas tree for the annual Quarterback Challenge.

Darlene Love closed the show with another fantastic rendition of “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”.

The annual messages from the US troops serving overseas were also a part of the show going into the commercial breaks.

As an added bonus former Frasier actor David Hyde Pierce stopped by to talk about his new theatre show on Broadway.

The only thing missing was Paul Shaffer’s Cher impression, but just look on YouTube and enjoy one from a previous year if you feel inclined.

On a sadder note, it was cameraman Dave Dorsett’s final Late Show as he was retiring after a long career with CBS. He’s been seen in many on-air segments over the years usually involving something happening with the camera (i.e. falling asleep when Dave is talking and having the camera dip down low, or saying he thought it was just a rehearsal and walking out of the theatre). I always loved these little segments with Dave Dorsett and he’ll be missed on the Late Show.

The Late Show Christmas show is always a highlight of the festive season for me. Watch some of the highlights below:

It was Regis’s final week of Live With Regis & Kelly shows this week and Dave let him go out in style – surprising him with a present of a Vespa scooter. However Regis did fall off it as he drove off into the sunset – it could only happen to Regis!

Regis’s little mishap was even featured in the London Evening Standard newspaper. Click here to read all about it.

This is the first time he’s hosted a talk show from New York since NBC’s Late Night programme.

Watch some highlights of last week’s NYC shows below:

The US President was on a whirlwind three-day fundraising tour for elections next year.

The first part of the interview was the most serious, as Obama discussed the recent crisis in Libya, the war in Iraq and terrorist threats.

The second part of the interview was a bit more light-hearted as the President talked about his family’s TV viewing habits, giving up smoking since taking up office and wanting to give out candy at Halloween when Michelle always wants to promote healthy food instead.

Boston.com – “Obama to Leno: Libya a recipe for success”

The concert was streamed live on the CBS Late Show website and is now available to watch on demand on their website:

In addition to the Live On Letterman webcast concert, Coldplay also performed their new song Paradise on an episode of the Late Show this week:

The new talk show followed a very similar format to his old BBC1 show Friday Night With Jonathan Ross. So much so that certain reviewers are describing it as the same show but with adverts.

It’s a very traditional talk show and still features the backstage “green room” area where guests wait and are shown on a TV screen.

After one guest is interviewed they return to the “green room” area – the same as his old BBC1 show worked (not like The Graham Norton Show where the guest normally stays out when the next one is interviewed.

The set for the show looks very American-esque and reminded me a lot of the sets for The Tonight Show With Jay Leno and Conan.

The new theme tune was produced by Mark Ronson and featured trumpets and orchestral sounds – again, similar to the theme tunes for The Tonight Show, Late Night and Conan in the US.

An ITV1 repeat will air on Thursday 10.35pm and a further repeat will air on ITV2 on Friday at 11.40pm.

The full show is available to watch on ITV Player and there are a couple of exclusive online clips they couldn’t fit into the show:

The Jonathan Ross Show – Episode 1 in full
The Jonathan Ross Show – “Singing in the shower with Lewis”
The Jonathan Ross Show – “Adele’s Screaming In The Deep”

David Letterman was threatened by radical Islamists for a joke he made on the Late Show. The Washington Times reports “David Letterman had a fatwa issued against him by jihadists for having the nerve to make a joke about a jihadist. The edict required that as a Jew, his tongue should be cut out for speaking blasphemy. Mr. Letterman is not Jewish, but Radical Islamists never let facts interfere with fatwas”.

Letterman has beefed up security at the Ed Sullivan Theatre where the Late Show is taped in New York City but has since joked about the threat saying “everybody knows it’s Leno” and did a special segment showing everyone who “hates” Dave. He also said “a radical extremist threatened to cut my tongue out… I wish I had a nickel for every time a guy has threatened… I think the first time was during the Academy Awards”.

Craig Ferguson also had a scare himself this week when an envelope of white powder arrived in the mail at the Late Late Show from overseas. The Los Angeles Times reports “the powder was purported to be anthrax but later proved to be harmless”.

Ferguson joked about his threat saying “In the old days if someone sent me white powder I’d have said ‘Yeah’… I’d have snorted it, ended up at a party at Elton John’s house or rehab or both… but nowadays white powder in the mail is bad… this is the most attention this show has gotten since… this is the most attention this show has gotten”.

The Washington Times – “Radical Islamists target Zionist Infidel David Letterman”
Starpulse.com – “David Letterman Blames Jay Leno For Terrorist Threats”
Los Angeles Times – “Late Night: Craig Ferguson calls anthrax scare frightening”

Conan O’Brien spoke out about the show’s axing on his own talk show saying “I want to take one second right now and talk about something serious. Today, not long ago – a couple of hours ago – it was announced that TBS is not renewing George Lopez’s show for a third season. I have very strong feelings about this, and I wanted to talk about it. Had it not been for George being so incredibly supportive of me a year and a half ago, I would not have come to TBS and we would not be doing this show right now. I owe that man a lot, and frankly, it makes me very sad that TBS and George could not work this out. I really like being a part of a late-night lineup with George, and I wish that this could’ve continued. So, tonight, all of our thoughts are with George and his entire staff and crew. We understand, believe me, how hard this is for all of you, and we wish you all the best”.

In a similar move to Conan O’Brien when he left The Tonight Show, George Lopez will be going on a US tour “where he says the things TV networks would never let him say” (according to the official Lopez Tonight website). If you’re in the US at some point this year check out the tour dates by clicking here.

Click here for more details on the axing of Lopez Tonight.

He was promoting the episodes of the Late Late Show that he filmed in France earlier this year.

Those Paris shows will air on CBS next week.

During the Late Show interview Craig and Dave also talked about the London shows Dave did several years ago.