Conan O’Brien: The Real King of Late Night.
To many people the title, “ King of Late Night” refers to one man and that is Johnny Carson, which I will always say is a valid take, but when come face to face with facts the true crown belongs to Conan O’Brien.
The Desk On TV
For many people late night television doesn’t matter, it's too late to stay up for or too irrelevant from their own interests to even care. However, there was a time when it DID matter, a time when you went to work it was all anyone was talking about. Late Night held a place in our homes for years on end which even had some people feel as if they knew the host personally, they became a present member of the family, making quippy jokes and informing you about what's going on in the world. Johnny Carson held that spot for 30 years and rightfully so. He brought joy into the homes of many Americans. Then came David Letterman, Jay Leno, Arsenio Hall, Joan Rivers, so many hosts had their spotlight in our homes. Which is what made Late Night so important to us. Can you imagine a time where the host was bigger than the celebrity being brought on? Many older Americans can.
A Stupidly Smart Humor
David Letterman, the first host of NBC’s “Late Night” introduced us to a stupid, young, college level humor. He knew that every grown adult was turning off their TV’s after Carson, so he might as well have a little fun. He played around alot, he would even become the drive thru speaker at Taco Bell and McDonalds, anything for a laugh.
Conan O’Brien took over the show after Letterman left NBC to CBS and he took the idea of college kids watching his show and really expounded on it. Conan, a Harvard graduate, but also a Simpson writer is Stupidly Smart. His jokes are witty and that's what makes them great. He's able to catch you unawares and keep you on your toes. Conan introduced characters like Kayak Guy and Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. These are characters only dumb enough to make the younger generation laugh, but still live on to make the even younger generation laugh 30 years later.
Triumph the Insult Comic Dog,
voiced by Robert Smigel​​
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An Off Camera People Person
When discussing the off air attributes of celebrities what comes to mind is how awful some of them can be. In recent years, we see how Ellen was cancelled because of her mean attitude towards crew members, we hear about how the late Johnny Carson dealt with people he didn’t like, and about how David Letterman made some guests feel uncomfortable, and now matter how much I hate talking about the bad attributes of two comedic heroes of mine (Letterman and Carson.) What’s important is how we treat people and they don't treat people too well. Conan, on the other hand, is known for his tenderness. In a People Magazine interview Chris Pratt said, "He's been a friend and supporter since day one." and Reese Withersppon in an Access Online interview said "I cant say enough about Conan O'Brien. He is truly one of the funniest people on the planet." During the writing strike of 2008, Conan paid for his writers and staff’s salary…out of his own pocket. Same thing happened again in 2009 when he got kicked off “The Tonight Show” . His crew followed him and he paid them when no network would. No news has ever circulated, been posted, or ever even rumored about how Conan has treated people, he is one of the nicest human beings and that is one of the biggest reasons he went from being a nobody writer to one of the biggest names in comedy.
Referring to an interview he did with Conan for his documentary on Johnny Carson, Peter Jones said to me...
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"I haven’t seen it since the interview but I’ll always remember how he asked me if I was sure I got everything I needed. No one has said that to me before."
World-Wide Comedian
“Conan: Without Borders” and “Conan O’Brien Must Go” are two shows that encapsulate the idea of something that no other talk show host has been able to. That is: World-wide fame. As a result of Conan’s show and his podcast people in countries all over know him and understand his humor. He isn’t just America’s talk show host. Conan has visited fans all over the world, not as an attempt to show people how gracious he is, but to really get to know people and understand cultures all over the world.
After all is said
Cover art for both Conan travel shows​
The King of Late Night is a title that belongs to someone who is humorous and witty not only on screen, but a leader and is kind off screen. Someone who is not only known in America, but all over the world. Someone who can make us laugh with jokes then make us laugh again 30 years later in a rerun with the same jokes. That’s why… Conan O’Brien is the REAL king of late night