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O'Brien Prepares For Late-Night Switch

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 15, 2009

Nearly two dozen guitars are scattered on the floor and sofa in Conan O'Brien's office in New York, most of them gifts from musicians like Eddie Van Halen, Los Lobos, Les Paul and Brian Setzer.

Moving day approaches.

O'Brien is about to pack up the guitars - and himself - for the trip West, when he replaces Jay Leno as host of NBC's "Tonight" show in June. First things first, though, as a nostalgic O'Brien prepares for the last week of his 16-year run at "Late Night." Friday is his last show before turning it over to Jimmy Fallon.

"For a while, I was in denial - 'Oh, we'll just stop doing this show and we'll move on to the next one,'" he says. "That's very me, very male. Men don't like to say goodbye. My wife told me about six months ago: 'I think you have to admit that you have mixed feelings about leaving this late-night show, it's very emotionally charged for you. That's OK.'"

He's been sifting through show highlights from over the years, playing "greatest hits" clips during the last few weeks. Many are suggestions from viewers.

The other night he watched his very first show for the first time in years.

That was a pretty emotionally charged time, too. As an unknown chosen to replace David Letterman in 1993, he was brutally panned and nearly fired. Given the chance, he improved to the point where those bad days are a distant memory.

NBC had committed to giving him the "Tonight" slot five years ago, although it was only recently that current host Jay Leno decided to stay with the network and do a nightly 10 p.m. show.

O'Brien is trying to maintain the element of surprise for his last week of shows, saying he wants to rely on old friends of "Late Night" instead of stunt casting. Don't be surprised if Andy Richter, O'Brien's on-air sidekick until he left in 2000, stops by. Same with Al Roker, who, because he works in the same building, has been the show's most frequent guest.

"The one thing that's worked consistently for me is just to use your common sense, just try to be funny," O'Brien says. "For 16 years, I've just been trying to think of funny stuff. We miss sometimes, we hit sometimes but I think our average is pretty good."

Obamas To Recognize Wonder

The White House is planning a concert this week to honor Stevie Wonder, whose music provided part of President Barack Obama's campaign soundtrack.

The White House says the president and first lady Michelle Obama will present Wonder a Library of Congress award on Wednesday. The concert will be broadcast the next day on PBS as part of its "Performance at the White House" series.

His song "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours" became a theme song during the campaign.

Today's Birthdays

Actor Kevin McCarthy is 95. Actress Jane Seymour is 58. "Simpsons" creator Matt Groening is 55. Model Janice Dickinson is 54. Musician Mikey Craig (Culture Club) is 49.

Source: The Associated Press

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