Boredom-Fueled Blog

If you had told me on June 1, 2009, that Conan O’Brien would only be the host of “The Tonight Show” for seven months, I would’ve called you crazy, but I probably would’ve taped (yes, on VHS) every last episode. Give-or-take five hours per tape, it would’ve only taken thirty tapes to contain the complete “Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien.” Regrettably, I did not know Conan’s “Tonight Show” stint would be so short, so the only episode I have on tape are his first, his entire last week, and the two-weeks-and-four-days of re-runs NBC aired after his last show. So, I got some classic moments in television history on tape, but I also missed some. Here are some moments I’m proud to say I have on tape, and also some moments that will eventually fade in my memory and be lost to time.

Five Conan “Tonight Show” Moments I’m Glad I Got on Tape
1. Carrying on in the great tradition of dogs on Conan’s show – evil puppy, the Really Tall Dachshund, and Triumph the Insult Comic Dog – are Puppies Dressed as Cats. Part of the brilliance of Conan is that he can get a crowd to go completely insane for something you might otherwise only grin slightly at, be it a vomiting Muppet, a spinning wedding ring, or a puppy dressed as a cat.
2. Wax Tom Cruise and Wax Fonzie get shot out of a cannon. Now here’s something you don’t see every day: poorly constructed wax likenesses of Tom Cruise and the Fonz being shot out of giant cannons. But don’t worry: if they hit their targets (two bean bag chairs) they’ll be just fine… (Spoiler: they miss the targets and are horribly mangled.)
3. When I first knew that the “Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien” was going to be consistently amazing was when Conan went guitar shopping with Slash. This is a classic piece of Conan goodness: Conan being Conan – with Slash. I can’t tell who I’m more jealous of: Conan for getting to hang out with Slash, or Slash for getting to hang out with Conan.
4. Is there anything more exciting for a live studio audience than a walk-on. If you had to think of two celebrities – any celebrities – to do a double-walk-on, who would you think of? You’re thinking of William Shatner and Sarah Palin, right? There’s probably no more famous walk-on from Conan’s historic seven months than the time when William Shatner read excerpts from Palin’s autobiography in the style of a beat-poet, and, much to Shatner’s apparent surprise, she did the same to him.
5. If I someday decide to upload my old Conan tapes to YouTube (or “YouTwitFace,” if it comes to that) there’s one clip you wouldn’t be seeing. The Bugatti Veyron Mouse can not legally be shown on the Internet. Due to the licensing fees for the mouse’s theme song (“(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”) NBC pulled the clip from NBC.com, Hulu, YouTube, and any other semi-legal video streaming website. So, this rare clip belongs to the people who had enough foresight to get it on tape.

More recent gems I have on tape: the “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” that aired after Conan’s last “Tonight Show,” Jay Leno’s appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show, Conan O’Brien’s appearance on “60 Minutes.”

Five Conan “Tonight Show” Moments I Wish I Had on Tape
1. When I heard that NBC would air re-runs for 2+ weeks after Conan’s last show, the one episode that came to mind was when the Newark Feud was resolved. Surprisingly (or not), NBC did not air the episode in which Newark Mayor Cory Booker appeared and patched things up with Conan. I think that this is because NBC didn’t want to show Conan’s generosity in donating $50,000 out of his own pocket right after they had essentially fired him. That’s just my thought as to why this episode wasn’t re-aired and one with… Joel McHale… was.
2. What better way to celebrate Halloween than destroying the world’s largest pumpkin with a monster truck named “Grave Digger”! I’d like to see Jay Leno do that. This is what good television is made of.
3. One of my favorite things about Conan’s shows was the viewer involvement, not just for the studio audience, but also for the people watching at home. When I first started watching Conan ’round about 2003 or 2004, he was doing some bit, and all I remember about it was that you could send in “Grub Man costume ideas” and they’d send you a button that said “I’m a Conan Cost-Cutter.” (I wish I’d done that – those buttons would be worth hundreds of cents today.) So Conan really went all out with his Conan, Please Blow Up My Car! contest, where viewers were asked to send in video of their car, if they thought it was the worst car in America. The winner gets a brand new car, but more importantly, they get their car blown up (with the perpetually blown-up wax Fonzie in the front seat).
4. Don’t misunderstand me; I’m not some sick weirdo who gets pleasure from witnessing head injuries, but Conan’s concussion had to be one of the most memorable moments from his show, and, sadly, I didn’t get it on tape. When they eventually release a “best-of” for Conan’s “Tonight Show,” they should include as bonus material the unaired portion of the episode leading up to Conan’s slip.
5. Surprisingly, I don’t have a single “In The Year 3000″ on one of my tapes. [Note: I notice myself becoming one of those crazy people who's always talking about "their tapes."] Without “In The Year 3000″ I don’t have what may possibly be my single favorite joke from the show’s seven months: “A popular female singer and a world renowned classical cellist will be involved in a controversy involving motorcycles in Los Cabos, Mexico, prompting the New York Post headline: Lady Gaga and Yo-Yo Ma in Baha Yamaha Brouhaha!” That one really makes you think.

