Oprah ’n’ Dave’s Lovefest

Oprah Winfrey and David Letterman have finally made nice.

Winfrey, who appeared on Letterman's Late Show Thursday, put to rest talk of a long-simmering feud between the talk show titans that has kept them apart for years.

"I have never for a moment had a feud with you as far as I knew," she said. "There is no feud. It's only peace and love."

And plenty of sucking up.

Following her introduction, Letterman cut right to the chase, addressing the rift between.

"You must know that for 16 years now...virtually every week, we've contacted you," he told her. "I've tried to get a hold of you personally. And considering everything that has transpired, [your appearance] means even more to me."

Winfrey in turn pulled out the blame-the-media card.

"Could you tell me please what has transpired?" Winfrey asked. "I am really so curious because for years, I've heard you talk about, and now the press talk about, this big feud we have."

She declined to mention her 2003 interview with Time magazine, where she said she didn't like being the target of his jokes, as she believed she was during her previous two appearances in 1986 and 1989, when he was still on NBC.

"I felt completely uncomfortable sitting in that chair, and I vowed I would not ever put myself in that position again," she told the magazine.

Shortly after, Winfrey extended an olive branch, sending Letterman children's books to mark the birth of his first son, Harry. A month later, she asked him to be a guest on her daytime program, but the Late Show emcee turned down the offer, saying he was afraid he would "break down and sob like a little girl."

This time around, Winfrey was determined to bury the hatchet for good, especially since she's has a new musical to promote. Her Broadway adaptation of The Color Purple opened Thursday at the Broadway Theater, across the street from Letterman's Ed Sullivan Theater.

"I want you to know, it's really over, what you thought was happening," Winfrey, dressed in purple in honor of the opening, said.

And, as is her wont, she came bearing gifts.

Oprah presented Dave with an autographed picture of her with Uma Thurman, a nod to Letterman's infamous "Oprah, Uma, Uma Oprah," gag from his disastrous stint hosting the 1995 Academy Awards.

"I can't thank you enough," said Letterman. "It means a great deal to me, and I'm just very happy you're here."

"Does it really?" Winfrey replied. "I've been hearing for the past week you talking about it, and I didn't know if you were really serious or were just doing your 'Dave thing.'"

Letterman also extolled Winfrey's good works, which she frequently uses as fodder for her still top-rated syndicated program, The Oprah Winfrey Show.

"You have meant something to the lives of people," Letterman gushed. "We're just a TV show."

"I can't believe you're being this serious!" said Winfrey, clearly taken aback.

"What do you want? Tony Danza?" Letterman quipped.

Immediately following their love-in--and much to the surprise and delight of his audience--Letterman escorted Winfrey out of the studio and onto the red carpet for the premiere of The Color Purple.

Before saying goodbye, Letterman added: "I think we'll just pencil you in for the next 16 years."

That would certainly make his bosses at CBS happy. Winfrey's appearance garnered the Late Show its biggest audience in more than a decade as an estimated 13.5 million viewers tuned in to the make up session, according to preliminary figures from Nielsen Media Research, making it the fourth-most watched Late Show ever.

That was three times Letterman's average audience of 4.3 million people. It also gave a boost to Late Late Show host Craig Ferguson, who pulled in his highest ratings ever following the Winfrey-powered lead-in.

The last time Letterman attracted as big a crowd was Feb. 25, 1994, the night of the Olympics skating finals between Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding. The Oprah guest shot also out-drew every non-CBS prime-time program Thursday except for ER.