Conan - Jordan Schlansky the Cowboy

Still in Dallas for a week of shows, Conan gives Jordan Schlansky a "cowboy makeover".



If I'm nitpicking, they already did the "shaving" bit, almost word-for-word.

Letterman's Retirement Announcement (Video)

David Letterman to Retire

During tonight's episode of the Late Show, David Letterman will announce his retirement in 2015.

One can't help speculating as to how much pressure (if any) he was under to retire. Low ratings have to be weighed against the problem that there's nothing else out there for him to do. I mean, in many ways he can do anything he wants but he always seemed to respect the fact that when Johnny Carson retired, that was it - except for a few minor appearances Carson wasn't seen on TV again.

And so it would officially be retirement - a concept that seems totally foreign to someone like Dave. After he came back from the writers' strike, he candidly joked that, as often as retiring people like to say, "I'm going to spend more time with my family", the reality of that situation is not all it's cracked up to be. And, of course, Letterman was the one who came back on air while the strike was still on-going.

It just seems like some people shouldn't stop working. Andy Rooney died one month after he left "60 Minutes", Fred Rogers was diagnosed with cancer just months after he went off the air. Let's hope this isn't one of those situations.

From the early 90's until about 2008, you would not find a bigger fan of David Letterman than myself. As long as you don't count Disney characters, I believe his is the only celebrity autograph I own. I watched every single episode that I could, night after night. I would tape the best bits of his show and play them back anyone who shared my comedic sense. You'll recognize that reflex as the blueprint of this very blog I'm writing today. You might find this hard to believe but I actually consciously thought during those years, "He's going to retire some day and talk shows don't get reruns so I'm going to watch every second I can while I can." But my viewership quickly diminished from 2008 until now as he became much more politicized and comedy took a back seat to espousing his political views. I don't think I'm alone in this because his ratings started diving around the same time frame. And so now that the retirement is a reality (the announcement at least) it doesn't feel like a major upheaval or an entertainment tragedy. I feel like the Late Show disappeared long ago and this is just going through the motions of making it official.

The Tonight Show - Always Bet on Boy

Samuel L. Jackson performs a Slam Poem about the 90's TV Show "Boy Meets World".

Conan Sells Mary Kay

In Dallas for a week of shows, Conan works for Mary Kay for a day. Let's face it, it's just an excuse to wear makeup.

Live: Fingers on a 4x4

There's been an ongoing saga on the Tonight Show. One day out of the clear blue sky, Jimmy decided he was going to buy a truck. He didn't know which one to buy so he asked people for advice. Recently he decided on a type and now it's just a matter of going to a dealership to buy it.

But not so fast!

Instead of the conventional route, he's made a contest out of it. He has a group of car salesman touching the truck he wants to buy and whoever keeps their hand on the truck for the longest period of time is the person he's going to buy from.

And the action is streaming live:



I think this is a first for my blog. As far as I can remember, this is the first live streaming video I've ever posted.

By the way, I avoided posting the ongoing story of the truck because it just seems like it has to be a commercial. Fallon has said that he's not getting paid for this but I find that very hard to believe considering how much airtime and attention they've given to such an "every man" purchase... and the number of times he's mentioned the make and model whilst showing the ad photo. Call me cynical, I guess.