Tears… filling… eyes…
First, the history that brought us here:
And now: Conan O’Brien ends final NBC’s ‘Tonight Show’ with over 7 million viewers …
“Every comedian dreams of hosting the ‘Tonight Show’ and, for seven months, I got to,” O’Brien said near the end of his last show Friday night. “I did it my way, with people I love, and I do not regret a second.”
Viewers, however, may argue that what they saw was somehow different, at least up until the end, when all bets were off – and O’Brien’s ratings soared.
And his final show didn’t disappoint. It attracted more than 7 million viewers, according to preliminary numbers released by Nielsen, clobbering David Letterman’s 2.8 million viewers and Jimmy Kimmel’s 1.4 million.
Part of O’Brien’s exit talks with NBC centered on who gets the “intellectual property” rights to stuff he and his team created in his run there. One most often mentioned was the Masturbating Bear, a guy in a bear costume who, well, enough said.
The bear was a huge hit with O’Brien’s “Late Night” crowd, yet, wasn’t used on “Tonight” for the first time until Wednesday, when, frankly, it was too late.
The point is that while he’s losing the bear in the $45 million divorce with NBC, O’Brien has a chance to get something bigger back – his sense of humor.
“The networks never really counter-program in late-night,” Brad Adgate, a senior vice president at Horizon Media said of O’Brien’s options now that he left NBC. “I would offer his ‘Late Show’ [the next time]. To do something that’s exactly what Leno and Letterman are offering, I don’t know if that’s what viewers want.”
Fox officials have said they’re interested in O’Brien. And Fox, no doubt, can provide marketing muscle and reach. Anyone doubting that should look at the way Fox promotes “American Idol” to the point that you half-expect Simon Cowell to anchor the news alongside Ernie Anastos.
Farewell sweet prince… until the fall, when the parting agreement with NBC allows you back into our living rooms (or in my case: computer screen, several days after the original airing)…
O’Brien appropriately ended his last “Tonight Show” with an all-star rendition of “Freebird,” a song that includes the line, “Cause I’m as free as a bird now, and this bird you cannot change.”
Conan O’Brien’s after-party details: Irish wake for his final ‘Tonight Show‘.
“All I ask is one thing, and I’m asking this particularly of young people that watch. Please do not be cynical. I hate cynicism. For the record, it’s my least favorite quality. 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. I’m telling you, amazing things will happen.”