In what had to be the biggest, “What in the …” moment of Super Bowl XLIV, Jay Leno, David Letterman and Oprah Winfrey appeared together in a 15-second ad for The Late Show with David Letterman.  There is surreal, and then there is this ad.

The New York Times has a detailed account of how this whole thing came about, and it seems Mr. Letterman came up with it, they contacted Ms. Winfrey who said “yes” immediately and then Mr. Leno was contacted who had to get NBC’s permission, but was all for it.  Ms. Winfrey was snuck into the Ed Sullivan Theater, where Mr. Letterman tapes his show, during the filming of last Tuesday’s show, followed by Mr. Leno being snuck in in a hooded sweatshirt and wearing a fake mustache.  The two celebrities were hidden until the taping ended, and the building cleared.

Once set to go, Mr. Letterman and Mr. Leno spoke for the first time in years, but kept it all very cordial according to Rob Burnett, David Letterman’s producer.  The 15-second spot only took 20 to 30 minutes to film, they were done, and everyone went their separate ways.

This had to be the most unexpected ending to the Late Night Wars of ’10, and no one saw it coming, that’s for sure.  Letterman and Leno haven’t spoken in years, and have been bitter adversaries for quite a while now, including during the recent Conan O’Brien dust up.  What ever brought about the truce, it led to an awfully amusing advertisement.