‘Please save some for my funeral'

Tributes flood in for Letterman's last Late Show

David Letterman bowed out of The Late Show last night, after 22 years on the air and 6,028 broadcast.

And for his final Top Ten list, a parade of A-listers appeared on the show to give their 'things I've always wanted to say to Dave'.

Here they are:

10. Alec Baldwin: 'Of all the talk shows, yours is the most geographically convenient to my home.'

9. Barbara Walters: 'Did you know you wear the same cologne as Muammar Gaddafi?'

8. Steve Martin: 'Your extensive plastic surgery was necessary and a mistake.'

7. Jerry Seinfeld: 'I have no idea what I'll do when you go off the air. You know, I just thought of something: I'll be fine.'

6. Jim Carrey: 'Honestly, Dave? I've always found you to be a bit of an over-actor.'

5. Chris Rock: 'I'm just glad your show is being given to another white guy.'

4. Julia Louis-Dreyfus: 'Thanks for letting me take part in another hugely disappointing series finale.' [The camera cuts to Jerry Seinfeld mouthing: 'Really?']

3. Peyton Manning: 'Dave, you are to comedy … what I am to comedy.'

2. Tina Fey: 'Thanks for finally proving men can be funny.'

1. Bill Murray: 'Dave, I'll never have the money I owe you.'

Three Presidents – George Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush – bade farewell Letterman. After a clip of President Gerald Ford saying: 'Our long national nightmare is over,' when he took office following Richard Nixon's resignation in 1974.

Then Obama added: 'David Letterman is retiring'.

The 68-year-old host then sidled up to the President and said: 'You're just kidding, right?'

Later in the show, he said: 'The last six weeks, it's been crazy… I can't tell you how flattering, embarrassing, and gratifying it's all been,' adding: 'Please save some for my funeral.'

'You want to know what I'm going to do now that I'm retired?' he said. 'By God, I hope to become the new face of Scientology.'

Stephen Colbert takes over the reins of the CBS show from September 8.

Here is Letterman's final entrance: