Tonight Show' Debut, It's All About the Conan

By Tom Shales

By now "The Tonight Show" is like the White House; it belongs not to its occupant of the moment but to the American people. So it was not encouraging last night to see Conan O'Brien devoting the entire first half of his first "Tonight Show" to himself.

O'Brien's opening-night guest, Will Ferrell, didn't walk out until nearly 10 minutes past midnight. Not good for a show that begins at 11:35 p.m.

In addition, though "The Tonight Show" has always been either live or live-on-tape, meaning recorded in one continuous stream a few hours earlier than its air time, O'Brien's premiere was overloaded with pre-taped bits, so many that it lost some of the immediacy that is central to the show. It was too often a recording of a recording.

Ferrell didn't really walk out, incidentally; he was carried out on a litter by four muscular extras done up as Egyptians. It was a spectacular if not hilarious entrance, but Ferrell is always a sure-fire guest; he can turn weak material inside out and find silver linings in the darkest places.

By the time he finally appeared, many viewers may already have had their fills of O'Brien, who has gone from being the proprietor of an endearingly zany curiosity shop -- "Late Night," airing at 12:35 -- to being the impresario at the center of a gleaming circus maximus, resplendent on a gorgeous new set in a huge refurbished studio on the Universal lot in Los Angeles.

Moving up to the big time, and relocating to the earlier time slot, seems to have robbed Conan of much of his charm. Much -- but not all. He still comes across as an earnestly likable goof, and though hardly a comedy monologist of previous host Jay Leno's skill, he has a skewed sensibility that is unlike any other TV host's. He just shouldn't spread himself so thick.
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Before the opening credits, O'Brien starred in a clever and very elaborate taped routine in which he moved from New York to Los Angeles on foot. Through the magic of tape editing, he was seen running up Fifth Avenue, across a bridge into New Jersey, then through Amish country, Chicago (he dashed across Wrigley Field during a Cubs game), St. Louis, Las Vegas and other American spots and onto the Universal lot, where he discovered he left the keys to the studio in New York.

At 11:40 announcer Andy Richter, previously O'Brien's sidekick in the early years of "Late Night," said "Here's your host, Conan O'Brien," and O'Brien stepped out on the shiny-shiny floor of his new TV home to an arduously lengthy ovation from the audience -- a group that at least twice applauded the phrase "Universal lot." As O'Brien quipped, "At least we know the applause sign works." Perhaps too well. Richter is miked throughout O'Brien's monologue, so that his laughter can be picked up just as Ed McMahon's was when Johnny Carson was the "Tonight" show king.

After a weak monologue with few topical jokes, O'Brien introduced another taped piece in which he commandeered a "tram" on the Universal Tour and make wisecracks for the tourists riding along. At around midnight, O'Brien paid tribute to Jay Leno, who manned the "Tonight" desk for 17 years, calling him "a true gentleman" and "a very gracious man."

Ferrell facetiously campaigned for a Tony Award (he is nominated for his portrayal of George W. Bush) by calling Liza Minnelli, nominated in the same category, "a communist." He also referred to her as a "red menace" -- perhaps not knowing that Minnelli starred in an off-Broadway show called "Flora the Red Menace" in 1965 -- and won a Tony for it. Just a bit of theatrical trivia, folks.

The hour was solid with noise, both visual and audible. The house band under Max Weinberg sounds bigger and better than ever. The set really is beautiful from every angle.

There's every indication O'Brien will be up to the job of his illustrious predecessors, but he should be confident enough to share the stage with his guests and costars.

GM sells Hummer to mystery buyer

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- General Motors Corp. said Tuesday that it has signed a deal to sell its Hummer truck unit, just one day after filing for bankruptcy.

But GM (GM, Fortune 500) would not identify the buyer nor name a price, saying only that the deal would close by the end of September.

GM had revealed in April that it was courting three serious offers for the Hummer brand. The automaker would not confirm Reuters' report that offers ranged from $100 million to $200 million.
0:00 /02:48GM CEO: We will get through this

"I'm confident that Hummer will thrive globally under its new ownership," said Troy Clarke, president of GM North America, in a press release. "And for GM, this sale continues to accelerate the reinvention of GM into a leaner, more focused, and more cost-competitive automaker."

