Late Night TV Returns With Beards, Conan On Guitar
Night owls looking for freshly written jokes received a semi-infusion of comedic relief last night when the late night funny men finally returned for duty (Letterman, Conan, Kimmel, Leno -- Carson did a little while back but we clearly said 'funny men') -- as long as your idea of comedic relief is watching O'Brien beat his own record of spinning his wedding ring for more than 41 seconds. Right: His writers are still on strike, as are the rest of the talk show crew's save Letterman, whose Worldwide Pants negotiated a side deal with the WGA allowing him a full force of professionally minted quips and gags. Didn't stop him from joining Conan in modeling the lastest in strike beard fashion.
[Pics by Dana Edelson for the AP]
Conan without writers means Conan resorting to his grab bag of tricks and ticks: knocking over the big mic, dancing like a fool, staring into the camera as a romantic song plays ("Strike beard ... strike beard ... strike beard ... I love you"), and playing guitar. After the jump, Conan roams the halls playing "Sunshine Of Your Love" and "Purple Haze" while other Late Nighters try to work -- and follows that by playing and singing "Creep" (he knows the music and lyrics, good man) while others jam along on Rock Band. Oh yeah, then he sings "Sabotage" ... if performed by Edith Bunker.
If nothing else, a confirmation of the man's knowledge of good music and '70s television impersonations. On the music guest tip, Conan brought Robert Gordon & Chris Spedding, while Leno booked Chingy and Dave roped in Lupe Fiasco (or as he says, "Loopy"). Letterman also rounded up striking writers from other shows to deliver last night's strike-friendly Top 10. (Don't worry no scabs here -- see #2). Transcription via AP:
Striking television writers delivered David Letterman's Top 10 list, "Demands of the Striking Writers," on his show Wednesday:Notes on last night's guests: Big stars aren't exactly lining up to cross the picket lines, so while Guild-approved Letterman had Robin Williams, Conan had the likes of Bob Saget, Leno had (BAM!) chef Emeril Lagasse, and poor Kimmel had Andy Dick (who has a touchy-feely history on that show). Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee also did Leno, interesting 'cause a) he had to leave Iowa on the eve of the caucus to do it and b) he's running on a labor-friendly(ish) platform and yet definitely was photographed crossing picket lines, met with welcoming "Huckabee Is A Scab" signs. Mike pleaded confusion over Leno's status with the Guild, we guess confusing the situation with Letterman's. (If you're keeping score: Good taste in music, iffy taste in political advisors.)10. "Complimentary tote bag with next insulting contract offer" -- Tim Carvell, from "The Daily Show."
09. "No rollbacks in health benefits, so I can treat the hypothermia I caught on the picket lines" -- Laura Krafft, from "The Colbert Report."
08. "Full salary and benefits for my imaginary writing partner, Lester" -- Melissa Salmons, writer for daytime TV.
07. "Members of the AMPTP must explain what the hell AMPTP stands for" -- Warren Leight, writer for "Law & Order: Criminal Intent."
06. "No disciplinary action taken against any writer caught having inappropriate relationship with a copier" -- Jay Katsir, from "The Colbert Report."
05. "I'd like a date with a woman" -- Steve Bodow, from "The Daily Show."
04. "Hazard pay for breaking up fights on 'The View"' -- from writer and director Nora Ephron.
03. "I'm no accountant, but instead of us getting 4 cents for a $20 DVD, how about we get $20 for a 4-cent DVD?" -- Gina Johnfrido of "Law & Order."
02. "I don't have a joke. I just want to remind everyone that we're on strike, so none of us are responsible for this lame list" -- Chris Albers from Conan O'Brien's "Late Night."
01. "Producers must immediately remove their heads from their -----" -- author Alan Zwiebel.
Finally, why are the hosts coming back now? Well for one, lots of non-writer jobs depend on it. But also back in '88 during the last WGA strike, Johnny Carson set late night precedent by returning to work without his writers after two months off in honor of and respect for his crew. Sure there was Ed Sullivan and there was Steve Allen, but now we know who the real George Washington of late night is.
UPDATE: Huckabee with The Tonight Show band:
Posted at 9:48 AM in Video, Video Games
Tags: Beastie Boys | Conan O'Brien | Cream | David Letterman | Jay Leno | Jimi Hendrix | Jimmy Kimmel | Mike Huckabee | Radiohead
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Fuck late night talk shows, this dispute better get resolved ASAP so as not to preempt the new season of "Lost." I mean, did you see that fucking promo that just came out! Oh well, if not, at least the final season of "The Wire" is already in the can.
