Amazing Things Will Happen

Originally written Friday January 22nd. But not posted til now. Because that's how I roll.

For reasons passing understanding, this has been a very difficult past 8 days for me. I can't even begin to describe how terrible it was. All the while I tried to keep things in perspective. Compared to those helpless souls in Haiti and in so many other parts of the world, even on my worst day, I've still got it great.


With that said, it was pretty terrible. I don't like it when I'm on a mission to accomplish something, and not only do I not accomplish it, but I don't even get the chance to try, because sometimes, life just fucking happens. I don't like being put in a position where I am weak and helpless, but shit happens. You do what you need to and deal with it as best you can. Right now, I'm kind of still in it, but I'm hoping that's light that I see at the end of this tunnel. And as down as one can get, you do strive to pull yourself up from your boot straps. You pick yourself up. But sometimes you need a little boost to get you there.

Tonight I saw several celebrities work together to give a helping hand to a country in dire need of one. That by itself was both saddening and inspiring. I'm always moved by the efforts of others to help each other.

Tonight was also Conan O'Brien's final broadcast as host of The Tonight Show. It does seem silly to speak of something so trivial as a talk show in the same post as Haiti, but I must.

The events that unfolded with NBC over the late night shows was an important one to me, simply because I truly do love Conan O'Brien. I watched him from the beginning of Late Night after he took over for David Letterman, respected him even more when I learned he was a writer for Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons, and cheered him on as he got to live his dream as host of The Tonight Show.

We all know the details of what went down, and we all have our different takes on it. Me personally I was rooting for O'Brien. Not once did I feel sorry for him. I knew he'd leave NBC and he'll end up doing an even better show on another network, I mean you just can't stop talent like that. I was happy to join the bandwagon of fun rooting for Conan. I joined all the groups and pages on Facebook. Team Conan, I'm With Coco. Watched every piece of news footage on the subject and all the videos from the rallies. Warmed my heart to see so many people cheer for Conan and to know so many others are fans like me.

I knew his final broadcast would be bitter sweet. A truly great show with some surprises. Tom Hanks was there. The man who originally created the name Coco. The entire show was full of fun and energy. Then it came time for Conan to speak seriously about the situation. Towards the end he started to tear up, which made me and I believe most people watching tear up. But in that final sentence of his entire statement, he said EXACTLY what it was I needed to hear. And when he said it, it almost felt like he was talking directly to me. Here is his final statement on his final broadcast as host of The Tonight Show.

"Before we end this rodeo, a few things need to be said. There has been a lot of speculation in the press about what I legally can and can't say about NBC. To set the record straight, tonight I am allowed to say anything I want. And what I want to say is this: between my time at Saturday Night Live, The Late Night Show, and my brief run here on The Tonight Show, I have worked with NBC for over twenty 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.

Walking away from The Tonight Show is the hardest thing I have ever had to do. Making this choice has been enormously difficult. This is the best job in the world, I absolutely love doing it, and I have the best staff and crew in the history of the medium. But despite this sense of loss, I really feel this should be a happy moment. Every comedian dreams of hosting The Tonight Show and, for seven months, I got to. I did it my way, with people I love, and I do not regret a second. I've had more good fortune than anyone I know and if our next gig is doing a show in a 7-11 parking lot, we'll find a way to make it fun.

And finally, I have to say something to our fans. The massive outpouring of support and passion from so many people has been overwhelming. The rallies, the signs, all the goofy, outrageous creativity on the internet, and the fact that people have traveled long distances and camped out all night in the pouring rain to be in our audience, made a sad situation joyous and inspirational. To all the people watching, I can never thank you enough for your kindness to me and I'll think about it for the rest of my life.

All I ask of you is one thing, I'm asking this particularly of young people that watch: please do not be cynical. I hate cynicism -- for the record it's my least favorite quality and it doesn't lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen."

I know it's not the end of Conan, but a part of my heart for media and entertainment is broken. But as I said, it's not the end. THANK YOU CONAN O'BRIEN. Thank you for entertaining us for so long on NBC. And thank you so much for saying what you said. I needed to hear it.

In 7 months I look forward to Conan's return on a yet to be determined network. To be continued indeed.

As for me, I now return to my regularly scheduled fight. A fight where I am determined to make amazing things happen.







;)