As part of the deal, some GM plants will continue to build the Hummer brand for the new owner, at least for a while. The company said its Shreveport, La. plant will keep building Hummers for the new owner until at least 2010.

GM also said that the deal should protect more than 3,000 jobs in manufacturing and engineering, and at dealerships "around the country."

The Hummer and other large vehicles have been a drag on the U.S. auto industry since fuel prices spiked in 2008 and the recession deepened.

GM said it sold 5,013 Hummers worldwide in the first quarter, down 62% from the 13,050 that it sold in the same period the prior year.

Hummer isn't the only brand that GM is leaving behind. The automaker will also shed its Pontiac, Saturn and Saab brands and cut loose more than 2,000 of its 6,000 U.S. dealerships by next year.

That could result in more than 100,000 additional job losses if those dealerships are forced to close.

GM filed for bankruptcy Monday, just hours after Chrysler's bankruptcy process cleared a hurdle when a federal judge approved its asset sale.

The GM bankruptcy was hailed by President Obama, who wants a complete overhaul of the U.S. auto industry, even though the Chapter 11 filing is expected to result in the loss of 20,000 jobs and the closure of a dozen facilities.

Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) was financial adviser in GM's Hummer deal

2009 Atlantic Hurricane Season Begins

MIAMI (CBS4) ―

It's June 1st and that means it's the official start of the 2009 Atlantic Hurricane season.

Emergency managers in Florida are taking part in a simulation of the Great Miami Hurricane of 1926 on this first day of the hurricane season. Emergency managers are dealing with a 150-mile per hour storm pushing a ten-foot wall of water toward downtown and barrier islands from Miami Beach to Hollywood. But it's not real, it's only on paper.

It's a way to prepare emergency managers for a catastrophic hurricane like the unnamed 1926 storm that hit South Florida before refueling in the Gulf of Mexico and hitting Pensacola.

The mock storm is called ''Hurricane Suiter'' for the late Lacy Suiter, a FEMA executive who died in 2006. The storm would have its heaviest impact on Miami-Dade and Broward Counties which has grown tremendously since 1926.

The five day hurricane simulation drill, which actually started last Thursday, ends on Tuesday.

The busiest part of hurricane season is typically in August and September and ends on November 30th.

In May, federal forecasters predicted between 9-14 named storms, 4-7 hurricanes and 1-3 major hurricanes, which is considered a near-normal season.

New Moon could be the first bloodless vampire movie

The first Twilight film wasn't exactly a hit with the critics – Peter Bradshaw and Xan Brooks's trend-bucking notwithstanding – but the teen vampire romance based on the popular novel by Stephenie Meyers did incredibly well at the box office, racking up $382m (£233m) worldwide. Shortly afterwards, producers Summit Entertainment parted company with director Catherine Hardwicke after the latter said she could not turn around the sequel, New Moon, in the short time that was being demanded.

Hardwicke, who also directed teen drama Thirteen and skating documentary Lords of Dogtown, reportedly cited the difficulty of producing convincing CGI in haste for certain sequences in the followup, which focuses on a rival clan of werewolves. Instead, Summit, fearing fans of the first film would lose interest in the interim, charged Chris Weitz (who made the 2007 adaptation of Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass) with bringing the second film to the screen within a year of Twilight's release.

Weitz, if the first trailer for New Moon is indicative, has found a novel way to bypass those complicated, CGI-heavy lycanthrope transformation scenes: instead of showing a man changing slowly into a wolf, he shows a man leaping into the air and landing as a wolf, omitting the actual transformation bit completely. Clever, huh?

This isn't the only reason why New Moon, out on 20 November in the US and a week later here, might be the single most missable movie of 2009. The lingering glances and brooding stares which constituted the performances of Bella Swann (Kristen Stewart) and vampire lover Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) in the first movie are back, as are the Gap model bloodsuckers. And the wolf, once it does land, looks slightly less terrifying than an angry chihuahua.

