Letterman announces retirement, Who will take over Late Night?

David Letterman's throne is without a succession line while he announced his retirement on Thursday.

This leaves the audience without a new host to flock to for all of their late night jabs at celebrities and dirty politicians.  The names that are in the mix to take over the CBS slot: Comedian Louis CK, How I Met Your Mother star Neil Patrick Harris, Comedy Central's Jon Stewart.  The name that should be on everyone's radar but is often left out of the mix: Chelsea Handler.

"I don't make a lot of plans," she said in a Piers Morgan interview before he questioned her about rumors of her jumping to Netflix.  "I don't have a contract with anyone right now.  I mean my contract runs out and I'll see where I go."

The E! Network has diminished its value, according to Handler.  In an interview with Howard Stern, he asked her if she needed to be on a bigger network.  Handler said, "Well, I mean... yeah... When I came to E! it was a much different network.  You know?  It was bigger and it was cooler and now it's, I mean it was funny-cool.  Now it's just sad... It's a sad place to live... It's just a failure."

Last February, Handler was referenced in parentheses when a blog post by Bill Carter for the New York Times discussed the late-night talk show circuit.  MStars reported the controversy and Handler's reaction.  

Handler wrote, "What bothered me was that when I was listed in a paragraph with the late-night hosts, I was the only name put in parentheses."  Her response post is titled, "No One Puts Baby in Parentheses." 

Handler continued, "This isn't about Bill Carter. This is about being noted as a parenthetical, reaffirming what I feel has been an underlying, yet consistent inconsistency with how I am handled as the only woman in a traditionally male field. My only goal when I started this show six-and-a-half years ago was to offer viewers another voice to end their day with (even if my show is on E!). That's the appropriate use of a parenthetical."

In her interview with Morgan, Handler said, "I'm a work horse.  I'm a workaholic."  She does stand-up on the weekend, her talk show during the week, and she is a New York Times Best Selling author.  Do you think Handler has what it takes to take over Late Night?  Let MStars know in the comment section below.