CBS Throws Letterman Set into Dumpster [Video]

Remember the old Seinfeld episode where Kramer found the set of a TV show in a dumpster and set it up in his apartment? It appears you can do that with the set from The Late Show with David Letterman.

Was this just timely moving on, or a kick in the face to a late-night legend and fans? 

Less than a day after David Letterman’s final show aired, CBS had workers at the Ed Sullivan Theater deconstructing pieces of Letterman’s iconic set and putting it into a dumpster. Fans gathered outside the theater yesterday to watch the mayhem.

One fan, Stephanie Strausz, said, “It should go in the Smithsonian, not the dumpster.” She was one of the lucky fans who successfully managed to snag a piece of the set from the dumpster, which was filled with red audience seats among many other things.

Several pieces did get the royal treatment though, being carried out carefully, including Letterman’s on-air desk – that was bubble wrapped and is on its way to the Smithsonian. Also, furniture and instruments belonging to Paul Shaffer were treated with kid gloves.

In related news, the final installment of Late Night With David Letterman notched an impressive 13.76 viewers, his largest audience in over twenty years. But it still wasn't enough to top the 14.5 million viewers who tuned for Jay Leno's last night on The Tonight Show.

Lettermna's biggest ever audience was 15.4 viewers in February 1994, propelled by the lead in of the Winter Olympics, which featured feud between ice skaters Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan.

The throwing away of Letterman's set makes me recall the Seinfeld episode where Kramer found an old Merv Griffin set in the trash and set it up in his apartment to do pretend shows. I hope someone's doing that this mornig using the Letterman gear.