Saturday, February 21, 2009

Last Night Of Conan O'Brien

In the "news too late for you to do anything about", tonight was Conan's last night as the host of the Late Show.  There were guests like Andy Richter, and music from the White Stripes, and clips a plenty.  What was really striking to me though was that the network gave Conan an extra 5 minutes so he could spend 15 minutes thanking all the people who made his improbable rise happen.

And, for you young people, who are used to Conan always being there (it has been 16 years, after all) let me tell you something--I watched Conan's very first show back in 1993, and the reaction in the room was about 50/50--50% thought Conan was OK; the other 50% hated him.  He used to dance at his desk going to commercial.  He was awkward--he had never, ever been on TV (aside from a few nonspeaking roles on SNL) before, and it showed.   Those of us who liked the show told each other, "Better enjoy while it is still on the air."  (We said the same thing about South Park when it debuted.)  If you had told me, back in 1993, watching Conan's debut in Margo's room in Wallace Hall (you get it?  I remember where I was for that first show.) that he'd be leaving on his volition to take over Carson's old spot, I would have told you you were super-high and stupid.

So let's celebrate Conan's improbable success and his promise not to get any more mature as he moves up an hour and finds himself against Letterman--which doesn't seem right to me.  Can't those take turns or something?  Let's enjoy Conan doing what he does best, doing a remote feature.  Enjoy (again), if you please, Conan visiting a baseball league that plays historical baseball:



Conan O'Brien 1864 Baseball
by Youpinadi

1 comment:

Lucy Rhode said...

I watched the first episode with my brother in his studio apartment. We predicted that Conan was like a LaserDisc player. Few would get him, and he'd be obsolete within months.