One of American talk television's living legends, David Letterman, has been lured out of semi-retirement by the streaming giant Netflix.

Letterman, 70, will host an interview series for Netflix in which he will speak with "extraordinary people".

The streaming platform has commissioned six one-hour episodes of an as yet untitled series featuring Letterman.

Netflix describes it as "a long-form conversation with a singular guest"; each episode will also feature some shorter segments in which Letterman will "explore topics on his own, away from the studio."

It is unclear whether the studio-based interviews would have an audience, though Letterman's past form would suggest they might.

In that sense, the series would more resemble Enough Rope with Andrew Denton than, say, Rove [Live] or a similar traditional talk show.

The series, which will be produced by a New York-based production company Radical Media, in partnership with Letterman's own company, Worldwide Pants, will premiere in 2018.

"I feel excited and lucky to be working on this project for Netflix," Letterman said today.

He added: "Here's what I have learned: if you retire to spend more time with your family, check with your family first. Thanks for watching, drive safely."

Though the streaming giant has slowly built a wide array of relationships with some of Hollywood's most influential creatives, its chief content officer Ted Sarandos turned fanboy over the former late night talk legend.

"Just meeting David Letterman was a thrill [so] imagine how exciting it is for me to announce that we will be working together," Sarandos said.

"David Letterman is a true television icon, and I can't wait to see him out in the wild, out from behind the desk and interviewing the people he finds most interesting," he said.

"We'll have to see if he keeps the beard."

Letterman was a key figure in the US late night TV schedule for more than three decades, hosting Late Night for NBC and The Late Show for CBS; in total he hosted more than 6000 hours of talk shows.

During that time he was also the recipient of 52 nominations for Emmy awards, resulting in 10 wins.