Conan's First Tonight

MORNING OF MAY 26, 2009

In my dream I was lying in bed unable to sleep, so I went into the living room and turned on the TV. I was surprised to see the first episode of Conan O'Brien's Tonight Show was premiering (even though it was something like 3am, and the real thing doesn't come on for another week).

The opening comedy bit wasn't up to par, but it quickly got better, and I was enjoying it. Then came the interviews. I think the first guest was supposed to be Jack Black, and he seemed to be really strung out on drugs.

It took it a while to dawn on me that the set looked a lot like my bedroom, except the furniture was like what I had growing up, and the interview desk and couch were where the bed would normally be. More than being freaked out by the resemblance to my room, I simply found it odd that they didn't have a fancy, expensive set for the show.

About the time I noticed this, Conan announced that the "bedroom" set was a fake. He began destroying it with a sledgehammer, revealing a more professional looking set behind it.

Eventually Conan announced the "contest winner" who apparently had won a trip to a taping of the show. Conan dialed up her number live on the air, but as it rang, he handed the phone to David Spade (I'm as baffled as you are). A girl's voice answered, David Spade introduced himself and instantly began berating her for being a Conan fan, without any mention of the contest.

Then, snickering, David handed the phone over to me, because I was apparently on the set now. Seeing as how we seemed to be trying to prank the winner before telling her she won, I broke into mock tears on the phone with her. How could she dare to enter this contest, I asked, when so many other people deserved it more. Then I handed the phone to Conan, who officially told her she'd won. It was all supposedly very funny in the dream world.

Around this time my parents showed up at my apartment, asking if I was ready to leave (I guess I was no longer on the Conan set). I wasn't really ready to leave (wherever we were going), so I told them I'd go get ready. It seemed to be very, very early morning now.