Neil Patrick Harris declined Letterman's "Late Show" post

Neil Patrick Harris could have been the next host of the "Late Show" -- but says he turned it down.

The "How I Met Your Mother" star revealed to Howard Stern on Wednesday that he was given the chance to succeed David Letterman at the late-night show, but he wasn't interested in the job.

He said that while he was never offered a specific deal, CBS executives did approach him about replacing Letterman, who will retire in 2015.

"They called me in and sat me down and asked if that would be something I'd be interested in doing," Harris told Stern.

"I sat for a time with it while I was talking to [CBS Chairman and CEO Leslie Moonves], and I told him what concerned me about the longevity of that kind of gig," he explained. "I think I would get bored of the repetition fast. The structure of it is so set -- I don't have any interest in doing Monologue, Commercial, Sketch, Guest, Guest, Musical Act, Good Night."

When asked about taking over Craig Ferguson's spot at the "Late Late Show," Harris still said no. "It's still nightly, you're still coming out with the same content," he added. "And now you're just getting bitter that no one is watching."

Last month, it was announced Stephen Colbert will take over for Letterman at the "Late Show." Ferguson's replacement has not yet been named.

Harris told Stern he'd prefer to do a weekly variety series instead, which he said CBS might be interested in.

"A weekly thing, you'd have more time to prep for stuff, you could do pre-taped stuff that would be really exciting, you could flesh it out a little bit more, have more acts and not just do nightly," he said.

Listen to the full interview here.