Author Topic: TV Talk Shows  (Read 11937 times)

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Offline CrUzSACK

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TV Talk Shows
« on: Sep 17, 2002 at 07:24 PM »
Is there a talk show thread already?  ???

Anyway..... the only talk show I catch nowadays is Letterman because it's the only one available and conveniently shown around siesta time :).  I used to love watching talk shows. But I don't watch it as often anymore (so many other shows...so little time!)

On vacation back home in the late 90's, the cable provider from the province where I come from beams all sorts of talk shows from US (live)  --- Letterman of course, Leno, Conan (my favorite), Martin Short's show, Craig Kilborn's show etc.

At one point,  Arsenio Hall had his own talk show, right?  Would have loved to watch at least an episode of Rosie's show (Survivor episoded) just to see what the hype was all about.  Of course we get to see Oprah on two channels here (cable and Studio 23)...and that tacky show by Jenny Jones on Studio 23 also (pero when I watch it, I still stay glued to the set, hehehe! ;D). And there's Jerry Springer (is he still on air?) and tons of other talk shows that we don't get to hear about except on the news.

Then there are the morning shows (Today, Fox and Friends, Good Morning America --- meron pa ba nito?) which our own local morning shows pattern after.  We have ASYM, Unang Hirit and the shows on Studio 23 (Breakfast), all of which serve as my alarm clock ;D...and then at around noon we have the two competing networks' girl-talk shows (Morning Girls and Sis). And then there are  those showbiz talk shows on channel 2 and 7 and Sunday talk shows of Sharon and Mel and Jay and the late night show of Martin (meron pa ba?)....I remember Edu had a very good talk show a few years back........I could go on and on....

So let's talk...about talk shows....and why don't they ever run out of topics to talk about? ;D  
« Last Edit: Sep 17, 2002 at 07:27 PM by CrUzSACK »

Offline xage

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Re:TV Talk Shows
« Reply #1 on: Sep 17, 2002 at 07:34 PM »
Edu Manzano,Martin Nievera, Boy Abunda sino pa ba??

hmmm...

BTW Jerry Springer is more of Sports Entertainment as his show is choreographed like pro wrestling
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Offline sungit

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Re:TV Talk Shows
« Reply #2 on: Sep 18, 2002 at 01:24 AM »
i've said it once and i'll say it again...

Letterman is a GOD!!! ;D

guilty pleasure is of course OPRAH. heehee.

Offline stuntwoman

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Re:TV Talk Shows
« Reply #3 on: Sep 19, 2002 at 11:22 PM »
Letterman is a GOD!!! ;D

hahaha! indeed he is! but i actually enjoy Conan more than Letterman.

and yes, Martin still has his show, but i don't get to watch it anymore.

i like Sharon's show, but it's a little weird at times. sometimes it's like a variety show because of all the singing. and it's funny how she's become a little like Oprah when it comes to her weight: she's thin, she's fat, she's thin... :)

Offline TwelvStep

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Re:TV Talk Shows
« Reply #4 on: Sep 19, 2002 at 11:28 PM »
nice to know that a lot of  you have good taste, haha. conan and letterman are my favorites. i absolutely cannot stand leno anymore. killborn is really funny, and so is jon stewart. but i feel they kinda lack some charisma that i see in both conan and letterman. besides, no one else has triumph the dog for a sketch.


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Re:TV Talk Shows
« Reply #5 on: Sep 20, 2002 at 01:29 AM »
hey, i like conan, too! :) letterman comes second, and i only watch jay leno when he has good guests.

do you any of you get to watch the morning shows? i like unang hirit, but it seems that ever since suzi got in, they're all starting to talk like her. kay suzi bagay, even cute. but linching and rea sound nye when they talk like suzi.

Offline sungit

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Re:TV Talk Shows
« Reply #6 on: Sep 20, 2002 at 01:32 AM »
Quote
[quote author=sophie
do you any of you get to watch the morning shows? i like unang hirit, but it seems that ever since suzi got in, they're all starting to talk like her. kay suzi bagay, even cute. but linching and rea sound nye when they talk like suzi.


kikiligin si suzi with that i'm sure ;D

Offline sungit

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Re:TV Talk Shows
« Reply #7 on: Sep 20, 2002 at 02:08 AM »
A RECENT CONAN INTERVIEW WITH A MAGAZINE



--What's the main difference between hosting a talk show and hosting the Emmys? [/i]
When you're hosting the Emmys, no one gives a damn about you. The whole audience is thinking about themselves. So I have to make it as much about them as possible to keep their interest. Celebrities are like 4-year-old children. They are constantly thinking about their own needs -- and they soil themselves.

