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The Best of Conan
When the final Late Night airs tonight, it could mark the end of the bizarro comedy that has defined Conan O’Brien’s career. From Triumph the Comic Insult Dog to the Masturbating Bear, the Daily Beast presents his greatest skits—for you to poop on!
AN ANNOUNCER WHO FRIGHTENS YOU
A lot of talk shows have announcers, but only Conan has Joel Godard, the pervy septuagenarian with the creepiest smile on TV. And, oh those shirtless gay Asian lovers…
THE GREATEST INTERVIEWER IN CANINE HISTORY
Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, arguably Conan's most successful creation (Cactus Chef playing "We Didn't Start the Fire" on the flute surprisingly never took off), has been a guest on Jay Leno’s Tonight Show, but will he be a regular on Conan’s? Perhaps he could interview idiots on street corners—Triumph-walking anyone?
A BEAR THAT…YOU KNOW
Conan officially retired the Masturbating Bear earlier this week because, he said, the censors won’t allow it in the 11:35 time slot. But for all the laughs he’s given us, he still deserves a hand.
(See next page for Conan's very first monologue AND the Walker, Texas Ranger lever)
John Talks Joe
Lloyd Grove is editor at large for The Daily Beast. He is also a frequent contributor to New York magazine and was a contributing editor for Condé Nast Portfolio. He wrote a gossip column for the New York Daily News from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he wrote the Reliable Source column for the Washington Post, where he spent 23 years covering politics, the media, and other subjects.
The Right Dumps Carrie
Jacob Bernstein is a senior reporter at The Daily Beast. Previously, he was a features writer at WWD and W Magazine. He has also written for New York magazine, Paper, and The Huffington Post.
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18 years and he is still not funny.
dsycks , you must have had a humor bypass operation 18 years ago.
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Anything that gets Jay Leno, a terrible interviewer, out of the 11:30 time slot is good.
I frikkin love Conan. Catch him every chance I have. His delivery is consistantly hilarious.
Conan Rocks! Best skit: Conan at the Canadian border, dressed as a Mountie, stopping traffic... Oh god! And Triumph insulting French Canadians! And bizarre Joel! Keep it real, Conan!
The bits where he travels to different places are the best
Most people have never seen this guy. Those that have don't think he is funny, witty, smart, or hip.
I'll agree that some of Conan's bits are lame, but there are far more funny moments and great interviews. He relates to the people he interviews and shines in these moments the most. I watch Leno go through his scripted interviews and it could be anybody sitting in his chair doing the mechanical job. Conan is the complete opposite. If you don't like his originality or experimental approach(which can bomb), watch something else. Don't turn it off after one bad skit though. DVR it and fast forward to the good parts. It's not for everyone just like shows such as Kids in the Hall, Mr. Show, Arrested Development, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Extras aren't for everyone. They are or were all cutting edge for their genre just like Conan is for late night.
Leno was a very poor second act for Carson and this guy is just plain terrible. I predict the demise of the Tonight Show comes faster than the demise of the Obama administration.
Shortputt: It figures to see a Republican with a poor sense of humor. What do you think is funny shortput? Still watching Cheers reruns or something? How about some expamples of your kind of humor. Your politicians and conservative pundits are hilarious(not that they mean to be) so you must have a decent sense of humor at least.
i'm with dsycks. and the last show was a yawn. BUT he'll be better than leno i think.
Anything that takes risks to find new material will have hits and misses, and I would rather watch someone I find totally funny than someone 90% of people find watchable (looking at you Leno). Along the lines of Swick2730 - Conan is original and interesting to watch, and just not for everyone.
I love Conan. He can do no wrong in my point of view. Sure he bombs sometimes. But even his bombs are interesting 'cause I like him THAT much. And I'm a Republican.
I'll admit there are good Republicans out there with a sense of humor pricklypear. Shortputt rubbed me the wrong way with the all too familar prediction that Obama is going to fail after only a month in office. I gave Bush a chance in the beginning and Obama deserves the same. My parents and many of my best friends are Republicans. We're all in this together.
I've always thought Conan (complete with the stupidest hair on TV) simply ripped off early Letterman and then proceeded to take the humor out of it (and I'm a Democrat). Letterman has since gone pretty lame and Craig Ferguson seems to be the funniest guy on late night TV (which admittedly I rarely watch).
Thank you.
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