Late-Night Talk Shows

Elayne Boosler: Laughs for Lassie

One of the fascinating Angelenos featured in L.A. Weekly's People 2013 issue. Check out our entire People 2013 issue here. "Doesn't she look like Audrey Hepburn?" asks Elayne Boosler of Jazzy, a visiting pit bull–Weimaraner mix. Boosler does an impression of Jazzy as Hepburn, playing off the w ... More >>

L.A. Might Be Losing Leno's 'Tonight Show' To New York, Jimmy Fallon

Los Angeles could be losing an institution, "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno." So says the New York Times, which reports today that work is already underway at NBC's Manhattan studio complex and headquarters, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, where Jimmy Fallon of "Late Night" and "Saturday Night Live" is waiti ... More >>

Branford Marsalis on His Brief Time as an Angeleno Playing The Tonight Show

New Orleans-born saxophonist Branford Marsalis has been a household name since the early 1980s. Alongside his younger brother Wynton, he set the jazz world ablaze, earning his stripes on the bandstand with Art Blakey. From there, he found work in pop music (the Grateful Dead, Sting) and acting (Thro ... More >>

Laugh Your Way to 2013

Obama's Return To L.A. Today For Jay Leno Prompts Traffic Warning

President Obama is back, baby. And we're not just talking about winning the last two presidential debates after choking in the first one. No, the POTUS is back in L.A. this afternoon for the taping of the The Tonight Show With Jay Leno. And you know what that means? Traffic:

Obama In L.A. Wednesday For Jay Leno

President Obama will be back in L.A. this week. Given the tight presidential race, it's only logical that the candidates would be aiming at voters through the most effective of means -- late-night talk shows. That's right, the prez will be appearing on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno ...

Chris Elliott Just Wrote His Own Unauthorized Autobiography

You may know Chris Elliott for his hilarious characters on Late Night With David Letterman or from Get a Life and a whole bunch of movies, but he's also a prolific author, whose new book is called The Guy Under the Sheets: The Unauthorized Autobiography. He's in town for Live Talks Los Angeles's "An ... More >>

Found Footage

The John Kerwin Show, the Long-Running, Late-Night Talk Show You've Never Heard Of

Just a few minutes remain until The John Kerwin Show starts taping, and announcer Keith Leon is teaching us the art of the double clap. It's a trick that's been used since the dawn of television time, he says, to make the studio audience seem bigger. Instead of clapping at a regular pace, he ins ... More >>

Bobcat Goldthwait Interview

On stand-up, leaving Hollywood, and his version of 21 Jump Street

Barry Rothbart

Adult Swim's Eagleheart with Chris Elliott: An Inside Look at the Second Season

Also check out L.A. Weekly's interview with Chris Elliott from the first season of Eagleheart. On a blazing hot day last September, the cast and crew of Adult Swim series Eagleheart were holed up inside a small stage tucked deep within the eastern San Fernando Valley. They were nearing the end of ... More >>

The Daily Show on the Park Slope Food Co-op Monday Night's Vote: The Hummus Shall Remain

It is classic Daily Show. An intrepid Christiane Amanpour type diving into a roiling human rights stew. A few foils setting themselves up for easy ridicule with every utterance. A righteous skewering of extremely small-scale activism-gone-absurd in the land of $1,000 strollers. Samantha Bee brin ... More >>

John Hodgman

Jay Leno's Sikh-Temple-as-Mitt-Romney's-Summer-House Joke Enrages Some in Indian Religious Community

Oh no he didn't. Jay Leno is in hot water this week after a quip about Mitt Romney's summer house was accompanied by a photo of the Sikhs' sacred Golden Temple in India, a grand palace indeed. Romney's real summer home, or at least one of them, is right here in Southern California, and isn't half ... More >>

