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.

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:

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”

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.

The host of TBS’s Lopez Tonight late night talk show (which airs after Conan) stopped by the Late Show to discuss the infamous NBC debacle between Conan O’Brien and Jay Leno over The Tonight Show, and George moving timeslots on TBS to make way for Conan’s current talk show on the cable TV channel, amongst other things.

George Lopez interview:

James Whittemore – an aspiring actor from Harlem who performs under his stage name Jimmy Whittemore – broke into the lobby of the theatre building late on Saturday night.

It’s reported he urinated on the antique front doors (dating back to 1924) then smashed his way in through them into the lobby area and trashed everything inside.

DNAinfo.com reports “sources said that he knocked over stanchions, pulled objects from the walls and made his way into an unlocked office. There, he allegedly tossed around phones and printers”.

It’s reported James Whittemore was too drunk to remember what he did.

DNAinfo.com reports he’s “charged with third-degree burglary, a felony, and criminal mischief, is due back in court on Friday” for the offence. The website also has photos from the scene of the crime.

Letterman mentioned the break-in several times on the show last night and started his monologue with “How’d you folks get in?”, joked “I’m told now that Jay has an alibi” and made reference to Charlie Sheen. Dave also had “actual” surveillance footage from the Ed Sullivan Theater lobby showing the break-in featuring somebody familiar. A special Top Ten list was aired called “Top Ten Excuses of the Guy Who Broke Into the Ed Sullivan Theater”.

Monday’s monologue:

Top Ten:

DNAinfo.com – “Ed Sullivan Theater Burglarized by Harlem Singer, Cops Say”
DNAinfo.com – “Accused David Letterman Theater Vandal Arraigned”
New York Post – “Dave’s vandal a wreck”

Dave presented a special Top Ten list to mark the occasion:

Dave said “The guy who owns CBS, Leslie Moonves, called me about six weeks ago… We want to open up the presentation with a real blockbuster, a real bang. You know, get people in a good mood, get them feeling good, get them feeling great and then everything will be fantastic”.

However, Letterman said the idea was scrapped as CBS President Les Moonves said it was no longer required once they had the new Ashton Kutcher was coming to CBS’s show Two And A Half Men.

The skit was shown at the start of the fall preview show at Carnegie Hall this week.

The Clicker – “David Letterman sings? Well, sort of”

To celebrate, Dave’s mother read the Top Ten list for “Top Ten Letterman Family Mother’s Day Traditions” last week, live via satellite to the Ed Sullivan Theatre: