David Letterman Was Terrified of the Green Day Drummer, Says Hi to Dana Carvey

Andrew Sanford, who is typically on the late-night beat, was kind enough to let me post about David Letterman, who returned to the Ed Sullivan Theater — the home of his and Stephen Colbert’s The Late Show — for the first time since he retired from the show in 2015. Growing up, Letterman was my television Dad. He received a standing ovation upon his return.

I try and catch Letterman anytime he makes a public appearance. It’s the closest thing I get to spending time with an older family member. He’s been on Kimmel a couple of times, he’s appeared on Conan and Marc Maron’s podcast, as well as the Smartless podcast, and the great thing about Letterman is that he’s always Letterman. I think he appreciates the reception he gets, but once that dies down, he answers the usual questions (What do you miss most? What would you have changed?) almost as though he’s still behind the desk. Colbert is just along for the ride.

Here, Colbert asks Letterman if he had anyone — like Jon Stewart for him — that he could call up and commiserate with. Letterman’s honest answer is no. When Johnny Carson retired, he basically went into seclusion, and the only other person who might have understood was his nemesis, Jay Leno.

This is the most Letterman of the segments, where he talks about being an empty nester. When Letterman became a father in 2003 at the age of 56, I thought, “Oh my god! He is going to be 75 years old when his son goes off to college.” Well, his son has gone off to college!

It’s in this segment where Letterman also says hi to Dana Carvey. That’s all. Just hi. (Dana Carvey lost his son last week and is enduring the kind of pain that no parent should ever have to endure).

Finally, Letterman talks about his experiences with musical guests while noting that The National left their tour — they were in Mumbai — to appear on last night’s The Late Show at Letterman’s request. The Foo Fighters, likewise, left their South American tour for a day to fly back to New York to appear on Letterman’s first show after his heart surgery (the Foo Fighters also appeared on Dave’s last show). Asked about specific memories, Letterman also recalled being terrified of the drummer for Green Day (Tré Cool) because he would aggressively charge Dave after every musical performance.

It was good to see Dave again, and if you have another few minutes and like The National, here is their performance from last night, too (Letterman helped introduce them).