--The Emmys received a lot of press this year for nominating cooler shows. How will you reflect that in your hosting style? [/i]
I'm gonna devote the first three minutes of my monologue to a minor character on ''The Shield,'' and it'll be so hip and inside that I'll be the only one laughing.... I'm gonna make a lot of arbitrary references to Nelly and Alicia Keys. And I'm gonna keep talking about ''the chronic,'' even though in my case it will be referring to a chronic lower-back pain.

--Don Knotts won five Emmys for his work on ''The Andy Griffith Show'' but was never even nominated while on ''Three's Company.'' Discuss.[/i]
I believe that had he not tied a scarf around his neck, the Mr. Furley character would have won seven back-to-back Emmys. Also, as Furley, he was replacing Roper, and I think that's just a hole you can never climb out of.

--Were you hurt that you weren't nominated for Outstanding Hairstyling? [/i]
I am quite offended. I've had the people from Industrial Light & Magic contact me: ''How do you do that with your hair?'' Like, the people that created the lightsaber want to know how my hair does the things it can do.

--Although you won an Emmy in 1989 as a writer on ''SNL,'' your talk show has come up short six consecutive times. So tell us, is it really ''just a thrill to be nominated''? [/i]
No, it's a thrill to get a deep massage in the upper thigh -- nominated I wouldn't say is a thrill. It's kind of like being told you've been called for jury duty. It means you've gotta go, you've gotta show up. People think the Emmys are really exciting, but it's just a high school assembly with better skin.

--If blondes have more fun, what do redheads have? [/i]
Sensitivity to light.

--What did you learn at Harvard that prepared you to host a talk show featuring a masturbating bear? [/i]
Absolutely nothing. I think my time would have been better spent at the DeVry Institute than at Harvard. There's somebody out there who was going to cure cancer, but didn't because I took that slot. And instead, I used it to get The Masturbating Bear into as many homes as possible, probably causing cancer.

--If there were a talking Conan doll, what would it say when you pulled the string? [/i]
''Sorry about my self-hate.''

--What would happen if all the late-night talk-show hosts had a sleepover party? [/i]
Wow. That would be dysfunction junction. I can imagine a lot of things, but I can't imagine Letterman and Leno giggling and having a pillow fight. I'd pay a lot of money to see that -- the two of them giggling, wearing feet-y pajamas, and hitting each other with pillows.

--And what would you be doing? [/i]
Me? I'd be watching my own show and saying ''Shhhh -- here comes the funny part!''



brilliant. ;D


sophie

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Re:TV Talk Shows
« Reply #8 on: Sep 20, 2002 at 02:25 AM »
Quote
kikiligin si suzi with that i'm sure ;D

haha! i know. :)

"--What would happen if all the late-night talk-show hosts had a sleepover party? "

that's got to be the funniest question i've ever heard! haha!

now why can't we have talk show hosts as brilliant as conan? dang.

Offline Dan

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Re:TV Talk Shows
« Reply #9 on: Sep 20, 2002 at 02:51 AM »
Definitely Conan, Definitely Letterman.
Just don't ask me to choose between the two. It'll be like asking me to choose between a blueberry cheesecake and a date with Cameron Diaz (although, I'd have more chance with the cake scenario).

Arsenio Hall had a d@mn, funny show way back when. I always waited for the time when he introduced the audience sitting on the side (one time, it was "The Audience on the Wrong D@mn Show", and the audience members were a bunch of redneck Klansmen clad in white hoods. They kept barking and waving the Arsenio wave as they were being chased from the stage).

I used to watch it during the old Far East Network (FEN) times. Then it appeared on SBN 21 when that old UHF channel used to be cool, but now SBN is... well... you've all seen how the channel is now, right?

Sayang, Arsenio got canned because he invited controversial black extremist Louis Farrakhan. I got to see that show.

