Go Conan.

I just wanted to give a quick shout out to Conan's finale on "The Tonight Show" Friday night. He did an outstanding job of wrapping up his tenure with NBC. It was sad to see him go, but I'm sure we will see him back in the next few months. I hate to see you go, Conan, but you ended on a great "Free Bird" note!

If you thought the fiasco was over, think again. Jay Leno is scheduled to be on Oprah this week. People are speculating that this is a move by NBC and Jay to help gain back some of the "good guy" image. I'm surprised that he is even allowed to talk about the late night drama. Who knows what he will be allowed to say or not say. Be sure to check your local listings if you want to hear from Jay later this week.

For a complete wrap on Conan's finale -- Check out Jody's article below.

Conan's "Tonight Show" Farewell

Watching Conan O'Brien's final "Tonight Show" was a bittersweet affair for me. There's no denying he got a raw deal from NBC with Jay Leno moving back in to take the host's chair. Much has been made of the dustup between Conan, Jay and the network, so I won't rehash the story that most everyone has already heard.
I'll admit I got a little misty eyed watching the show, but I thought Conan added a nice touch of class by thanking NBC after all his years of service there. He started out as a writer for "SNL," then hosted his "Late Night" show for 16 years before taking the "Tonight Show." Tom Hanks, Neil Young, Will Ferrell, and Steve Carell all made Conan's final show extra special.
I feel truly fortunate that I was able to meet Conan a few years ago in New York, and attend a taping of "Late Night With Conan O'Brien." (Ask me about how I chased him down in 30 Rock yelling "Conan! Conan!" True story) He couldn't have been nicer about personally getting me tickets to the show. Then last year, I had the privilege to attend his 3rd "Tonight Show" in Los Angeles and had a great time there as well. It's a shame it had to end this way, but Conan will bounce back and wherever he goes, I'll follow.
Go Team CoCo!

Way To Go, Conan!

Conan O'Brien has rejected NBC's offer to push back his show after Leno. He wants the network to resolve this issue soon. The man was given only 7 months to establish a "Tonight Show" audience and you expect him to just lay down now?? I'm a fan of both Leno and Conan, but I really feel like Conan is getting slapped in the face over this whole mess. Click here to read Conan's statement he released late this afternoon. The wheels of change are already in motion, and for NBC, this is going to end sour for 1 of the 3 late night hosts (Sorry, Carson Daly, I wasn't counting you...).

"Godspeed, Spider-Man"

Sony Pictures has announced that they have squashed "Spider-Man 4" and will now reboot the series with a new cast and director. This piece of shocking news has sent waves all across the pop culture spectrum. I'm terribly disappointed that we don't get a chance to see if Sam Raimi could erase "Spider-Man 3" from our minds and wrap up the series on a good note. Instead, Sony is taking Spidey back to his high school roots and is already working on two scripts with a 2011/2012 starting date.

Spider-Man is my favorite superhero of all time. Just ask my friends or come to my apartment and you will find plenty of Spidey memorabilia. We would NOT have comic book motion pictures as we know them today if it wasn't for "Spider-Man"'s success in 2002. To this day I don't think that I have never been more excited about a movie than I was back in 2002. The fact that Sony picked a director that was a passionate Spider-Man fan and cared about his product is what made the first two pictures a great success. There's no secret that the third film had problems. Sam Raimi admitted that and was looking forward to erasing it from our minds. I had hope for the guy, especially after he took a break and made the popular film, "Drag Me To Hell." Word is starting to leak out that Sony and Raimi have been debating over the script for number 4 for sometime now. Apparently, one of the main points was that Raimi wanted to stick with Vulture as the villian and Sony wanted someone/something else. Vulture is not my favorite villian, but the fact that John Malkovich was interested in the role was very exciting. As a Spidey fan, who wouldn't be excited to see Malkovich try to rip apart the Web-Crawler?? I think the studios were hoping for a darker picture and Vulture wasn't what they had in mind. With Vulture and the possibility of using Lizard, that sounds like a good movie to me. The most exciting scenario to me would have been using Kraven as the villian and implementing Lizard into the story since we've seen him in the first 3 movies. After working and reworking, Sony finally decided that it was best to move the franchise in another direction.

