A: I think it is great for late night. It is also good news for daytime. Letterman was never a fan of daytime, even when he had a daytime talk show. Jon Michael Reid, my late great competitor, was given a weekly spot on Letterman's daily gabfest. Reid made one appearance. Letterman stormed into the producers office and said he wanted the segment gone. This is when soaps were hot.

Speaking of hot, it is no secret that Letterman's studio is kept as cold as the meat locker in the film "Rocky." When guests joke about how cold it is, they are not joking. One crew member wears thermal underwear to make his task bearable. Colbert has no temperature requirements. During his time as the star of the Comedy Central's multi-award winning "Colbert Report," he has had many guests who dwell in daytime. When Susan Lucci was on, he joked about her string of Emmy losses. After the expected joking, he took her seriously.

Many years ago, a PR representative for ABC called me in a panic. At the time the show was airing "The Pyramid." Letterman was a celebrity contestant.

The week (which was shot in a day) he guested, there were two conventions in town. The only room to be had did not have a private bathroom. Letterman was not happy. Who can blame him? Maybe that is why he has little interest in daytime.

During his tenure, Letterman's career has taken a few soapy twists. First there was the drama when Jay Leno took over for Johnny Carson. Just like a jilted soap opera heroine, Letterman held on to this grudge for decades. Never mind that he made as much as Leno when he went to CBS. Never mind that he was able to land the fabled Ed Sullivan theatre in New York. Never mind that he was allowed to take off many a night. He continued to act as if the cruel machinations of Leno ruined his life. Leno's crime? He wanted the job and went after it. Imagine that.

Letterman's personal soap opera started with getting blackmailed by a man who found out the married Letterman was having an affair with an intern. Letterman did the right thing. He told the blackmailer to shove it and went on air and admitted what was going on. That would not be a good tactic for a soap plot. Years of waiting for the secrets to be exposed would make great storyline. Good for Letterman refusing to be bullied.

As for Colbert, he and his wife have three children. Colbert has said that a major tragedy in life turned him into a comedian. His father and two of his brothers Peter and Paul were killed in the crash of commercial airliner. "I decided my job was to make my mom laugh. If she was laughing, I didn't think she would cry."

When he leaves Comedy Central next year, he is leaving his blowhard character behind. "I owe that guy a lot, but he is not moving to my new home."

To find out more about Lynda Hirsch and read features by other Creators writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Web page at www.creators.com.