#9 - Conan O'Brien's Final Tonight Show Speech
I don't follow the late night wars. When people were deciding between Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien earlier this year and very vocally choosing sides, I laughed as 99% of the time I am deep in sleep by the time any of these shows come on. If I am awake at that time, I'd rather be watching Sportscentre or the Late News.
Over the years, I've found both Leno and Conan funny (also, Letterman and Kimmel). I have no complaints about any of them. Still, it seemed to me that Conan was getting jobbed for the Tonight Show job. Most of the blame lay with NBC, but it didn't seem as though Leno was helping with his comments and his earlier show.
So, with as much sadness as I could muster up for a guy getting a $45 million settlement, I felt bad for Conan as he signed off on his final Tonight Show, and I made a point of recording it to see if he went ballistic.
To my surprise, he gave a final speech that really grabbed me, and he provided a sentiment that I have often felt but had never been able to properly put into words:
Conan O'Brien's Farewell Speech from Sonlay on Vimeo.
"All I ask of you is one thing: please don't be cynical. I hate cynicism -- 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."
1 comment:
I keep thinking about this speech and comment, but I admit it's much harder to do than it sounds.
As you know, I'm bitter about a fair bit--perhaps that's my childhood, or a product of my parents and life experiences, hard to say, perhaps I'm too far gone down the cynical road to change.
Maybe I'll mellow when I get older, I don't know. I recognize being cynical doesn't get me anywhere, but so far it doesn't seem to be working to just "will" it away.
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