O'Brien gives candid 60 Minutes interview
By: Kate Ward Entertainment Weekly
Issue date: 5/3/10 Section: Entertainment
Let me start by saying I am a huge Conan O'Brien fan. HUGE. So much so that if he had no choice but to broadcast his show from a cockroach-infested 7-Eleven on the wrong side of the tracks - or in a turkey pen with John Tesh - I would still tune in every night.
So that's precisely why I'm a tad worried about Coco's 60 Minutes interview this Sunday. According to early transcripts that have circulated, Conan is quite candid when discussing January's late-night fiasco, saying that if he were Leno, he would not have taken The Tonight Show back: "I know me, I wouldn't have done that…. If I had surrendered The Tonight Show and handed it over to somebody publicly and wished them well…and then…six months later. But that's me, you know. Everyone's got their own, you know, way of doing things." (Also, Conan claimed that had he stayed with NBC, their relationship would have become "toxic.")
I believe Conan, and I'm certainly curious about his true, no-holds-barred feelings about everything that has transpired. But I would be lying if I said his statements don't have me a tad worried that he's in danger of getting painted as the perpetual victim. Part of what made Conan's exit so incredibly graceful in that final hour on Jan. 22 was the fact that, in the end, he refused to bitterly point fingers. Though he had spent the better part of his final days on The Tonight Show ripping into the network - rightfully, most would argue - he ended on a tearjerker of a monologue that outlined his happy, if complicated, history with NBC. ("I have worked with NBC for over 20 years. Yes, we have our differences right now and yes, we're going to go our separate ways. But this company has been my home for most of my adult life. I am enormously proud of the work we have done together, and I want to thank NBC for making it all possible.") He told all of us not to be cynical. And we tried not to be. Conan simply came out of the situation the bigger, gracious man that would undoubtedly move on and find a home elsewhere.
So that's precisely why I'm a tad worried about Coco's 60 Minutes interview this Sunday. According to early transcripts that have circulated, Conan is quite candid when discussing January's late-night fiasco, saying that if he were Leno, he would not have taken The Tonight Show back: "I know me, I wouldn't have done that…. If I had surrendered The Tonight Show and handed it over to somebody publicly and wished them well…and then…six months later. But that's me, you know. Everyone's got their own, you know, way of doing things." (Also, Conan claimed that had he stayed with NBC, their relationship would have become "toxic.")
I believe Conan, and I'm certainly curious about his true, no-holds-barred feelings about everything that has transpired. But I would be lying if I said his statements don't have me a tad worried that he's in danger of getting painted as the perpetual victim. Part of what made Conan's exit so incredibly graceful in that final hour on Jan. 22 was the fact that, in the end, he refused to bitterly point fingers. Though he had spent the better part of his final days on The Tonight Show ripping into the network - rightfully, most would argue - he ended on a tearjerker of a monologue that outlined his happy, if complicated, history with NBC. ("I have worked with NBC for over 20 years. Yes, we have our differences right now and yes, we're going to go our separate ways. But this company has been my home for most of my adult life. I am enormously proud of the work we have done together, and I want to thank NBC for making it all possible.") He told all of us not to be cynical. And we tried not to be. Conan simply came out of the situation the bigger, gracious man that would undoubtedly move on and find a home elsewhere.
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