David Letterman, the late night legend, returned to New York’s Ed Sullivan Theater on Monday. He told Stephen Colbert, his successor, that he missed the daily grind, the musical guests, and even the chair.

Before concluding his appearance on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” Letterman requested a favor, which was granted without hesitation – to sit for a brief moment behind the desk from which Letterman retired in 2015 .

Letterman joked, “We do this so my son won’t believe that I ever had a show,” before he and his co-stars took a selfie. They reenacted the one they did in 2014 after it was announced Colbert will be taking over.

Letterman walked onto the stage with his trademark white beard and was met by a roaring applause, which he accepted in a comical manner.

He said, “This is the most enthusiastic crowd I’ve been around since the night that I announced my resignation,” on the CBS broadcast. “Wow. “Thank you for your kind words.

Letterman has been retired from “The Late Show”, but he still misses his work and the opportunity to redeem himself for a poor performance by giving it another shot the next day.

He said, “I miss it all. It’s mostly fun.” “Very little in life gives you the chance to do it again if something goes wrong. 24 hours later you can try again. That’s pretty cool.” ”

Letterman said that he also missed listening to a band every day and welcoming a different musical guest each week.

It’s hard to imagine a life without that. It was wonderful to hear you again,” he said, gesturing at The Late Show Band.

Letterman still had the comic touch as he fired off one-liners with little effort.

• Letterman, 76, said that he and wife were bored with their son and Harry who are now in college. They joked about how they could only have another child, or divorce: “The paperwork is the same, either way, so we’re sort of stuck.”
• Letterman was horrified to see a man in a drugstore being given a long rod. The pharmacist explained that the rod was used for bathroom issues: “Yeah. That’s where we store the key to the male restroom.” It’s gross, isn’t it?
• Letterman responded: “What? All of this marijuana?” Colbert seemed to be gesturing toward the snacks and supples on his desk as he asked if Letterman approved of the setup.

Letterman spent a moment of heartfelt greeting with Dana Carvey and her son Dex Carvey 32 who died last week from an accidental overdose.

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Letterman did not mention Carvey’s tragic death, but he shouted him out and said that he enjoyed having Carvey on his show.

Letterman stated that “I and share the experience of heat surgery , and every time he was on the show I felt great sympathy and empathy back and forth.”

Letterman is a late-night television icon. He hosted “Late Night” for NBC over a decade and “The Late Show”, for CBS, for more than 20 years. He has won numerous Emmys and the Mark Twain Prize of American Humor.

Netflix currently has him hosting the long-form interview series “My Next guest Needs no introduction”.

The former host praised Colbert’s work as CBS’ late-night show’s host while back at the Ed Sullivan Theater.

Letterman said, “It is not easy, but you make it seem very easy. Congratulations to you and your staff.”