Writerless Television

If you have not been sharing space underneath a rock with Mike Huckabee, you know about the writer's strike. You may or may not know that last night Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien have come back to their shows, albeit without writers. I was curious to see what would happen, for as many of my era do, I happen to loathe Leno and love Conan. As suspected Leno got the laughs from the half-soused tourist rabble that lap up his inane observations even though he said nothing remotely amusing. Conan was in top form basically because he did nothing but be his ridiculous red-headed self. It was like a strange dada exercise. He threatened to do a show where he did nothing but dance. I personally want this to happen. Anyway I am here again struggling through Leno to get to Conan. Incidentally, to make a joke about how women are the stronger sex, Howie Mandel just uttered the edgiest/funniest words spoken on the Tonight Show in years. Speaking to the audience, he askes, "How many women here are menstrating?"

Anway, I'm sitting in my basement waiting for Conan to start, and am breaking down and posting again, because I would prefer to ignore whatever musical guest they convinced to break picket lines.

Things I Enjoy

Conan O'Brien minus his writers
Conan O'Brien plus his writers
Conan O'Brien's Strike Beard
Pastime Paradise - Stevie Wonder
Song Coolio sampled for Gangsta's Paradise.
"The Man in the Well" - Ira Sher
A haunting short story I first heard on this episode of This American Life. (You can stream it for free on that website. Incidentally you can skip ahead to the 30 minute mark for the story, but the David Sedaris story before it is great as well.)