Los Angeles, May 17 (IANS) TV show host Jon Stewart paid tribute to David Letterman, who will be ending his run as “Late Show” host on Wednesday, during a segment on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart”.

On May 14, Jon said on his show: “We’re off all next week and so we will miss on Wednesday night a young man named David Letterman signing off from his program.”

“He was for me, and I think for many comics of my generation, an incredible epiphany of how a talk show or entertainment, or how television — for god sake. The man put a camera on a monkey. It seems so simple now, but back then, it was mind blowing.

“And I used to watch that show since the early ’80s and just fell in love with the joy that they had and that they brought,” Stewart said of Letterman, reports aceshowbiz.com.

“There are so few people who can innovate that format, and then… to be an innovator with longevity, I mean, damn. The list is Dave.

“On a personal note I had a show very similar to his that did not have either the innovation part, or certainly the longevity part and David Letterman was kind enough to come to our final broadcast and be the final guest, and single-handedly turned what was a funeral atmosphere into a celebration, just by his presence,” he went on.

Stewart then aired a “Moment of Zen” clip from Letterman’s appearance on the final episode of “The Jon Stewart Show”.