Late Night with Conan O'Brien

[Mutant Despot]

Have you kids seen this show? I think it's new.

It was great to see Artie Kendall back tonight. If Brian is still around, I have to know if that awesome line about being in Hell was improvised.

[nadsat droog]

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/37547 (http://www.aintitcool.com/node/37547)


Bill Carter at the New York Times has a Monday story that assembles a speculative timetable for NBC’s late night transition:

Autumn 2008?: Jimmy Fallon starts Web-only talk show.
February 2009?: Conan O’Brien ceases hosting “Late Night.”
March 2009?: Fallon begins hosting “Late Night.”
June 2009?: Jay Leno ceases hosting “Tonight.”

O'Brien takes over "Tonight" subsequent to Leno's departure.

According to the Times piece, NBC is expected to announce its timetable on Tuesday.

[BillBrasky]

Official NBC press release:

Jimmy Fallon Takes Over the "Late Night" Hosting Duties from O'Brien in Spring 2009

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – July 21, 2008 – Conan O'Brien, the dominant late-night host at 12:35 a.m. (ET) for the past 14 seasons, will succeed Jay Leno as host of the preeminent series on late-night television, NBC's "The Tonight Show," in June of 2009. Beginning in Spring 2009, Jimmy Fallon will step in as the "Late Night" host. The announcement was made today by Ben Silverman, Co-Chairman, NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios and Marc Graboff, Co-Chairman, NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios. "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" will begin on Monday, June 1, 2009 (11:35 p.m.-12:35 a.m. ET) with Leno's last "Tonight Show" telecast airing Friday, May 29, 2009.

"'The Tonight Show' has a remarkable history rich in tradition. We're proud of each and every show Jay has shared with America as we look forward to Conan carrying on that outstanding tradition next year," said Rick Ludwin, Executive Vice President, Late Night and Primetime Series, NBC Entertainment. "We also can't wait for Jimmy to showcase his winning style following Conan. Jay has left his personal stamp on 'The Tonight Show' for what will be 17 years. He is enormously creative, generous and professional."

"The Tonight Show" continues to be the most dominant late-night institution in television history. Since it first premiered on September 27, 1954 with Steve Allen, "The Tonight Show" has had just four permanent hosts, including Leno. Allen, host of the then titled "Tonight," eventually left late night to start his own primetime variety series on NBC. Jack Paar premiered on July 29, 1957. On October 1, 1962, Johnny Carson stepped on stage for day one of his tenure as host of "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson." Leno, who began guest-hosting "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" in September 1987, became host of "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" on May 25, 1992. O'Brien joined NBC as a writer on "Saturday Night Live" in 1988 and premiered as host of "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" on September 13, 1993.

"The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" will originate from Stage 1 at Universal Studios and will be produced by Universal Media Studios. Jeff Ross is the executive producer.

[Famous Mortimer]

Countdown to The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien...

http://tinyurl.com/conan2009

[Famous Police Dog]

oh bummer, four months without conan :(

[metal2000]

Glad to officially hear that Jeff Ross will be the executive producer. Hopefully it's just the beginning with regards to current "Late Night" staff joining Conan in L.A. Obviously they can't completely remove every creative person from "Late Night", but I'm sure Jimmy will want to find his own voice with his own staff as well.

The creative team behind Conan is so good, that I can't even imagine a Conan-led "Tonight Show" without most of them.

[kwigibo]

oh bummer, four months without conan :(

4 months of Leno saying goodbye and not being funny (more so than usual) followed by Fallon trying to establish himself and probably not being any funnier, AND no Conan.

[BrianStack]

Mutant,

Sorry for the late reply. I haven't been able to check in here too often these days.

Thanks for the kind words about Artie Kendall, the Crooner Ghost. I always enjoy doing that character, and I'm glad you like seeing him. That last Artie bit I did was thrown in at the very last minute, but I'm glad it turned out okay. I'm surprised you could even hear that line I said at the end about being in Hell, but yes, that was improvised in response to Conan ad libbing the line, "You're the worst guy I've ever met".

-Brian

[mnarrance]

Been noticing some special Conan people (and other awesomes) on my brand spanking new TV FUNHOUSE DVD. Which I am LOVING.

[Jenny]

Hey Brian,

do you know what's gonna happen when Conan gets the Tonight Show? Are you moving to L.A. or leaving the show?

[mueXog]

Oh man, I never even thought about that! I really hope he doesn't lose Stack/McCann/Dorff/etc in the move to LA.

