So Long For Now

Last night marked the end of Conan O'Brien's run of original shows on the Tonight Shows. It was sad, but he went out on a high, even classy, note. We are living in such a cynical age, and Conan addressed that head on ("I hate cynicism"). NBC was "America's Late Night Leader" for years as Jay Leno led in the ratings as host of the Tonight Show. The magic did not carry over into his prime time experiment at 10 p.m., which made for a weaker lead-in to local news and even Tonight. The whole Conan O'Brien - Jay Leno shuffle has been a disaster for NBC, and the competition has been the beneficiary. As far as monologues go, I was always more of a fan of David Letterman and Jimmy Kimmel. I do think Conan's cast and bits have been some of the funniest in late night, from Triumph the Insult Comic Dog to Andy Richter to "In the Year 2000." Middle America clearly feels Leno is the rightful heir to Johnny Carson, but I hope Conan finds another late night spot on Fox or Comedy Central. He has earned it.