More recent gems I wish I had on tape: Jay Leno’s first “Tonight Show” back, Andy Richter co-hosting “Live with Regis and Kelly,” the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” where Kimmel spent the whole show dressed as Leno.

Lists, Television Conan O'Brien

People – and when I say “people” I mean people like me who have a lot of free time to actually think about such things – often come up with lists of the best episodes of their favorite TV shows. Well, “The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien” was one of my favorite TV shows ever and I did see every episode, so I thought I’d make a list of my favorites.

9. Episode 9: June 11, 2009.
Guests: Norm MacDonald, Jim Gaffigan, Neko Case.
In this episode’s pre-recorded remote piece, Conan is joined by Slash to help him buy a guitar on Craigslist. They visit several homes including one in which Conan plays “Till There Was You” on a heavy metal double guitar. Eventually they arrive at the home of the creepiest person I’ve ever seen on television whom Conan immediately assumes is a murderer. The episode rolls on with Norm MacDonald’s appearance, and, as we all know, you can’t go wrong with Norm. His traditional TV parodies include a remake of “Jon and Kate Plus 8″ called “Norm Plus 1.” There’s a pretty funny clip of Conan recording promos for the affiliates where Norm keeps interrupting to mock Conan.

8. Episode 107: November 18, 2009.
Guests: Seth Green, Heidi Montag & Spencer Pratt, Brian Setzer Orchestra.
I have never, in all my years of sitting around and watching TV, seen a talk show studio audience openly “boo” a guest. I’ve heard one or two people “boo” and the rest of the audience applaud, but I’ve never seen an entire audience “boo” at the very mention of a guest’s name: Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt. The incredibly annoying reality TV couple provided one of Conan’s funniest interviews ever, in which Conan tries so hard to not make fun of them. (The next night, guest Anderson Cooper expressed disbelief that Conan would ever interview the pair.) It should be noted that The Brian Setzer Orchestra played a great performance from their album, “Songs from Lonely Avenue,” which I recommend.

7. Episode 120: December 8, 2009.
Guests: Josh Brolin, Tillie the Dog Artist, Chad Daniels.
After a hilarious “Tiger Woods Joke Caddy” bit, a pretty funny “Celebrity Survey,” and a funny, but forgettable, interview with Josh Brolin we come to Tillie the Dog Artist: the ultimate “Stupid Pet Trick” and the reason this episode is on this list. The segment starts with Tillie’s owner explaining what Tillie does: basically scratches and bites a piece of carbon paper to make “art.” Conan shows some of Tillie’s previous works of art (which sell for thousands of dollars), and they’re mildly impressive. Next, Conan gives Tillie the dog a piece of blank carbon paper to create a masterpiece right there, on the air. Tillie spends most of the rest of the interview gnawing on one corner of the paper and barking at her owner (whom Conan rightly accuses of taking all of Tillie’s income for himself). The interview with Tillie the Dog Artist should go down as one of Conan’s greatest “Tonight Show” moments; in thirty years when PBS airs “Conan O’Brien’s Greatest ‘Tonight Show’ Moments” they should definitely air this under-rated piece of comedy gold.

6. Episode 1: June 1, 2009.
Guests: Will Ferrell, Pearl Jam.
First episode or not, this is a fantastic hour of television. It opens with the same title card many of Johnny Carson’s “Tonight Show” episodes, foreshadowing the way Conan’s year would be reminiscent of Carson’s thirty years. We begin with Conan making sure he did everything on his checklist, and he did… except for moving to L. A. After being unable to catch a New York cab he decides to run to L. A. as Cheap Trick’s “Surrender” plays (great song choice). He runs past Amish country, Wrigley Field, and a creepy doll museum before finally arriving at the studio only to find that he forgot his keys in New York… so he bulldozes his way into the studio. And all that before the theme song even begins! The episode continues with a great remote segment where Conan goes on a Universal Tram Tour and mocks the killer from “Psycho” for committing a murder in a flannel shirt in broad daylight. In the next segment we learn that Conan has brought his famous 1992 Ford SHO to California. In the last memorable segment of the episode, Will Ferrell enters as an Egyptian pharaoh would.

