I haven't watched Conan regularly in a year, so I don't feel as sentimental as I once thought I would, but this is the last week for "Late Night with Conan O'Brien."
I started watching off and on in 2001 and stopped watching shortly after the absolutely brilliant
"Writer's Strike Era" came to an end in February 2008. I stopped because I finally got bored with the repetitive nature of the jokes and I just couldn't handle the 12:35am air time anymore, but just because my love for Conan whimpered at the end doesn't change the fact that he was a more-or-less constant source of humor for about seven years. The low-budget feel of Late Night was the absolutely perfect vehicle for his self-depreciating style, and his "remotes" were some of the most hilarious things I've ever seen, with
1864 baseball, all the Triumphs, visiting Finland, the
2006 Emmys intro and
monologue, and his
talks with Jordan Schlansky standing out in my mind.
Jimmy Fallon will take over the Late Night reigns in March, and the expectations couldn't be lower. I don't quite hate him as much as other people do, as he could occasionally put together a funny skit on SNL, but he's still a very underwhelming choice. I don't know if they were ever offered or were interested, but imagine a Late Night w/ Jim Gaffigan, Louie C.K., or Brian Regan - that would be much, much more like it.
Of course, Conan himself isn't going anywhere (except, well, Los Angeles), as he'll be taking over the Tonight Show starting in June. I'm hoping the literal change in scenery will reinvigorate Conan, although his go-to joke of "nobody's watching anyway" will be gone. Anyway, best of luck to Conan, and at the very least I'll be able to watch him regularly again.
PS - He has to be pissed that, despite getting the Tonight Show,
he'll still be "that guy on after Leno," right?
