Regardless of how Leno does in the ratings, Seinfeld joins an exclusive club as a first guest. Of course, Bill Murray leads that club, having received the honor three different times. Who else was a first guest? TV Tango went through the archives and found 42 first guests of late-night TV — all since Late Night with David Letterman premiered back in February 1982.

Check out the list below to see who was the first guest on your fave late-night program.  We only included series that started at 10PM or later; so you won't find Dogg After Dark or any other early primetime (or daytime) talk shows.  If we found a clip of the premiere episode, we included a link for that video.  (If you find a clip we don't have, just leave a comment and we'll update the list.)

Enjoy!

42 Late-Night TV Series and Their First Guests

• Feb 1982: Bill Murray on Late Night with David Letterman (video: YouTube)
• Sep 1983: Joan Collins¹ on Thicke of the Night
• Jun 1984: Frank Sinatra on The Jerry Lewis Show
• Sep 1986: Jim McMahon on Nightlife
• Oct 1986: David Lee Roth on The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers (video: YouTube)
• Jun 1988: Arnold Schwarzenegger on The Magic Hour
• Aug 1988: Linda Ellerbee on Later with Bob Costas
• Jan 1989: Brooke Shields on The Arsenio Hall Show
• Jan 1989: Chevy Chase on The Pat Sajak Show
• Jul 1990: Charlie Sheen² on Into the Night Starring Rick Dees
• Aug 1990: John Madden on Overtime...with Pat O'Brien
• Jan 1992: Tom Hanks on The Dennis Miller Show
• May 1992: Billy Crystal on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (video: NBC)
• Sep 1992: Elizabeth Taylor on The Whoopi Goldberg Show
• Aug 1993: Bill Murray on The Late Show with David Letterman (video: YouTube)
• Sep 1993: Goldie Hawn on The Chevy Chase Show (video: YouTube)
• Sep 1993: John Goodman on Late Night with Conan O'Brien
• May 1994: Julia Louis-Dreyfus on Later with Greg Kinnear
• Jan 1995: Candice Bergen on The Late Late Show with Tom Snyder
• Sep 1995: Gabriel Byrne on Lauren Hutton and...
• Oct 1996: Dennis Rodman on The RuPaul Show
• Aug 1997: Jada Pinkett on The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show
• Aug 1997: Anthony Edwards³ on Vibe
• Jan 1999: Michael J. Fox on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (video: TheDailyShow.com)
• Mar 1999: Bill Murray on The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn
• Feb 2001: Tom Hanks on On the Record with Bob Costas
• Aug 2001: Edie Falco on The Sandra Bernhard Experience
• Jan 2002: Alicia Keys on Last Call with Carson Daly
• Mar 2002: Foo Fighters on Late World with Zach (video: YouTube)
• Jan 2003: George Clooney⁴ on Jimmy Kimmel Live
• Jun 2003: Adrien Brody on The Orlando Jones Show
• Jan 2004: Bill Cosby on Tavis Smiley (audio: PBS)
• Jan 2005: David Duchovny on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (video: YouTube)
• Jul 2005: Sean Hayes on Weekends at the D.L.
• Aug 2005: The Crystal Method on Too Late with Adam Carolla
• Oct 2005: Stone Phillips on The Colbert Report (video: ColbertNation.com)
• Sep 2006: Andy Richter on Talkshow with Spike Feresten
• Apr 2007: Steve Schirripa on The Bronx Bunny Show (video - language NSFW: Amazon on Demand)
  
• Jul 2007: Steve-O⁵ on Chelsea Lately (video: MetaCafe)
• Mar 2009: Robert De Niro on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (video: Hulu)
• Jun 2009: Will Ferrell on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien (video: Hulu)
• Sep 2009: Jerry Seinfeld on The Jay Leno Show (video: Hulu)
• Sep 2009: Stevie Wonder on The Brian McKnight Show
• Oct 2009: Steve Harvey on The Mo'Nique Show

¹"Thicke of the Night" had Barry Manilow by satellite before the first in-studio guest interview.

²"Into the Night" had Wilson Phillips as the musical act before the first guest interview.

³"Vibe" had President Clinton by satellite to start the show plus a few brief celebrity appearances before the first in-studio guest interview.

⁴"Jimmy Kimmel Live" introduced Snoop Dogg as the guest host for the week before the first guest interview.

⁵"Chelsea Lately" had a roundtable with Chyna and others before the first guest interview.