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TV Tonight: Conan O'Brien's Last Late Night

BuzzSugar — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 06:30:36 -0800

A little more than 15 years ago, Conan O'Brien took over NBC's Late Show desk, filling the seat once occupied by David Letterman. Tonight, he'll say his farewell to studio 6A and start preparing to take over for yet another comedy icon.

O'Brien will start hosting The Tonight Show in June (while Jay Leno moves to primetime), while Jimmy Fallon will take over Late Night on March 2. Tonight, though, is one last chance to celebrate O'Brien, who brought his signature brand of humor (not to mention memorable props like Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog) to the post-midnight time slot for more than a decade.

Details of O'Brien's last show are mostly under wraps, but at the TCA press tour in January, he said he didn't want "a big salute to me":

If this were my last show ever and I were getting into a space ship and going to Mars and you were never going to see me again, I'd probably really load up the "Look at all I've done and aren't I something" clips, but I'm departing for a brief period of time and then re-appearing in this terrific, fantastic dream job . . . We have a lot of hard-core fans that can recite to me bits that we've done 13, 14, 15 years ago. I want to make sure that I don't let them down, but I also want to make sure I don't overdo it.

That sounds like a good approach to me - though I personally wouldn't mind one last "In the Year 2000" bit. What are some of your favorite Late Night with Conan O'Brien memories, and will you be tuning in for tonight's final episode? You can relive one of my favorite bits, from back when Conan visited San Francisco in 2007, if you read more.

Photo courtesy of NBC

Link Time! 2/17

BuzzSugar — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 13:30:07 -0800

You can now bid on this cheese costume - and lots of other parts of the Late Night With Conan O'Brien set. - TV Squad
These Watchmen cupcakes are so cool (and tasty-looking . . .). - Cinematical
What's the cover of Entertainment Weekly really saying? - The TV Addict
Gotta love a good Family Guy spoof of the Christian Bale rant. - Popwatch
Check out a new Yeah Yeah Yeah's track, "Zero." - Stereogum
10 TV-to-movie adaptations that were actually good. - Clique Clack TV
Um, really, Robert Pattinson at the Oscars? - Vulture
Speaking of which, plan an Oscars-viewing party with PartySugar! Today's helpful post: The nibbles. - YumSugar

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Jimmy Fallon Starts His Hosting Duties Online Tonight

BuzzSugar — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 10:31:13 -0800

It'll be a few months before Jimmy Fallon officially slides into Conan O'Brien's chair as the host of NBC's Late Night, but starting tonight, he'll be doing some practice runs - and we can all watch online. At 12:30 a.m. each day, NBC will post a new video of Fallon on this new website.

The idea is that people will get used to seeing Fallon at 12:30 - and that he'll be able to test out material without having to see how it goes over in front of a live TV audience. Variety says the five-minute webisodes will be "lo-fi, freeform-style looks at what Fallon is up to on the eve of his hosting gig."

NBC's supposed to be announcing an official premiere date for Fallon's show this week, but March 2 is the latest rumor. That would give Conan O'Brien a few months off the air while he prepares to fill Jay Leno's Tonight Show shoes starting in June. Most of you thought Fallon would make a good Late Night host before, but now that the transition is getting closer, do you still feel the same?

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Buzz News Roundup, 8/31

BuzzSugar — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 13:00:40 -0700

NBC is streaming full episodes of "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," Broadcasting & Cable reports - but, on the down side, the New York Times reports that NBC won't renew its contract to sell shows through iTunes. (Apple says NBC wanted to charge $4.99 per episode)
According to Variety, Sony is releasing a Bob Dylan concert DVD filled with footage from his Newport Folk Festival performances later this year.
Drew Lachey has signed on to host "Dance War," ABC's midseason "Dancing with the Stars" spinoff, the Futon Critic reports.
ComingSoon says that Jim Belushi will take a stab at directing his first film, a sports movie titled The Catch.
The LA Times has the latest "Kid Nation" scandal: The children were sometimes told what to say.
It's official: Victoria Beckham will play one of Wilhelmina's bridesmaids on "Ugly Betty," Zap2it reports.
TNT has canceled "Heartland" but is looking into a pilot about a band of high-tech thieves, Variety reports.

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BuzzSugar at Conan: The Frolf Champ Showed!

BuzzSugar — Fri, 04 May 2007 15:01:46 -0700

Day Two of Late Night With Conan O'Brien at San Francisco's Orpheum theater offered some of the same things as Wednesday's taping: a wildly enthusiastic crowd, dancing Conan and the trumpeter guy who could hold a single note out for so long I feared for his health. In general, I've decided that being a part of a live studio audience is simply So. Much. Fun. It's like a spectator sport with some live music and a natural-born entertainer as your host.

