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Watch: David Letterman's final Top 10 List has celebrities galore, great jokes

Emily St. James was a senior correspondent for Vox, covering American identities. Before she joined Vox in 2014, she was the first TV editor of the A.V. Club.

David Letterman's final Late Show aired Wednesday, May 20, 2015 on CBS, and that meant one thing: a final top 10 list.

The theme was, "Things I've always wanted to say to Dave," as delivered by some of the show's most famous friends, including Alec Baldwin, Barbara Walters, Jerry Seinfeld, and a heavily bearded Jim Carrey, among others. Did the guest list feel like a roster of 1995's biggest all-stars? Sure — minus the slightly more modern Tina Fey and Peyton Manning. But that was part of its charm.

In recent years, the Top 10 List has felt more and more like a dutiful chore Letterman crosses off the list every night, but he and his writing staff brought it for their final installment.

It's worth watching in full, especially for the moment when Julia Louis-Dreyfus says, "Thanks for letting me take part in another hugely disappointing series finale" before the camera cuts to Seinfeld right behind her.

Also, this:

(CBS)

(CBS)

The complete Top 10 List follows.

10. Delivered by Alec Baldwin: "Of all the talk shows, yours is most geographically convenient to my home."

9. Delivered by Barbara Walters: "Did you know that you wear the same cologne as Muammar Qaddafi?"

8. Delivered by Steve Martin: "Your extensive plastic surgery was a necessity and a mistake."

7. Delivered by Jerry Seinfeld: "I have no idea what I'll do when you go off the air ... You know, I just thought of something. I'll be fine."

6. Delivered by Jim Carrey: "Honestly, Dave, I've always found you to be a bit of an over-actor."

5. Delivered by Chris Rock: "I'm just glad your show is being given to another white guy."

4. Delivered by Julia Louis-Dreyfus: "Thanks for letting me take part in another hugely disappointing series finale."

3. Delivered by Peyton Manning: "You are to comedy what I am to comedy."

2. Delivered by Tina Fey: "Thanks for finally proving men can be funny."

1. Delivered by Bill Murray: "I'll never have the money I owe you."


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