Even as a little kid, I remember watching the penultimate episode of Johnny Carson's Tonight Show as Robin Williams launched into an enthusiastic rant about the development of his newborn's genitals. In between battles for control of my ears from my Mom's protective hands, I remember Carson uttering as he tried to gain control of his lungs, "We're out of here tomorrow. What do I care?"

Last night's Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien carried the same air of "Who gives a f#*$&?", even if he'll still have an 11:30 show to do the following night.

The release of his respectful yet angry statement to NBC's backhanded decision to pimp slap him and his staff back a half hour as they move Jay Leno into his time slot showed he has realized that his bed has been made, both by himself and the executives who probably couldn't make one without some kind of phonetically spelled instruction manual. Naturally, O'Brien has been using the brouhaha as a source of comedy in his last few shows, but Tuesday's episode was wall to wall "What do I care?" moments from the opening monologue to just before the rolling of the closing credits.

Naturally, his monologue was peppered with jokes about the time shift but it also started with another noticeable moment: Conan's string dance. I can't remember the last time I saw him do it, something that become a regular occurrence on his old Late Night show. It almost felt like a big kiss-off to the bosses minus the sugar in the gas tank or the severed horse head left hidden in the TV executive's bed, presumably made by someone that doesn't need to consult "the manual."



Then Conan brings out Deal or No Deal host Howie Mandel, who these days looks like a metrosexual Wild Bill Hickock, to continue with the NBC bashing, complete with a bevy of bosomy, briefcase bearing babes. I liked how the jokes all throughout the night didn't just lay waste to Leno and the NBC brass. The writers got some good jabs in at their bosses, but also stuck to the kind of self-effacing humor that helped Coco and company get to 11:30 p.m. No matter how made Conan and his people get about the whole mess, they still realize there are jokes to be made about the big headed freckle puss who has taken up so much space on the television, both figuratively and literally.



The secondary comedy portion of the show picked up the Friars Club Roast of Conan O'Brien's Career by giving Tonight Show writer and commentator Deon Cole the boom mike. For a show that built comedy on puppet madness and surreal sarcasm, Cole has found his footing on the show in a short amount of time. His appearances have always made me laugh without straying too far from things that makes Conan's show so great.


Even the interviews spent more than an average amount of time discussing the situation as Conan cracked wise with the likes of Tom Brokaw and Zachary Levi. The whole show was topped off with Rosanne Cash performing a sad, longing song that would have served as the perfect send off if this were the last episode.

The only thing missing was a heartfelt eulogy, followed by an announcement that refreshments would be served in the rectory.