"He is a real broadcast comedy pro at work and a truly great original talk-show host," Philbin writes. "A perfect throwback to all those legendary guys I admired so much a long time ago.... a joke at your own expense really costs you nothing if it's delivered with affection. Or something close to it."
![](http://images.csmonitor.com/csmarchives/2011/11/dletterman.jpg?alias=standard_900x600nc)