In Conan’s never-ending attempts to be funny, he did a bit last night that got huge laughs from the audience.  With musical backup, William Shatner did a poetry reading that was purportedly based on Levi Johnston’s Tweets.  Pearls of wisdom such as “Where can I get some weed?” and “What’s with all the taxi drivers that don’t speak English?  Is that a law?” read in Shatner’s dramatic fashion made for an entertaining skit.  Unfortunately, Conan and NBC didn’t do their homework — the Tweets are from a fake, non-verified Levi Johnston Twitter account.  And he’s pissed.

Johnston’s lawyer, Rex Butler is demanding a retraction from NBC, especially in regards to Conan’s disclaimer that the Tweets were “all real … we did not make this up.”  In all honestly, Levi should be angry.  After all, he wouldn’t want people to think that he’s stupid, now would he?

It all started a few weeks ago when Conan made a joke about Newark, New Jersey. It went a little something like this:

“The mayor of Newark, N.J. wants to set up a citywide program to improve residents’ health. The health care program would consist of… a bus ticket out of Newark.”

Har har. Standard Newark, N.J. joke material, right?

But the mayor of Newark, Cory Booker, responded by posting a video on his Twitter account announcing that Gingerclops had been “banned” from Newark Liberty International Airport. That prompted Conan to form “alliances” with Newark’s surrounding territories, and gain access to one segment of the airport that lies outside the Newark metro area. Which then prompted mayor Booker to extend the Conan ban to all of New Jersey (and parts of Ghana).

It all came to a head last night when Booker visited the tonight show. The two have made nice-nice by exchanging a few jokes, a few handshakes, and a few thousand dollars. O’Brien and NBC have donated $100,000 to Booker’s Newark Now charity.

Admittedly, the feud was facetious, and I feel sorry for the few Newark residents that took it seriously– not because they were duped, but because they live in Newark. (badum-ching!)

Whoever is doing PR for Cory Booker deserves a big bonus. The guy has almost a million followers on Twitter, and has made successful appearances on Real Time with Bill Maher, The Colbert Report, and now The Tonight Show. By becoming a “new media darling” he’s also managed to get the first positive press for Newark in my lifetime (and probably yours too). To quote one reporter, “The only time a Newark mayor made national headlines before Cory Booker was when they were indicted or went to jail.”

Via Seriouslunch.com

You may have seen the above image from seriouslunch.com that has been making the rounds, showing how a backdrop on the new Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien set looks suspiciously like something out of the Mushroom Kingdom. On Friday’s show, Conan responded to the spoof.

Nintendo America President Reggie Fils-Aime has said he thinks it’s “great” and that they are “thrilled to have him as a passionate Nintendo fan.” When asked about any possible legal action, including a cease and desist order for copyright infringement, Fils-Aime responded, “No. For Conan, we’ll let that one slide.”

I’d like to talk about everything I missed out on last night. 

I missed out on Conan’s Tonight Show debut because I was too tired from watching two hours of I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here.  Incidentally, that show (IACGMOOH) is so horrible, it’s on four nights this week, and really needs to be renamed I’m An Innocent Citizen…I Don’t Deserve Such Poor Television Programming.  And even though I really wish that couple — the one we don’t discuss ’round these parts — would fall off the planet, I was reading an article about the suicide rate among reality TV contestants — I couldn’t believe the statistics.  So, whereas I don’t wish that fate upon them, if they did happen to trip on a coral snake, well, that would just be God’s plan, wouldn’t it?

Even worse than missing Conan was forgetting that Jon & Kate Plus 8 was on last night.  So while I was watching unknowns eat tarantulas I could have been watching Kate eat up some more publicity instead.  Devastating, really.

Andy Richter will be Conan O’Brien’s sidekick once more.  When Conan returns to television this summer as host of The Tonight Show, he will be going totally retro by having Richter as his announcer just as he did during the early years of The Late Show With Conan O’Brien.

Andy left the show in 2000 to pursue an acting career.  I was preparing to make snarky, “How’d that work out for ya?” comments until I looked at his IMDb page.  He has done tons of stuff over the past eight years.  Nothing I’ve watched, but yeah, tons of stuff.

I haven’t talked too much about this before, but I can completely boycott a celeb based on nothing else but his name.  Andy Richter would be a good example.  I can never watch him because Richter sounds like a hybrid of rectum and sphincter and that grosses me out.  Really mature, I know.  Oh, Andy Roddick-he’s another one.  And Andy Dick.  Huh, maybe it’s just dudes named Andy.  This feels like a breakthrough.

Conan O’Brien bid us all farewell Friday night. It was his last night on Late Night with Conan O’Brien. After 16 years of hosting he’s hung up his hip strings, and put away the Walker: Texas Ranger button. Fortunately, the goodbyes are temporary. He takes over the Tonight Show starting June 1.

Thank the lord for that. TV wouldn’t be the same without Conan’s debonair side part and strawberry tinged locks. I think I’d lose all faith in mankind if I lived in a world with Carson Daly was still hosting a show while Conan got yanked.

Letterman’s reached a deal with the WGA, and will be returning to television next Wednesday.

The Writers Guild of America called its pact with Letterman’s production company, WorldWide Pants Inc, a sign of union readiness to negotiate a deal with major film and TV studios to settle Hollywood’s worst labor crisis in 20 years.

The WGA said its “comprehensive agreement” with WorldWide Pants included provisions to pay writers for work distributed over the Internet — presumably covering the large assortment of advertising-supported video clips of Letterman’s show that CBS posts on its Web site.

Conan — who’s with the same production company — will be coming back, as well.

This oughtta be interesting.

Variety reported today that Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien will return to television in January regardless of what happens with the WGA strike.

Right now, both these guys are paying their staffs out of their own pocket, but that can’t go on forever.

I wonder who’ll write for them with the WGA on strike?

I’M AVAILABLE!!!

Conan O’Brien has announced that he will pay the salaries of his non-striking staff next week, out of his own pocket.

NBC had been paying their salaries through this week.