Thursday's guests included Randy Jackson, comedian Patton Oswalt, musical guests Bob Weir and Ratdog (Bob Weir formerly of the Grateful Dead) and - one day late - the Frisbee golf national champion David Feldberg! The hour-long taping was action-packed and super energetic. After witnessing these tapings, I have a newfound appreciation for Conan O'Brien: He has a truly unique talent for entertaining and owning a crowd. It's almost old-fashioned the way he can appeal to a live audience and still be funny when the show is presented in canned form on TV. To check out my highlights from Thursday's show, read more

The series of San Francisco jokes continued, with medical marijuana, the ban on plastic bags and the Tenderloin district being both the city's cultural hub and biggest stain among the top subjects.
Apparently, they held a Conan look-alike contest in downtown San Francisco so the winner of the contest joined Conan on stage. The similarities, both visually and in the way this man adopted Conan's mannerisms were uncanny. As Conan shook the man's hand he said, "I've had nightmares like this." It really was a little eerie.
Randy Jackson comes across as a nice, laid-back, friendly guy. I'd forgotten that he was in Journey, so one of the best parts was when he and Conan sang together to show off Conan's "range." Priceless.

Patton Oswalt was funnier than I'd expected him to be. His comedy has sometimes put me off for being tiresomely snarky, but after Thursday's performance I'm more fond of him. I especially enjoyed his comments about the Go-Cars here in San Francisco, these bright yellow three-wheeled mini-cars you can take around the city for sightseeing. Apparently, a guy tried to convince Patton to rent one by saying that there's an extra seat so he could "pick up a chick," which, if you've ever seen a Go-Car, just isn't going to happen.

In case one didn't understand what it meant that Bob Weir used to be a part of The Grateful Dead, there were screens behind Bob Weir and Ratdog with swirling lava lamp-type images while the band played. Nooowww I get it... hippies!
Frisbee golf looks hard! Frolf national champion David Feldberg showed Conan how to toss the discs at a metal cage/basket thingy with the audience reacting hugely to every miss and every success. It looked like a lot of fun. At one point Conan and Feldberg just gave up and started winging the discs into the audience to the delight of everyone.

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BuzzSugar at Conan: Stood Up by the Frolf Champ!

BuzzSugar — Thu, 03 May 2007 15:50:26 -0700

Well, if you saw Wednesday night's "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," you know that Conan got stood up by one very important, previously promised guest: frisbee golf national champion David Feldberg. I'm sure Mr. Feldberg is a busy man - frolf is a very big deal, after all - but really. Couldn't he have taken just a few minutes out of his jam-packed schedule to chat with my favorite red-haired comedian?

As a result, I only got to see one guest at my first live "Conan" taping: Robin Williams, the Bay Area's resident jokester and accent-doer, who's always a good on a talk show. My favorite part of his interview came when he launched into an imitation of a couple of the birds from Discovery's "Planet Earth" series.

But the best part of being at "Conan" was just seeing what goes on behind the scenes at a live taping, so for more (and a video of one of my favorite moments) read more

First of all, the crowd was much more raucous in person than you could hear or see on TV. I know it's San Francisco, and we tend to be fairly celebrity-deprived. But honestly, from the reaction when Conan arrived on set, you'd think we'd never seen a famous person before. By the time Conan tried to calm the crowd by pretending to go to sleep on stage, we'd been cheering for a steady five minutes, at least.

I'm not sure how many people fit into the Orpheum Theatre ("San Francisco's finest theater, in its 25th finest neighborhood"), but considering my spot in line was a city block away, there were lots of us. The line zigzagged back and forth, and students from one of the local universities walked around selling the orange foam "hair" that Conan briefly wore on TV. When we finally were let into the theater, I discovered I'd be sitting way up in the balcony, in the next-to-last row; the woman behind me actually used binoculars.

Here were some of the other things I noticed:

The fake Golden Gate Bridge is so much more impressive than it looks on TV. I mean, it's huge!
Conan's clearly taken his trip to San Francisco seriously; on Wednesday he paid homage to local grocery and music stores, infamous neighborhoods, and - of course - the cable car. Then there was this charming tribute to a local hole-in-the-wall eatery:
I'd never really appreciated the Max Weinberg Seven before, but they're actually totally awesome. At one point the trumpeter held a single note for what seemed like an impossibly long time. Rock on, Max Seven.
The San Francisco interview set - desk, couch, chair, end table - is all on a big platform that the crew rolled out after the opening monologue, then rolled away again before the Glide Ensemble performed.
Because Robin Williams was the only guest, it was a pretty clip-happy show. During the clips, Conan mostly just paced around the stage, occasionally cracking up at one of the jokes.
The taping actually pauses to leave room for commercial breaks. During one of them, Conan broke into a pretty elaborate dance routine for us.
At one point, the taping stopped for an extra-long time. Conan, who'd been poised to introduce the musical group from the center of the bridge, kept looking at his watch and even giving exaggerated "I don't know!" shrugs to the audience. At one point, he even dropped to the ground and did a few push-ups, just to get the energy in the room back up.
After the show, Conan stuck around for a while, signing foam hair and posters, but the crew ushered him offstage after about five minutes. Max hung out for longer.

