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Tag: conan obrien

  • Conan O’Brien Settles Joke Theft Lawsuit, Explains Why

    Conan O’Brien Settles Joke Theft Lawsuit, Explains Why

    Conan O'Brien hosting Conan
    TBS

    There’s no longer a lawsuit over alleged joke theft hanging over Conan O’Brien‘s head. The late-night TV host has settled the suit before its previously scheduled May trial date, and he has now penned an essay for Variety explaining his reasoning.

    The lawsuit dates back to July 2015, when Robert Alexander Kaseberg claimed that O’Brien and other connected to TBS’s “Conan” had stolen five jokes from him. Kaseberg had posted them online, and they also ended up on O’Brien’s show. The “Conan” host, however, still maintains his innocence. In his essay, O’Brien explained a concept called “parallel creation” and argued that’s what happened here.

    “Parallel creation” is when multiple people independently come up with the same joke, and O’Brien pointed out that it happens all the time in the internet age, especially with topical humor. He gave multiple examples and pointed out that there’s a specific name for it on Twitter: “tweet-saming.”

    “The fact of the matter is that with over 321 million monthly users on Twitter, and seemingly 60% of them budding comedy writers, the creation of the same jokes based on the day’s news is reaching staggering numbers,” O’Brien wrote.

    Although the comedian reiterated that he believes he and his colleagues are in the right, he said he decided to settle because he wanted to avoid “a potentially farcical and expensive jury trial in federal court over five jokes that don’t even make sense anymore.” The terms of the settlement weren’t revealed, but both O’Brien and Kaseberg noted that the dispute had been resolved amicably.

    The two both seemed to agree on another point, as well: that stealing material is unacceptable. O’Brien called it “the worst thing any comic can be accused of” — “short of murder,” while Kaseberg said in a statement (via Variety) that he’s proud his case “shed light on an issue facing all comedy writers.”

    With the lawsuit behind them, they can both focus on writing new jokes. And hopefully not the same ones.

    [via: Variety]

  • ‘Game of Thrones’ Reunion Special Confirmed With New Details

    ‘Game of Thrones’ Reunion Special Confirmed With New Details

    HBO

    The “Game of Thrones” reunion special is coming.

    HBO officially confirmed that a special was shot in Belfast toward the end of filming on the eighth and final season of the epic drama.

    Sean Bean, who played Ned Stark in Season 1, first spilled the beans about the special to The Hollywood Reporter, revealing that Conan O’Brien hosted the gathering of cast members.

    “They decided to get all the characters together for a bit for this big show in Belfast and he kind of hosted the evening,” Bean said.

    Entertainment Weekly has a notable new detail about the special — that it will not air on HBO.  Instead, it will be featured exclusively on a new box set of the complete “Game of Thrones” series, Seasons 1-8.

    Aside from Bean’s participation, it’s unclear which actors participated, but Jason Momoa (Khal Drogo) and Mark Addy (Robert Baratheon) were both seen in Belfast earlier this year.

  • Please Watch Jodie Foster, Nick Offerman, Hilary Swank Audition for ‘Batgirl’

    Please Watch Jodie Foster, Nick Offerman, Hilary Swank Audition for ‘Batgirl’

    Conan, Nick Offerman
    TBS

    As long as they don’t growl “F*ck Batman” like that ingrate Robin…

    The CW has a “Batwoman” series coming up, and Joss Whedon used to be making a “Batgirl” movie for DC.

    Conan O’Brien jumped in on all the Batlady talk with nice little video taking us behind-the-scenes for the “Batgirl” auditions:

    Auditioning stars included Kristen Schaal, Tig Notaro, Maria Bamford (upside down, going Method), Nicole Byer, and even Nick Offerman — who was pissed that they were only looking at women for the role.

    Nick Offerman: “Of course. This is the same bullsh*t I got on ‘Ocean’s 8.’ I bet Sandy Bullock gets this one too!”

    Heh. Sandra Bullock didn’t even show. But Hilary Swank did. She held up one of her Oscars to say “This is my audition right here.” BOOM.

    Jodie Foster later auditioned, asking if Swank brought her Oscar as her audition.  Told yes, she brought out her own funky knight statue.

    Wanda Sykes later auditioned, aking if Jodie Foster brought out her “weird” knight statue.

    Thomas Middleditch also auditioned, but just for the role of a waiter.

    Conan played favorites, and maybe he’s right:

    It’s tough to top Ron Swanson. Hilary Swank might want to up her argument by bringing in her second Oscar for a second audition.

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  • After ‘The Walking Dead,’ Steven Yeun Has a Sweet New Gig on ‘Conan’

    steven yeun, walking dead, the walking dead, conanIf you’re The Walking Dead,” a new clip from “Conan” may cheer you up.

    In the segment, a very much alive Steven Yeun (the actor who had played Glenn since season one of the AMC zombie drama) assured host Conan O’Brien that he’s doing okay after his character’s traumatic death at the hands of new villain Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). And while Yeun admitted that his seven years portraying Glenn were a significant period in his life, he told the host he’d already lined up a new gig: Standing in for O’Brien during “Conan” rehearsals.

    Cut to shots of Yeun mimicking — and definitely mocking — the host’s routine and banter with guests (“Joke, interview, talking to you, listening, joke, interview, band”) before going off-script and just doing whatever the hell he wants. That includes playing guitar, giving himself a tear-filled pep talk, and trying (and failing) to style his hair in Conan’s signature swooping style. Yeun eventually abandons that latter task in favor of donning a red wig, though as a special — and pretty perfect — guest points out, it’s not quite red enough.

