Conan O Brien

It is three hours before show time on Conan O'Brien's talk program, and the host is meeting with three young producers in an office decorated with a giant plastic pickle (a gift from the writers on the David Letterman show), a voodoo skull sunk into a basketball net and a huge painting of Abraham Lincoln on his deathbed. "I identify with Lincoln," explains O'Brien, who is red-haired, Harvard-educated and Catholic.

As was first announced five years ago, Conan O'Brien abdicated his position as the host of NBC's "Late Night" on Friday night, preparatory to taking up the scepter and mantle of "The Tonight Show." His investiture is scheduled for June 1. Such changes come rarely in network television -- O'Brien's 16-season run is not coincidentally matched by "Late Night" predecessor David Letterman's still-continuing stint on CBS' "Late Show" and by Leno's soon-to-end "Tonight Show" tenure.

"I'm someone who's very uncomfortable saying goodbye," Conan O'Brien admitted. "I tend to lie to people. I never say goodbye. I always say, 'No, I'll be back in five minutes,' and then I just scram." The comedian will have trouble avoiding a farewell scene this afternoon, when he tapes his final show as host of "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," the NBC program he has hosted for 16 seasons.

Conan O'Brien hasn't even started appearing on TBS and parent company Time Warner Inc. is already bragging about his effect on its bottom line. Although O'Brien's late-night show doesn't premiere on the cable network until November, advertising sales for the show are brisk, Chief Executive Jeff Bewkes said Wednesday. "We saw strong demand for Conan O'Brien," he said in a conference call with analysts Wednesday to discuss the company's second-quarter earnings, adding that the late-night host's upcoming show was drawing an ad rate per 1,000 viewers similar to what he previously attracted on NBC. Time Warner, whose holdings include TBS, TNT, CNN, HBO and Time Inc., said second-quarter net income rose 7% to $562 million in the quarter ended June 30 compared with the same period a year earlier.

Lots of past Emmy favorites are back this year with notable programs in the miniseries, TV movie and variety show categories, including actors Doris Roberts and Al Pacino, miniseries producers Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, plus telethon organizer George Clooney. But most noteworthy are Conan O'Brien and Jay Leno competing for best variety series with rival versions of "The Tonight Show." You can almost hear Ed McMahon yelping, "Eow!" TV MOVIES Front-runners "A Dog Year," HBO "Georgia O'Keeffe," Lifetime "The Special Relationship," HBO "Temple Grandin," HBO "When Love Is Not Enough: The Lois Wilson Story," CBS "You Don't Know Jack," HBO Spotlight: HBO has had a stranglehold on this category for the last 17 years, winning 15 times, including the last six consecutive contests.

Jeff Zucker was a fearless news producer and fast-rising entertainment executive who was just 41 when he became head of NBC Universal. But in the last few years, the onetime whiz kid behind the "Today" show -- he turned Katie Couric into a star -- has made several costly miscalculations that have led to a spectacular fall by the country's premier television network. Zucker's troubles were magnified this week when, with NBC facing a revolt by affiliate stations furious over their sinking ratings, he decided to move Jay Leno back to late night after less than four months.

The talk-show tumult involving Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien and David Letterman wouldn't have fazed viewers half a century ago in Southern California. They were used to chaos and controversy on the local TV chat circuit during that free-wheeling era of live broadcasts. On any night, a host might walk off in the middle of the program (if he had even bothered to show up). Or smash a sponsor's product on the stage. Or direct insults at spectators. Arguments with wives, on and off the air, occasionally broke out -- and only occasionally featured firearms.

As fans of “The  Walking Dead” know, one of the pleasures of watching the show is pointing out its various inconsistencies. It's a show that practically invites nitpicking. (I mean, is it really that easy to decapitate the undead? Don't zombies ever starve? And just how is the electricity still working at this point, a year or so into the zombie apocalypse?) On Thursday night, Conan O'Brien got the chance to do what millions of Internet commenters and fanboys across the globe would like to do: He grilled Robert Kirkman, the author of the original comic books and an executive producer on the series, about the many things on “The Walking Dead” that don't completely make sense.

The assignment for hosting the awards show honoring television's best work is going to NBC's Conan O'Brien. The 43-year-old comedian will host the "58th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards" on Aug. 27. The show will air from the Shrine Auditorium on NBC. O'Brien hosted the Emmys in 2002 and did "a tremendous job," Dick Askin, chairman of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, said Friday. "We're thrilled that he's returning."

Steve Carell: Hollywood's Mr. Nice Guy. "The Incredible Burt Wonderstone" star headed to "Conan" on Thursday night to promote the magician comedy costarring Jim Carrey and apparently to tarnish his nice-guy reputation. He was successful with the former, but not so much with the latter. "Do you ever feel like it's a burden to be known of as one of the nicest guys in the business?," Conan O'Brien asked "The Office" star. VIDEO: 'The Incredible Burt Wonderstone' premiere "See, I'm not that nice a guy, I'm a middling sort of nice, middle-range nice," Carell responded.