I'm a fan of late night talk shows and a big fan of Conan O'Brien. After a busy day, Conan with his self-deprecating humor and whit, always made me smile and laugh (out loud, might I add -- has anyone seen his skit -- In the Year 3000?) I was overjoyed after learning he would be taking over The Tonight Show after Leno stepped down. And unless you have been living under a rock, I'm sure you heard or saw the ongoing dispute among Conan, Jay Leno, and NBC Studios. For those of you who are under-rock dwellers (or just don't care about pop culture), I will catch you up.
Jay Leno left the Tonight Show to pursue his own television show that would air before The Tonight Show, which would be hosted by Conan O'Brien. The Jay Leno show was cancelled due to poor ratings and NBC decided to offer Leno back The Tonight Show and move Conan back to his original spot. Conan refused and the ongoing fued was captured through the television with verbal jabs at each other on their own shows as well as from other hosts (like David Letterman and Jimmy Kimmel). Actors/guest stars lined up behind Conan to support him and he stood his ground against NBC. Finally, last week, both announced a deal. Conan O'Brien would leave The Tonight Show and receive $33 million dollars out of the total payout of $45 million. The remaineder would be split among his producers and writers of the show. So on Friday, January 22nd, Conan made his last appearance on NBC as a talk show.
I know stereotypes are made about people and their professions, and I confess that I can tend to make unknown claims too. I tend to think that stand-up comedians or people who make humor their career only know how to make people laugh --when it comes to the serious stuff, they lack emotion and poise. But I could not have been more wrong when Conan took the last part of his show to completely surprise me with his emotional and graceful goodbye (including a perfect song performed by Neil Young -- "Long May You Run":
"Before we end this rodeo, a few things need to be said. There has been a lot of speculation in the press about what I legally can and can't say about NBC. To set the record straight, tonight I am allowed to say anything I want. And what I want to say is this: between my time at Saturday Night Live, the Late Night show, and my brief run here on The Tonight Show, I have worked with NBC for over twenty years. "Yes, we have our differences right now and yes, we're going to go our separate ways. But this company has been my home for most of my adult life. I am enormously proud of the work we have done together, and I want to thank NBC for making it all possible.
Walking away from The Tonight Show is the hardest thing I have ever had to do. Making this choice has been enormously difficult. This is the best job in the world, I absolutely love doing it, and I have the best staff and crew in the history of the medium. But despite this sense of loss, I really feel this should be a happy moment. Every comedian dreams of hosting The Tonight Show and, for seven months, I got to. I did it my way, with people I love, and I do not regret a second. I've had more good fortune than anyone I know and if our next gig is doing a show in a 7-Eleven parking lot, we'll find a way to make it fun.
And finally, I have to say something to our fans. The massive outpouring of support and passion from so many people has been overwhelming. The rallies, the signs, all the goofy, outrageous creativity on the internet, and the fact that people have traveled long distances and camped out all night in the pouring rain to be in our audience, made a sad situation joyous and inspirational. To all the people watching, I can never thank you enough for your kindness to me and I'll think about it for the rest of my life. All I ask of you is one thing: please don't be cynical. I hate cynicism — it's my least favorite quality and it doesn't lead anywhere.
"Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen. "
Conan, I will always be a fan. I know great things are in store for you. Stay humble. Stay cheerful. Stay passionate. Long May You Run.
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