So, the "new" Spider-Man franchise already has part of a script, but no director, actors, or definite timetable. I wish I could say that the studio will realize that they are making a mistake, but they hardly ever do. For Sam Raimi and Tobey, I'm sure they are glad that they can move on with their careers. "Spider-Man" helped make comic book movies what they are today. Was Raimi really going to correct himself? What kind of picture would we have seen in "Spider-Man 4?" I guess we will never know....so as the Green Goblin says in "Spider-Man," "Godspeed, Spider-Man."

LOST characters explain how to make a sandwich

This is hilarious! Be sure to read the comments after the article.

LOST characters explain how to make a sandwich

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NBC's Late Night Mess

I knew Jay Leno wasn't doing well in the ratings. That wasn't news. But then late last week came the revelation that the ratings had hurt NBC affiliates as the lead in to the 10pm news, and that NBC was taking action.
Now it's official--As of mid-February, "The Jay Leno Show" is toast. But wait, what's that? NBC still wants Jay on the air?
That's right. And what's more, although it's not set in stone quite yet, it looks like they'll be giving Jay 30 minutes Monday through Friday at 10:35pm, followed by Conan at 11:05pm, then Jimmy Fallon an hour later. Essentially, he's getting back "The Tonight Show" timeslot (at least the first half of it), and Conan and Jimmy Fallon are both getting the shaft.
What remains to be seen is whether or not the plan will work. What we do know is that NBC execs liked Leno in his old time slot. He consistently beat Letterman in the ratings, and it was working well. Conan did not fare as well against Letterman, who will probably extend his run on CBS beyond 2010.

It's conceivable that NBC could buy out the remainder of Conan's contract, then reinstall Leno at the helm of "Tonight." If that were to happen, Conan, now contract free, could hop to another network (FOX has already made overtures).

Personally, I just can't see Leno in a half hour program. Not to mention Conan *immediately* following Leno again--and poor Jimmy Fallon! NBC is said they're still working with all parties to keep them at the Peacock network, and have already ordered a bunch of new pilots to fill that hourlong spot that Leno will vacate in February.

By the way, if you're interested in the kind of drama this has created, I highly recommend the book "The Late Shift" by New York Times television writer Bill Carter. It chronicled exactly what happened when Johnny Carson left "The Tonight Show" in 1992, and how Jay Leno and David Letterman battled it out to see who would take the spot. An excellent read. Carter, by the way, continues to write for the "Times," and is now writing about this latest Leno situation.
So what will happen next for Leno, Conan, and Fallon?
Stay tuned.

Seinfeld Brings It For Another Paducah Audience

What a show! Jerry Seinfeld came back to Paducah's Carson Center last Friday night, but he wasn't alone. His opening act was comedian Tom Papa, a very well known comic in his own right.
I was glad Tom came along for the ride. He and Jerry compliment each other very well.
I thought Grant and I would have pretty good seats--what I didn't realize is that they turned out to be front row center! The microphone was literally right in front of us.
It was amazing.
What a treat to have Jerry Seinfeld come out and say "Paduc-Ahhh," "Paduc-Ahhh!" He went on to joke about everything from the close relationship between the words "sucks," and "great," to prescription drug commercials, modern technology, and even his own family.
He took a break every few minutes to grab a sip of water.
After his set, the audience gave him a well-deserved standing ovation, then he came back out and took questions.
What did he think of the Tiger Woods situation? Would he take the Tonight Show? And Why does he still tour? To which he simply replied, "Did you have a good time tonight?" (The audience responded with thunderous applause) Then Tom Papa came back out, the two shook hands, took another bow in unison, and left the stage headed to their next stop, Peoria, Illinois.
A great evening for sure, and a performance both Grant and I agreed we would remember for many years to come.