• TV Week, Tuesday, November 22, 2005 11:45 AM

Oprah Winfrey, who has not appeared on David Letterman's late-night show since the 1980s, has agreed to be a guest Dec. 1. The reason for the long-long-delayed booking: "The Color Purple," which she is backing, opens at the Broadway Theater that very night; the venue is literally across the street from The Ed Sullivan Theater, from which Letterman's nightly show originates. Oprah's stubborn refusal to sit beside Dave has been the topic of much on-air speculation--and laughter--for years on "Late Show." For a time, Letterman even wrote--and read aloud--a daily journal of his futile efforts to contact Winfrey, who of course ignored every opportunity to respond. According to Letterman, Oprah had rejected his overtures because, simply, "She hates me." While "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" has lately been surging in the ratings since making some adjustments in format (the opening monologue has been extended, for example), expect Dave to pull big numbers for the night of Dec. 1.

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