Pick of the Week: Conan’s Undeserved Exit

You no doubt noticed that I have not done a Pick of the Week this week. That’s because I was waiting. And now that the announcement has been officially made, I can now make my Pick…

Some of you might be surprised…

My Pick of the Week is the final episode of “The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien.”

Though I have staunchly defended Jay Leno these past two weeks, let me say for the record that I have always loved Conan. I think he’s hilarious and he has proven that even more so through this entire ordeal. I didn’t watch a single episode of his “Tonight” though because I didn’t believe that he belonged at 11:35 p.m.—and still don’t.

But I also believe that he never deserved this. NBC should have let him go in 2004 when he had a real offer on the table. Now he faces an uphill battle to find a new home. Or better yet, Jay should have told NBC where to get off when they asked him to give up “Tonight” in 2004 and made the network get rid of him. Then he could have gone off to ABC or wherever.

But unfortunately we can’t turn back time and now we have to say goodbye to Conan, Andy, Max, La Bamba, and all of their friends for who knows how long. Conan’s final guests will be Tom Hanks, Will Farrell (his first guest) and Neil Young. It will be unbelievably bittersweet, but I know it will be funny.

I’ll be watching. And I’m not ashamed to admit that I will probably cry. I’m sure I won’t be alone…

The final episode of “The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien” will air Friday, January 22nd at 11:35 p.m. on NBC…