Happy 99th Birthday, Julia Child: Her Top 5 Cooking & Non-Cooking Moments

T. Nguyen​Everyone has a Julia Child story. Nancy Silverton has one. Martha Rose Shulman has one. Mary Sue Milliken has one. We have one. We bet you do, too. Today is Julia Child's birthday -- it would have been her 99th -- and it's hard not to appreciate this wonderful woman for all she did ... More >>

George Lopez Canceled After Less Than a Year of Following Conan O'Brien Late Night on TBS

Lopez, last night.​Updated at the bottom with a statement from TBS. First posted at 12:27 p.m. They say that Latinos are "the help," but this is ridiculous. After Conan O'Brien took over George Lopez's slot on TBS in November, the move was spun as a comedy all-star package, with Lopez coming ... More >>

We'll Be Right Back After These Snacks: Food In 5 Talk Show Green Rooms

Flickr/lauren ashleyJimmy Kimmel's green room​ What is a talk show green room? It is the TV-bedecked comfy-couched middle earth between dressing room and stage. It is sometimes (but not always) actually green in color. It is the place where its inhabitants can actually tell if the person who j ... More >>

Conan O'Brien ('s Writing Staff) Kicks Off Everything Is Festival at Cinefamily

The kids you made fun of in high school: All grown up, and richer than you.​ When you hear the name Conan O'Brien, you probably picture the man who single-handedly rallied America's youth against Jay Leno, revenge after Leno took back the Tonight Show gig that, only nine months earlier, he'd l ... More >>

Conan O'Brien Documentary Review

He's Mighty Mighty

An Evening with Max Weinberg

Arnold Love Child Jokes: Jay Leno vs. Conan [Video]

NBCJay Leno gave it to his pal.​Arnold Schwarzenegger's revelation that he fathered a child out of wedlock 10 or so years ago was a present to America's L.A.-based late-night talk shows. In fact the muscle-man actor has been giving steadily to the cause of monologia since 2003, when he elbowe ... More >>

Short Attention Span Dinner Theater: Your Week in Food, 4/25-4/29

Flickr/Lauren Manning​ In which we highlight the past week in food, either at home or abroad. "To get to Ray's, the new restaurant at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, you thread your way through Chris Burden's streetlamp installation, past the outdoor Stark Bar and into a glowing minima ... More >>

UPDATE: How to Get Tickets for Prince's Los Angeles Residency!

​ [UPDATE: 4/11/11 -- Here are more details on how to get tickets for Prince's LA residency:] Will the internet crash tomorrow morning? We just received a press release announcing the first three dates up for grabs of Prince's "21 Nite Stand" in L.A.: In an effort to make the show affordab ... More >>

How to Make an Omelet: Martha Stewart and Craig Ferguson Crack Some Eggs

Craig Ferguson in a toque. Martha Stewart with a spatula. What more could you possibly want? Thanks to Grub Street for this one, in which Stewart shows the host of the Late Late Show how to make a fluffy French omelet ("It's like a rabbit," observes Ferguson) with eggs from her Connecticut farm, and ... More >>

CHICKS WHO INK (HBO DEALS)

MS. GRIFFIN AND HER BIG CHRISTMAS BALLS

Are NFL's Chargers Coming To L.A? Rumors Abound That Staples Center Owner Phil Anschutz Has Taken A Stake In The San Diego Team

Los Angeles Chargers?​Updated with Earvin "Magic" Johnson's comments on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. First posted at 11:32 p.m. Tuesday. Laker legend Earvin "Magic" Johnson announced on Jimmy Kimmel Live! early Wednesday that he's teamed up with the Anschutz Entertainment Group to bring an NFL team t ... More >>

Daily Show Mocks Missile Mystery

The Daily Show -- which watches cable news so you don't have to -- takes a crack at the overreaction to the "mystery missile" story. For those who didn't get the memo, it turned out to be a plane. Enjoy. The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10cMissile: Impossiblewww.thedailyshow.comDail ... More >>

Conan O'Brien Whooped Both Jay Leno And Jon Stewart On Cable TV Last Night -- But Can He Make The Magic Last?

