Late Night with Conan O'Brien: 10th Anniversary Special

BY Noel DixPublished Sep 1, 2004

When this large-headed Irish comedian took the reigns of Late Night from David Letterman, there weren't many people who even knew who Conan O'Brien was. When he awkwardly walked onto the stage to deliver his first monologue to North America, these same people who didn't know of his existence probably assumed he wouldn't last a season. To see Conan celebrate his tenth year as the host of Late Night in front of thousands of rabid, adoring fans has to shock all sceptics and even the red-headed talk show saviour himself. This special, taped earlier this year at the Beacon Theatre, certainly has its moments, such as the now-legendary Will Ferrell recreating his perverted leprechaun lap dance and Jack Black belting out the history of Conan in song. There are also ten years of highlights condensed into snippets with celebrity guests and various antics, as well as a dedication to Triumph the Insult Comic Dog's, with his cut-up of Star Wars nerds taking the cake as the hand-puppet's finest comedic moment. The DVD is flimsy with extras, which include more highlights from the show, but there's no way these could have been selected by Late Night representatives, as many of the moments are nowhere near qualifying as memorable excerpts, though we do get the formation of Conan's boy band, Dudez A Plenti. This is definitely a good starting point for new or casual fans of Conan O'Brien, but diehard followers will have to hold out in hopes of a more complete anthology of Late Night goodness. Plus: photo gallery. (Lions Gate)

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