CBS Announces Big Guests for Letterman’s Final Shows

As predicted, Tom Hanks and Bill Murray will be among the final guests that David Letterman has on his show before calling it quits this coming Wednesday night, May 20. Perhaps less predictable are the musical guests who will appear next week.

Monday night, Letterman will host Hanks and feature a solo performance by Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder. Tuesday, Murray, who was Letterman’s first guest when he launched Late Night on NBC in 1982, will make his 21st appearance on the Late Show. Then, none other than Bob Dylan will perform on the show for the first time since November 1993, the first year Letterman debuted on CBS.

Tonight, Friday, May 15 will see the return of Oprah Winfrey and a chat with Letterman’s old friend Norm Macdonald. No guests have been announced by Letterman’s final show next Wednesday. Either he’s got some big surprises planned (Stephen Colbert?) or, as Johnny Carson did on his final show, it will consist mainly of memories and clips.

Letterman’s ratings have been way up during his last few weeks, beating the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon by a large margin in total viewers for the week ending May 8. There is no doubt that his final episode will be one of his most-watched ever.

Watch Dylan and his band play “Forever Young” on the Late Show 22 years ago below:

[Photo via screengrab]

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