5. Episode 89: October 16, 2009.
Guests: Cory Booker, Max Records, Dashboard Confessional. Most people will remember this episode because it was when Conan’s Newark Feud was resolved, but let’s not forget that it also featured Triumph the Insult Comic Dog visiting a dog boutique. That said, the best, most memorable part of this episode was Conan’s interview with Newark, New Jersey, Mayor Cory Booker. To catch you up, in case you’ve forgotten, Conan told a joke at Newark’s expense, Cory Booker banned Conan from Newark, Conan banned Booker from the L. A. airport, Conan gained support from the area surrounding Newark, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the pair to settle the feud, and then we arrive at this episode. Conan promises to stop making fun of Newark (choosing to target Detroit instead); Mayor Booker admits he is a fan of Conan’s show; Conan and his wife donate $50,000 to the Newark city fund. (The donation was matched by NBC.) Feud resolved!

4. Episode 123: December 11, 2009.
Guests: Zach Braff, Bear Grylls, Tony Bennett.
Some episodes (of this, or any TV show) have good starts and bad endings or vice versa, but Episode 123 is pure gold from start to finish. After the monologue, master thespian William Shatner reads excerpts from Sarah Palin’s autobiography as if he were a beatnik poet. Much to Shatner’s surprise, Sarah Palin herself shows up to read excerpts from Shatner’s autobiography. After the commercial break, Conan performs an apology song to Diane Sawyer for not congratulating her on her promotion to “World News” anchor. Next, Conan interviews Zach Braff; I haven’t watched this interview since it aired, but I still remember thinking, “This is a fantastic interview. Best ever? Maybe.” I’ll have to go back and watch it. (Note: I happen to have this episode on VHS tape, as I recorded Conan’s last week of shows and the three weeks of reruns that followed.) The episode closes with Tony Bennett’s annual Christmas performance, a superb, jazzy version of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”

3. Episode 144: January 20, 2010.
Guests: Adam Sandler, Joel McHale, Joss Stone with Raphael Saadiq. In Conan’s last week on the air, things got really memorable: surprise appearances, big name guests, basically pulling out all the stops. This episode’s surprise appearance: Ed Helms, who sings Conan a version of “Stu’s Song” from “The Hangover” with different lyrics pertaining to Conan’s situation. This episode’s big name guest: Adam Sandler, a friend of Conan’s, who recounts when he was fired from NBC (complete with a Chris Farley impression that still makes me laugh). This episode’s stop pulled out: The Bugatti Veyron Mouse. This sketch gives me goosebumps every time I watch it. It’s solid rebellion against authority ground into one minute of greatness. Plus, this segment was pulled from the Internet because of the expensive song (“Satisfaction” by the Rolling Stones) featured in it, which makes my VHS copy a bona fide bootleg.

2. Episode 146: January 22, 2010.
Guests: Tom Hanks, Will Ferrell, Neil Young.
The last show… the last time Conan ever spent $65 million of NBC’s money in a minute-long sketch… the last time Steve Carell conducted Conan’s exit interview… the last time Tom Hanks showed up drunk on soda and gave Conan stick-on sideburns. Conan’s memorable seven months is capped off with Neil Young performing “Long May You Run,” Conan giving a completely classy farewell speech, and Will Ferrell (joined by the Tonight Show Band, Billy Gibbons, Beck, Ben Harper, and Conan) performing the best version of “Free Bird” I’ve ever heard.

1. Episode 111: November 26, 2009.
Guests: PeeWee Herman, Donald Faison, Bon Jovi.
Here it is – my pick for the best episode of “The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien.” To me, it has a very homey feel, for some reason… you get the feeling that the entire staff is like a big family, being that they spent Thanksgiving together… Anyway, I have an equation for you: Jordan Schlansky + Pierre Bernard + Wing Pang + Conan O’Brien = awesomeness. I’m not sure I laughed harder during Conan’s entire “Tonight Show” run than during the Thanksgiving dinner between these four guys. Later in the show, PeeWee Herman organizes a Thanksgiving play starring Conan, Andy and LaBamba. The episode closes with a performance by Bon Jovi, and who doesn’t like Bon Jovi? – besides Jon Bovi. Puppies Dressed as Thanksgiving Dinner is the whipped cream on the Thanksgiving pie that is this incredible hour of television.

