Is This Anything?

There'll be a new hairless sidekick for David Letterman soon, and it's not Paul Shaffer. Actually, the ''Late Show'' bandleader was the surprise guest host on Monday's episode; Letterman missed the taping because he was with girlfriend Regina Lasko as she went into labor, according to reports in the New York Post and New York Daily News.

Letterman, 56, announced his impending fatherhood on the show in September, but he didn't say when the baby was due or whether he and Lasko planned to marry -- or had, as rumored, already eloped.

Shaffer was coy about his boss' absence, giving the audience a Top 10 list titled ''Things I Can Say Because Dave's Not Here.'' One of them was that Dave was out sick, not actually awaiting the birth of his first child. The list's No. 1 item: ''I prefer Leno.''

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