We Will Miss You Joel Godard : The Missing Link between Conan O’Brien’s Late Night Show and Conan O’Brien’s Tonight Show (Update: 06-02-2009)
Who can look at a dream date like this on, say…E-Harmony…and not totally hit the RESPOND button immediately!
I still remembered watching Conan with my late father the first month the talk show host took over Letterman’s spot. He was full of sweat, nervousness, and giggles. We both said, “he’ll be OK, he just needs to relax.”
Now O’Brien has stepped into Jay Leno’s shoes on the Tonight Show, and I, like anyone else watched the changing of the guards between the two hosts. I love Conan: I think he’s wacky enough that he can carry a whole show even if all his guests canceled. Leno had a widespread appeal that I thought worked well across the red and blue states. First time I ever saw Leno was in Americathon back in the 70s. He shared the cameo bill with Elvis Costello.
There’s been many online articles celebrating the fact that new Conan is still like old Conan. For me, it will never be quite the same. You see: hands-down, my all time favorite person on O’Brien’s Late Show was announcer Joel Clinton Godard. I was crushed to find out Godard didn’t migrate West with the rest of the Conan gang . Maybe he couldn’t deal with the L.A. crowd or just didn’t want to leave New York. Godard to me was the fulcrum that the Late Show teetered upon…between insanity and full out psychiatric ward. I loved the skits with Godard! He’s just so weird with his huge mouth and scary big 1950′ s plasticine smile. Plus I think it’s hilariously hawt that he has a thing for young Asian men in speedos.
He strikes me as one of those guys who is such a professional, that perhaps, as normal as he probably is in real life…when told to be totally “out there”…did such a fantastic job that he ended up being weirder than all of Conan’s crew combined- it’s like Kubrick outhorror-ing Stephen King. Joel is the only person whose name, when mentioned, would send me running in front of the TV when I was working at the computer. It’s been over a decade of laughs with the Late Show’s announcer Joel. I am totally going to miss him!
Joel was not asked to go to LA with the show. A BIG mistake. Andy Richter is cute, but he is no announcer. Joel’s announce would have given the show the class that they are trying to achieve.
Agreed. Not only does Joel have the big voice, he was much funnier. I don’t understand how people said Richter was funny with Conan. I saw every episode of the first two years of the Late Show with Conan. They look sophomoric, and Richter was not funny. He had his own show, that bombed too.
Hey, maybe they can have a Joel Goddard Show. NBC, are you listening?