Offline CrUzSACK

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Re:TV Talk Shows
« Reply #10 on: Sep 20, 2002 at 07:04 AM »
Dami palang may gusto kay Conan! ;) I remember laughing so hard when he auditioned a couple of guys to form his boy band, at that time when boy bands where popping here and there. That was one hilarious segment!

I forgot to add that there are several talk shows over at ANC (Cito, Julie, Boy Abunda, etc...) and of course, there's Larry King.

Offline xage

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Re:TV Talk Shows
« Reply #11 on: Sep 20, 2002 at 07:19 AM »
To Conan fans,

Did you konw that red haired  talk show guy is a magna cum somethin in Harvard...
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Offline CrUzSACK

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Re:TV Talk Shows
« Reply #12 on: Sep 20, 2002 at 09:34 AM »
Of course! He's not only funny, he's brilliant. Graduate of PolSci or History or something that's not related to his job, very opposite of his job.

Offline utoy

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Re:TV Talk Shows
« Reply #13 on: Sep 20, 2002 at 11:52 AM »
hey, i like conan, too! :) letterman comes second, and i only watch jay leno when he has good guests.

do you any of you get to watch the morning shows? i like unang hirit, but it seems that ever since suzi got in, they're all starting to talk like her. kay suzi bagay, even cute. but linching and rea sound nye when they talk like suzi.

hey i watch unang hirit too. :)

suzi has been there from the start, before rhea and lyn went in to join the gang. rhea talks nothing like suzi. well, lyn and suzi are best buds, so ...

me, suzi fan too. also rhea. :) me babbling idiot.

i like letterman, then conan.

Offline The Stig

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Re:TV Talk Shows
« Reply #14 on: Sep 20, 2002 at 02:33 PM »
Dami palang may gusto kay Conan! ;) I remember laughing so hard when he auditioned a couple of guys to form his boy band, at that time when boy bands where popping here and there. That was one hilarious segment!


hey cruzsack that is definitely one of the funniest sketches conan's ever done. i believe he named the group "Dudes a'Plenty" ;D i especially liked the second one where he had one of the nsync kids as a guest and tried to convince him to join his  boy band. hilarious indeed ;D ;D ;D

Offline CrUzSACK

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Re:TV Talk Shows
« Reply #15 on: Sep 20, 2002 at 02:46 PM »
Oh, yeah! Dudes A Plenty! Hahahahahah! I was trying to remember the group's name. And he gave the guys funny names also. Pero they did a great number, diba? Pasa na as boy band talaga. I didn't catch that episode with NSYNC sayang!
« Last Edit: Sep 20, 2002 at 02:54 PM by CrUzSACK »

Offline sungit

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Re:TV Talk Shows
« Reply #16 on: Sep 20, 2002 at 11:46 PM »
has anyone read the speech conan gave to Harvard students? that was so well written. i wish all graduation speech-givers would stop giving "important" snore-inducing speeches and have a sense of humor like conan. or letterman. or both.

Offline CrUzSACK

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Re:TV Talk Shows
« Reply #17 on: Sep 21, 2002 at 11:06 AM »
Where can we read that sungit? Is it on the net?  :)

By the way, I'm just curious...what is it about Leno that you don't like? He is the most likeable talk show host in Hollywood (daw....next to Oprah?), but from the post here, he comes in second/third to Conan and Letterman (who has rubbed a few stars the wrong way many times)....What is is about Leno? Lame jokes? Too nice? His voice?  ;D


Offline Mr. Hankey

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Re:TV Talk Shows
« Reply #18 on: Sep 21, 2002 at 12:23 PM »
By the way, I'm just curious...what is it about Leno that you don't like?

What is is about Leno? Lame jokes? Too nice? His voice?  ;D

E alam mo naman pala, nagtatanong ka pa!  :P

By the way, you left off "His big chin."

Seriously, other than "lame jokes and whiney voice," the guy's show is basically a forum to plug actor's movies. They ALL are, but in his case, it's so straightforward and boring. He will always bring up an early career move or nude scene that's embarrassing for the guest. The rest of his banter feels so rehearsed - it feels like he got researchers to do a profile on the stars, and he uses the profile to formulate "appropriate" questions.
 
