RIP Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien

And just like that, he’s gone. It’s been an interesting few weeks with all the back and forth negotiations between NBC and Conan, with Leno and Letterman stirred in. There was always a small hope of mine that perhaps they could figure out some alternative plan and keep Conan around, but apparently it wasn’t in the cards. I’m glad I was able to at least participate in history, as one of the first audience members to ever see his show, and now a small group who ever attended during its brief run. Perhaps now my Tonight Show hat and ticket are worth something.

For those who haven’t watched the final episode, small spoiler alert — Will Ferrell sings a cover of Free Bird with one of the ZZ Tops, Beck, and Ben Harper, along with Conan and the tonight show band. I thought it was an appropriate song, especially since it belongs to Lynyrd Skynyrd, who only got to experience a few years of success before a horrible plane crash that killed several members.

Part of Conans downfall that caused him to bleed viewers was that he abandoned his form — what made his success. He hardly brought any of the characters or skits with him to LA. He felt that those wouldn’t be kosher during an 11:30 time slot, but what only ended up happening was he alienated himself from his fan base and made a generic late night show for the Leno audience. Problem is his humor doesn’t appeal to the Leno audience. Even Conan toned down, they still aren’t into him. Perhaps he’ll be better suited on another network though, and be able to return to what made him a success — random, ridiculous skits that don’t attempt to be anything but funny.