Dave & Jay reunite, with Oprah, for most buzzed-about Super Bowl ad

Jay and Dave stole the show!

Bitter late-night rivals Jay Leno and David Letterman -- with peacemaker Oprah Winfrey -- stunned Super Bowl viewers last night by joining forces in an ad for CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman."

The startling spot came in the wake of a multi-week assault by Letterman on Leno during NBC's messy breakup with Conan O'Brien that put "The Tonight Show" back in Jay's hands.

For Letterman and Winfrey, the ad was a reprise of a Super Bowl spot they taped in 2007, when his hometown team, the Indianapolis Colts, were playing hers, the Chicago Bears.

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Last night's ad begins much the same, with Dave and Oprah watching the game on a couch.

Letterman, again sporting a Colt jersey, complains to Winfrey, "This is the worst Super Bowl party ever."

The camera then rolls to Leno -- until then, out of the frame -- who retorts, "He's just saying that because I'm here."

Letterman came up with the idea late last month, and Leno's side at NBC agreed to it in a heartbeat, said "Late Show" executive producer Rob Burnett.

The ad was shot Tuesday night at the Ed Sullivan Theater after Letterman finished taping his own show there.

Letterman's people sneaked Leno through the front door on Broadway while fans were on 53rd Street, where guests enter.

The soon-to-be-again "Tonight" host wore a hoodie and sunglasses as he strolled inside.

"We went into a logistics meeting that would have made the CIA proud," Burnett said.

The single 15-second spot overshadowed just about all other ads that cost about $3 million per half-minute.

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In those spots, screaming chickens, "The Simpsons" and a still-breathing Abe Vigoda urged America to spend again.

"There was a sense of rising optimism," branding consultant Sally Hogshead said. "I'll call it a coaxing optimism: 'It's OK, you can come out and spend.' "

Coca-Cola reminded consumers that it knew times were still flat for many Americans -- and even Montgomery Burns can end up broke.

"It speaks to the times that Mr. Burns loses all his money -- and you can't miss with 'The Simpsons,' " said Adweek critic Barbara Lippert.

Noted senior citizens Vigoda and Betty White got big laughs as Snickers told viewers they would feel like geezers unless they noshed on the candy.

"It was just a brilliant choice of those two actors -- there's no way to say 'old' better than with those two," said online marketing expert Gene Liebel, partner at Brooklyn-based HUGE.

david.li@nypost.com