He does not have the "expect the unexpected" feel of Letterman or Conan. They can go off tangentially and catch their guests off-guard with really "out there" questions, making for really entertaining late-night television.
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Offline The Stig

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Re:TV Talk Shows
« Reply #19 on: Sep 21, 2002 at 12:31 PM »

By the way, I'm just curious...what is it about Leno that you don't like? He is the most likeable talk show host in Hollywood (daw....next to Oprah?), but from the post here, he comes in second/third to Conan and Letterman (who has rubbed a few stars the wrong way many times)....What is is about Leno? Lame jokes? Too nice? His voice?  ;D


I think the only thing working for Leno is he usually gets the best guests. But this is mainly because he never asks good, controversial questions, which i guess makes the guests feel safe, but tends to result in boring interviews. Letterman in my opinion, does the best interview, meaning he can bring out the true character and intelligence of the guest. conan on the other hand, is just so damn funny and doesn't mind making fun of his guests, who are usually less popular but more interesting, so it works for him :)

Offline CrUzSACK

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Re:TV Talk Shows
« Reply #20 on: Sep 21, 2002 at 12:50 PM »

E alam mo naman pala, nagtatanong ka pa!  :P



 :P ka rin.  ;D


Offline CrUzSACK

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Re:TV Talk Shows
« Reply #21 on: Sep 21, 2002 at 12:52 PM »

conan on the other hand, is just so damn funny and doesn't mind making fun of his guests, who are usually less popular but more interesting, so it works for him :)

Ah, yes...he does that very well, doesn't he?

Offline sungit

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Re:TV Talk Shows
« Reply #22 on: Sep 22, 2002 at 12:56 AM »
leno is too bland for my taste. i like my late night talk show hosts spicy! and from new york!

unfortunately i have no idea where to access tht speech. i got it from e-mail kasi. sayang kasi it was really the funniest commencement speech i've read in my entire laugh. reading it was like hearing the royal red-head himself... ;D

Offline kings5504

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Re:TV Talk Shows
« Reply #23 on: Sep 22, 2002 at 01:02 AM »
any show with a masturbating bear in it is tops in my book...   ;D
The war is over...  Now bring on the classics on HD!

Offline sungit

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Re:TV Talk Shows
« Reply #24 on: Sep 22, 2002 at 01:12 AM »
hey what about letterman's segments?? i personally look forward to:

will it float?
cbs mailbag
stupid human tricks
stupid pet tricks
and those segments where they put outn people in costumes on the street to try to freak people out

for example, after the success of signs, letterman wanted to see if new yorkers will get shocked by the sight of aliens in a regualr coffee shop. so he sent ten people in alien costumes. of course no one noticed so he sent out (in no order) moses, a cowboy, ronald mcdonald, a dog, a bear, a fat spiderman, santa claus, a gorilla... ang dami! the cafe was brimming with people in costumes.  it was the stupidest thing i've ever seen on TV and i loved him for it!

Offline acidburn

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Re:TV Talk Shows
« Reply #25 on: Sep 22, 2002 at 02:39 AM »
i like letterman too but i hate the stupid pet tricks. Actually i hate the animals when they're on leno too.  ::)

To be fair, leno has some funny segments too like those funny ads and jaywalking. Also Jay seems to interview kids better than letterman.
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Offline CrUzSACK

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Conan's Speech
« Reply #26 on: Sep 22, 2002 at 01:01 PM »
Found it, sungit :) (Hey, by the way, Say Anything is on cable this morning, you saw it?)

From Harvard Magazine's site:

------------------------

Comedian Conan O'Brien '85, Class Day Speaker for the Aughty-Aughts

I'd like to begin by thanking the class marshals for inviting me here today. The last time I was invited to Harvard it cost me $110,000. So I was reluctant to show up. I'm going to start before I really begin by announcing my one goal this afternoon. I want to be half as funny as tomorrow's Commencement speaker, moral philosopher and economist Amartya Sen. That's the job. Must get more laughs than seminal wage-price theoretician. By the way, enjoy that. Bring a calculator. It's going to be a nerd fest.

Students of the Harvard class of 2000, 15 years ago I sat where you sit now. And I thought exactly what you are now thinking. What's going to happen to me? Will I find my place in the world? Am I really graduating a virgin? Still have 24 hours. Roommate's mom very hot. Swear she's checking me out. There was that Rob Lowe movie.

Being here today, on a sincere note, is very special for me. I do miss this place. I especially miss Harvard Square. Let me tell you, you don't know this, Harvard Square is extremely unique. Nowhere else in the world will you find a man wearing a turban and a Red Sox jacket working in a lesbian bookstore. I'm just glad my dad's working.
 
