Attending the End of An Era, The Last Conan O’Brien

Perspective of an audience member on the last Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien
Yesterday I witnessed the final Tonight Show I will ever watch.  That is not to say I will not continue to watch any programs I enjoy that are on NBC or any of it’s affiliated companies.  However the Tonight Show holds no interest for me now, and the two hours I spent in Conan’s Burbank studio made my decision concrete.

It started on the street in the rain at about 10:00am.  I attended with my brothers and sister in law, all of us having watched Conan from his early years on the Late Show.  Our attendance to this of all shows was pure happenstance.  My older brother, John, had received reserved tickets for the January 22nd episode of the Tonight Show for Christmas from his wife.  As the NBC decision developed we were more concerned that we may not be going rather than seeing the final night of Conan as the host. But as it turned out we realized we would be witnessing a part of media history.  That being said, through our approximately six hours in the rain, the reality had not yet set in.  The moment we stepped inside to that beautiful set and took our seats the true meaning of the word bittersweet (my brother Adam’s words) set in.  Here we were seated in the front row (don’t believe me, I’m the guy in the red sweater with the black hat) for a show others had spent all night in the rain to get tickets for.  And a growing anticipation was met with an equally strong sense of sorrow.

Then the cold open, where we truly got a sense of closeness to this staff.  Many were exchanging hugs and looking, almost tearfully, at the audience.  And as the band started up the audience came alive in support and joy.  Mark Pender comes into the crowd as yet other band members move towards the audience.  Max Weinberg then goats pender to “hold that note” and he does for at least 90 seconds.  Being here and seeing first hand I truly came to believe this was an end of an era. The last time these people would perform this show at this theatre.  I began to wonder; what will it be like without Conan? But everything was about to get more intense and in the greatest way possible.

From the moment Conan took the stage and began his monologue, he was no longer just a likable television character, he was a real man just a few feet away from me.  Seeing that majestic hair in person, hearing his shoe clicks, hearing him talk over his microphone, all gave it an overwhelming sense of real.  I had thought that seeing these gags in person might make them less funny but in truth I laughed harder than I would seeing it on TV. As well as the things the television watchers missed.  Andy Richter had his final tonight show dialogue with Conan.  He asked him that if through all of this has he talked to Jay (Leno). Conan responded with stating the last time he spoke with him was in September.  Now I am sorry to all you Leno fans but if you are about to take a man’s job, despite the circumstance, you owe it to him to at least call and express your condolences.  In fast Leno’s whole conduct through this entire affair makes me think he is a miniscule percent man.  He had time to give his staff the chance to look for other jobs and decide what to do with his future, not fail at his experiment then go back to his old job. NBC’s time slot from after the news in to their late night programming slips and the response is to change it back to the way it was.

Then, well most of the rest you can watch on TV.  The last major thing left out was after the Freebird performance.  He said that we were the greatest audience in the history of television and “we’ll see you…somewhere.” Then the cameras were turned off and Conan was given a standing ovation.  His last moments on stage were spent with a mic saying that he meant every word he said during the broadcast.  Then Conan O’Brien left his Tonight Show stage forever leaving a heartbroken but appreciative audience.  It was intense being there and seeing people cry and take pictures during commercial breaks.  Family and friends who were off stage were also taking pictures and saying goodbyes.  This man and the people he had surrounded himself with were sincere and did not deserve what was happening to them.  He truly cared about his staff and his fans.  When he gave his goodbye if you thought he sounded tearful I guarantee you would have felt more intense being there.  And as we exited the theatre unsure of where we will see Coco next I was filled with a new optimism.  We will see him again and when we do we are going to have as much fun watching it as they do making it.  So I for one cannot wait to see what is next for the man who I consider the greatest entertainer of my generation.