tonight show-related stories
What You Missed Last Night: Conan apologizes to Levi
Yesterday we posted video of William Shatner reading the tweets of Levi Johnston on The Tonight Show. Turns out Shatner read tweets from a fake Twitter account, and Johnston demanded an apology. He got one last night from Conan (well, sort of), but then we were treated to more Shatner. (Bonus: Conan mentions TMZ!)
[Watch clips and episodes of The Tonight Show and other shows at SlashControl.]
What You Missed Last Night: Shatner recites the Twitter poetry of Levi Johnston
William Shatner has appeared on The Tonight Show to give his typically awesome take on the Twitter messages that Sarah Palin posted to her account when she was Governor of Alaska. Last night he appeared again to recite the Twitter "poetry" of her arch-rival Levi Johnston.
Update: Johnston and his lawyer demand a retraction from Conan, saying that Twitter account is actually fake and Johnston never said those things. Maybe Conan will apologize on tonight's show. [Watch clips and episodes of The Tonight Show and other shows on SlashControl.]
Update: Johnston and his lawyer demand a retraction from Conan, saying that Twitter account is actually fake and Johnston never said those things. Maybe Conan will apologize on tonight's show. [Watch clips and episodes of The Tonight Show and other shows on SlashControl.]
Leno says he'd go back to 11:35 if NBC asked
The whole "Leno at 10PM" thing has been analyzed to death, so let's analyze it a little bit more!Leno has an interview with Broadcasting & Cable and he says, among many other things, that if NBC asked him to go back to 11:35 for whatever reason, he'd do it, but it's not his decision to make.
It seems that Leno is definitely trying to make things work at 10, and he's always been a good network soldier and will happily do what they want him to do because he has nothing to prove. But at the same time it seems like he truly would have preferred staying on The Tonight Show, and you get the sense that he's not 100% happy about how everything went down.
Continue reading Leno says he'd go back to 11:35 if NBC asked
New TV on DVD releases this week
Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.Not only is The Lola Falana Show on DVD now, I didn't even know there was a Lola Falana Show. I knew that there was a Lola Falana (that's a fun name to say: Lola Falana Lola Falana Lola Falana). She was a dancer and actress who was pretty well known back in the 70s, but her TV show escaped my radar. This set includes guest stars Dick Van Dyke, Bill Cosby, Sonny and Cher, and Muhammad Ali.
There's also a Heeere's Johnny: The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson "Holiday Set." It looks like the same set that I've owned for a couple of years (several DVDs split up into different categories: Timeless Moments, Standup Comedians, Carson Country, and the original Ultimate Collection disc), but with a special Christmas disc thrown in, with three classic episodes.
- Ally McBeal - Season 1 and Complete Series
- Astroboy - Vols 1 and 2
- Blood Ties - Season 2
Continue reading New TV on DVD releases this week
What You Missed Last Night: Conan responds to Newark's mayor
Recently, Conan O'Brien made a joke about the city of Newark, NJ. I've never been to New Jersey so I've never quite understood the constant jokes about the state that you hear from... well, every comic. But this time Conan went too far. So far that Newark mayor Cory Booker had to respond. So Conan had to respond to that response, of course.
New book gets behind the scenes with Letterman, Leno, Robin Williams and more
Anyone who's interested in the Leno/Letterman relationship, the feeding frenzy in the late 70s and early 80s when networks were sweeping up stand-up comedians and changing their lives overnight, and the importance and mechanics of getting a spot on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show needs to read William Knoedelseder's new book, I'm Dying Up Here: Heartbreak and High Times in Stand-Up Comedy's Golden Era.The centerpiece of the book is the labor discontent between comedians and the Comedy Store that kicked up in 1979, when comedians saw the money coming into the venue and started to wonder why some of the working comics there had to borrow money for breakfast. It's a compelling and unexpected story, and it collects names big and small from television history along the way.
Continue reading New book gets behind the scenes with Letterman, Leno, Robin Williams and more
Subtle Subtitles: Conan O'Brien
If you haven't seen our game before, we give you a picture from a recent episode of a TV series and you provide the caption!Last week's winner is Butters with this:
"Let's body slam is out, bitch!"
This week's photo is from a recent episode of The Tonight Show. No Name Steaks in Minnesota sent Conan a bust of his head made out of white chocolate and bacon.
What You Missed Last Night: a Conan made of chocolate and bacon
The Minnesota State Fair sent Conan O'Brien a strange gift, and he unveiled it on The Tonight Show last night. I hope they have a lot of security there because I don't know how that thing is going to last if they don't. And then there's the bacon smell over time...