It's particularly sweet for me to be here today because--this is true--when I graduated I wanted very badly to be a Class Day speaker. Unfortunately, my speech was rejected. So if you'll indulge me I'd like to read a portion of that speech. This is the actual speech from 15 years ago. "Fellow students, as we sit here today listening to that classic A-ha tune which will definitely stand the test of time, I would like to make several predictions about what the future will hold. I believe that one day a simple governor from a small southern state will rise to the highest office in the land. He will lack political skill, but will lead on the sheer strength of his moral authority. I believe that justice will prevail and one day the Berlin Wall will crumble, uniting East and West Berlin forever under Communist rule. I believe that one day a high-speed network of interconnected computers will spring up worldwide, so enriching people that they will lose their interest in idle chitchat and pornography. And finally, I believe that one day I will have a television show on a major network seen by millions of people at night which I will use to reenact crimes and and help catch at-large criminals." Then I had a section on the death of Wall Street, but you don't need to hear about that.
 
The point is that although you see me as a celebrity, a member of the cultural elite, a demigod if you will, and potential husband material, I came here in the fall of 1981 and lived at Holworthy Hall as a student much like you. I was, without exaggeration--this is true--the ugliest picture in the freshman facebook. When Harvard asked me for a picture the previous summer, I thought it was for their records, so I jogged in the August heat to a passport photo office and sat for a morgue shot. To make matters worse, when the facebook came out, they put my picture right next to Catherine Oxenberg, a stunning blonde actress who was expected to join the class of '85, but decided to defer admission so she could join the cast of Dynasty. Folks, my photo would have looked bad on any page, but next to Catherine Oxenberg, I looked like a mackerel that had been in a car accident.
 
You see, in those days, I was 6 feet 4 inches tall and I weighed 150 pounds. True. Recently, I had some structural engineers run those numbers into a computer model, and according to the computer, I collapsed in 1987, killing hundreds in Taiwan.
 
After freshman year, I moved to Mather House. Mather House, incidentally, was designed by the same firm that built Hitler's bunker. In fact, if Hitler had conducted the war from Mather House, he would have shot himself a year earlier. Saved us a lot of trouble.
 
1985 seems like a long time ago now. When I had my Class Day, you students would have been seven years old. Seven years old! You realize what that means? Back then I could have beaten any of you in a fight. And I mean really badly. Like no contest at all. If anyone here has a time machine, seriously, I will kick your seven-year-old butt right now.
 
A lot has happened in 15 years though. When you think about it, we come from completely different worlds. When I graduated in 1985, we watched movies starring Tom Cruise and listened to music by Madonna. I come from a time when we huddled around the TV set and watched the Cosby Show on NBC, never imagining that there would one day be a show called Cosby on CBS. In 1985 we drove cars with driver's-side air bags. But if you had told us that one day there would be passenger-side air bags, we'd have burned you for witchcraft.
 
Of course I think there is some common ground between us. I remember well the great uncertainty of this day, the anxiety. Many of you are justifiably nervous about leaving the safe, comfortable world of Harvard Yard and hurling yourself headlong into the cold, harsh world of Harvard grad school, a plum job in your father's firm, or a year abroad with a gold Amex card and then a plum job at your father's firm. Let me assure you that the knowledge you gained here at Harvard is a precious gift that will never leave you. Take it from me, your education is yours to keep forever. Why, many of you have read the Merchant of Florence, and that will inspire you when you travel to the island of Spain. Your knowledge of that problem they had with those people in Russia, or that guy in South America--you know, the guy--will be with you for the rest of your life.
 
There's also sadness today. A feeling of loss that you're leaving Harvard forever. Let me assure you that you never really leave Harvard. The Harvard fundraising committee will be on your ass until the day you die.
 
This is true. I know for a fact that right now a member of the alumni association is at the Mount Auburn Cemetery shaking down the corpse of Henry Adams. They heard he has a brass toe ring and they aim to get it. These people just raised $2.5 billion and they only got through the Bs in the alumni directory. Here's basically how it works. Your phone rings, usually after a big meal when you're tired and most vulnerable, and a voice asks you for money. Knowing--you've read in the paper--that they just raised $2.5 billion, you ask, "What do you need it for?" There is a long pause, and the voice on the other end of the line says, "We don't need it, we just want it." (Sinister laugh).
 
