News

Conan Returns Home… For a Couple Nights

Matt Kiebus :: Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010 1:45 pm

America’s funniest ginger not named Carrot Top returned home last night. Conan O’Brien’s Legally Prohibited from Being on Television Tour reached New York City last night, performing the first of two nights at Radio City Music Hall. A mere 200 feet away from NBC headquarters the lanky redhead delighted the crowd with his wacky variety show. Being back in the city that made him famous O’Brien invited some of his famous friends to join in on the fun and Vampire Weekend to play a tune. MORE »

Coco Rising

Stephen Blackwell :: Tuesday, June 1st, 2010 10:50 am

We’re going to get a little treat prior to Conan O’Brien’s new show launching this Fall on TBS: A one-hour special, scheduled to air June 27. This means we’ll get to see Andy Richter in action.

The special will supposedly give fans a sneak peek at what to expect from the show: new skits, characters, and the like. Fandom for O’Brien is feverish, so any disappointments will be voiced loudly across the Internet, though it’s probably safe to expect a slew of YouTube clips popping up in real time instead.

TBS presents an annual special called the “Very Funny Festival: Just for Laughs.” At this years’s festival, O’Brien will film a rehash of “Team Coco Presents Conan’s Writers Live,” which was first performed in L.A., for the June 27th special. Also appearing at the festival is Cedric the Entertainer, who is very funny, and Ellen DeGeneres, who is a lesbian.

Thom Yorke and Atoms for Peace Cover Joy Division!

Amy Rose Spiegel :: Friday, April 16th, 2010 3:05 pm

Check out this video of Thom Yorke doing his best Ian Curtis at an Atoms for Peace show in Oakland last night. Spoiler alert: it’s thoroughly fucking awesome. Two days ago, I wrote about Conan O’Brien covering Radiohead’s “Creep,” and now Yorke has paid similar (although less funny) respect to a great band by covering “Love Will Tear Us Apart.” Will we see Joy Division picking up the daisy chain in a few days and doing their own homage to someone they…oh, wait. Shit. I guess the buck stops here, but it’s too good of a performance for me to complain too much. MORE »

Conan O’Brien Covers Radiohead’s “Creep”

Amy Rose Spiegel :: Wednesday, April 14th, 2010 3:10 pm

Conan O’Brien has begun his Legally Prohibited From Being Funny On Television tour with a few decidedly college-rock moments. In addition to having Spoon perform as a musical guest, he performed Radiohead’s “Creep” at the sound check before his show in Eugene, OR…with a few choice lines changed to fit his personal emotions: “I want to get bitch-slapped by Helen Mirren,” sung in an awful Cockney twang, was my favorite of the bunch. MORE »

Conan Confirms 30-City Comedy Tour

Shannon Hassett :: Thursday, March 11th, 2010 3:30 pm

Well, it’d be difficult to put it better than Conan himself, so here’s the day’s big news: the Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour is coming to a city near you! The other big news? It’s probably already sold out. Team Coco is taking its show on the road, stopping in 30 cities between April 12 and June 14 for what promises to be “a night of music, comedy, hugging, and the occasional awkward silence.” Andy Richter and members of Coco’s former Tonight Show Band will all be part of the act, which hopes to capitalize on the sudden rise in popularity that accompanied O’Brien’s exit from the late night stage. Tickets will cost between $34 and $79 bucks, so you’ll be able to gauge just how deep your love for the funny man really runs. Check out Conan’s site for ticket info and a full list of dates.

Conan O’Brien Confirms Bonnaroo

Shannon Hassett :: Thursday, March 11th, 2010 12:20 pm

Bonnaroo in its infancy was a safe haven for Phishheads and general burnouts alike — a weekend down in Tennessee where all those kids in high school who just ‘weren’t born into the right decade, man’ could congregate and listen to jambands. Ew. Then Bonnaroo got smart and realized that being grassroots is great, but getting a ton of huge acts and catering to hipsters is way more profitable (hipster trust funds > hippie trust funds). Now its comedy act is following suit, boasting what is arguably the most highly anticipated performer at this year’s festival, Pavement included. Yes, Conan O’Brien will be taking the stage — a stage Bonnaroo goes great lengths to emphasize as seated and air-conditioned (see? lucrative yuppie distinction) — along with other big name talent in the form of Margaret Cho, Aziz Ansari, Jeff Ross, Nick Kroll and Bo Burnham. This will also be the inaugural year of the Bonnaroo College Comedy Tour, featuring past festival acts including Amy Schumer, Pete Holmes and Kumail Nanjiani in an effort to cement what Bonnaroo Comedy self-proclaims as one of the “premiere comedy brands.”

