Comedian David Letterman will return next week to host his CBS late-night show for the first time since he was sidelined in late February by a case of shingles, the network said on Friday.
The 55-year-old star of the LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN last appeared Feb. 25, when he complained on the air about the visible inflammation of his right eye, which turned out to have been caused by shingles, a viral infection related to chickenpox.
Actor Bruce Willis, tennis star John McEnroe and TV personality Regis Philbin filled in as the LATE SHOW guest hosts for the rest of that week.
Repeats aired while the program was on a production hiatus the following week, and a parade of additional guests subbed for Letterman on those nights when his show was not preempted by CBS college basketball coverage.
Overall LATE SHOW ratings during Letterman's absence, his first since recuperating from open-heart surgery in early 2000, were mixed, and CBS hoped for a big tune-in for his first night back.
Guests will include comedian Billy Crystal and 18-year-old world whistling champion Michael Barimo. Letterman plans to host all episodes of his show throughout the week.
Insiders said swelling around Letterman's eye cleared up relatively soon, but lingering pain associated with the infection is what kept him away for so long.
Before his heart operation, Letterman had never missed an appearance in his more than 20 years of late-night television. (As reported by Reuters)
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