Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Bye Everybody, Bye!

Host of Late Night with Conan O'Brien... Conan O'Brien, has left his show after 16 years to take over The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. When I first heard of this news I was heart broken at the thought that Conan would have to alter his style for a new late night audience. Later, I was reassured by the man himself (not in person) that Late Night's stupid gags and antics would not go anywhere, as they are what his fans love. That and his rapist wit. When I heard that he was to replaced by Jimmy Fallon, and not me, I was also deeply saddened for 2 reasons. 1, I've never been a huge fan of Jimmy Fallon since he could never keep his shit together in a sketch on SNL, and 2, hello, I'm available to move to NYC and host a late night show, hello?! Lorne Michaels?! I AM AVAILABLE!

Anyway, the plus to this is I won't have to stay up until 1:30 in the morning to watch Conan anymore, because I prefer to be asleep by 10PM... really? no.

Conan has been an idol to me, and I am incredibly jealous of his career, and my little boy dream is to be him... tall, Irish, with a flat pale face... oh and on television doing stand-up, improv, sketches, and interviews. The man has sat down with The Who people!

In order to be in Conan's shoes, I've decided to compare our lives and paths to see if I'm heading in the right direction

Conan was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. I was born in Boylston, Massachusetts, a suburb of Worcester.

Conan's mother was an attorney and his father was a physician/professor of medicine. My mother is a Senior Materials Manager for a biotech company and my dad makes glasses.

Conan is 6' 4". I am 5' 4".

Conan attended Harvard University and graduated magna cum laude with a degree in history and literature. I will hopefully no longer be on academic probation at Suffolk and graduate on time with a degree in journalism.

After working as a writer in LA, Conan was hired by Lorne Michals to write for Saturday Night Live, and then he lived briefly in Chicago with Jeff Garlin while performing improv. I have never gotten a sketch into a Seriously Bent revue, but I did live briefly with premier improv director and former mainstage cast member of Improv Asylum, Jeremy Brothers.

After resigning from writer with The Simpsons, Conan auditioned as David Letterman's successor, and became host of Late Night.


I wrote and hosted The Magic Hour in Suffolk's new TV studio with a make believe guest and a monologue joke about Chinese people.

Hmmmmm... I think I'm on a similar path.

Conan's final show at Late Night was sincere, gracious, and heart-felt, giving proof to his popularity as one of the greatest television talents of the genre.

I will leave you with one of my favorite Conan bits. In the following video, Conan visits Napa Valley for some wine education during his San Francisco series.





1 comment:

Derrick said...

I think you have brought up some very good points and I think it's safe to say you would make a much better successor to Conan than Jimmy Fallon.