Conan O'Brien

"Lopez Tonight," which will run Monday through Thursday at 11 p.m., also stands a good chance of bringing in a young audience that isn't watching any of those other guys. "I don't think there is much crossover with Conan O'Brien or Jimmy Kimmel or David Letterman," Adgate says.

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Reuters noted that "Ferguson's bigger accomplishment seems to be that he has merely lost fewer viewers this season, with his total audience slipping 12 percent from a year ago, compared with a 24 percent drop for O'Brien"; the year-to-year decline in viewership was attributed to the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike.

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Letterman said on competing with O'Brien, "I still find it hard to believe that Jay won't be there."

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Current Tonight host Conan O'Brien paid tribute to McMahon on his show later that night, saying "It is impossible, I think, for anyone to imagine 'The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson' without Ed McMahon. Ed's laugh was really the soundtrack to that show."

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"Magic" Johnson and Keenan Ivory Wayans tried and failed to follow in Arsenio Hall's successful 1989-94 footsteps. "There's a huge percentage of people not watching late-night TV at all," Lopez said, figuring that the shows headlined by hosts including David Letterman, Conan O'Brien and Jimmy Kimmel draw from roughly the same audience pool. For people of color, the actor and comedian said, "I don't think a lot of their needs are met with the current talk shows. I would pull a different audience."

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Monday night, Conan O'Brien said, "Lou Dobbs says he's going to find his next job by hanging out in the parking lot at Home Depot."

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"A passionate culture," she remarked, before showing Conan the Bella tattoo on her hand that she drew herself-"You should get your money back," he cracked--and musing on how the Bella doll is, unlike her, "very well-endowed." And speaking of Twilight merchandise, "I think it's weird we have underwear with Taylor's face on it," she admitted. Conan quickly responded, "Where is this available?"

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"We'd been following Levi on Twitter and felt his gift for the written word needed to be shared with the world," Conan O'Brien explained.

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"It is impossible, I think, for anyone to imagine 'The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson' without Ed McMahon. Ed's laugh was really the soundtrack to that show." O'Brien added that McMahon, with Carson, created "the most iconic two-shot in broadcasting history.

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O'Brien later said of the Weinberg choice, "The energy and enthusiasm of his music coincided with the show I wanted to do. Plus, his tan offset my ghostly complexion."

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