    It’s a silly gag that made us chuckle, and makes us think Yeun will definitely be fine with whatever actual job he lands post-“TWD.” We’ll miss Glenn, but we’re excited to see what the talented, hilarious actor does next.

    Photo credit: YouTube/Team Coco

  • Evan Peters Accidentally Exposed Himself to Jessica Lange in AHS Scene

    We knew “American Horror Story” star just revealed a lot about himself on “Conan,” including how he accidentally flashed his naughty bits to Jessica Lange during a scene.

    They were shooting an AHS scene with Sarah Paulson, with Peters wearing a hospital gown and a “c*ck sock” to cover his Little Peters. Conan O’Brien explained that “c*ck sock” is a crass but technical term for what’s used on sets to cover the entire genital region. Well, the entire part was lost on Evan Peters and led to his exposure to “Ms. Lange.”


    Here’s his story:

    “Wow, this is terrible. I basically am leaned over Jessica Lange’s desk in a hospital gown, bare-ass, so I put a c*ck sock on. … I put it on the c*ck, and we did the scene, and afterward, Sarah comes up to me, kisses me on the cheek, and is like, ‘Oh, sweetheart, it’s OK.’ And I was like, ‘What, was I that bad?’ And then I look over and Ms. Lange is telling the PA that apparently my balls were in her face the whole shot. … Apparently a c*ck sock is not just a c*ck sock, it’s a c*ck and ball sock. So lesson learned. … You’ve got to swoop down and sheathe the balls as well.”

    Good to know! Maybe this is the real reason why Jessica Lange left the show? If so, he should probably take it very personally.

    Watch the clip:
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  • Norman Reedus Thinks His Professional Impersonator Gets Laid More Often Than Him

    ENTERTAINMENT-US-SPIKE TV GUYS CHOICECan you imagine someone out there whose job — actual job, business cards and everything — was to impersonate you? Norman Reedus doesn’t have to imagine.

    “The Walking Dead” star was on “Conan” to talk about the time one of his friends went to a hotel and met a guy dressed just like Norman. “My friend goes ‘You look like my friend Norman.’” The man responded, “Yeah, I play Norman Reedus.” So Norman’s friend said, “Oh, you dress as Daryl Dixon,” meaning Norman’s character on the AMC show. The man replied, “I do that on the weekends, but on the weekdays I play Norman Reedus.”

    Conan said it was pretty creepy, and made the good point that the guy could be using Norman’s appearance to write checks in his name, or whatever. “Who knows what he’s doing?”

    Norman replied, deadpan, “I think he’s gettin’ laid.”

    The audience cheered and Conan guffawed, but Norman basically just shrugged. He knows it’s true. Andy Richter said it would be a shame if the guy were doing better than the real Norman Reedus. Norman told Andy, “I think he probably is, to be honest.” Conan said the guy not getting laid is the poor Conan impersonator.

    Watch the interview:

    Do you think the Norman impersonator gets bitten by fans, too?

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  • Top 30 Best Late Night Hosts, as Ranked by Various Demographics

    2015 AFI Life Achievement Award Gala Tribute Honoring Steve Martin - ShowHeeeeeeeere’s … Conan?

    Johnny Carson is still the No. 1 choice for best talk show host of all time, but a new poll from Ranker shows Conan O’Brien is the favorite current late-night host. The poll — which was determined through more than 24,000 votes, with 30 hosts to rank — handed the Jimmy war to Kimmel over Fallon (although not to certain demos, see below) and offered some pretty bad news to Jay Leno, listed down at No. 12, with James Corden at No. 18 and Seth Meyers (who recently banned Donald Trump from “Late Night”) down at No. 19.

    Here’s the overall top 10:

    1. Johnny Carson
    2. Conan O’Brien
    3. David Letterman
    4. Jimmy Kimmel
    5. Jimmy Fallon
    6. Jon Stewart
    7. Craig Ferguson
    8. Stephen Colbert
    9. John Oliver
    10. Steve Allen

    Jay Leno Visits "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon"Here’s the full top 30 ranking.

    However, the list changes dramatically when you change the settings to show, say, how women ranked the hosts, or men, or by age, region, and around the world. Ranker broke down the results with some interesting demo details:

    Millennials chose Conan O’Brien as No. 1 overall, ahead of Johnny Carson.

    Women picked Jon Stewart as their top choice after Johnny Carson and David Letterman.

    Gen X and Baby Boomers prefer Jimmy Fallon over Conan O’Brien.

    Southern voters ranked Jimmy Fallon No. 2 after Johnny Carson.

    Northeastern voters prefer Stephen Colbert and John Oliver ranking them No. 2 and No. 3 respectively after Carson. They also voted Conan, Fallon and Kimmel lower than any other group ranking them at No. 7, No. 18 and No. 19.

    Check out the different demo rankings here. Who would be your No. 1?

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  • Conan O’Brien Channels ‘Mad Max’ for Epic Comic-Con Roadtrip

    Conan O’Brien roared into Comic-Con wielding a flame-shooting guitar as he dangled behind a speeding truck with Andy Richter at the wheel.

    The only problem: they got lost somewhere around San Clemente. Seems the guitar riffs drowned out the GPS.

    In the “Mad Max” spoof cold-opening Wednesday night, the late-night comic kicked off a four-day stay at the San Diego event in Road Warrior style.

    Broadcasting “Conan” on TBS from the Spreckels Theatre not far from the convention hall, O’Brien this week will feature guests including the stars of “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2” and “Game of Thrones.”

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