Of course, New Moon only has to appeal to fans of Meyers's novels and the first movie, as well as teenage girls who presumably like to imagine Pattinson desperately trying to stop himself from ravaging their own tender necks. But it would be nice if the whole project wasn't so, well, bloodless. What do you make of this one?

Teens with special needs get a prom to remember

By Larry Lazo


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Going to the prom is a highlight in many teenagers' lives. But attending a prom isn't always an option for some young people, including those with special needs.
Alex Gonzales passes under the Marines' sword arch Saturday in Washington as he arrives at the prom.

Alex Gonzales passes under the Marines' sword arch Saturday in Washington as he arrives at the prom.

That's where Helen McCormick comes in.

"We are dreaming for children who are excluded from their proms, and ... you're going to see people walk through the doors who are going to be just absolutely mesmerized," said McCormick, president of a Virginia-based nonprofit called The House, Inc.

For the past four years, McCormick has organized a prom specifically for children with special needs.

This year's prom, dubbed "The Cinderella Ball," was held Saturday night at the Willard InterContinental Hotel in Washington. More than 150 teens attended the gala, where they were greeted by 41 Marines. Each one of the teens went down a red carpet, under a Marine Corps sword arch, before being seated for dinner. Video Watch scenes from the spectacular prom »

"The children that will be coming are various disabled children with kidney (ailments), children that are literally terminally ill, children with cerebral palsy, Down syndrome and autism," McCormick said before the event.

Norman Gonzales brought his 13-year-old son, Alex.
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"Their social life is very limited at school and outside school as well, so something like this is very good because they come to a place where they find themselves with people that they can relate to," Gonzales said.

This was Alex Gonzales' first prom and he said he had a great time. "Coming to an event like this -- I think it's a great experience," he said.

The entertainment for the evening was 2007 "American Idol" winner Jordin Sparks.

"I think it's so amazing with all the kids that they get to have their prom. They get to dress up and feel really beautiful and have this night dedicated to them," Sparks said.

Most of the teens attending the prom were accompanied by a parent or friend. Some of them brought dates. It was a night many of them said they wouldn't forget anytime soon.
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Victor Padgett attended the festivities with his daughter, Dede. He said events like these prove that the human spirit is alive and well.

"There is hope. There is love, and there is compassion for everyone," he said.

Exhausted Boyle 'checks into clinic'

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Singing sensation Susan Boyle has been taken to a private clinic suffering from exhaustion following her shock defeat in the final of "Britain's Got Talent," British media reported Monday.
Susan Boyle was surprisingly beaten in Saturday's "Britain's Got Talent" final.

Susan Boyle was surprisingly beaten in Saturday's "Britain's Got Talent" final.

TalkbackThames, the television company which makes the hit series, said the 48-year-old had been left "exhausted and emotionally drained" after Saturday's show in which she was beaten by dance act Diversity.

"Susan has been seen by her private GP (general practitioner), who supports her decision to take a few days out for rest and recovery. We offer her our ongoing support and wish her a speedy recovery," TalkbackThames said in a statement.

London's Metropolitan Police confirmed that officers had been called to a central London hotel and accompanied a woman to a clinic by ambulance, but didn't name the woman.

"We were called at about 18:00 on Sunday to a central London hotel to doctors assessing a woman under the mental health act. She was taken voluntary by ambulance to a clinic. At the request of doctors, police accompanied the ambulance," the police said in a statement.

The Priory clinic, where Boyle is reported to have been admitted, declined to comment, citing patient confidentiality.
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Boyle, from Blackburn in Scotland, stunned viewers when she first stepped up to the microphone on "Britain's Got Talent six weeks ago with her audition performance of "I Dreamed a Dream" from the musical "Les Miserables" quickly became one of the most watched videos on YouTube.

But Saturday's final ended in disappointment for Boyle who wowed the crowd with an encore performance of the song that first made her so famous -- earning a standing ovation from the crowd and judges.

"You had the nerve to come back here tonight, face your critics and beat them," judge Simon Cowell told her. "You did it."

