• by Wayne Friedman , February 8, 2010

The biggest Super Bowl TV commercial surprise didn't come from its paying advertisers, but from the network itself -- David Letterman appeared with Jay Leno and Oprah Winfrey in a comedy promo for "Late Show with David Letterman."

A close-up of Letterman -- in an Indianapolis Colts uniform -- starts the promo. He says: "This is the worst Super Bowl party ever." The shot widens out to reveal Oprah Winfrey sitting on a couch with Letterman, telling him to be nice.

The shot then goes wider to reveal -- also sitting on the couch -- Jay Leno, who says: "He's just saying that because I'm here." To which then Letterman mimics Leno's high-pitched voice.

The bit was a surprise for a couple of reasons:

Letterman has been scathing in his criticism of Leno over the past few weeks about his NBC 10 p.m. show, his forthcoming return to "The Tonight Show" next week, and lingering comments about Leno's ascension to the show back in the early '90s, when Letterman was snubbed for the job in favor of Leno.

Secondly, while the effort was intended to push Letterman and his "Late Show," the comedy/promo bit also seemed to strangely offer some promo push for Leno's return to "The Tonight Show."

"Late Show" producers and Letterman himself reportedly pushed for it because it fulfulled the most important requirement: It was funny.

Letterman and Winfrey also had some frosty relations. As with Leno, CBS ran a surprise promo featuring Winfrey and Letterman for the Super Bowl in 2007.

CBS promoted a number of its other shows during the current Super Bowl telecast -- including "Survivor," "The Mentalist," "The Good Wife" and new show "Undercover Boss." -- The "Boss" premiere episode ran right after the Super Bowl.