Conan O’Brien To Take It On The Road

Amy Rose Spiegel :: Friday, March 5th, 2010 4:20 pm

A caveat of Conan O’Brien’s exit agreement with NBC states that he’s not allowed to have a TV show for some time. Isn’t it a little outrageous that they can not only kill his show, but his TV career? He can, however, perform his material live, and it looks as though he’s preparing to do just that. MORE »

Jay Leno Returns

Matt Kiebus :: Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010 3:20 pm

NBC’s white knight is back! Jay Leno is telling bad jokes at 11:35pm again, hoping a drowsier audience laughs harder. Rejoice and give your friends uninspired high-fives. In more important news, Sam Waterson is back issuing justice, as Law & Order returns to 10 p.m.

Last night Leno returned to The Tonight Show, and a whopping 6.6 million people watched his grand return, doubling Letterman’s Late Show. It was a homecoming that included Jamie Foxx spraying the crowd with champagne, Leno going door-to-door in LA searching for a new desk, and Brad Paisley singing good ole’ country music. It was business as usual for Mr. Leno, as he mailed in an uninspired premiere episode. It’s too early to tell, but dare I say Leno might have returned to 11:35 p.m. MORE popular than when he left?

Craig Ferguson Revisits Late Late Show History

Matt Kiebus :: Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 4:15 pm

There were a lot of winners and losers in the most recent “late night war.” Conan O’Brien lost The Tonight Show, but walked away with 140 million quarters. Jay Leno regained The Tonight Show, but lost a lot of respect in the process. Dave Letterman, the reigning king of late night, reignited his rivalry with Leno and NBC by throwing a flaming bag of shit on peacocks whenever possible. Jimmy Kimmel became relevant, if only for a brief moment, by chastising Leno while a guest on his show. Carson Daly died from shrapnel injuries and Jimmy Fallon was just happy to be there. However the biggest winner was the Scotsman from CBS, Craig Ferguson.

It is refreshing when someone displays honesty in the entertainment industry especially after the cynicism that followed the betrayal on NBC. Last night Ferguson paid homage to the originator of the Late Late Show, Tom Snyder. When Snyder hosted the show from ’95-99 it functioned quite differently. There was no studio audience and no laugh track, just Snyder interviewing one guest for one hour. It was intimate and simple. MORE »

Conan O’Brien’s Final Tonight Show, Tonight

Zach Custer :: Friday, January 22nd, 2010 3:30 pm

On Thursday, January 21st, NBC and current Tonight Show host, Conan O’Brien, reached an agreement that will end his short stint as host of “The Tonight Show.” After weeks of finger-pointing about ratings and general disarray between the two parties and Jay Leno, O’Brien’s contract was finally bought out by NBC for $32.5 million, meaning his last show is tonight. MORE »

Conan O’Brien’s Buyout Rivals that of Our Fearless Banking Leaders

Matt Kiebus :: Tuesday, January 19th, 2010 4:00 pm

The controversy surrounding The Tonight Show and the utter disarray of NBC has been a popular topic the past two weeks. Conan O’Brien is being unceremoniously dumped by NBC as host of The Tonight Show in favor of the painfully unfunny and backstabbing Jay Leno. It seems the majority of people that own a computer support the gangly red-head, but all the viral support seems futile as The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien will most likely be ending this Friday, January 22^nd. MORE »

Jimmy Kimmel Destroys Jay Leno

Matt Kiebus :: Friday, January 15th, 2010 3:10 pm

I don’t find Jimmy Kimmel funny, but last night he was the first person to metaphorically spit in Jay Leno’s face. And it was fucking awesome. As a guest on the already cancelled Jay Leno Show last night Kimmel participated in a segment Leno so cleverly names 10 at 10. Here’s where Mr. Leno asks, you guessed it, 10 questions at 10 o’clock. Kimmel killed it, and it was poetry in motion to watch a frustrated Jay Leno rush through the questions and to get Kimmel off the show as soon as possible. The following video is hysterical, cringe-worthy, and triumphant. Score one for Team Coco. MORE »

Conan O’Brien vs. Jay Leno. Steel Cage Death Match. Winner Gets the Tonight Show.

Matt Kiebus :: Thursday, January 14th, 2010 7:00 am

“I just wanted to say hosting the Tonight Show has been the fulfillment of a life-long dream for me. And I just want to say to the kids out there watching ‘you can do anything you want in life… unless Jay Leno wants to do it too.”

Ladies and gentleman welcome to the Tonight Show with dead-host-walking, Conan O’Brien. It’s a shame the American public will never be able to grow with the comedic genius of the redheaded wonder, at least not on NBC. MORE »