Why Conan O'Brien Rules

Conan

I must confess I'm a television addict. In fact I have 6 TV sets, including 1 in the utility room and 1 in the master bathroom. My hearing is less than it was, and I can't stand to miss an important line of dialog, while putting away folded laundry. One of the shows that I watch religiously, night owl that I am, is "Late Night with Conan O'Brien".

Conan himself is funny, and his inspired nutball writers throw many more logs on the comedy fire. Conan has a good resume; he was a writer and bit player on SNL back in the late 80's. Then, he was a writer for "The Simpson's" cartoon show in the early 90's. Why do I like Conan? Several reasons. His humor is cutting edge, conceptual and bright. He's not afraid to try things which might get you labeled as "schizo" or "seditious". Sometimes it might fall flat, or you might miss the point of the joke, but so much more often, you fall off the couch from laughing so hard. His show is on 5 times a week (with usually a rerun or two) and is easily as funny as SNL or MAD TV which are weekly.

The other guys are good too - a close runner-up would be David Letterman. David once had the mantle of "conceptual funny madman", but age, heart problems and fatherhood have all mellowed him quite a bit. He's still good, but not as daring and crazy as he once was. I loved Jay Leno before he became permanent host on "Tonight Show". I now refer to it as "Jay Lamo", because his humor is noticeably tame and dumbed down. He's not as far gone as Johnny Carson was by '92 ("How hot was it?"), but his clever-o-meter is showing maybe a 2 on a scale of 1 to 10.

Back to Conan. He takes nothing too seriously, himself included. He is frequently the butt of his writers' jokes. His sexuality, manly attributes and love life (or lack thereof) are the frequent targets. Conan is straight, married and probably "gets" as much as anyone, but his willingness to play along is hilarious. Absolutely nothing is sacred on the show. Where else will you see Jesus playing ice hockey, or other precious symbols blasphemed in ways unmentionable? Where some comics might bang a political drum, (Bill Maher, Dennis Miller), Conan's only master is whatever gets laughs.

Here are a few of my favorite things: If They Mated, Kids Drawings, New Stamps, Max Weinberg 7 (Conan's excellent band), In the Year 2000 (Yes, 2000), Triumph the Insult Dog, Preparation H Raymond, Masturbating Bear, Dr. Joyce Brothers and Abe Vigoda as backup players, Actual ads ... and so much more!

If you've had too much coffee and are staying up late, turn the dial to NBC's Conan O'Brien. You may be insulted, scandalized, horrified and all the while laughing. That's a good way to end a late night! :-)