In his Washington Post column today, Tom Shales profiles Conan O'Brien -- heir to Jay Leno's Tonight Show throne as of Monday -- and begs the flame-haired jester this loaded question: What about the fact that, at 11:35 p.m, you'll now be competing against your longtime comedy idol, David Letterman?
Conan demurs as only Conan can:
I'm just going to pretend it's not true for as long as possible. I don't think I'm going to take anything away from Dave. We're very different people, and I don't think anyone who's a loyal Dave-watcher is going to decide to start watching me. I think I have to find my own people--people who are probably meth addicts, come to think of it, in an alley somewhere right now huffing glue.
He also talks about Letterman's initial influence on his comedic development:
There's a period in your life where you can be influenced in a way--there's a window of opportunity that opens when you're about 16, and the music you hear then and the comedians that you see then are very important to you. I had that period in my life. When I was 18 years old, Dave started doing his morning show on NBC, and that was the age when I was just obsessed with comedy. So I 'absorbed' David Letterman at that time.
Who will you watch -- Dave or Conan? And does it make a difference to you that the latter will leave behind many of his zany Late Night puppets, characters and tricks?
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
