"Well, tonight, tonight, may it never reach an end" from "Tonite, Tonite" by the Mello-Kings, written by Billy Myles...
NBC-TV could adopt that line and apply it to their "Tonight Show" because at the rate they're going, that show will never reach an end. Imagine the unimaginable. Your boss comes to you and says "You know what ? We like you so much that in 5 years we're giving you a new, higher paying job than you have now". That's what NBC told Conan O'Brien in 2004. He was told he would inherit the "Tonight Show" job in 5 years. Amazing ! Not only do you know you'll have your current job for 5 years but that you will continue on in your new job, who knows ? Maybe forever ? I hope NBC is paying for Conan's funeral. After he dies on the job they can just whisk him away in a hearse...
Not only did NBC's Conan O'Brien announcement come on September 27th but the "Tonight Show" itself debuted on the same date 50 years earlier in 1954 when the brilliant Steve Allen went "network" after a year of doing the show locally in New York on flagship WNBT (the "C" would eventually replace the "T"). Where Jack Paar was celebral and wry, Steve Allen was fun. He loved the unexpected, live wackiness that was his trademark. One of the most creative minds in TV, Steverino was the first talk show host to take his cameras out on the street to capture "man on the street" interviews, making stars of Louis Nye, Don Knotts, Tom Poston and Bill Dana, among others. When Steve Allen's own prime-time series premiered in 1956, he cut back on his "Tonight Show" hosting and eventually Jack Paar stepped in. Johnny Carson followed Paar in 1962, Jay Leno in 1992 was next and in 2009 it'll be Conan O'Brien's turn...
Understand that this is not a knock against Conan. Although an acquired taste, O'Brien has great writers and is an accomplished late show host already but without Steve Allen's success on the original "Tonight Show", there is no Conan O'Brien and as good as Allen's successors were, there's no Jack Paar, Johnny Carson or Jay Leno... Ten Timeline Memories...
#1 on this date: 1963] "Blue Velvet" - Bobby Vinton...1973] "We're An American Band" - Grand Funk...1984] "Let's Go Crazy" - Prince... Premiered on this date: 1964] The Beach Boys make their 1st appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show" singing "I Get Around"... Sayonara...1999] Tiger Stadium closes after 87 years with Detroit beating KC 8-2. Here's retiring play-by-play man Ernie Harwell's call: "Tigers lead it 8-2. Two down in the 9th. Jones is ready. He delivers. Here's a swing and a miss. The game is over and Tiger Stadium is no more"... [To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in the timeline]... "Happy Birthday...happy birthday"... Avril Lavigne (22), Gwyneth Paltrow (34), Marvin Lee Aday a.k.a. Meatloaf (59), Randy Bachman (63), Don Cornelius (70), Wilford Brimley (the oldest looking 72 year old in the world), Jayne Meadows (Steve Allen's former wife)(86), Red Sox great Johnny Pesky (87) and a special "Happy Birthday" to "Zach", John Zacherle (88)... Commentary... Is it just me or does Zacherle look 72 and Wilford Brimley 88 ??? Timeline countdown: 6 days left (depending on which teams qualify and when) until the major league playoffs, 24 days until the World Series and 95 days until 2007. ... |
