David Letterman kicked off the last week of Late Show on Monday in familiar fashion: A monologue, a Top 10 list, a big star for a guest and a musical act. But with just a couple of broadcasts to go before Wednesday's finale would wrap up 33 years on late night, it's not like he was ignoring the elephant in the room.
Letterman took the stage Monday and, in trademark self-deprecating fashion, shushed the bigger-than-usual overture from the crowd, which sensed its privileged position of witnessing history at the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City.
"Folks, please. Alright. Thank you. Please be seated, that's good. You know thank you very much. You know ... that's very sweet of you, very generous of you, but you know, the show's not that good. I wish it was."
Letterman also referenced the weather in New York, as he's tended to do all these years: "68 an foggy. Oh what, that's me," he said.
And then, a nod to his pending TV obvlivion: "Tonight I'll be talking to Tom Hanks. Next week I'll be at the post office talking to the clerk."
The Top10 list -- "Things I'll miss about working at the Late Show" -- was presented by Letterman's long-time crew; highlights came from stage manager Biff Henderson and music director Paul Shaffer:
[img src="http://admin.mashable.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Biff.jpg" caption="Biff Henderson on Monday night's "Late Show."" credit="Mashable/Josh Dickey" alt="Biff"]
[img src="http://admin.mashable.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Paul.Dave_.jpg" caption="Paul Shaffer reads No. 1 on the Top Ten list during Monday night's "Late Show."" credit="Mashable/Josh Dickey" alt="Paul.Dave"]
And to wrap up the night, Eddie Vedder played the Pearl jam hit "Better Man," hammering his Fender Telecaster so hard that he broke his high E-string halfway through the song -- which you can see dangling in the photo below:
[img src="http://admin.mashable.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/eddie.vedder.string.jpg" caption="Eddie Vedder playing "Better Man" during Monday night's "Late Show."" credit="Mashable/Josh Dickey" alt="eddie.vedder.string"]
Though no one knows what Late Show has in store for the Wednesday finale, Tuesday night's show was all lined up: Bill Murray was set to make his 60th appearance, with Bob Dylan as musical guest.