Dave Bids `Late Night' Good Night -- Bud, The Boss Help Letterman End NBC Show

NEW YORK - No. 1: Goodbye NBC.

David Letterman closed out an illustrious Top 11 list last night - or more precisely 11 1/2. The gap-toothed maestro of postmodern silliness ended his 11 1/2-year tenure as host of NBC's "Late Night" and welcomed as his surprise guest Bruce Springsteen.

Springsteen thus became the last of an estimated 6,000 guests.

Letterman joked in his signature Top 10 list that among the things he had to do before leaving NBC were to "drop off hairpiece at security desk" and "get one more cheap laugh by saying the word `Buttafuoco.' "

Congratulating himself for finally being named NBC Employee of the Month, he took a parting shot at corporate parent General Electric, saying, "If GE had a sense of humor, they'd send a guy in here right now to fire me."

GE didn't. Letterman, promising "surprises and free balloons for the kids," went seven minutes over his usual hour with high spirits and nostalgia - all the more remarkable since most of the Letterman camp will be reporting for work Monday morning at new CBS offices just a few blocks away.

Early on, there was a salute to "Late Night" stalwart Larry "Bud" Melman (the actor, Calvert DeForest), who appeared in a tux to the strains of "Shangri-La."

Clips from old shows included Bill Murray, guest No. 1, bellowing "Let's Get Physical" from the show's Feb. 2, 1982, premiere, and the rude welcome Letterman got when he delivered a fruit basket to GE headquarters just after the company bought NBC's parent, RCA.

Yesterday's show concluded with a warm and sincere farewell from Letterman, who told his viewers, "You have my thanks and my friendship."

Then wishing good luck to his "Late Night" successor, Conan O'Brien, Letterman said he hoped to be invited back as a guest. "I would get a kick out of that," he said. O'Brien takes over in late August or September.

Before bringing on Springsteen 45 minutes into the show, Letterman said he had had every guest on his show that he'd wanted except one, and that was the singer. "Better late than never," Letterman said, moments before Springsteen tore into a rousing "Glory Days" from atop bandleader Paul Shaffer's keyboards.

Tom Hanks was the evening's first guest, but, at Springsteen's request, Letterman had refused to divulge who else would be appearing.

Now Letterman graduates to CBS, a $14 million annual paycheck, and a new talk show. "Late Show with David Letterman," with a weeknight start time an hour earlier (11:35 p.m. ), premieres Aug. 30.

Until O'Brien is ready to pick up the torch, NBC will air Letterman reruns at 12:35 a.m. And the network plans to turn the abandoned "Late Night" set into a theme park - or so Letterman cracked on Thursday night's show.

Wrong, Dave. A crew was scheduled to begin dismantling his set this morning. Security was to be posted outside Studio 6A to make sure no one tried to steal pieces as souvenirs.

---------- LAST LIST ---------- From the home office in Oneonta, N.Y., the Top 10 list David Letterman read yesterday on his last "Late Night" show on NBC:

Top 10 Things I Have To Do Before I Leave NBC:

10. Drop off hairpiece at security desk.

9. Vacuum out (announcer Bill) Wendell and write down his mileage.

8. One final "turn your head and cough" visit to NBC nurse.

7. Steal my weight in office supplies.

6. Let my plastic surgeon step out and take a bow - this has been his show as much as mine.

5. One last hot-oil rubdown from the knowing hands of Mr. John Chancellor.

4. Return artificial leg to props department.

3. Get one more cheap laugh by saying the word "Buttafuoco."

2. Send change-of-address forms to that woman who breaks into my house.

1. Untie Willard.