Conan O’Brien is set to swing by New York’s Ed Sullivan Theater next Thursday, May 17th to sit on Dr. David Letterman’s couch to either discuss how they both were so royally screwed over by NBC and Jay Leno when they thought they were in line for the Tonight Show throne or very awkwardly avoid the subject. Obviously I’m hoping for the former, although Coco in particular hasn’t really discussed the situation or any lingering animosity for quite a while. But if anyone can drag some bitterness out of him, it’s Letterman.
Conan was last on The Late Show a whopping 13 years ago, when he was still a relative newcomer to the late night scene. Things are quite a bit different now, so it should be an interesting conversation to say the least. To get prepped on just how much these two have in common and why they both hate Jay Leno with the fiery intensity of Coco’s hair, I can’t recommend Bill Carter’s two books on the Tonight Show debacles enough: The Late Shift and The War for Late Night.