It’s the end of an era. An era that only lasted 7 months and 3 weeks. The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien is no more, thanks to NBC bringing back Jay Leno to his old time slot, forcing Conan to quit and leave. This makes me sad. And angry. But mostly sad.

I’ve been a fan of American late night TV ever since I saw the 1996 film The Late Shift. Based on a book by Bill Carter, the movie follows the EPIC struggle between Jay Leno and David Letterman to inherit the legendary Tonight Show from Johnny Carson. I was just fascinated with the politics and the drama and the beauty of shattered dreams. That extremely controversial moment in TV history was truly special. And you know what they say about history, right? It frickin’ repeats itself.

I love passing-of-the-torch stories so The Late Shift appealed to me. When it was announced that Conan O’Brien was going to replace Leno on the Tonight Show, I almost cried tears of “OMG THIS IS HISTORY IN THE MAKING!” While watching Conan’s first Tonight Show episode, I felt like I was watching a friend graduate from college or seeing HBK Shawn Michaels winning the WWE championship for the first time. Little did I know that the magic of this passing-of-the-torch story was going to be short-lived.

I’m angry because NBC executives are being monumental dickheads for ruining a great new beginning for the Tonight Show. I’m angry at Jay Leno for playing along. I’m sad for Conan because, really, he’s someone who understands the importance of the Tonight Show legacy. He respects the franchise so I respect him. I won’t miss his brand of comedy that much since we all know he won’t be gone for long. Also, there’s YouTube. What I will miss, though, is his stable of awesome sketches and characters.

If rumors are true, Conan can’t bring his sketches and characters with him if he goes to another network. NBC owns the trademarks. That means no more Pimpbot 5000, In the Year 3000, Twitter Tracker, Noches de Pasion (featuring Conando), The Interrupter, Masturbating Bear and *GASP* Cody Devereaux (pictured all over this blog post)!

I don’t know about you, but I’m extremely upset with this whole Leno-Conan-NBC thing. Not because I feel bad for Conan, don’t be silly. He’s rich. He can take it. I’m upset because NBC turned this supposedly grand and classy passing-of-the-torch story into The Late Shift 2: Electric Boogaloo. What a damn shame. I’m gonna love you forever, Conan, and I’ll never say goodbye.

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