I'm going back for today's taping with Randy Jackson and Patton Oswalt, so I'll be back tomorrow with the scoop!

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BuzzSugar's Going to "Conan"!

BuzzSugar — Wed, 02 May 2007 16:47:03 -0700

If you're a fan of Conan O'Brien, you know that the comedian's late-night show is on a road trip to San Francisco this week. I was lucky enough to snag tickets to two of the tapings, so I'll be able to bring you the report from inside San Francisco's Orpheum Theatre, just down the street from where we Sugar gals work and play. Barring any last-minute changes, here are the guests I'll be seeing:

Wednesday, May 2
Robin Williams
David Feldberg, frisbee golf national champion
Glide Ensemble

Thursday, May 3
Randy Jackson
Patton Oswalt
Bob Weir and RatDog

I've heard the tapings have been great, and I can't wait to see for myself. Check back Thursday for the full report on today's show - and wish me luck sneaking my BlackBerry in!

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What to TiVo: Friday

BuzzSugar — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:50:59 -0800

ABC has Shrek the Third, and is new with 20/20
CBS is new with Ghost Whisperer, Medium, and NUMB3RS
FOX has repeats of House and Bones
NBC is new with Law & Order and Dateline NBC
The CW is new with Smallville and has a repeat of America's Next Top Model
MTV has repeats of Southpark and Nitro Circus, and has Grindhouse Presents: Death Proof
TLC is new with Say Yes to the Dress and Happily Ever Faster
E! is new with The Soup
USA is new with Monk and White Collar
VH1 has repeats of For the Love of Ray Jay 2 and I Want to Work for Diddy 2
Late-night highlights include Kellan Lutz on The Jay Leno Show on NBC; Viggo Mortensen on The Late Show With David Letterman on CBS; Eva Mendes and Bon Jovi on The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien on NBC; Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner, and Death Cab for Cutie on Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC; Neil Patrick Harris and David Gray on The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson on CBS; and Joseph Gordon-Levitt on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon on NBC

What to TiVo: Thursday

BuzzSugar — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:50:22 -0800

ABC is new with FlashForward, Grey's Anatomy, and Private Practice
CBS is new with Survivor, CSI, and The Mentalist
FOX is new with Bones and Fringe
NBC is new with Community, Parks and Recreation, The Office, and 30 Rock
The CW is new with Vampire Diaries and Supernatural
E! has 15 Remarkable Celebrity Body Bouncebacks, and is new with Secrets of Twilight
MTV has Jackass: The Movie, and is new with Gone Too Far
VH1 is new with Top 20 Celebrities Gone Good
Bravo is new with Real Housewives of Orange County
Comedy Central is new with The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report
FX is new with It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and The League
Lifetime is new with Project Runway
Late-night highlights include Dakota Fanning and Jane Krakowski on The Jay Leno Show on NBC; Ted Danson on Lopez Tonight on TBS; Stephen Colbert and John Mayer on The Late Show With David Letterman on CBS; Nicole Kidman, Anderson Cooper, and Leona Lewis on The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien on NBC; Carrie Underwood and Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt on Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC; Sandra Bullock and Ben Foster on The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson on CBS; and Taylor Lautner on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon on NBC

What to TiVo: Wednesday

BuzzSugar — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:50:00 -0800

ABC is new with The Middle, Modern Family, Cougar Town, and In the Spotlight With Robin Roberts: Janet Jackson
CBS is new with New Adventures of Old Christine, Gary Unmarried, Criminal Minds, and CSI: NY
FOX is new with So You Think You Can Dance and Glee
NBC is new with Mercy and Law & Order: SVU
The CW is new with America's Next Top Model
E! is new with True Hollywood Story: Football Wives
Bravo is new with Top Chef: Las Vegas
Comedy Central is new with South Park, The Daily Show With Jon Stewart, and The Colbert Report
FX is new with Nip/Tuck
MTV is new with Real World/Road Rules Challenge
Late-night highlights include Robert Pattinson on The Late Show With David Letterman on CBS; Amerie on Lopez Tonight on TBS; Seth Green, Heidi Montag, and Spencer Pratt on The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien on NBC; 50 Cent on Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC; Kristen Stewart on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon on NBC; and David Duchovny on The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson on CBS