Jimmy Kimmel, David Letterman Weigh In On Conan/Leno War

[ExposeTheMusic]

'Hello, I'm Jay Leno, and I'm taking over all the shows in late night,' Kimmel jokes.
By Kyle Anderson


David Letterman makes jokes about NBC on the "Late Show"
Photo: Worldwide Pants

The future of late-night talk shows as we know them remains up in the air, but that hasn't stopped the performers involved from continuing with their programs, nor has it gotten in the way of outsiders weighing in on the problems over at NBC. In the wake of Conan O'Brien's announcement that he would not host a 12:05 version of "The Tonight Show," Tuesday night's talkers were peppered with plenty of jabs and inspired ribbing about the issue.






In his monologue on "The Tonight Show," O'Brien continued to pound NBC the same way he did on Monday. "My name is Conan O'Brien, and I may still be available for children's parties," the host cracked at the top of the show. He later welcomed "Deal or No Deal" host Howie Mandel to go through some of his career options (which included "Join the cast of next 'Twilight' movie as rare albino werewolf") and invited writer Deon Cole to explain why O'Brien is the "ho" to NBC's "pimp" ("Do you make people happy before they fall asleep?" he asked. "Has Charlie Sheen ever been on your couch?"). It was a clearly cathartic bit of comedy for O'Brien, though there was an underlying sadness to the whole affair (when he talked about watching Johnny Carson as a child and dreaming about hosting "The Tonight Show," there was more than a hint of melancholy in his voice).

At least O'Brien knows he has allies. On Tuesday night's episode of ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," the host spent the first two segments of his show doing a prolonged Leno impression, right down to the giant prosthetic chin. It was an Andy Kaufman-esque bit of meta-comedy that totally buried both Leno and NBC. "Hello, I'm Jay Leno, and I'm taking over all the shows in late night," Kimmel said in his monologue. "[Conan] released a statement today that said, 'I won't participate in the destruction of 'The Tonight Show.' Fortunately, though, I will!" Kimmel went on to do a "Headlines" segment that mocked the signature Leno bit with profoundly unfunny examples like, "Vehicles may end drunken driving."

Over on CBS, David Letterman was not as jokey but no less scathing. "I want to focus my thoughts about this NBC television debacle," Letterman said following his monologue. He noted that he used to be an NBC employee, referenced the rivalry between himself and Leno (referring to him as "Big Jaw" and doing a squeaky impression of him) and endorsed O'Brien's plight. "Don't kid yourselves: It's all about money," Letterman explained. "And as nice a guy as Conan is, he's a smart fellow. And he knows that if he takes a hike, he's going to lose an enormous sum of money. So, he just now says, 'Well, I'm not gonna follow Jay. You guys do something about it.' So now NBC has to do something about it. This whole mistake over there at NBC has cost them hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of millions and millions of dollars. They just want Conan to quit and go away and for Conan to do a show in his basement. That's what they want. That's exactly what they want. But he's a smart kid. He's not gonna do that. He's in there for the cash. Or they waive his non-compete clause so he can go to Fox. Or come here and take my job."

As the feud between Leno and Letterman proved back in the '90s, a little healthy competition and a bit of controversy can go a long way. It's proven true again here, as each host (and yes, even Leno) seems to be sharper than they've been in quite some time.

Are you Team Leno or Team Conan? What should O'Brien do now? Leave your comments below, tweet us at or head over to Your.MTV.com to make your voice heard!





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