Let me see--by your applause--Who here wrote a thesis? That's nice. A lot of hard work went into that thesis. And no one is ever going to care. I wrote a thesis--this is true, I don't lie--"Literary Progeria in the Works of Flannery O'Connor and William Faulkner." Let's just say that during my discussions with Pauly Shore, it doesn't come up much. For three years after graduation I wanted to show it to everyone, and so I kept my thesis in the glove compartment of my car, so that I could show it to a policeman in case I was pulled over.
 
What else can you expect in the real world? Let me tell you. As you leave these gates and re-enter society, one thing is certain. Everyone out there is going to hate you. Never tell anyone in a roadside diner that you went to Harvard. In those situations, the correct response to, "Where did you go to school?" is "School? I never had much in the way of book learnin' and such." And then get in your BMW and get the hell out of there. Go.
 
You see, kids, you're in for a lifetime of "And you went to Harvard?" Accidentally give the wrong amount of change in a transaction, and it's "And you went to Harvard?" Ask at the hardware store how the jumper cables work, and hear "And you went to Harvard?" Forget just once that your underwear goes inside your pants, and it's "And you went to Harvard?" Get your head stuck in your niece's doll house 'cause you want to see what it's like to be a giant, and it's "Uncle Conan, you went to Harvard?"
 
So you really know what's in store for you after Harvard, I have to tell you what happened to me after graduation. I'm going to tell it simply, I'm going to tell it honestly, because, first of all, I think my perspective may give many of you hope, and, secondly, it's such a cool, amazing rush to be in front of 6,000 people and just talk about yourself. It's just great. It's so cool. And I can take my time.
 
You see, kids, after graduating in May, I moved to Los Angeles. I got a three-week contract at a small cable show. I got a $380-a-month apartment, a terrible dump, and I bought a 1977 Isuzu Opal, a car Isuzu only manufactured for a year because they found out that technically it's not a car. Quick tip, graduates--no four-cylinder used vehicle should have a racing stripe.
 
So I worked on that show for about a year, feeling pretty good about myself, when one day they told me that they were letting me go. I was fired. I hadn't saved any money. So I tried to get another job in television as best I could and couldn't find one. So with nowhere else to turn--true story--I went to a temp agency and filled out a questionnaire. I made damn sure that they knew I had been to Harvard, that I had written this thesis, and that I expected the very best treatment. And so the next day I was sent to the Santa Monica branch of Wilson's House of Suede and Leather.
 
When you have a Harvard degree, and you are working at Wilson's House of Suede and Leather, you are haunted by the ghostly images of your classmates who chose graduate school. You see their faces everywhere--in coffee cups, in fish tanks, you think you're going crazy, and they're always laughing at you as you stack suede shirts no man in good conscience would ever wear.
[/i]
 

Offline CrUzSACK

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Re:TV Talk Shows
« Reply #27 on: Sep 22, 2002 at 01:03 PM »
cont..

I tried a lot of things during this period. Acting in corporate infomercials. Serving drinks in a nonequity theater. I even took a job entertaining at a seven year-old's birthday party. In desperate need of work, I put together some sketches and scored a job at the fledgling Fox network as a writer and performer for a brainy show called the "Wilton North Report." I was finally on a network and really excited. The producer told me the show was going to revolutionize television. And, in a way it did. The show was so hated and did so badly that when four weeks later news of its cancellation was announced to the Fox affiliates, they burst into spontaneous applause.
 
Eventually, though, I got a big break. I had submitted along with my writing partner a batch of sketches to Saturday Night Live, and after a year and a half they read it, and they gave us a two-week tryout. The two weeks turned into two seasons, and I felt, hey, this is success, I'm successful now. Successful enough to write a TV pilot for an original sitcom. When the network decided to make it, feeling good, I left Saturday Night Live.
 
This TV show was going to be groundbreaking. It was going to resurrect the career of TV's Batman, Adam West. It was going to be a comedy without a laugh track or a studio audience. It was going to change all the rules. And here's what happened. When the pilot aired, it was the second-lowest-rated television show of all time. It is actually tied with a test pattern they show up in Nova Scotia.
 
