International Law

Conan O'Brien presents "The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour"

Conan O'Brien has announced a 30 city tour:

The fans of Conan O?Brien will not have to wait much longer ? though they may have to wait in long lines ? to see their favorite late-night comedian perform again: Starting April 12 in Eugene, Ore., Mr. O?Brien?s 30-city tour ? with national and international stops ? is on.

And if the title is any indication, the tour will also be sending a message about how Mr. O?Brien and his Team Coco feels about his abrupt departure from NBC?s ?Tonight Show? in January. The title: ?Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television Tour.?

The title refers to Mr. O?Brien?s settlement with NBC, which included ? besides a healthy payout of an estimated $32.5 million ? a provision that he cannot appear on television again until after Sept. 1.

But there is no prohibition against going onstage and doing a live show, which is what ?Team Coco? (the name bestowed by rabid fans upset by his leaving NBC) has planned, including some regular members of the old Conan TV cast, like his sidekick Andy Richter and members of his old ?Tonight Show? band.

The official poster for the tour reuses the image made famous on the Internet of Mr. O?Brien, orange hair aflame, in front of an American flag. The image was produced by Mike Mitchell, an artist in Los Angeles, as a show of support for Mr. O?Brien when NBC tried in January to move ?The Tonight Show? with him as host to 12:05 a.m. Within days, the image and its message, ?I?m with Coco,? were a viral sensation, inspiring dozens of pro-Conan groups on Facebook. Several of Mr. O?Brien?s employees even made the image their Facebook profile photo.

Now they have formally adopted the image as their own. Days after Mr. O?Brien signed off of ?The Tonight Show? on Jan. 22, one of the comedian?s producers contacted Mr. Mitchell and said that Mr. O?Brien?s camp wanted the ?Coco? illustration to be the emblem of a nationwide tour it was planning.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Full post as published by Freedom to Differ on March 12, 2010 (boomark / email).