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One of the NYC papers has a poll up where you can vote on who has the better beard, http://www.amny.com/entertainment/am-letterman0103,0,7605753.story. Letterman's winning so far.
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I thought Conan did a great job. The guitar stuff being the best, but he's got an impressive track record on SNL and most importantly, the heyday of The Simpsons.
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I actually thought Conan sucked. I mean I did enjoy his guitar skit thing but I it seemed like he either wasn't trying very hard because of the fact that he didn't have his writers on board or it seemed like he just isn't funny "funny" without his writers. It all seemed a little weird and awkward. Especially with Saget and the whole ring thing. But Leno actually did really good ...and I hate Leno.
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Was the Simpsons improvised? Interesting. This'll last about five days before the show ends up looking like a public access show from Longmont, Colorado. I don't watch them, anyway, so it makes no difference to me, but am I the only one to notice that, with those pictures side by side, it looks like a live-action version of a Rankin-Bass Christmas special? I don't exactly recall the title, but red-bearded Conan is the young Santa, and Dave the elder Kringle. Which one am I thinking of?
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Did you guys know that Conan dyes his hair? He's totally gray up top. A guy I work with saw him vacationing in Italy last summer. Sans the hair dye. Conan's an old fucking man.
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Who cares if Conan dyes his hair? Seriously, is this PerezHilton.com?
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Who cares if you don't care about Conan dying his hair? Seriously, punch yourself in the face Tim you naysaying douchebag.
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While Dave's beard affects sea captain imagery vis-a-vis Bill Murray in Life A Aquatic conan invokes the creepy guy upstairs who may or may not have questionable porn on his computer. although, I guess there's not much which would help that situation.
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Dickman (nice name, BTW), Conan has more talent in a single gray pubic hair than you do in your entire family line. And I don't even like him.
Calling someone an old man in spite of his success and (yes, talent) is pretty weak. And irrelevant. Get a life, idiot.
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Oh blow it out your ass, Jon. You won't find a bigger Conan fan than me. His show is on way past my bedtime but I stay up and watch because I'm a fan. I didn't call him an old man because I'm jealous of his success. I called him an old man because without the hair dye he looks like Leslie Nielsen. Got it? Kthanxbye.
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hey Larry D....I am totally on your side in full agreement (and I'm not trying to cause a rift) but please NEVER use "Kthankxbye" again....seriously, NEVER! I don't know where it came from (Hillary Duff?, David Spade?, an Olsen twin?) but I can only tell where it's headed, and I hate it. Happy New Year!!!
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'but please NEVER use "Kthankxbye" again....seriously, NEVER!'
second that.
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That guitar bit was funny. If he can keep that up every night screw the writers.
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How old are the other commenters here? Geez, why don't you just meet each other by the flag pole after school and settle it once and for all?
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Conan's show is the only one I really watch anymore if I do watch a late night talk show. I thought he did pretty well. I love his guitar playing, and his Edith Bunker version of Sabotage was pretty nice. However, I think he should just go hang out in Finland during the strike. That show was awesome (and you can download it on iTunes if you don't know I am talking about).
I wish Carson Daly's show would be a casualty of the WGA strike.
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Conan-cum-Edith Bunker's "Sabotage" pretty much proves the old rule, he who can make watching a bunch of white guys playing Rock Band entertaining deserves the 11:30 timeslot on a major network.
"Your crystal ball ain't so crystal clear, Awr-chie."
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They look so manly with their little beards.
Glad to have Conan back.
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They look so manly with their little beards.
Glad to have Conan back. Funniest man on network television.
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...that was odd.
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That was the least funny episode of Conan I've seen, but I've only seen a few. And I still thought it was pretty funny.
Makes me want to play Rock Band!
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Am I the only one who thinks bearded Conan looks a bit like bearded Thom Yorke? That's probably because I've only seen two bearded redheads and that's them. If anything this writer's strike has made late night talk shows interesting again.
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You're saying only Dave returned with writers. Doesn't Craig Ferguson have writers too? World Wide Pants produces that show, as well as Letterman.
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That "Sabotage" bit made me laugh so hard I nearly fell off my bed. Not so sure about Conan's beard, though. I don't think it matches his three-foot-high coif.
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