Our 9 Favorite David Letterman Moments of All Time

David Letterman says farewell to late-night television this week and we honor the talk show pioneer with our nine favorite Letterman moments of all time. Why not a "Top 10 List" of Letterman moments? Well, that would be too obvious...

Drew Barrymore's Boobs
Back in 1995 Letterman was celebrating his 48th birthday and the best present anyone could ask for, a table dance from a then-20-year-old Drew Barrymore.

Jerry Lawler vs Andy Kaufman
In 1982 the legendary comedian Andy Kaufman staged the fight of the century against wrestler Jerry Lawler. After an onstage fight Kaufman freaked out, launching into a string of obscenities. Letterman's quiet amusement at the craziness around him made the whole episode seem even more bizarre. Here is the complete uncensored clip (NSFW language)

The Alka Seltzer Suit
What made Dave such a pioneer was his ability to come out from behind the desk and make himself the butt of the joke. In 1984 he put on a suit made entirely of Alka Seltzer and had  himself lowered into a tank of water.

Madonna
In 1994 Madonna was a guest on the show for perhaps one of Letterman's most controversial interviews. After dropping the F-bomb 14 times and bringing Dave a pair of her panties to "smell," the pop-singer refused to leave the stage. After jeers from the audience and an investigation by the FCC died down Letterman came out on top with more publicity than he could ever dream of. Maybe that's why Madge never got banned from the show and made quite a few appearances since. (Unedited interview is below. Language NSFW)

Chris Elliott
During the early days of David Letterman, Chris Elliott was his go-to guest. Whenever there was a need for some sort of stupid or ridiculous moment, Elliott was happy to supply it. Here is one of my all-time favorite Chris Elliott moments, the Bananas Dance.

The Borat Interview
When Sascha Barron Cohen wanted to introduce the Borat to America there was no better place to do it than to be interviewed by Letterman in character.

Joaquin Phoenix
When Joaquin Phoenix appeared in a strange 2009 interview with Letterman, the world wondered if Phoenix had completely lost his mind. As it turns out it was all an act... but it wouldn't have been funny at all if it weren't for Letterman's dead pan one-liners and eye-rolls. Letterman sums up the interview perfectly at the end by saying "Joaquin, I'm sorry you couldn't be here tonight."

Stupid Pet Tricks
Letterman turned lame talk show bits that everyone else was doing into hilarious cutting-edge comedy moments. There's no better example than Stupid Pet Tricks. Ordinary people would show off their pets' special talents while Letterman looked on in amazement.

Bill Murray
David Letterman's very first guest in 1982 was Bill Murray. On Tuesday night, Letterman ends his reign by asking Murray back for his final Late Night interview.