on ans and then all of the sudden you were competing against your hero in a way. >> yeah. >> that must have been weird. >> i never felt like i was competing against hymn. i never felt i was worthy enough to be a threat. i think he agreed. >> it was a thrill for kimmel to host letterman as a guest. but an early appearance by letterman on conan's show was especially valuable. >> how did you get this job, by the way? >> we had been on the air a couple of months and dave came on as a guest. and that was a huge deal. >> i felt like his doing that it wasn't just showing up on a talk show it was like hey, everybody get behind the guy. i like this guy. >> i would like to think that's the case. >> it was a favor johnny carson had done for letter man as the trail blazing host began what would be a 33-year career. >> i think your desk is bigger than mine. >> dave would be the last person to say he was better than johnny but dave wu better than