Viewer Mail

Conan O'Brien's Nashville Show with Jack White

2010-06-14T12:38:00.005-05:00

Before heading to Bonnaroo Conan stopped in Nashville for an unpublicized show with Jack White at Third Man Records. We stood in line for 4 and a half hours hoping to get in. The line was around the block, but once things got moving we made it all the way to the venue, up the alley, and to the gate. Then the line stopped. Jack White came out and told us the building was at capacity.

Unfortunately, we didn't make it in. There was a good write-up of the show on the Team COCO site. Those who didn't make it into the show can buy an LP of the evening's events.

Of course, Conan went on to perform at Bonnaroo over the next couple days. Rolling Stone grabbed a quick interview with him in Manchester.

Dave Shares Excellent Bobby Rahal/Jimmy Vasser Story, Disses NASCAR

2010-06-08T12:43:00.005-05:00

If you watch Letterman for any length of time, you'll know he's an avid fan of motor sports. Last night while speaking with Jessica Biel, Dave told a story of himself, Bobby Rahal and Jimmy Vasser racing rental vans around the track of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Most excellent.

Prior to that story, Dave got a couple jabs in against NASCAR.

The NASCAR ribbing starts at 6:35 and the Rahal story starts at 8:30.

Conan O'Brien's Tour on YouTube

2010-06-02T13:02:00.002-05:00

If you're like me, unable to make it to a stop on "The Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television Tour," you can actually watch quite a bit of the show on YouTube.

Attendees have been posting various segments from the show online. The images are a bit shaky, but it's still easy to laugh along.

The tour stopped in New York City last night featuring such guests as Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart, both of which challenged Conan to a dance-off. As luck would have it, someone happened to be recording and posted the whole segment to YouTube.

No signs yet of take-down notices from the Conan camp, so we'll watch and enjoy while we can!

Kevin Eubanks says Good-Bye

2010-05-28T10:21:00.004-05:00

It's a big Friday night in the land of Late Night TV. If you're a Leno fan you'll want to watch Kevin Eubanks' final show tonight. He's saying good-bye after 17 years on The Tonight Show.

Letterman will have the relentlessly entertaining Robin Williams on the show. Williams' appearances are the meat and potatoes of late light television.

Later, Jimmy will feature Ice Cube and Jeffrey Ross will appear on The Late Late Show.

Good entertainment all around!

Don Rickles is King

2010-05-27T16:31:00.002-05:00

Don Rickles is one of the last old-school Hollywood comedians to grace late night television. He made an appearance on The Late Show last night with Letterman referring to him as "one of the greats" at the end of the interview.

Since the 1960s, Rickles has made countless appearances on both the Carson Tonight Show and Letterman's Late Show. Watching Rickles is very different from watching a lot of modern celebrities on late night TV. He knows he's there to entertain the audience and that's exactly what he does. Never dull, always funny. Very professional.

Rickles has been on the Late Show regularly over the last several months. Watching the interviews it looks like both Rickles and Letterman have great respect for one another.

Here's a clip from last night's show:

And a classic clip of Don Rickles on the Tonight Show in 1984.

Conan's Lone Twitter Friend gets Her Moment on Stage

2010-05-26T21:34:00.002-05:00

Back in March, Conan O'Brien chose his only Twitter friend proclaiming that her life would change. After new-found internet fame and many media interviews later, Sarah Killen finally got to meet Conan this past Friday during his Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour which stopped in Michigan.

Not much was mentioned on her Twitter stream, but BGNews reported that Killen got to pull the infamous Walker, Texas Ranger lever. A worthy event for any Conan fan.

(Killen shows up around 5:25)

Watch Jimmy Watch Himself Live on USTREAM

2010-05-24T11:14:00.004-05:00

All this week (May 24h - May 28th) Jimmy Fallon will be watching his show as it airs, and stream the event live on USTREAM. Essentially you can watch Late Night alongside Jimmy. He'll have special guests with him on the USTREAM show as well. Two shows in one!

Is this a television/web first? It's quite an amazing event. USTREAM offers chat capabilities making this a truly interactive "director's commentary" type event between viewer and show host. Can't wait!

In the meantime, here is a great bit form Late Night that was floating around the interwebs last week: Hubble Gotchu

Late Night With Jimmy Fallon and Jerry Seinfeld During Commerical Break

2010-05-20T16:01:00.002-05:00

Late Night posted a great look at what happens behind the scenes during commercial breaks. Jimmy Fallon had Jerry Seinfeld on the show last night and naturally, hilarity ensued.

(The embed link on NBC's site seems to be disabled, so you'll have to click through to their site.)

Conan Discusses Upcoming Show on TBS

2010-05-19T21:42:00.003-05:00

Lots of different outlets are reporting on Conan O'Brien's thoughts on his upcoming show on TBS which starts in November. He's hinting at the possibility of a somewhat different show than he's done in the past. I'm sure a lot of that will have to with the number of bits that NBC will retain rights to. For example, when Letterman went to CBS, NBC retained ownership of a lot of names like "The World's Most Dangerous Band," and "Viewer Mail."

Conan says he's excited about being on cable on TBS, stating he "really believes in basic-cable television. [And doesn't] want to live in a country with less than six ESPN channels."

Conan Wishes YouTube Happy B-day, Blames them for US's Economic Troubles.

2010-05-18T12:04:00.004-05:00

Conan offered his birthday wishes to YouTube which turned 5 this week. He blamed YouTube for the current economic downturn, citing that Guam now has a higher GNP than the United States.

Welcome to the Show

2010-05-17T20:59:00.006-05:00

From the Tonight Show drama to keeping tabs on Letterman's nuts jokes, Viewer Mail is here to revel in the strange, yet ever familiar and somehow comforting realm of late night television.

The consistency of watching the same show and same person night after night for sometimes years on end likens the late night talk show to a favorite pair of old worn out shoes at the least, and even an old friend at best.

Personally, I've watched Letterman and Conan through high school, college, and well beyond. There are few things in this world with such staying power. In our society of constant change it becomes a true marvel that these shows have stayed on the air with the same host for years on end. (Sorry, Conan.) And that's just one element that makes the world of late night television so special.

But enough of the serious tone. Late night television is full of cheap laughs and dumb celebrities making fools of themselves. And that's what we really love. With that said, let's start the show!

In the welcoming spirit, we'll start tonight off with a classic clip of David Letterman welcoming his new bosses back when he was still at NBC and General Electric had just bought the network.