Well, I’m off to watch Conan’s last Late Night show. This may sound maudlin, but Conan got me through some lonely nights more than once and I will truly miss him. Yeah, he’s gonna be on the Tonight Show, but until proven otherwise, I’m sure 11:30pm will ruin him, just like it did Letterman. Or did Letterman just run out of funny? In any case, good luck, Conan, and prove me wrong. Don’t fuck it up!
Conan said the other night that Max and the band are all coming with him to The Tonight Show.
I think the last show was very fitting. Conan’s not leaving television, so it was a good move not to make too big a hoopla about his last show on Late Night. I’m glad Andy Richter was on, but I’m also glad that rather than having more special guest stars, he took the time to thank all the people behind the scenes. I found his parting words very sincere and touching.
The Abe Vigoda release into the wild was hilarious! Had me laughing out loud, as did the old-time baseball clip.
It’s going to be a long wait until June.
I’ve moved Fiddle Peghead’s post to this thread from another in MPSIMS.
I agree with Tangent in that he isn’t leaving TV forever, so the send off was good enough for me.
The old baseball clip has been my favorite Conan sketch ever, I was glad it made it into the final show as the “best”
Anyone else notice near the end of his speech he started to cry? His voice wavered and everything…and he had to say a joke just to try to cheer himself up.
Personally I think he will do fine against Letterman. I can’t stand Letterman I think his humor is just boring and unfunny and I think more people think that over not liking Conan, but that’s just my opinion.
There is a definite part of me that will miss him being on that late at night (gave me something to watch if I was up) but I am very very happy that I will be able to still watch Jay and Conan to end my night.
Nonsense. The last show had to include Richter. Love him or hate him, Andy was a big part of the show for a long time. For Conan to not invite him on the last show would have been unforgivable.
Could you explain what you mean by “middle America”?
On April 12, 2008, the New York Post reported that The Max Weinberg 7 will move to Los Angeles to join O’Brien on The Tonight Show. O’Brien confirmed this on Inside the Actors Studio as well as on the February 18 episode of Late Night.
He was, for a long time, pretty much considered the best standup comic around. When Seinfield went on the air, he was already a big name, strictly on the strength of his standup. I think he is legitimately considered to be one of the allt-time best stand up comics every. Near the top 10, anyway.
I woke up when Seinfeld was on and didn’t think it was funny at all and changed it to a rerun of Scrubs. I though maybe it was just me being tired and out of it, but I guess not.
I think Conan will do fine against Letterman. I’ve never liked the first half of Letterman’s show. He does fine with guests, but I think Leno and Conan can have a lot more fun with a guest.
Does anyone remember how dreadful Conan was during his first week? His nervous habit of figiting with his watch during the monologue? Still, the show had promise, and eventually he got his footing. Lorne Michaels really did know what he was doing, but it took about a year and a half of patience before it truely paid off.
Hard to belive that was so long ago, and the show ended up such a success.
Thanks for the info re: Max and the band. Somehow, though, I don’t think they’ll be able to get away with some of the more outrageous skits Max has been in through the years. LOL Time will tell, I guess.
My two cents on Leno? The 10 pm gig is a trap; he’ll bomb badly. Although I guess NBC figures, what does it have to lose. I honestly can’t imagine anyone tuning in to watch it.
The actors and bands usually get paid scale for their appearances. It’s a pretty insignificant part of the show’s budget. These talk shows are very cheap to produce, that’s why they are such cash cows. The stars appear on the show to publicize their current projects–that’s their payment…
“The Tonight Show” is more than just a name. Sorry to sound like an old fuddy-duddy, but it is an institution. It’s been on the air since 1954, fer chrissakes! It’s four hosts were: Steve Allen, Jack Paar, Johnny Carson and Jay Leno! Becoming part of television history is a huge promotion for Conan…
…and Andy Richter definitely deserved to be there. He was pretty much the only reason to watch for the first three years or so…
I dunno…I have a feeling stations are already plotting to put news on at 10 and push Leno back to 10:35, followed by Conan. “Late night” (the time period) is just being moved up a little, but the faces are staying the same.
That’s why I think it was such a “screw you” to Conan, and why they should have at least arranged to keep Conan in NY. In the Times article someone posted here, there’s actually a quote from Leno that sounds almost boastful about his expected ability to get better guests. Leno will be a thorn in Conan’s side until he finally retires, which, based on his workaholic tendencies, will probably be sometime in the 2020s.
Random comments on some comments:
Letterman hasn’t been funny since, oh, 1998. If I ever see him live again, and he slowly places his hand on his hip to accentuate a joke, I will kill the motherfucker.
Seinfeld hasn’t been funny since, oh, 1995. And yes, his stand-up was terrific. On the uselessness of scented deodorant: “Once the woman has her nose in your armpit, I think the seduction is pretty much over.”
The last year or so of Conan did indeed tend to get a bit repetitive. I don’t mind the same bit with different jokes, e.g. State Quarters, but quite often the exact joke would be repeated on different nights, e.g. the alligator with gaydar.
Of course I don’t know Jay Leno personally, but I’ve seen interviews, saw a clip of him hanging out with folks in a parking lot at a classic car gathering after his show, and have seen him interacting with people on “Jay Walking.” I think I would really like the guy. What I want to know is, how the hell does he turn into Mr. Fucking-Annoying, Phony-Laughing, Can’t-Tell-a-Joke-Without-Hammering-the-Punch-Line a-Million-Times, Completely-Unfunny-Stand-Up-Comedian Talk-Show-Host as soon as his name is announced?"
As the last two weeks were winding down, I kept thinking, Andy must be one of the special guests. But when night after night went by and he didn’t appear, I started to think Conan might dis him, although I didn’t quite think this would happen. Well, of course Conan had him on. I’m sorry to have ever thought he would have been so callous not to.
I thought the White Stripes were compelling as always, even though their guitar(s) were slightly out of tune.
Just for the record, I’ve been watching Conan since day one. The first time I heard doubts about his ability to last, I remember thinking to myself, no, Conan will be with us for a long time. He’s hilarious. And when he had Graham Parker on one of the earlier shows, I was hooked. I hope after seeing his first Tonight Shows I will think the same thing, but I’m not counting on it. The fact that you can’t show a masturbating bear at 11:30 does not bode well.
And finally, I miss the coked-up werewolf.
Meaning, the average american. Nothing deep to be read into it. I am middle america.
I’ve always felt that Conan has a similar style to Letterman. Personally, I always switched networks after Letterman to watch Conan. The Leno fans will probably still watch Leno, and some might stay on to watch Conan, but AFAIC, now I will have to choose between Letterman and Conan and that just blows (and I wouldn’t watch Leno if it was the only show on TV).
Everyone is entitled to their own taste but for me, out of all the hosts (Fergusson, Conan, Letterman, Leno, Kimmel and even Carson), Leno is at the bottom of the list in talent and entertaining. I find his style lame, fabricated, unoriginal and condescending. Did I mention boring and dull?
All I want are re-runs of bearded Conan during the writer’s strike. That was too awesome.
Hijack -
Before we watched the show, my wife had never heard of the White Stripes - and no matter what I said, she refused to believe that they were an actual band and not some weird joke of Conan’s. She insisted, adamantly, that no-one that awful could be real musicians, let alone important ones.