One last goodbye to ‘The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien’

By now, everyone knows about the late night saga that has played out at NBC. Out of The Tonight Show is Conan O’Brien and back in is Jay Leno.

I don’t want to talk about that again though, I want to talk about Conan O’Brien and the send off he received from NBC.

Even though the last two weeks of The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien were shadowed by the fact that they might be the last the shows, they were some of the best Conan had ever done.

In late night television, the hosts of the shows become instant icons. Johnny Carson’s name is one that is synonymous with late night. Jay Leno and David Letterman have become the faces of late night of this generation.

While Leno was given the title “King of Late Night” due to his continual ratings wins, it can be argued that no late night host was more of a pop culture influence than Conan, and he has proved that over the past two weeks.

Although his ratings as host of The Tonight Show were on par with that of his version of Late Night, they were lower than that of Leno’s Tonight Show. Regardless, when rumors started to swirl around the internet that Conan would be leaving The Tonight Show, ratings and public support skyrocketed for Conan.

As Conan was leaving The Tonight Show, he was determined to have the party fitting for departing late night hosts. He brought in the biggest guest for his final shows, from Steve Carell and Pee-Wee Herman to Tom Hanks and Will Farrell.

Before the final act of Conan joining Farrell, the Max Weinberg band and a variety of other music stars on stage, he gave a heart-filled speech thanking all his viewers and fans for supporting him throughout the years. He also thanked NBC for putting him on the air for the past 17 years.

In doing so, he gave what could be one of the most memorable lines in late night history:

“I hate cynicism. It’s my least favorite quality and it doesn’t lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen.”

Those are the words he has lived by all these years, as he has been known as one of the nicest people in the business. His final Tonight Show was as sad as it was hilarious. Watching a man walk away from his dream job in order to save the integrity of the show was hard, but knowing how great the show was with Conan at the helm was comforting.

I think I speak for a lot of people when I say I cannot wait to see where Conan lands, hopefully in September when his NBC buyout allows him to be back on the air.

Until then, let’s enjoy the current late night lineup, Jimmy Fallon especially, as he is now next in line to inherit The Tonight Show once Jay Leno retires.

Conan was determined to have his Tonight Show sendoff party, and have a party he did.