Comedian David Letterman returns to late night on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live'

— -- Jimmy Kimmel sat down with comedian David Letterman in his first late-night interview since he retired in 2015.

Kimmel kicked off "Jimmy Kimmel Live" on Tuesday by heaping his affection on the veteran talk show host.

"We have a great show for you tonight. A man I admire intensely, David Letterman, is here. David Letterman is to me what Beyonce is to everyone else, OK," Kimmel said in his opening monologue.

"If Dave had any idea of how excited I am that he’s here with us tonight, he would not, under any circumstances, be here with us tonight," he joked.

Once on stage, Letterman, replete with a flowing silver beard, spoke about what his life has been like since he exited the late night scene in May 2015.

"You're looking at a man who is laughing on the outside, crying on the inside," Letterman said. "I have been looking high and low. I am determined to find a shirt that looks good untucked. I can't find one."

At one point, Kimmel appeared to tug on the legendary comedian’s heart strings, when he asked him if he had become a different person.

Letterman responded, saying, "Each and every day, if you take a look at the horizon of humanity [and say], 'My God, is there anything we can do, big or small, to make the life of one person a little bit better?' [then] that’s no small accomplishment."

Letterman, 70, has mainly stayed out of the spotlight since he left his post at CBS’s “Late Show,” which he hosted for more than two decades, in the spring of 2015.

The TV icon will be making a long-awaited return to the broadcast scene next year with a new Netflix show, which he says will feature long-form interviews with various guests.

He will also be awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor on Sunday night at the Kennedy Center in Washington.