Saluting Conan O'Brien
I know, several blogs and media outlets have had their top ten lists of Conan O’Brien’s greatest moments on television. I won’t repeat that… but I do want a chance to thank Mr. O’Brien for these 16 years. He started Late Night with Conan O’Brien in 1993 and will replace Jay Leno as host of The Tonight Show in May. O’Brien is currently making the most of his final days with Late Night before Jimmy Fallon replaces him. There have been many memorable moments; let’s take a look at some of the most recent. Let’s start with one of the old ones. The Shit-Eating Duck (the clip above) had Quackers the Duck eating his own feces. Not exactly one of television’s brightest moments, but it still became a feature few Conan viewers forgot.
Triumph the Insult Comic Dog Robert Smiegel’s offensive dog puppet was one of the most enjoyable ingredients of the show. This clip shows the dog pestering people like Robert Gibbs, Chris Wallace and Greta Van Susteren in the presidential debate spin room.
Joel Godard has been the announcer for Late Night and will reportedly follow Conan to The Tonight Show. He has been portrayed as an utterly deprived person throughout the run and I’m assuming this alter ego will continue to appear in the new venture. He’s hilarious and this clip shows some of his best work.
Will Ferrell stops by in this clip to do President George W. Bush once again. Of course, there’s a leprechaun hiding in there, a routine he has done in the past.
Alec Baldwin, who’s been on the show many times, announces that he’d like to be the first talk-show guest to be killed off; Paulie (Tony Sirico) from The Sopranos helps him out.
Nathan Lane delivered a wonderful farewell song in Conan’s honor, aided by Marc Shaiman on the piano. Almost brings a tear to your eye.
I think part of the appeal has been that O’Brien has allowed himself to get very silly and childish but without losing his charm, something that is exceptionally difficult for a comedian to accomplish. The question is if he will be able to bring that quality to The Tonight Show and continue its good fortune without losing older viewers to Late Show with David Letterman.
Published by Stefan Hedmark 2009-02-22 15:26
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