willferrell

Conan O'Brien couldn't leave 'The Tonight Show' without a nice send-off from a few of his friends.

To that end, Steve Carell conducted an exit interview, and Will Ferrell and friends sang a rousing rendition of 'Freebird.' Conan took the opportunity to jump in and do a few guitar riffs himself.

Watch the video from TV's Top 5! after the jump.

I grew up watching Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show. I saw George Carlin, Joan Rivers, and countless other comedians on the show, oftentimes my first exposure to comics I would later devote most of my adult life to covering in print (or virtual print). There is no questioning how important Carson's Tonight Show was for me.

But it was always the late night guys that got me. I loved Carson's show, but I identified much more with the sheer lunacy and sometimes brutal quality that Letterman created. And when I got to college, there was this new guy, Conan O'Brien, in Letterman's spot.

Though the official announcement is still pending, the imminent departure of Conan O'Brien from 'The Tonight Show' is being heralded by an unlikely harbinger: Will Ferrell.

As noted by The Hollywood Reporter, 'The Tonight Show' released its list of upcoming guests for the week and notable for all the wrong reasons are Friday's stars, Tom Hanks and Will Ferrell. Ferrell, you may recall, was the first guest on the show when O'Brien took over back in June, while Hanks followed the next evening as the lanky host's second guest.

The Tonight Show has a handsome list of throwback guests, Will Ferrell and Tom Hanks who were the first and second guests when Conan O'Brien took over, on what is presumed to be his last show this Friday. Seriously, they still haven't resolved this thing. Say what you will about the dunderheads-in-chief at NBC, but at least they are consistent at failing.

And while it is nice to remind the audience and the network of the heavy hitters that Conan will have in his corner when he bids his former employer farewell, I'd like to see him take it one step further. Conan O'Brien should have Jay Leno (yes THAT Jay Leno, is there another?) as his final guest.

Sure, it sounds like a bigger pipe dream than mounting a Van Halen reunion tour with the undead corpse of Jimi Hendrix as the opening act, but here's five reasons why it would not only make sense for another small chapter of The Tonight Show dynasty, but for the television dynasty as a whole.

It's not TV ... it's Funny or Die.

Funny or Die, the site founded two years ago by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay, is deep into filming for 12 half-hour episodes for HBO,

According to the New York Post, the site is reversing its stance on syndicating its content beyond the standalone Web site. "It will definitely get more viewership of our videos and, to us, that's the important thing -- we want the work that's created to be seen by as many people as possible," Dick Glover, the site's CEO, told the Post. A Funny or Die YouTube channel will launch sometime this month.

Jon Heder lands a new Comedy Central show, Ryan Seacrest is close to signing a three-year extension with 'American Idol,' Fox moves 'Dollhouse''s premiere date and more of today's top TV headlines.

Napoleon Dynamite lead Jon Heder will star in a new Comedy Central sitcom written and produced via Will Ferrell's Gary Sanchez Productions.

Heder exploded onto the entertainment scene when Dynamite made more than $40 million on the indie movie circuit after costing less than a million to produce. He went on to star opposite Ferrell in the less funny figure skating movie, Blades of Glory. Now Ferrell will shepherd Heder's first TV venture.

The show doesn't have a title yet, but it reportedly feature Heder as "an out-of-work IT specialist who leaves the city and returns to his small hometown to live with his parents and younger brother."

Last month's triumphant return of the "Celebrity Jeopardy!" sketch to Saturday Night Live was a hilarious bit of celebrity snark genius. It is without a doubt the only sketch in the show's history that just gets better and better every time a new one is rolled out for the public to digest and enjoy.

The most recent incarnation of the sketch was no exception. In fact, it built on the solid foundation that lay before it by casting Tom Hanks as a clueless himself and bringing back Norm MacDonald as Burt Reynolds. MacDonald's appearance was funny not just because he does a scary good Reynolds, but I also like to think that every time he returns to the show, Don Ohlmeyer cries a little inside.

As much as there was to laugh at in the sketch, a tiny but hilarious joke seeped through the cracks and no one seemed to spot it -- until now. I have found the missing joke from last month's Jeopardy! sketch, thanks to my keen eyes, my intrepid nose and my ever-widening butt.

