By CNtributor: Katie Epperson
Conan O’Brien was the first Late Night host I fell in love with. If I was ever up late enough, I’d flip on Late Night to see what he was doing.
As I got older I watched him religiously on The Tonight Show.
I attended two tapings during his 9 month stint, and was devastated, angry, and upset when he was forced to leave.
In his absence, it was Fallon who then kept me company while Conan was banned from my television screen. Fallon soon took Conan’s place in my heart as the host who tucked me into bed and put a smile on my face.
I commiserated with Conan and watched him transform into a man I didn’t know in Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop, and knew it was time to move on.
When Conan started on TBS, I followed him sporadically for a few months but his absence became my norm.
I went to another taping, now for his cable show, and reminisced on the days when Conan was the light at the end of my dark days. I walked around on the set and went backstage to visit with Andy Richter and took in his new home. Since that visit, it is a rare night that I tune in for his show, yet I always make time for his replacement in Fallon.
But on those days when the stars align and I flip the channel to TBS at 11pm, he never fails to make me smile. And I feel that endless joy I felt so long ago. Which was everything I needed way back when.
Katie Epperson is a writer/comedienne originally from Southern California. She has studied with The Groundlings School, The Second City- Hollywood, and The Upright Citizens Brigade- LA. She is currently finishing her degree at The New School in New York.