Boyle had vowed to leave the television show before the finale, show judge Piers Morgan told CNN's Larry King on Friday.
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"She's just had a pretty rough week because I think the full enormity of what has happened to her is beginning to hit home," Morgan said.

"Earlier this week, she had a lot of tears. ... At one stage, she was going to leave the show. So, fortunately, we've calmed everything down.

GM files for bankruptcy

By Chris Isidore,

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- General Motors filed for bankruptcy protection early Monday, a move once viewed as unthinkable but became inevitable after years of losses and market share declines that were capped by a dramatic plunge in sales in recent months.

In the end, even $19.4 billion in federal help wasn't enough to keep the nation's largest automaker out of bankruptcy. The government will pour another $30 billion into GM to fund operations during its reorganization.

Taxpayers will end up with a 60% stake in GM, with the union, its creditors and federal and provincial governments in Canada owning the remainder of the company.

Owners of GM cars should see little change as a result of the bankruptcy since warranties will still be honored. But there will be plenty of pain caused by the bankruptcy and the company's efforts to stem losses.

Nearly a dozen plants will be identified for closure by 2010, resulting in 20,000 job losses. Three more plants are set to be idled and put on stand by status in hopes for a rebound in sales that may never come.

GM will also shed its Pontiac, Saturn, Hummer and Saab brands and cut loose more than 2,000 of its 6,000 U.S. dealerships by next year. That could result in more than 100,000 additional job losses if those dealerships are forced to close.
0:00 /1:17American motorists sound off

More than 650,000 retirees and their family members who depend on the company for health insurance will experience cutbacks in their coverage, although their pension benefits are unaffected for now.

Investors in $27 billion's worth of GM bonds, including mutual funds and thousands of individual investors, will end up with new stock in a reorganized GM worth a fraction of their original investment.

Owners of current GM (GM, Fortune 500) shares, which closed at just 75 cents a share on Friday, will have their investments essentially wiped out.

President Obama is due to address the nation later Monday to make the case why the bankruptcy and the additional federal help was necessary. CEO Fritz Henderson, who is expected to continue running the company, will speak in New York shortly after the president finishes his remarks.

GM and the Treasury Department were able to get key concessions from the unions and major bondholders in the past two weeks. Those deals paved the way for a cleaner bankruptcy process, one that a senior administration official said Sunday could allow GM to emerge from the bankruptcy process in only two to three months.

GM will use the trip into bankruptcy court to shed the plants, dealerships, debt and other liabilities it can no longer afford. Emerging out of bankruptcy quickly will be a "new GM," made up of the four brands that GM will keep in the U.S. market -- Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC and Buick -- as well as many of its more successful overseas operations.

This is the same process that Chrysler LLC used in its bankruptcy process. Chrysler filed for bankruptcy April 30, and the judge in that case approved the creation of a new company that will be run by Italian automaker Fiat in a ruling Sunday.

GM, being a larger, more complicated and global company than Chrysler, is not expected to have its valuable units exit bankruptcy quite as quickly, though.

The new GM will have only $17 billion in debt, rather than the $54.4 billion it owed as of March 31. The unions' new contracts with the company and GM's underfunded pension funds will stay with the new company.

But for the turnaround to be successful, both outside experts and company officials agree there needs to be improvement in U.S. auto sales, which have fallen to a 26-year low this year.

GM has been hit harder than most of its competitors during the sales slump. The company's U.S. sales through April were down 45% from a year ago, compared to a 37% decline for the overall industry.

GM also faces tough competition from Toyota Motor (TM) and Ford Motor (F, Fortune 500), which are both in much stronger financial condition.

Even though Ford has reported years of losses as well, it had far more cash on hand than GM or Chrysler going into this crisis. The same is true for Toyota, which reported a loss in its recently completed fiscal year.

GM's decision to shed its weaker brands and dealers is expected to lead to further market share losses, which could result in the company giving up its long-time position as the largest automaker in terms of U.S. sales.

The company already lost the global sales title to Toyota last year, and it could soon fall behind Toyota and possibly Ford in the U.S. as well