The folks at our sister site Cinematical are working hard to give you news and reviews of the best -- and worst -- the silver screen has to offer. Here are some of their musings on the latest blockbusters, indies, and everything in between:

• Land of the Lost, the new Will Ferrell movie, opened in theaters this weekend. I'm kind of undecided about whether or not I want to see it, but Cinematical's interview with director Brad Silberling is pretty interesting.
• The Summer of '91: Truth or Dare, Boyz n the Hood, Thelma & Louise, and Point Break. It was a good time. Relive it with Cinematical.
• Although I'm not so sure about John Krasinski's beard in this film, I do like the idea of he and Maya Rudolph playing a couple. Plus, Away We Go is directed by Sam Mendes, who helmed American Beauty. I'm so there.
• In honor of this weekend's release of The Hangover, Cinematical Seven looks at Wicked Hangovers on Film.
• Wow. This is probably the greatest wedding invitation in the history of the world. Cinematical gets away with posting this by calling it a "short film," so I'm totally going to link to it too. The video is four minutes long, but it's amazing.

Plus: Anna Friel speaks out about 'Pushing Daisies'!

This weekend, the film adapation of Sid and Marty Krofft's '70s 'Land of the Lost' TV show comes to the big screen, starring Will Ferrell, Anna Friel and Danny McBride.

The cheesy cult TV fave was known for its low-budget special effects, wacky storylines and of course, walking lizards, the Sleestaks ...

Conan O'Brien's return to late night television as the fifth host of NBC's The Tonight Show (six if you count comedy genius Ernie Kovacs) felt like a jogger who is pacing himself for a long marathon.

That might sound like a bad review. But compare that to Conan's constant high energy Late Night and that makes The Tonight Show a Jack Russell Terrier on at least three Starbucks espressos.

Conan put aside the puppets and characters for his opening night on the Universal Studios lot for a very enjoyable transition to the new Tonight Show that's sure to get better in the months and years to come.

(S34E23) Wow. Way to go, Will Ferrell. Maybe they should just bring back Saturday Night Live alumni for season finales from now on, because this episode was spectacular. Ferrell brought back some old favorites and a slew of famous faces, from the familiar to the inexplicable, including Amy Poehler, Tom Hanks, Anne Hathaway and Artie Lange. Here are some video highlights from the evening (Hulu vids are US only. Sorry, kids... you can also watch these videos at NBC's website).

Radner. Louis-Dreyfus. Poehler. Fey. Shannon.

Suffice it to say, the number of women who became famous on Saturday Night Live before graduating to solo success is few and far between. Sure, Gilda Radner can be considered a pioneer in the art of sketch comedy. And Julia Louis-Dreyfus undoubtedly honed her comedic skills before becoming a sitcom icon on Seinfeld. And, yes, Tina Fey can easily be considered a heroine to comedy nerds everywhere who have witnessed her climb from Weekend Update anchor to Mean Girls scribe to single-handedly decimating the vice presidential chances of one certain gun-wieldin', six-pack-totin' Alaskan governor.

But, sadly, the number of men who left Studio 8 for the superstardom of Planet Hollywood (not the theme restaurant) easily outnumbers the ladies. For every Amy Poehler, there's a Will Ferrell. And a Bill Murray. And a Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy and Adam Sandler (although, to be fair, there's also a David Gary Kroeger, A. Whitney Brown, and Charles Rocket for every Melanie Hutsell, too). (And for the record, no, you shouldn't recognize those names.)

Believe it or not (and like it or not), there are only two episodes left in the 34th season of Saturday Night Live. It looks like no one from my "Nine people who must host SNL next season" wish list actually did it, but that's okay because there were some great stand-outs anyway, including Anne Hathaway and Jon Hamm.

The show seems determined to end with a bang, bringing in two sure-to-deliver performers. May 9th will bring in Justin Timberlake (and musical guest Ciara) and season finale duties will be left up to former SNL player Will Ferrell.

I didn't expect to be charmed by a show about a dude who snorts blow off a loaded rifle.

HBO's Eastbound & Down turned out to be my favorite new comedy of the year. The show, produced by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay, seemed like a one-note joke at first. It stars Danny McBride as Kenny Powers, a deluded and self-obsessed former baseball star forced to move back to his hometown and work as a middle school gym coach.

Surprisingly, this thing got funnier and more addictive with every episode. Danny McBride is great as the extremely vulgar Kenny Powers, and the show has a lot more going for it than most of Ferrell and McKay's juvenile big screen comedies.

Eastbound & Down had an abbreviated first season – only six episodes – but HBO just renewed it for a second season.