David Letterman’s impending May retirement meant two holiday traditions came to an end on Friday’s Late Show: the last time Darlene Love would sing “Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)” and the final time actor/radio host Jay Thomas would recite what Letterman calls “the greatest talk show story of all time.”

Since the mid-1990s, on Letterman’s last show before Christmas, Thomas has been telling the story of what happened in the early 1970s when he was a local radio DJ in Charlotte and broadcast, with the “Lone Ranger,” from a car dealership.

Afterward, he and a friend, both “herbed up” hippies with long hair, gave Clayton Moore a ride back to the hotel and along the way... (I’ve heard Thomas recounting the story at least a dozen times, and I still laugh at the punch line. It’s worth the wait.)

Video of Thomas’ entire December 19 story segment, as posted by CBS.

> Previous Saturday Night Funny Video: “How Long It Takes for Biden to Do Something Weird”

> From the 2014 “DisHonors Awards”: Alan Robertson, of Duck Dynasty, presented the “funny clips” to the audience at the MRC’s September 25 gala.

## Another tradition came to an end Friday night: Craig Ferguson ended his tenure, as host of CBS’s Late Late Show, with one last utterance of his nightly opening catchphrase, “It’s a great day for America!” Video of that. ##