By the way, I finally started watching that online series "The Line" (starring Bill Hader and Joe LoTruglio), it's very funny and has lots of familiar NYC comics from Conan/UCB/SNL/etc. Brian & Miriam had a great appearance in (I think) the 4th episode. And I loved Jon Glaser's character in episode 5, the last one I watched as of now.

[BrianStack]

Jenny,
A lot of the "Tonight Show" details are still pretty up in the air right now, but I think things will become more concrete one of these days. I would love it if everyone from "Late Night" made the move to LA, but I'm not sure yet how it will all turn out.

muXog,
Thanks for the kind words about "The Line". Miriam and I had such a great time working on that with all those hilarious people.

[HouseClouds]

heard an interview with robert smigel who said he won't be making the move to l.a., which means no more of the bit with conan interviewing the tv with the cut out mouth...which is pretty much my fav thing they do. but anyway...conan is still pretty great.

[Jawa]

heard an interview with robert smigel who said he won't be making the move to l.a., which means no more of the bit with conan interviewing the tv with the cut out mouth...which is pretty much my fav thing they do. but anyway...conan is still pretty great.

And no more Triumph, I guess.

It'll be interesting how the show evolves. I imagine the change is exciting, terrifying, exhilarating for them.

[Shane]

Any word if Max Weinberg is making the move? I love the banter Conan and him enjoy together.

[kevin]

I'm willing to bet that Triumph will still be involved in remote pieces for the Tonight Show. I just hope the humor isn't dulled too much for the more tepid, mainstream gig.

[yumitree]

I just hope the humor isn't dulled too much for the more tepid, mainstream gig.

i was thinking the same thing watching the show last night. it's not just conan and his staff's sensibility/humor, but i'm worried about the guests he'll have in the 11:30 slot. i'm not really looking forward to more (boring or horrible) a-list guest interviews and outdoor, car-sponsored, american idol musical guests.

and what about vigoda?!

[TomHicks]

I am watching Conan right now. He was doing a bit on the atom smasher and they were going to smash stuff together, at which point NBC News broke in, the local one as it turns out, and said that Conan was going to smash some trains together (presumably the toy kind) and that with the recent Metrolink fatalities they felt it was inappropriate to air the segment. Conan returned when Celebrity Survey began.

Oops. I meant the one that aired Tuesday morning, with Diane Lane and Patton.

[erechoveraker]

Bizarre.

[metal2000]

Yes, because crashing 2 douchebags into each other using model trains so makes me think of the tragic accident in California. Glad the Boston affiliate (which is the NBC I get) didn't cut away.

[Famous Mortimer]

Clay Aiken came out today. I'm wondering if Conan will do a huge bit about it tonight or never make a Clay Aiken is gay joke again. Or maybe he just continues to make normal Clay Aiken is gay jokes.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080924/D93CP4G80.html

[Scammy Davis Boogah Jr.]

It's not like the Kirstie Alley jokes ended when she admitted she was fat...

[TomHicks]

Clay Aiken came out today. I'm wondering if Conan will do a huge bit about it tonight or never make a Clay Aiken is gay joke again. Or maybe he just continues to make normal Clay Aiken is gay jokes.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080924/D93CP4G80.html

I have always hoped he would just stop doing them because they have been juvenile and homophobic, and might be the worst running bit on his show, which I otherwise enjoy a lot. I think they do a really good job of taking familiar premises and turning them inside out, but the Aiken jokes are usually beneath even Leno.

[BillBrasky]

Clay Aiken came out today]

And in other news, ice cubes are cold, water is wet, and peanut butter contains peanuts.

This was a slow news day I guess....

(Seriously, I'm not trying to be flippant, I thought he had "come out" a long time ago)

[mueXog]

Did anyone watch last night? I love LaBamba.

[KevinLee]

And in other news, ice cubes are cold, water is wet, and peanut butter contains peanuts.



That's gold Brasky.

[BillBrasky]

In case anybody didn't see it last night, here's a funny bit (http://www.nbc.com/Late_Night_with_Conan_O%27Brien/video/clips/julia-louis-dreyfus-wants-another-emmy-93008/715361/) they did with Julia Louis Dreyfus about her being jealous of losing the Emmy to Tina Fey.
Featuring cameos by Tina and Jack McBrayer.

[Itslikeimsayin]

In case anybody didn't see it last night, here's a funny bit (http://www.nbc.com/Late_Night_with_Conan_O%27Brien/video/clips/julia-louis-dreyfus-wants-another-emmy-93008/715361/) they did with Julia Louis Dreyfus about her being jealous of losing the Emmy to Tina Fey.
Featuring cameos by Tina and Jack McBrayer.

That was fantastic. Do you think they shot the upstairs part separately or was it really shot during the Conan taping?

[Me!]