Lists, Television Conan O'Brien

Here is a list of the one-hundred best things about “The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien” that I made because I was bored and because Conan’s “Tonight Show” is over. Many of these sound completely random when read out of context, so if you don’t have a firm grasp of the greatness that was “The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien” prepare to be confused. In no particular order:
Choco Taco, “Tonight Show” Tour-iffic Tram-taculars, In the Year 3000, recording for Anime, Norm MacDonald, sarcastic applause, Wax Tom Cruise, Wax Fonzie at a urinal, puppies dressed as Thanksgiving dinner, Bugatti Veyron dressed as a mouse while “Satisfaction” plays, stuntman Steven Ho, a bust of Conan made of white chocolate (or was it Swiss cheese? I can’t remember.), William Shatner, Twitter Tracker, Conan’s vampire assistant Cody Devereaux, Conan’s wolf-boy assistant, Conan’s Frankenstein assistant, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, velcro Christmas tree, Jordan Schlansky, Andy’ll Try It, Celebrity Survey, Celebrity Survey’s theme music, impatient scuba diver, puppies dressed as cats, reading Sarah Palin’s tweets, Wing Pang, Small Talk Moments, Deon Cole, Mike Merritt’s inner thoughts, Conan, Please Blow Up My Car, PeeWee Herman’s Thanksgiving play, Wax Conan, the International Symbol for Larry King, “Super Mario Bros.” backdrop, Aaron Bleyaert’s web game, Ed Helms, Christmas ornament bazooka, chanting “Circle”, NBC bootlickery (June 1, 2009-January 10, 2010), NBC bashing (January 10, 2010-present), Stillerstrong vs. Livestrong, that hair, shooting things/people out of cannons, nerd impressions, the concussion…, Stuart Wexler, Tom Hanks gets hit by a meteorite, Pierre Bernard, James Wormworth’s barefoot drumming, puppies dressed as Frankenst- The Interrupter, “The Tonight Show” for sale on Craigslist, the letter “D” from the Hollywood sign, Conan’s Tabloid Moment, Conan plays “Till There Was You” on a heavy metal double guitar, LaBamba, Conan and Andy on the Aisle, Andy Richter, the USC Marching Band annoys Jordan Schlansky, Max Weinberg’s brown suits, Conan’s father, The “Tonight Show” back row dancers/dog circus/Hamster 500, Noches de Pasion con Senor O’Brien, “Tonight Show” Traffic-copter, Audiencey Awards, Conan meets his neighbors, Conan vs. Newark, a message from Conan’s peers, Tiger Woods joke caddy, LaBamba’s mustache, slamming the microphone on the desk, new state quarters, “Tonight Show” Kiss-Cam, NASA lost the original moon landing footage in the ’80s, Comcast bootlicking, Dumbledore goes Hollywood, Domino’s Pizza employees fall like dominoes, Max Weinberg’s rare rim-shot, adding subtitles to foreign language footage, Andy schools Wolf Blitzer on “Celebrity Jeopardy!”, audience plugs, Blame It on LaBamba, smashing pumpkins with monster trucks, Checking in on Max in Europe, the Eisenhower mug, the heavyset Peruvian President Alan Garcia Pérez, stringdancing, Andy’s motorized podium, 1992 Ford Taurus, America’s New Oprah (including “Leprechaun in the Hood,” a calendar of extraordinary chickens, and “Killdozer” the movie about a bulldozer that comes to life and starts killing everything), A Holiday song for Mormons, how do you spell “shaba-shaba… hi!”?, Learning About the News While on the News, puppies dressed as the nativity scene, Mine That Bird dressed in a mink Snuggie watching restricted NFL Super Bowl footage, Neil Young’s completely ironic performance of “Long May You Run,” Will Ferrell’s completely incredible performance of “Free Bird,” the twelve-foot tall Jehova’s Witnesses, and LaBamba’s hat getting taken to the rafters by his “In the Year 3000″ prop.

Lists, Television Conan O'Brien