Add comedienne Rosie O’Donnell and veteran Harrison Ford to the growing list of celebrities joining Team Conan; both believe Jay Leno should hit the bricks and let his Tonight Show successor, Conan O’Brien, continue hosting the show.
(I still like Letterman’s idea of letting the guys share co-hosting duties….)
The former View moderator shared her view after being asked at HBO’s Television Critics Association panel on Thursday.
“I have been a big fan of Conan O’Brien… and [‘The Tonight Show’ is] a franchise that has been 60 years with NBC, and if you’re privileged enough to be asked to drive the bus, you should say thank you and drive it to the best of your ability and when it’s time for them to hire a new driver, you should say, ‘Thank you for allowing me to drive this for as long as I did,’ and pass the keys to the new guy with red hair, and not try to flatten his tires, before he even gets going.”
Harrison Ford was in town for the red-carpet premiere of his new movie Extraordinary Measures. He also sympathizes with Conan. The pair have met a couple of times because their children attend the same California school.
“I mean, poor guy moved out to Los Angeles to do this show and moved his whole family out there. Put his kids in a new school,” the 67-year-old actor told reporters. “He’s getting the shaft in a way.”