Published: February 12, 2009

On Feb. 20, Conan O’Brien will end his near 16-year run on “Late Night.” O’Brien won’t be gone for long, though; he’s replacing Jay Leno as the host of “The Tonight Show,” beginning on June 1. While O’Brien will take his hysterical and witty humor with him, his new stint will differ a bit from his old one. Since “The Tonight Show” is formatted to accommodate a certain amount of monologue and interview time, the hyper host will probably have to tweak or abandon his frenzied sketches. Along with that, he will likely have to clean up a bit of his material since he is moving to an earlier time slot. As a result, some of his most memorable moments may just have to remain in late-night-talk-show history. In honor of O’Brien’s brilliant run on “Late Night,” here are my five favorite Conan O’Brien moments, which I encourage readers to find, watch and obsess over after reading this.

Walker Lever

“Walker, Texas Ranger” was never known for its acclaimed performances or exceptional scripts.  In fact, the only aspects that keep people watching are the atrocious acting of nearly every actor involved in the show and Chuck Norris’s reputation as the epitome of badass. O’Brien realizes this and emphasizes this fact with his own invention, the “Walker Lever.” At random moments, O’Brien yanked a lever that showed an absurdly comical “Walker” clip. The clips usually left O’Brien extremely confused and disturbed, putting the crowds into hysterics. Norris, apparently having heard of O’Brien’s antics, showed up at the show one night. This meet-up resulted in Norris roundhouse kicking O’Brien in the face, a moment that is too funny to not mention.

O’Brien vs. Colbert
vs. Stewart: The Brawl

This was a fight of epic proportions where three of the top comedic figures of our time dueled over who “created” Mike Huckabee.  Huckabee frequently used Chuck Norris in his campaign commercials while he ran for the Republican nomination in the 2008 election, and O’Brien claimed that he “gave birth” to Huckabee. However, O’Brien became enraged when Stephen Colbert exclaimed that he would kick O’Brien’s “translucent white ass.” Jon Stewart jumped into the fight when he insisted that he was the one who created O’Brien, thus creating Huckabee as well. O’Brien challenged the smack-talking duo to a brawl to end all brawls. While the smack down is fairly recent, it became infamous amongst the college crowd because it exhibited a sort of slapstick comedy that had otherwise been absent from television comedies. The three men resembled a new-school Three Stooges as they exaggerated punch blows, being thrown down stairs or getting attacked with bats and bricks. With the addition of epic background music by The Arctic Monkeys and Survivor, this was a comical fight, approved by Huckabee himself.

Pale Force

O’Brien has always been proud of his outward appearance. He is so fond of his complexion that he teamed up with comedian Jim Gaffigan to create “Pale Force,” an action duo that stops crime by using their pallidly pigmented “white boy” powers. Their pasty skin has the power to blind bad guys and they have powerful lasers that shoot out from their nipples. Although O’Brien was slightly offended that he was the cowardly, wimpy counterpart to Gaffigan’s beefy, handsome hero, he was proud to be Gaffigan’s gingery sidekick. For the curious, seasons one and two of “Pale Force” can be found on the NBC Web site.

The First Ring Spin

The Ring Spin was an act of desperation on O’Brien’s part. Occurring during the 2007-2008 writers’ strike, talk shows were having a hard time filling up airtime. Still, the brilliant madman ventured forward with his newly grown “Strike Beard” and taped his show to keep desperate audiences entertained. It was apparent that he was struggling when he decided that trying to break his record for spinning his wedding ring would be good material to work with. If it were any other host spinning a ring, the schtick would grow weary after about 30 seconds. However, O’Brien showed off his true comedic talent and made the best out of any material he could find.

In The Year 2000

This was probably the fiery-red host’s most well-known sketch. Although it is clearly past 2000, the sketch has lived on for irony’s sake. The shiny, futuristic neckwear worn by O’Brien and Selected Celebrity Guest, the dim flashlight that illuminated O’Brien’s and Guest’s face, and band member Richie “LaBamba” Rosenberg falsettoing, “In the year 2000…” after every joke set the mood for the absurdity that raised from this sketch. Jokes were based on current events, and all members involved threw personal insults at each other. It was a simple concept, but the sketch’s exceptional randomness gave it longevity. Luckily, O’Brien plans to bring “2000” with him to “The Tonight Show.” O’Brien will continue looking into the near future, even as he ventures forth into the next decade.