"Late Night With Conan O'Brien" ends..."Late Night With Jimmy Fallon" begins!
I'm a fan of the late night U.S. talk shows, and one that I've watched often for years is LATE NIGHT WITH CONAN O'BRIEN, which has been on the air on NBC since 1993 (with O'Brien taking the reins from David Letterman, who had hosted the show from the early 1980s until 1992). I remember watching the first LATE NIGHT with O'Brien and I was hooked afterward.
Well, tonight was O'Brien's last night as host of LATE NIGHT, having been promoted to take over for Jay Leno as host of THE TONIGHT SHOW starting in May. LATE NIGHT will continue with new host Jimmy Fallon next month.
This is the biggest shuffle in U.S. late night television since 1992. That year, Johnny Carson, host of THE TONIGHT SHOW since the early 1960s, retired from show business, leaving THE TONIGHT SHOW in the hands of Jay Leno. David Letterman, who had been considered for the role of Carson's successor on THE TONIGHT SHOW, instead went to rival network CBS, where he has since hosted the LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN. Conan O'Brien, then a little known comedy writer for shows such as THE SIMPSONS, was tapped to replace Letterman as host of LATE NIGHT on NBC. It was a risky move that paid off well for all involved.
Now, sixteen years later, the landscape of late night television in the U.S. shifts again, as Leno moves to a new 10:30 nightly show, O'Brien takes over THE TONIGHT SHOW, and Jimmy Fallon takes over LATE NIGHT.
Hope it'll be fun. Goodness knows we need more laughs than ever these days.