TBSSomewhere between poverty and basic cable​Hot damn, Conan. We knew the comeback would be big, but that was some next-level shit. America's favorite middle-aged carrot set the record for the most-watched show in cable-TV history last night: His brand-new 11 p.m. slot on TBS roped in a baffl ... More >>

Will You Watch 'Conan' At 11 Tonight, Or Stick With Jon Stewart?

Pulse2Back up off my slot, Stewart​All the bleeding gingerhearts on Team Coco finally lay down their arms tonight. After 10 months following "The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour," Conan O'Brien fans will gather J.Bieb-style outside the Warner Bros. studios in Burbank, w ... More >>

A Spooky Season For Jay Leno As Ghost From Conan O'Brien's Past Kicks His Ass In Ratings

NBCDead Conan is kicking live Jay Leno's butt.​This is a true Halloween treat: The ghost of Conan O'Brien's late-night show is beating Jay Leno's Tonight Show numbers. Talk about being beaten by a dead horse. The Wrap reports that O'Brien's short time in NBC's 11:30 p.m. slot in summer, 2009 ... More >>

BEST ICE PICK OF THE WEEK

LOVERS AND OTHER DAILY SHOW CORRESPONDENTS

Catch a Risen Star

Wolfgang Puck on the Craig Ferguson Show: Safety Goggles, Raw Duck Edible Underware

With the opening of his latest restaurant WP24, Wolfgang Puck ("it's not water and power") has been making the rounds, well, even more than usual. The other night Puck was on The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson, and the combination of accents (Austrian for Puck, Scottish for Ferguson) and silly h ... More >>

Jay Leno Makes Ribs Mayor, L.A. Council Over Arizona Boycott

​During his Tonight Show monologue Thursday, Jay Leno made fun of the Los Angeles City Council's vote to boycott Arizona over the state's controversial immigration law. "The council vote wasn't even close," he said. "The council voted trece to uno." Then Leno aimed his chin at Mayor Antonio ... More >>

Conan O'Brien To Give First Post-NBC Interview To '60 Minutes'

Meghan SinclairSuper CoCo.​In his first interview since leaving NBC, late-night talk-show host Conan O'Brien will appear on CBS News program 60 Minutes Sunday, Associated Press reports. O'Brien's exit deal with NBC -- he walked away from the network with more than $40 million for himself and ... More >>

Over the Weekend: Hole, Air Guitar and Conan O'Brien

Yeah, you may still be trying to recover from Coachella, but there was a little too much going on this weekend to be housebound. Courtney Love and Conan O'Brien both made their big returns to the L.A. stage and local air guitarists went head to head at the Troubadour to move one step closer to the c ... More >>

CONAN THE HILARIAN

LEAVE IT TO CLEAVAGE

Today In WTF: NBC Buys A Show From Conan

NBC​As the world watched the biggest break-up since (possibly) Brad and Angelina unfold in slow-motion this month, it would be reasonable to think that the blood between late-night host Conan O'Brien and NBC would be as bad as it gets. The network paid him and his staff nearly $45 million to w ... More >>

Conan Signs $45 Million Deal To Exit NBC

​NBC made it official today: Conan O'Brien is leaving with a $45 million package that includes about $33 million for the soon-to-be ex-Tonight Show host and $12 million in severance for members of his staff, according to Business Week. The agreement allows O'Brien to get on the air via anothe ... More >>

GUY TALK

Conan To Emcee Police Benefit; You're Really Not Invited

An elite event to celebrate the 140th anniversary of the Los Angeles Police Department, to mark the end of Chief William Bratton's tenure, and to provide yet another opening ceremony for the new Police Administration Building will feature Tonight Show host Conan O'Brien as an emcee, Wolfgang Puck as ... More >>

The Karlin Report

Conan steps up, Leno steps down, in 2009

'It’s a testament to Jay and to his class,' a Leno insider tells NIKKI FINKE

Does Mr. Middle-of-the-Road Lean Left?

Jay Leno talks about the tragedy and comedy of politics