I have always hoped he would just stop doing them because they have been juvenile and homophobic, and might be the worst running bit on his show, which I otherwise enjoy a lot. I think they do a really good job of taking familiar premises and turning them inside out, but the Aiken jokes are usually beneath even Leno.
http://www.novirginsallowed.com/comics/earlyconan.jpg

[Jawa]

That was fantastic. Do you think they shot the upstairs part separately or was it really shot during the Conan taping?

I was going to say they did the upstairs at a different time, as there was a camera switch (one was waiting for them at the top of the stairs), but watching it again I could see the first cameraman in the second cameraman's shot.

I think they might have shot the whole damn thing during the taping, which is pretty impressive technically. Of course, I could be completely mistaken.

[hound]

Yeah, it was definitely all shot at once. Those are the stairwells/entrances to the studio. It's not the first time they've had Conan run up/down stairs with other cameras waiting.

[Mutant Despot]

I could not stop laughing at chihuahua Russell Crowe last night.

[megalope]

You spill more seed than a blind parakeet.

Even Jouster laughed at this one! Way to go, BPS.

[BrianStack]

Mutant,
I'm glad you liked the ridiculously stupid Russel Crowe chihuahua, thanks a lot. I had a great time doing that even though I sounded nothing like the real Mr. Crowe. We never even thought of asking him to do that voice-over himself, so were all surprised when he told Conan he would've been happy to do it.

Megalope,
I'm glad you (and Jouster) enjoyed that "parakeet" line, thanks to you, too. Jose Arroyo (Father De Carlo) actually came up with that line when we were writing the sketch, so I'll pass your kind words along to him.

-Brian

[KevinLee]

Introducing the new guy to Late Night:
IsayU6GLcwM&eurl

Then:
y-jO87obJ84

and:
_AWV792CC44

plus:
lBfnG36x22c&eur

[yumitree]

who played mark iavaronni(sp?) in the wall street businessmen freaking out sketch?

[BrianStack]

Yumitree,
That third stock trader in the red jacket was played by Dan Cronin, who also came up with the idea for that bit. I like that he used the names of semi-obscure pro athletes for all three of the guys.
-Brian

[KevinLee]

So I noticed an product placement sketch involving soap scum and Dove and Labamba. What do you all think of commercials that Conan pitches himself?

Very old school.

TiVo Strikes Back!

[BrianStack]

Kevin,

It can obviously look pretty damn awkward when shows have some kind of obvious product placement or ad shoved into them. I remember watching an episode of "Alias" once in which Jennifer Garner needed to hop in some kind of high-performance car in order to pursue some bad guy, and she turned to her partner, pointed at a Ford pick-up, and yelled, "The F-150!" She did her best to make it sound even somewhat natural, but not even Helen Mirren or Kate Winslet could've pulled that one off.

Our show has had its share of that kind of awkward product placement, too, obviously, like the Dove bit last week, but we've only been asked to do that kind of thing a few times so far. I expect there to be more and more in-show ads and/or product placement in TV shows, though, largely because of things you already mentioned like TiVO. I understand why it might be necessary, but trying to do it in an entertaining way is obviously going to be a real challenge, even for shows on premium cable that don't have commercial breaks.

There was just an interesting article in New York Magazine about this very topic, and they mention that "F-150" example, as well as examples of shows doing product placement with cleverness and finesse, like "30 Rock" does frequently. I love how Tina Fey turned to camera after one obvious product placement moment and said, "Can we have our money now?"

-Brian

[KevinLee]

http://nymag.com/news/features/51014/index2.html
Yeah!!!

[metal2000]

I can't remember exactly what it was for -- something tells me it was Budweiser or Bud Light or something -- but several years back "Late Night" had a series of in-show ads where it showed an old lady sitting. Conan would say: "It'll make you go from this..." and the old lady would moan uncomfortably. Then it'd cut back to him saying, "...to this..." and she made this really awkward "Ahh... ah haaaa" sound of comfort and delight. If you recall them, you'll remember how funny they were!

Does anyone remember these? Or am I just showing how much of the show I seem to remember, even 10 years later?

[BrianStack]

metal,

We used to do quite a few of those "commercial lead-ins" years ago, and I'm glad you liked them. They were basically just a transition to the first ad being shown during the commercial break, so they never felt awkward to us. We always loved doing those since we could do just about anything we wanted for them, and they could be very silly or arbitrary, like that one with the old lady that you mentioned.

One of my personal favorites of the commercial lead-ins was for
Jackson Hewitt Tax Service. Tommy Blacha did his "Shirtless Moron" character (a crazed dumbass wearing nothing but jeans with a rope belt) thrashing around in his office while trying to do his own taxes, pointing to a live chicken on his desk, and saying, "I gotta deduct you...somehow!" Maybe you had to be there but it really killed me.

