My first thought watching the ad above, promoting "The Late Show with David Letterman," may have been the same as yours: were Jay Leno and David Letterman really in the same room? Because I spent the entire month of January (and a little bit of last week) watching Letterman absolutely eviscerate Leno over his re-taking of "The Tonight Show," and were I either one of them, I wouldn't necessarily want to hang out after that, even for the purposes of a TV spot. Fortunately, Bill Carter of The New York Times (the official documentarian of Late Night War I and II) has the story of how it all came together.
But...that's not the whole story. TheWrap.com reports exclusively that the initial idea for the spot featured the two late-night hosts and Conan O'Brien. Evidently, though, O'Brien is sticking to the spirit of his classy "Tonight Show" sign-off, which is a triumph for good manners but a tragedy for those of us who might have liked to see Jay Leno covered in guacamole and shame.
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