The Conan O'Brien you fell in love with is officially gone

Conan (and I) got choked up last night as he thanked all that were responsible for taking a chance at his awkward, left-field (and at times, inappropriate) comedy and its longshot success at making it acceptable by mainstream audiences.

Like the last episode of Friends and Seinfeld, Late Night with Conan O'Brien was a quite a tearjerker. And like Friends and Seinfeld, it's the end of a legacy- some of the greatest comedy in recent television history.

Why is everyone treating this like it's the end when all he's doing is taking a few months to prepare a move into another city and an earlier timeslot? Well, my friends, it is the end. He will have a more mainstream (and younger) audience in a very prime time. He won't be allowed to do the kind of comedy he's doing now. Trade in the Masturbating Bear for Jay-Walking-ish bits. Say goodbye to Moneyshot Abe Lincoln and hello to Ross.

It will be called the Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. Not the Late Show with Conan O'Brien. That one is long gone, people. And it hit me like a ton of bricks last night.

So yes, it is the end of an era and if you're not feeling me now on this, you will when it settles in your mind in the future.

(The Abe clip on the below this sentence is simultaneously hilarious, strikingly sad and accurate)