[Trial]

C. O'Brien just said in an interview with Artie L. that he'll be in LA for The Tonight Show

[Everest]

i heard a they would be starting from scratch characterwise

[charlyneyi]

Tonight wasn't it a Late Night with Sugar Rush?
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/XNqnpKv6esE&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/XNqnpKv6esE&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

[Jixby Phillips]

that looks like so much fun

all you do is make me think about how much fun I'm not having, I hate it

[Jixby Phillips]

Bump, I'm still mad about this, bump

[metal2000]

Triumph facilitates a meeting between Blackwolf and Lordi (http://www.latenightunderground.com/2008/11/blackwolf-meet-lordi.shtml)

Possibly the funniest thing I've ever watched on the internet -- and this INCLUDES all of Charlyne's awesome videos!

[kwigibo]

Does anyone know where I can find footage of Jon Glaser doing "Wrist Hulk"? A week ago I fell over in someone's front yard and braced my fall with my forearm which landed on a large rock. For the past week my wrist has been covered in a swollen green bruise and I'd like to show people that my yelling "wrist mad!" and "wrist smash!" is based on a real thing.

[megalope]

Does anyone know where I can find footage of Jon Glaser doing "Wrist Hulk"? A week ago I fell over in someone's front yard and braced my fall with my forearm which landed on a large rock. For the past week my wrist has been covered in a swollen green bruise and I'd like to show people that my yelling "wrist mad!" and "wrist smash!" is based on a real thing.

Pics?

[kwigibo]

Pics?

It looked better a week ago, it's mostly faded now.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v175/kwigibo/DSCF0151.jpg

[aenemaTron]

Hey,

When is Conan gonna get his hair cut already?

Signed,

I'm gay.



PS- I LOVED Smart Person / Stupid Ghost. Screw that audience!

[gloshi]

Paul F. Tompkins was hilarious tonight. It was awesome to see him and Conan together. Man, I miss his live LA performances. I can't wait until he comes back to visit.

[NausicaN]

"Paul F. Tompkins was hilarious tonight."

Hell no, it was awkward. He was going for "funny-quirky" and came off like a weirdo.

[Jixby Phillips]

What the fuck do you know asshole

fuck you

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh114/jixbyphillips/sadsmall.jpg

[Jixby Phillips]

I HOPE SOMETHING ODORLESS KILLS YOU WHEN YOU SLEEP TONIGHT

THEN I'D BE ALL

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh114/jixbyphillips/happysmall.jpg

[JKwac]

PFT was a marvelous and charming guest. I hope he becomes a regular guest like Patton.

[Scammy Davis Boogah Jr.]

Why is 'awkward' suddenly the buzzword of choice for people with a shitty sense of humor?

Jixby = funny

[NausicaN]

This is fucking ridiculous people can't have opinions on this board.

"I HOPE SOMETHING ODORLESS KILLS YOU WHEN YOU SLEEP TONIGHT"

Agree with me or not, but Jixby's completely rude & out of line.

[ericluxury]

I love PFT and those jokes and I found the back and forth between PFT and Conan especially funny. The audience seemed to start off liking him, but seemed to not enjoy the crown bit much. That did seem awkward, but I'd say thats the situation not the guest, who is among the funniest.

[jon]

This is fucking ridiculous people can't have opinions on this board.

"Paul F. Tompkins was hilarious tonight."

Hell no, it was awkward.

Asking for your opinion to be respected means you should do the same.

[NausicaN]

I agree Jon, but I think me saying "hell no" is definetly not the same as...

"What the fuck do you know asshole.. fuck you.. I HOPE SOMETHING ODORLESS KILLS YOU WHEN YOU SLEEP TONIGHT".

[disl]

im about 99% sure that jixby is serious what a jerk

[Scammy Davis Boogah Jr.]

This is fucking ridiculous people can't have opinions on this board.

"I HOPE SOMETHING ODORLESS KILLS YOU WHEN YOU SLEEP TONIGHT"

Agree with me or not, but Jixby's completely rude & out of line.

Yes, I agree, it is completely ridiculous that you can't just jump into any forum and disagree with the majority of the people there, saying 'Hell no they're wrong' right out of the gate and then have to be subjected to other people DISAGREEING with YOU in return.

What is this, communist China?

[Fan of Hilarity]

I think the issue is with how your opinion was phrased. Had you said "I thought" rather than "hell no" it would have been better received.

The fact that you're referring to one of the funniest men alive doesn't help

[KevinLee]

EVERYBODY, PILE ON!!! QUICK!!!

