Editing David Letterman (section)

=== Heart surgery hiatus ===
On January 14, 2000, a routine checkup revealed that an artery in Letterman's heart was severely obstructed. He was rushed to [[New York Presbyterian Hospital]] for emergency [[coronary artery bypass surgery|quintuple bypass]] surgery.<ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2000/01/15/nyregion/artery-blocked-letterman-has-heart-bypass-surgery.html|title = Artery Blocked, Letterman Has Heart Bypass Surgery| work = The New York Times| date = January 15, 2000| access-date = March 23, 2009 | first=Tina | last=Kelley}}</ref> During the first weeks of his recovery, reruns of the ''Late Show'' were shown and introduced by friends of Letterman, including [[Norm Macdonald]], [[Drew Barrymore]],<ref name="Who's loyal" /> [[Ray Romano]], [[Robin Williams]], [[Bonnie Hunt]], [[Megan Mullally]], [[Bill Murray]], [[Regis Philbin]], [[Charles Grodin]], [[Nathan Lane]], [[Julia Roberts]],<ref name="Who's loyal" /> [[Bruce Willis]], [[Jerry Seinfeld]], [[Martin Short]], [[Steven Seagal]], [[Hillary Clinton]], [[Danny DeVito]], [[Steve Martin]], [[Tom Snyder]], and [[Sarah Jessica Parker]].

Later, while still recovering from surgery, Letterman revived the late-night talk show tradition of "guest hosts" that had virtually disappeared on network television during the 1990s, allowing [[Bill Cosby]], [[Kathie Lee Gifford]], [[Dana Carvey]], [[Janeane Garofalo]], and others to host new episodes of the ''Late Show''. Upon his return to the show on February 21, 2000, Letterman brought all but one of the doctors and nurses on stage who had participated in his surgery and recovery (with extra teasing of a nurse who had given him bed baths—"This woman gave me a bath!"),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.popstarsplus.com/celebrities_davidletterman.htm |title=David Letterman biography |publisher=Popstarsplus.com |access-date=2021-04-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061118051312/http://www.popstarsplus.com/celebrities_davidletterman.htm|archive-date=2006-11-18}}</ref> including Drs. O. Wayne Isom and [[Louis Aronne]], who frequently appeared on the show.

For a number of episodes, Letterman continued to crack jokes about his bypass, including saying: "Bypass surgery: it's when doctors surgically create new blood flow to your heart. A bypass is what happened to me when I didn't get ''The Tonight Show!'' It's a whole different thing." In a later running gag, he lobbied Indiana to rename the freeway circling Indianapolis ([[Interstate 465|I-465]]) "The David Letterman Bypass". He also featured a montage of faux news coverage of his bypass surgery, including a clip of Letterman's heart for sale on the [[Home Shopping Network]]. Letterman became friends with his doctors and nurses. In 2008, ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' wrote: <blockquote>He hosted a doctor and nurse who'd helped perform the emergency quintuple-bypass heart surgery that saved his life in 2000. "These are people who were complete strangers when they opened my chest," he says. "And now, eight years later, they're among my best friends."<ref name="rs2008" /></blockquote> Additionally, Letterman invited the band [[Foo Fighters]] to play "[[Everlong]]",<ref name="mtvfoo">{{cite web|title=Foo Fighters To Welcome Letterman Back To ''Late Show''|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1429027/foo-fighters-to-welcome-letterman-back-to-late-show/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141019013418/http://www.mtv.com/news/1429027/foo-fighters-to-welcome-letterman-back-to-late-show/|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 19, 2014|last=Basham|first=David|publisher=MTV|date=February 16, 2000|access-date=May 31, 2022}}</ref> introducing them as "my favorite band, playing my favorite song."<ref name="salonfoo">{{cite web|title=The top 10 reasons David Letterman's heart bypass operation was a good thing|url=https://www.salon.com/2000/03/20/letterman_3/|last=Millman|first=Joyce|work=[[Salon (website)|Salon]]|date=March 20, 2000|access-date=May 31, 2022|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220313030417/https://www.salon.com/2000/03/20/letterman_3/|archive-date=March 13, 2022}}</ref> 

In February 2003, Letterman again handed the reins of the show to several guest hosts (including [[Bill Cosby]], [[Brad Garrett]], [[Whoopi Goldberg]], [[Elvis Costello]], [[John McEnroe]], [[Vince Vaughn]], [[Will Ferrell]], [[Bonnie Hunt]], [[Luke Wilson]], and bandleader Paul Shaffer) when he was diagnosed with a severe case of [[shingles]].<ref>{{cite news | title=David Letterman suffering from shingles | date=February 28, 2003 | url=https://www.record-courier.com/story/news/2003/03/01/david-letterman-suffering-from-shingles/19919309007/ | work=record-courier.com }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | title=Dave's cure for shingles: duct tape | date=April 2, 2003 | url=https://www.tampabay.com/archive/2003/04/02/dave-s-cure-for-shingles-duct-tape/ | work=tampabay.com }}</ref><ref name=EW2003>{{cite magazine | last=Susman | first=Gary | date=March 10, 2003 | title="Late Show" returns, with guest hosts for still-ill Dave | magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] | url=https://www.ew.com/article/2003/03/10/late-show-returns-guest-hosts-still-ill-dave | access-date=July 3, 2016}}</ref> Later that year, Letterman made regular use of guest hosts—including [[Tom Arnold (actor)|Tom Arnold]] and [[Kelsey Grammer]]—for shows broadcast on Fridays. In March 2007, [[Adam Sandler]], who had been scheduled to be the lead guest, served as a guest host while Letterman was ill with a stomach virus.<ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/20/arts/television/20cnd-letterman.html|title = Letterman is Ill, so Guest Takes Over Late Show| work = The New York Times|date = March 20, 2007| access-date = March 29, 2007 | first=Bill | last=Carter}}</ref>