So I was 28 and, once again, no job. I had good writing credits in New York, but I was filled with disappointment and I had no idea what I was going to do next. And that is when the Simpsons saved my life. I got a job there and started writing episodes about Springfield getting a monorail or Homer going to college. I was finally putting my Harvard education to good use--writing dialogue for a man who is so stupid that in one episode he forgot to make his own heart beat. Life was good.
 
And then an insane, inexplicable opportunity came my way, a chance to audition for host of the new "Late Night" show. I took the opportunity very seriously, but at the time--I have to be honest--I had the relaxed confidence of someone who knew he had no real shot, so I couldn't fear losing a great job that I could never hope to have. And I think that actually that attitude made the difference.
 
I will never forget being in the Simpsons recording basement that morning when the phone rang. It was for me. My car was blocking a firelane. But a week later I got another call and got the job. So this, finally, was undeniably it. The truly life-altering break that I had always dreamed of. And so I went to work. I gathered all my funny friends and poured all my years of comedy experience into building the show over the summer. I gathered the talent, figured out the sensibility, found Max, found Andy, found my people. We debuted on September 13, 1993, and I was really happy, really happy, with our effort. I felt like I had seized the moment, that I had put my very best foot forward.
 
And this was what the most respected and widely read television critic, Tom Shales, wrote in the Washington Post. "O'Brien is a living collage of annoying nervous habits. He giggles and jiggles about and fiddles with his cuffs. He has dark, beady little eyes like a rabbit. He is one of the whitest white men ever. O'Brien is a switch on the guest who won't leave: he's the host who should never have come. Let the Late Show with Conan O'Brien become the late Late Show, and may the host return to whence he came." There's more, but it gets kind of mean.
 
Needless to say, I took a lot of criticism, some of it deserved, some of it excessive, and, to be honest with you, it hurt like you would not believe. But I'm telling you all this for a reason. I've had a lot of success. I've had a lot of failure. I've looked good. I've looked bad. I've been praised. And I've been criticized. But my mistakes have been necessary. I've dwelled on my failures today because, as graduates of Harvard, your biggest liability is your need to succeed, your need to always find yourself on the sweet side of the bell curve. Success is a lot like a bright white tuxedo. You feel terrific when you get it, but then you're desperately afraid of getting it dirty, of spoiling it.
 
I left the cocoon of Harvard, I left the cocoon of Saturday Night Live, I left the cocoon of the Simpsons. And each time it was bruising and tumultuous. And yet every failure was freeing, and today I'm as nostalgic for the bad as I am for the good. So that's what I wish for all of you--the bad as well as the good. Fall down. Make a mess. Break something occasionally. Know that your mistakes are your own unique way of getting to where you need to be. And remember that the story is never over.
 
If you'll indulge me for just a second, I'd like to read a little something from just this year. "Somehow, Conan O'Brien has transformed himself into the brightest star in the late-night firmament. His comedy is the gold standard, and Conan himself is not only the quickest and most inventive wit of his generation, but quite possibly the greatest host ever."
 
Ladies and gentlemen, class of 2000, I wrote that this morning. As proof that when all else fails, you always have delusion. I will go now to make bigger mistakes and to embarrass this fine institution even more. But let me leave you with one last thought. If you can laugh at yourself, loud and hard, every time you fall, people will think you're drunk. Thank you.
[/i]


Lucky kids! ;D
 


Offline qwerty765

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Re:TV Talk Shows
« Reply #28 on: Sep 22, 2002 at 02:37 PM »
Conan was brilliant on that speech!!

I like Conan, Jay Leno and David Letterman...in no particular order...sayang they used to show Jay's and Conan's show everynight here via CNBC, ngayon twice a week na lang, replay pa yung Sunday...

Whatever happened nga pala sa sidekick ni Conan? I like them both when they are doing the "In the year 2000" segment sa show, particularly with David Duchovny as guest, very funny.

Offline CrUzSACK

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Re:TV Talk Shows
« Reply #29 on: Sep 22, 2002 at 06:42 PM »

I like Conan, Jay Leno and David Letterman...in no particular order...sayang they used to show Jay's and Conan's show everynight here via CNBC, ngayon twice a week na lang, replay pa yung Sunday...


Where are you at qwerty? What's your cable provider? Do you still get to watch them? What time? I think I may be missing something, sayang!!!