[Shane]

I was so happy when I saw that Paul was the second guest, the stuff he does can't be done in 3 1/2 minutes without being ruined. But, I didn't think Conan added much to the interview, to me it kinda felt like he didn't want Paul there, or doesn't know how to interview actual comedians. How did nobody laugh when Paul said king hat?!?!?! I love that joke. The crowd did get a little weird when he was talking about his mom's funeral too. They can all suck it.

[nadsat droog]

Judah Friedlander just killed it. My sides hurt.

[Jixby Phillips]

NausicaN I'm gonna kill you

[Jixby Phillips]

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh114/jixbyphillips/happysmall.jpg

ITS MY OPINION MAN, ITS RIDICULOUS I CANT HAVE AN OPINION

[Having Fun!]

Oh wow, so now death threats are OK. Didn't get that memo, AST.

[yumitree]

This is fucking ridiculous people can't have opinions on this board.

"I HOPE SOMETHING ODORLESS KILLS YOU WHEN YOU SLEEP TONIGHT"

Agree with me or not, but Jixby's completely rude & out of line.

oh that jixby!

have you never been on the internet before?

[gloshi]

oh that jixby!

have you never been on the internet before?

oh that jixby, indeed!

[priceyeah]

The mood is dark at AST.

[metal2000]

Tompkins was a funny guest (though I've heard him tell the mom's funeral story before -- never been a fan of hearing the same story on different shows). I hope he shows up more regularly now that he's in NYC.

As for Friedlander, I'm just not a big fan of his "World Champion" schtick. He stuck with that last month when he was on "The Hour" here in Canada, and while that show has a lot of humour, it's not a "comedy show" and its interviewees tend to "keep it real" (for lack of a better term at 1:50am) rather than continue their characters or bits. I thought I might like it more on a show like Conan's, but it still didn't make me laugh very much. Too bad, too, because I like him on "30 Rock" a lot, and I hear he's great in "The Wrestler".

[rubymatt]

Direct link to watch Paul F. on Conan: http://comicvsaudience.blogspot.com/2008/12/paul-f-tompkins-was-on-late-night-with.html

Fun stuff. Though apparently mainstream studio audience = freaked out over touchy subjects like a mom's funeral.

[KevinLee]

Tompkins was a funny guest (though I've heard him tell the mom's funeral story before -- never been a fan of hearing the same story on different shows). I hope he shows up more regularly now that he's in NYC.

As for Friedlander, I'm just not a big fan of his "World Champion" schtick. He stuck with that last month when he was on "The Hour" here in Canada, and while that show has a lot of humour, it's not a "comedy show" and its interviewees tend to "keep it real" (for lack of a better term at 1:50am) rather than continue their characters or bits. I thought I might like it more on a show like Conan's, but it still didn't make me laugh very much. Too bad, too, because I like him on "30 Rock" a lot, and I hear he's great in "The Wrestler".

[Scammy Davis Boogah Jr.]

I suppose that's one way of saying, "I agree with Metal2000"...

[disl]

i didn't get a weird vibe from conan or the audience at all. you guys are the weird ones. maybe the weird vibe from conan is the same weird vibe you get from any talk show host when basically all they're doing is setting up the visiting comic to do one of the bits from their act. i mean, conan isn't all that good at that (gonna be honest, the "i'm just trying to figure something out, so you got your start in philadelphia???" lead-in was pretty weak. c'mon, conan), but i thought it was fine. good interview, paul was very funny as usual.

[Shane]

Maybe I'm just used to Conan needing to add a bunch of stuff to the interview because the interviewee is boring and not funny, so when he actually has somebody funny on there like Paul, he kinda shuts down and listens most of the time.

[Cameron]

I still don't understand why comics do their bits when guests on talk shows. I feel like if they are going to do that, they should just perform as a stand up, but when they sit down as a guest I'd rather just hear them talk and treat it like a real interview.

Or maybe it's just because I have no idea how that kind of thing works.

[darrylduffy]

was the conangobyebye@nbc.com thing real? i sent in, would love to be out there for those final shows in february even though i'll probably be able to see him in l.a. it's been 10 years!

(LL Cool J, Old Farmer's Almanac Editor Judd Hale, and comedian/staff writer Andy Blitz)

edit: 2500!

edit2: it is real! i just checked http://www.nbc.com/conan

[tuggboat]

I still don't understand why comics do their bits when guests on talk shows. I feel like if they are going to do that, they should just perform as a stand up, but when they sit down as a guest I'd rather just hear them talk and treat it like a real interview.

a great Michael Showalter Showalter about that same topic... http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1820978