Revisiting Arcade Fire's performance of "Neighborhood #2 (Laika)" on Conan. Of all the musical performances on Conan's "Late Night," this is my #2 all-time*. Perhaps I'm too easily impressed by chaotic percussionists and cute violinists. You decide.
Having loved this version, I listened to, and was disappointed by, the album version. The main key is this version's Talking Heads style vocals vs. the album version's distant bullhorn vocals. Plus, this has the live energy. The good news though is that the rest of the album is superb.
In 1957 the Russian space program launched a stray dog into space with no possibility of return. The dog's name was Laika.
Even though this is the most interesting clip in the entirety of Conan's youtube channel, it feels unsatisfying. The character of Nell is such a mystery and it's good to get some insights but every answer just leads to more questions and those questions don't get answered. I mean, there's a time travel group? You play a character for what purpose? Is this a job? And so on.
If you're not familiar with Nell, this is the origin:
Somewhere Conan said this was his favorite skit they had ever done.
It would seem good to post a Conan clip in honor of Larry King, seeing as how King made a huge number of appearances on Conan's various shows. But the problem is, I can't think of a good one. I mean, there are a number of good clips, but I know of no definitive highlight. So here's one:
But since this clip has been recommended to me by Youtube relentlessly for weeks, it seems kismet that I should share this also.
Variety is reporting that "Conan" will end in June of 2021. He will also start a weekly "variety series" on HBO Max.
It's such a gradual decline that it's hard to react too strongly at any stage. I thought the "Tonight Show" era was good but not quite as good as "Late Night". I thought the "Conan" show was not quite as good as the "Tonight Show". Then the "Conan" show became a short show with a podcast and I stopped really paying attention.
Now he'll be on a premium service which I'm not willing to pay for, especially given the lack of detail about what kind of show it will be.
It's sad that Conan has devolved to the point that even a Jordan Schlansky segment feels false and forced. But there are still some highlights that make it worthwhile.
It's so contradictory how Jordan wants people to think that he's erudite, composed, an intellectual, that he has it all together and yet he keeps his office messy and piled high with garbage like a hoarder. What an enigma.
That this announcement lacks the word "youtube" is slightly disturbing but it's so vague that we'll just have to wait and see. It's nice to see that "Conan attends bartending school" hasn't been forgotten.
On Thursday, that last episode of Conan as we know it aired.
For the rest of the year, Conan will be on the road. In November, Conan's new podcast premieres. Starting in January, Conan will air in a half hour format and will have more remotes and travel pieces.
I don't have much to say about this news because there aren't a lot of details and I don't care all that much. I think more remotes is good news, but that's about it. I hope Andy has a significant role doing something; no word on how he fits into all this.
I thought for sure that Conan was going to surpass Dave's record for years on late night. Letterman hosted for 33 years, Conan is currently at 25 but still fairly young. When Johnny Carson was in his 25th year, he was an old man ready to retire at any moment.
“If you saw a sketch from our old ‘Late Night’ show while eating ramen in your dorm room in 1995, a sketch that either delighted or enraged you, now you can relive that moment anytime you want.” I've been thinking a lot lately of the flashback to Conan's first day of college where he introduces himself with the line "Hey fellas, ready for all the good times?" When that gets posted I will be sure to share it here.
This is something I've been harping on for years - big networks will block fans from uploading clips on copyright grounds but then won't upload the clips themselves... and the end result is that no one wins.
I applaud Conan for offering a solution. Even though the idea that he'll be uploading "just about everything I've ever done in late night" sounds too good to be true, it's still pretty exciting.
It was 25 years ago today that the first episode of Late Night with Conan O'Brien. To commemorate the event, Team Coco has uploaded the full show to their youtube channel.
The official upload is much better video quality than any of the existing versions. However, some of the episode has been cut out. The other full episode versions are still around and I'm sure they'll be around forever but just for fun, here are what's cut out...
9:30 - The Max Weinberg 7 play Conan over to the desk.
14:30 - The Max Weinberg 7 play to commercial, a clip of Conan cleaning crackers for Tom Brokaw is played. Back from commercial, the Max Weinberg 7 are still playing. Conan dances at his desk and kisses his microphone. Andy: You love that microphone! Conan: I do, it's why I'm here.
18:54 - The Max Weinberg 7 play to commercial. Conan shakes John Goodman's hand. Late Night with Conan O'Brien trivia: Q. What were the names of the two youngest members of the Partridge Family? Back from commercial, the Max Weinberg 7 are still playing. Late Night Trivia: A. We don't know. Conan is dancing at his desk. Conan: Yeeooww! Drew Barrymore is coming out in a bit and...
24:24 - The Max Weinberg 7 play to commercial while John Goodman and George Wendt continue to leg wrestle. Back from commercial, the Max Weinberg 7 are still playing and a graphic of Conan sumo wrestling is shown. Conan: Alright... thank you...
25:29 - The Max Weinberg 7 play to commercial. Back from commercial, the Max Weinberg 7 are still playing. Conan: Coming up tomorrow night: Mary Tyler Moore, Chris O'Donnell and musical guest Radiohead...So tune in. My next guest comes from a legendary showbiz family, co-starred with an extra terrestrial and recently portrayed Amy Fisher. Please welcome Drew Barrymore. The Max Weinberg play Drew on with a jazzy version of the Star Trek theme.
30:50 - The Max Weinberg 7 play to commercial. A graphic of Conan as a panda bear. Back from commercial, the Max Weinberg 7 are still playing. Conan: My next guest has been on more than a thousand talk shows and since I'm new at this, we figured someone should know what the hell he's doing up here. Please welcome Tony Randall. The Max Weinberg 7 play Tony on. Conan begins to sit down before Tony does. Conan: Oh, sorry! How rude of me. You first and then me, of course. Tony: That's one thing you've done right. Conan: Ouch! Tony: No, I didn't mean that.
34:24 - The Max Weinberg 7 play to and back from commercial. A graphic of Conan as Elvis shaking hands with Richard Nixon is shown.
