From: nebusj-@-rpi-.edu   
      
   	Well, Letterman has reportedly got his writers, and I assume   
   although I haven't specifically read it that Ferguson will have his.   
   There's no sign that I've seen that Leno or Conan will, though, so it   
   sets up the question: When Conan does come back on the air next year,   
   what is he going to do?   
      
   	Interviews and music guests are obvious, and that fills up   
   the majority of the show.  Mid-show comedy sketches are often put off   
   for a second interview segment anyway, so they can use that time for   
   more two-segment interviews or go really wild and schedule four guests   
   for the night.   
      
   	But then what for the opening segment?  There's Conan's   
   monologue and the opening comedy segment to cover.  Certainly Conan   
   can spend some of that time just talking about whatever silly thing   
   happened to him recently; for example, the recent bit where he just   
   read the National Enquirer's story about him in a cheese shop was   
   good comedy even before Conan told his own version.  But fifteen   
   minutes of that every day?   
      
   	Relatively easy would probably be to pick out segments from   
   old shows and rely on those reruns, the way the wine country trip was   
   re-used for a post-awards show.  (Unfortunately it would probably be   
   harder to use pre-HDTV segments like Andy Richter at Woodstock II that   
   were quite funny and very new to much of the audience.)   
      
   	Also it seems to me if there are stand-up comics available   
   they might as well be put up front; this might conflict a bit with the   
   monologue, but then, if the current Writers Strike lasts as long as the   
   last one, there's still this big programming hole to fill.   
      
   	What do you guess fills that gap?   
      
   --   
   								Joseph Nebus   
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   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)