Letterman to become Kennedy Center honoree

David Letterman — and Led Zeppelin, too, by the way — will be honored by the Kennedy Center this December. Broadcast on CBS December 26, these awards are reasonably prestigious but also a gilding of the lily — something that goes to someone who already has more awards than he or she can fit into their capacious home. (Meryl Streep, for example, got one last year.) Of course let the jokes begin! Letterman — who doesn't even turn up to the Emmys (and I don't think ever has) — eschews parties and awards ceremonies. (The Oscars was a paying gig so that doesn't count.) He hates them viscerally. Can you just imagine his face as he sits up there in the balcony? Oh the sweet agony of it all .?.?.

From the release .?.?.

Bluesman Buddy Guy, actor Dustin Hoffman, comedian and television host David Letterman, ballerina Natalia Makarova and rock band Led Zeppelin will receive honors for 2012 on THE 35TH ANNUAL KENNEDY CENTER HONORS, to be broadcast Wednesday, Dec. 26 (9:00-11:00 p.m., ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. The special has been broadcast on CBS each year since its debut.