Late Night, Done Right: Reunited and It Feels So Good
February 28, 2009 by Chandra


You’ve heard the news, right? Late-night yakker Conan O’Brien and his former 1993–2000 Late Night sidekick Andy Richter are joining forces again.
The auspicious coupling will take place when O’Brien takes the helm of his new gig on NBC’s Tonight Show, which will thence be known as The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien. I get goosebumps just writing that since I’ve never been a fan of The Chin.
Richter will assume announcing duties, as well as an occasional part in comedy segments. His sidekick role won’t involve couch work, however, which is fine by me, as long as he gets adequate screen time elsewhere.
I never thought I’d say this during the last 17 years, but I just might have to start watching The Tonight Show again (sorry, Dave!).
O’Brien and Richter debut in their new, one-hour-earlier late-night home on Monday, June 1, at 11:30pm EST.
Tina Fey Talks to Conan O’Brien
October 30, 2008 by Chandra
In preparation for tonight’s 30 Rock third-season premiere, Tina Fey dropped by Late Night with Conan O’Brien on Tuesday, October 28, to shoot a whole lotta breeze with the host about a whole lotta stuff.
Watch the two-part interview in the videos following the jump to get stoked for Liz Lemon’s imminent return. Can’t believe it’s almost time … or that NBC scheduled the premiere this far into the fall season.
Kristin Chenoweth Chats with Jimmy Kimmel
Lovely Pushing Daisies star Kristin Chenoweth paid a visit to Jimmy Kimmel Live on Tuesday, October 28.
Follow the jump for a video of the interview with the always vivacious actress who plays Olive Snook.
Tina Fey Talks Sarah Palin with David Letterman
October 19, 2008 by Chandra
Tina Fey dropped by CBS’ Late Show with David Letterman last week to discuss lots of things, including, of course, her recent spate of Emmy-worthy Saturday Night Live appearances impersonating Alaska governor and U.S. Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.
Yeah, the governor visited SNL last night and participated in two mostly unfunny sketches, but Tina’s chat with Dave is way better, not to mention Tina’s too-brief appearance during the opening of last night’s SNL.
Check out the relevant segment of the David Letterman interview after the jump.
‘Office’ Star Jenna Fischer Shows Fans Her Love
August 1, 2008 by Chandra
I know it’s been a while and I don’t have a clip (damn you RedLasso for not warning beta members you were about to lock us out of our accounts!), but I do have a couple of photos from The Office star Jenna Fischer’s June 2 trip to David Letterman’s Late Show.
As the photos clearly show, the actress seems just as gracious and nice in real life as her roundly loved character Pam Beesly is on her NBC sitcom.
Take a look after the jump to see Fischer interacting with fans, signing autographs, and even posing with them as they take pictures for their own collection. I bet Fischer would be a lot of fun to hang out with for a day or two (or three).
Comedy Talk: Denis Leary Chats with Letterman
June 24, 2008 by Chandra
Rescue Me co-creator, executive producer, and star Denis Leary visited David Letterman’s Late Show last Friday to spark some interest in the FX series’ summertime minisode run starting up tonight at 10pm EST.
The pair of comedians did their usual wry thing, with Leary giving viewers an in-depth look into his life at the moment, which includes having to eat every three hours on account of his high metabolism, putting up with an annual “ass cam” — I’m not making that up, folks — now that he’s over forty, and coping with sending his eighteen-year-old son off to college this September.
The interview follows for the enjoyment of any and all. Love how Leary ends it by lying that the fourth-season DVD set for Rescue Me contains all kinds of extras, such as the series finale of The Sopranos and the superhero flick Iron Man.
Yeah right, Denis, and I’ve got a bridge in Brooklyn with your name written all over it…
Blog Off Sign Off: Standup with Lewis Black
June 20, 2008 by Chandra
Well, I can’t think of a better way to end this Blog Off than with a little standup from Lewis Black. The comedian stopped by Late Night with Conan O’Brien on June 5 to promote his new book Me of Little Faith. But before he took to the couch, he treated the audience and viewers to a hysterical comedy routine that was relatively clean.
Take a look at the following clip of Black’s appearance to learn things like why it’s not so good for U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama to be so full of hope and the high cost of using corn for fuel. No wonder Comedy Central hurried up and renewed his series Lewis Black’s Root of All Evil for a second season last month — Black is the real deal when it comes to funny.
NOTE: If you require closed captions, you can enable that feature on the video player by clicking the CC symbol in the top right-hand corner.
Comedy Talk: Adam Sandler Messes with Jon Stewart
Really. The host of The Daily Show, decked out in a sharp suit as usual, was none too thrilled when comedian-actor Adam Sandler showed up wearing ratty shorts and an even rattier T-Shirt to promote his then-recent release You Don’t Mess with the Zohan. After what seems like ten minutes of rebuking and then admissions about stealing jeans off the movie set, the conversation finally moves on to the movie.
Stewart has no problem telling Sandler to his face that he usually doesn’t care for his flicks — can’t fault him for that, can we? — but he happened to enjoy Zohan. Sandler’s mother is a different story, however. Check out the interview clip below to see why.
NOTE: If you require closed captions, you can enable that feature on the video player by clicking the CC symbol in the top right-hand corner.
Comedy Talk: Jack Black Hangs Out with Regis and Kelly
June 20, 2008 by Chandra
I know, I know — Kung Fu Panda opened a couple of weeks ago, but that doesn’t mean the interviews star Jack Black went on aren’t still entertaining.
That was definitely the case when he dropped by the New York City studio of Live with Regis and Kelly earlier this month, where he started the conversation by describing his second son, born just days before, as looking like an alien. The discussion only got more offbeat from there, with Black even taking the time to demonstrate a so-called Spinning Panda Barrel Roll.
Check out the two-part chat below.
Craig Ferguson Trumps Conan O’Brien Any Night [Guest Post by Jeffrey Cohen]
June 20, 2008 by Chandra
Anyone who’s not watching Craig Ferguson on the Late Late Show (CBS, 12:35 a.m., EDT) is missing out. You think just because you saw this guy on The Drew Carey Show for years you know him? Nonsense! A cranky Scottish man who invites us in by tapping on the camera every night and giving us a warm wave before announcing “it’s a great day for America”? That’s what you need at that time of night (or, if you’re like the rest of us, whenever TiVo makes it happen).
Does he do the same jokes every night? Yeah, well, pretty much. But here’s the really sick part: they’re still funny! Okay, so the Angela Lansbury/Paul McCartney thing is getting old, but I’d be happy with an hour of Craig reading emails and doing his dead-on Sean Connery impression. Some of the sketches need a little airing out (no more with the guy who pretends to be Craig Ferguson and insults him to death — it cracks up Craig, but we’re, um, the audience), but the monologue is always killer, and the man gets interesting guests and makes them laugh.
Conan O’Brien? Aside from truly freakish hair, what has he got over Craig? Nothing, I say! The day Craig Ferguson, after actually tearing up, took his oath as a citizen of the United States — THAT was a great day for America.
Guest author Jeffrey Cohen is the author of IT HAPPENED ONE KNIFE and SOME LIKE IT HOT-BUTTERED in the Double Feature Mystery series, which takes place in a movie theatre that shows only comedies. He’s a fan of the Marx Brothers, Monty Python, Jon Stewart, and 30 Rock, among a host of others. You can find him at www.jeffcohenbooks.com.


