Hurry back, Dave: don't put it past sidekick Paul Schaffer to enjoy running the show without you.
Hey, this is show biz. Everyone from Late Late shadow Craig Kilborn to underappreciated cable guy Jon Stewart could be angling for your desk-and-sofa set.
After a week on hiatus, CBS' The Late Show returns Monday night with its trademark band leader, a weeklong list of guest hosts, but no Letterman, as the talk-show host continues to recuperate from an eye infection caused by a case of shingles, a viral infection related to chicken pox.
Letterman's Ed Sullivan Theater seat-warmers this week include Whoopi Goldberg, Vince Vaughn, Elvis Costello and Will Ferrell. A fifth guest host for Friday's show is expected to be announced some time this week.
"Dave's condition continues to improve and his overall health is excellent, but a complete recovery will require some additional time," said Dr. Louis J. Arrone, who has been treating Letterman, in a statement released on Friday. "Dave's principal treatment at this point is rest."
Letterman called in sick March 26, only the second time in 20 years that TV's late-night iron man has taken sick leave--the first was following his heart surgery in 2000.
Bruce Willis, scheduled to appear to promote his movie Tears of the Sun, was tapped as a last-minute replacement the first day, followed by tennis pro John McEnroe and old friend Regis Philbin.
The show had already been scheduled to go on hiatus last week.
Reeg was among those tapped to cover for the gap-toothed funnyman during his five-week break following emergency quintuple bypass surgery three years ago. Philbin, who suffered his own emergency angioplasty in 1993, had been the first confidante to hear of Letterman's heart surgery and was there again when the wise-cracking host returned during February 2000 sweeps. The time off did good things for Dave, who returned to his highest ratings in nearly seven years.
In other Late Show news, stand-up comedian George Miller, who appeared on Letterman's late-night talk show more than any other comic, died Wednesday at UCLA Medical Center of complications from a blood clot in his brain. He was 61.
Miller, who also cracked funny for Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show, had followed Letterman from his Late Night days at NBC to his current gig at CBS, performing on the show 56 times during the last two decades.
"George was my oldest friend and one of the funniest people I ever knew," Letterman said in a statement. "We are all very sad that he is gone."
Miller's last appearance on the Late Show was in September.