Conan Addresses NBC, Fans in Final TONIGHT SHOW
January 23, 2010 by Kath Skerry
Conan O’Brien ended his all too short tenure as the host of THE TONIGHT SHOW last night with style, class and of course, humor. Guests included Tom Hanks, Neil Young, Will Ferrell and a surprise cameo by Steve Carell. If you were wondering if Conan’s last show would be full of bitterness or sadness, it wasn’t. He’s better than that. As Conan said himself last night “I hate cynicism- it’s my least favorite quality and it doesn’t lead anywhere”.
Before he picked up his electric guitar and joined Will Ferrell and friends in a rousing rendition of “Free Bird”, Conan shared his final thoughts to NBC, his staff, the crew and his fans.
“Before we end this rodeo, a few things need to be said. There has been a lot of speculation in the press about what I legally can and can’t say about NBC. To set the record straight, tonight I am allowed to say anything I want. And what I want to say is this: between my time at Saturday Night Live, The Late Night Show, and my brief run here on The Tonight Show, I have worked with NBC for over twenty years.
Yes, we have our differences right now and yes, we’re going to go our separate ways. But this company has been my home for most of my adult life. I am enormously proud of the work we have done together, and I want to thank NBC for making it all possible.
Walking away from The Tonight Show is the hardest thing I have ever had to do. Making this choice has been enormously difficult. This is the best job in the world, I absolutely love doing it, and I have the best staff and crew in the history of the medium. But despite this sense of loss, I really feel this should be a happy moment. Every comedian dreams of hosting The Tonight Show and, for seven months, I got to. I did it my way, with people I love, and I do not regret a second. I’ve had more good fortune than anyone I know and if our next gig is doing a show in a 7-11 parking lot, we’ll find a way to make it fun.
And finally, I have to say something to our fans. The massive outpouring of support and passion from so many people has been overwhelming. The rallies, the signs, all the goofy, outrageous creativity on the internet, and the fact that people have traveled long distances and camped out all night in the pouring rain to be in our audience, made a sad situation joyous and inspirational.
To all the people watching, I can never thank you enough for your kindness to me and I’ll think about it for the rest of my life. All I ask of you is one thing: please don’t be cynical. I hate cynicism- it’s my least favorite quality and it doesn’t lead anywhere.
Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen.”
See you in 7 months, CoCo!
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conan totally made me cry last night. 🙁 nbc never should have let him go.
That was such a great way for Conan to go out. I hope the ratings were threw the roof. Did anyone else get choked up while watching it? When Conan started to lose it, that’s when I really lost it. I’m hopping he moves to Fox at 11. If he does, I’ll watch every night.
A true class act–I loved his last show & especially this statement.
Can’t wait to stand in line for tickets to the 7-11!
I adored Late Night and was looking forward to when I would enjoy the Tonight Show to the same degree. I had no doubt that it would grow into something spectacular, just like Late Night did. NBC conducted this whole thing quite poorly, but my main anger lies with Jay Leno, who could have done the classy thing and left when his time was up instead of sabotaging the livelihoods and lives of not just Conan but all of Conan’s staff, with his out of control greed.
I hope Conan goes to FOX; I love Wanda on Saturdays and know that FOX will let Conan have more free reign over the show. No, it won’t be the Tonight Show, but thanks to the ineptitude and lack of civility of Leno and NBC, the Tonight Show is just memory for the middle-aged and older of us. Hi-yo…
I never realized until this last 2 weeks just how talented Conan is. And how much I really dislike Jay Leno.
I am a Leno fan and this time last week I would have been thrilled to have him back as host of the tonight show. But after watching Conan for the past few days and seeing this from last night, I am truly sad that Leno will be back.
I am beyond disappointed in the way this has turned out. At the end of the day, Leno could have nipped this in the bud by accepting his failure and stepping aside. Instead he’s said nothing, and allowed Conan to be fired. I have lost so much respect for Leno and I honestly don’t think i’ll watch the Tonight Show again. I couldn’t even bare to watch his primetime show to get his side of the story.
I wish Conan all the best. It was such a pleasant surprise to discover what a funny/nice guy he his. I’m sure he has great things in his future.
I loved the final episode and was both happy and sad the whole time. Conan is such a class act and will be sorely missed.
I’ve never been a huge Leno fan but would occasionally tune in if I was really interested in a guest, but after this debacle I will never watch Leno again.
This was such a bittersweet end, i certainly did get a little choked up by Conan’s farewell. But I think this is also an exciting time – conan now has the opportunity to move on to something on his terms and create even more entertaining laughdom that will no doubt keep us rolling for many more years to come. I for one am excitedly anticipating what he is going to come out with next..with him you just never know, but one things for sure the quality of his comedy will be head and shoulders above many others.