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David Letterman’s final ‘Late Show’ set for May 20, CBS says

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David Letterman fans, mark your calendars: Dave’s final “Late Show” will be May 20, 2015.

CBS and Letterman’s production company, Worldwide Pants Inc. announced the end date of the host’s 22-year run on the network on Wednesday morning.

Letterman announced his intention to retire in April, but aside from saying it would happen sometime in 2015, no one has known exactly when his last show would be. CBS even announced his successor, Stephen Colbert, whose Comedy Central show will end Dec. 18. But the question remained as to when Letterman would actually step down and Colbert would take over.

While there’s still no official start date for Colbert, it’s reasonable to expect it to come sometime in the fall, since crews will need the summer to dismantle Letterman’s sets and install Colbert’s team in the Ed Sullivan Theatre.

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Letterman is the longest-tenured late-night talk show host. At the time of his retirement, he will have hosted 6,028 episodes of late night TV, including both his CBS and NBC “Late Night” shows.

The date of Letterman’s retirement is reminiscent to that of his idol, Johnny Carson, who stepped down from the “Tonight Show” on May 22, 1992.

“David Letterman has given to all of us a remarkable legacy of achievement and creative brilliance that will never be forgotten,” CBS President and Chief Executive Leslie Moonves said in a statement.

Now the biggest question will be: Who will be Dave’s last guest? His first guest on both his NBC and CBS late night shows was Bill Murray, who has returned frequently over the years. Is it reasonable to expect Murray will be back one last time in May?

Follow me on Twitter: @patrickkevinday

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