david letterman

Ben Stiller has accomplished a lot in his life -- this is the guy who created 'Zoolander,' after all -- but his dearest memory might just be a very unexpected one: that time he survived a hot air balloon ride. Said ride wasn't conceived of as a daredevil experiment, it was actually a fun part of a Stiller family vacation in Italy. It was supposed to be a good experience!

Often, particularly colorful characters take to the various late shows to flex the full range of their unique spirit, just for funsies. Joaquin Phoenix looked to be going down that precise path on last night's 'Late Show,' actively imitating himself learning yoga, calling his more personal bits "Julio Igelasias," and just generally having a good time. Host David Letterman looked nervous, but Phoenix looked relaxed, and that might be why Phoenix's good-time appearance took a serious turn when the 'Inherent Vice' star announced his engagement on air.

Here is a brief list of things that happened during Jennifer Lawrence's appearance on 'The Late Show' last night: she sang with host David Letterman, the duo discussed tummy troubles, they chatted about bowling, they both totally biffed introducing a clip, Lawrence begged Letterman to not retire, they walked out during a live taping, and then Lawrence took over the entire show.

Although we understand that 'The Late Show' will be getting a bit of a makeover when long-time host David Letterman exits later this year, and while we're extremely excited that Stephen Colbert is taking over the post, we still have a teensy idea: maybe Bill Murray could host it? Or just appear on every single episode? Does Colbert need a sidekick? He has to, right?

David Letterman finds out that the CBS Orchestra is not allowed to play any Eagles songs.

Whoever is in charge of scheduling over at Disney (we imagine it's many people, but just go with it) is going to be in a lot of trouble when they realize that they've put their next 'Star Wars' movie up against 'The Nest,' an adult comedy starring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. How do you even compete with that? You don't. Just pack it up now, J.J. Abrams. You're going to lose this box office battle.

It has to be hard being the parent of a superstar. Think of all the bad gossip you have to see splashed on the rags at your local grocery store checkout lane, or the weird opinions from total strangers on social media. People probably ask you for loans a lot. Still, there's one thing that has to be, hands down, the worst part of being the parent of a celebrity: the sex scenes.

"Summertime! Summertime, people!" Sure, Bruce Willis. We can blame this on it being the summertime. The actor hit 'The Late Show' last night to ... honestly, we don't even know, but eventually it devolved into Willis eating corn on the cob harmonica-style and getting absolutely covered in melted butter. It seems that Willis is a huge fan of corn -- can't get enough of it! -- and he was eager to share some corn-centric life hacks with host David Letterman.

Michael Douglas is not what we would call a comic book guy. Sure, the veteran actor will next star in Peyton Reed's 'Ant-Man' (and he even appears to be growing some wild facial hair for the gig), but that doesn't mean that any of this comic book stuff is in his wheelhouse. He even thinks that 'Ant-Man' is about an ant. No, really.

Acid-tongued comedienne Joan Rivers recently stirred up a little bit of trouble when she walked out of an on-air interview after taking issue with the supposedly "negative" host (who was asking Rivers - who makes her bread and butter by making fun of people - about the negativity in her act and her latest book)...

James Franco is, to put it diplomatically, a bit of an odd duck. Sure, he's a very talented guy -- and one who has never balked at using his talents across a wide range of professions -- but he's also kind of a weirdo in plenty of situations, especially as they apply to social media. And David Letterman is not having it.

Much as 2014 shook the late night landscape with Jimmy Fallon's ascension to the 'Tonight Show' throne, 2015 will similarly upend the 'Late Show' as 'Colbert Report' host Stephen Colbert takes over for the retiring David Letterman. Colbert himself stopped by Letterman's couch today to talk about the transition, the first footage of which has made its way online!