Well, at the very least, maybe it will finally bring bring celebrities to the studio.
Well, at the very least, maybe it will finally bring bring celebrities to the studio.
Conan's problem is ... his location?
I'm not quite sure I get what Tom Shales says near the end of this piece about his recent visit to the set of The Tonight Show.Shales tries to get to the heart of why Conan O'Brien, after a big start (of course), is losing more and more ground. He is even losing to David Letterman when Letterman is in repeats (overall ratings - Conan still wins the younger demographic).
He makes a lot of good points about how the set might be doing him in (too big), how the interviews are too rehearsed, and that there's too much prepared comedy. Those are all things that Conan and his crew will look at in the coming months, I'm sure. (I also think part of the problem is Conan's personality - I think he's more of an acquired taste than either Leno or Letterman.)
Continue reading Conan's problem is ... his location?
Letterman beating O'Brien with old shows
NBC must be doing a lot of regretting these days for moving Jay Leno to 10 p.m., and not just because it screws up the perfect headline alliteration with his former competition. It seems that David Letterman's Late Show reruns are getting higher ratings than Conan O'Brien's brand-spanking new Tonight Show episodes.
The margins aren't very wide, but it must hurt when a rival is kicking your lily-white hide and he's not even throwing any punches. It's like getting your ass kicked by a one legged Stephen Hawking.
Continue reading Letterman beating O'Brien with old shows
Leno says he's not destroying the TV drama
Leno has heard all of the complaints (many of them from YOU, the one reading this right now) about how he is taking away the 10PM slot that could go to one-hour dramas, and he doesn't want to hear about it anymore.The comic and Jay Leno Show host says that he is not only employing 22 Writers Guild members on his show, he says that if he didn't do this show then there's no guarantee that NBC would put dramas in that slot because most of them fail and they could just put in reality shows like The Biggest Loser or news shows like Dateline in the slot.
Continue reading Leno says he's not destroying the TV drama
Triumph visits a hotel for dogs
Now this is the type of Tonight Show sketch I love. Triumph the Insult Comic Dog visited an expensive hotel for dogs (yes, they really exist) recently and covered it with his usual Triumph-ness. (Warning: dog sex jokes follow.)
Continue reading Triumph visits a hotel for dogs
Classic TV stamps unveiled
Stamp collecting is something I just never got into (don't worry, I have plenty of other obsessions), but this might be the first time I actually go to my local post office and get a sheet. Yesterday, 20 new classic TV stamps were unveiled: I Love Lucy, The Twilight Zone, The Ed Sullivan Show, The Tonight Show, The Honeymooners, Texaco Star Theater, Perry Mason, The Lone Ranger, Burns and Allen, Ozzie and Harriet, Hopalong Cassidy, Lassie, Dragnet, You Bet Your Life, The Dinah Shore Show, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Phil Silvers Show, Howdy Doody, The Red Skelton Show, and Kukla, Fran, and Ollie,
Continue reading Classic TV stamps unveiled
Shark Week + tree bark = ... hilarity?
Usually I post videos that I think are funny, interesting, clever, or maybe important. This one I'm posting because it's unfunny, silly, and only important because it shows what the Tonight Show is like now (unfortunately).
Last week Discovery had Shark Week. Last night, Conan showed up a preview of Bark Week. Yeah, a week dedicated to tree bark. This is one of the reasons I can't get into the Tonight Show. It seems like they're throwing every lame idea for a video into the show. Conan and Andy are funny guys, but there's so much on this show that just kills it (and I still hate Conan's mugging after every video and joke, and his painful introductions to bits).
Last week Discovery had Shark Week. Last night, Conan showed up a preview of Bark Week. Yeah, a week dedicated to tree bark. This is one of the reasons I can't get into the Tonight Show. It seems like they're throwing every lame idea for a video into the show. Conan and Andy are funny guys, but there's so much on this show that just kills it (and I still hate Conan's mugging after every video and joke, and his painful introductions to bits).
What You Missed Last Night: Conan throws knives at Fonzie
A professional knife thrower (with the unbelievably cool action hero name of Jack Dagger) taught Conan O'Brien how to throw knives last night on The Tonight Show. Don't worry, Dagger doesn't let him throw at any actual living human beings.
It's the contemporary version of Ed Ames throwing the tomahawks.
It's the contemporary version of Ed Ames throwing the tomahawks.
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