After seemingly endless public fighting and controversy, Conan O'Brien has departed NBC's "The Tonight Show."

First hosted by comedian Steve Allen in 1954, "The Tonight Show" has seen many lead the talk show. From Allen and Jack Paar to the venerable Johnny Carson and now O'Brien, the program is full of comic history. Jay Leno reigned as king of "The Tonight Show" from 1992-2009 after nabbing, some would argue "stealing," the show from David Letterman upon Carson's retirement.

Just last week I stumbled upon an email invitation from my high school reunion committee. It’s been 10 years since I departed Saugus High, a mostly white-bred school in an innocuous Los Angeles suburb.

I’ve yet to decide if I’ll be making a trip back to California for this little shindig. It's not that I had a bad experience. In fact, I had a pretty lackluster time. I came, I saw, I went.  Most of my memories are linked to pop culture happenings that coincided with my time at Saugus.

Whenever I bring up leading "Saturday Night Live" ladies, nearly all of my pop culture obsessed friends proclaim Tina Fey is the best and brightest.

There is no disputing that her comic skills are untouchable when it comes to writing -- "30 Rock" is perhaps the best comedy on TV right now. And her time on SNL yielded some fantastic skits, most memorably anything featuring the dim witted Sarah Palin.

I randomly flipped on "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" the other day and quickely recalled a gathering I attended a few years back where Andreas Deja, a Disney animator, spoke about bringing the zany rabbit to life.

If television uber-fans have taught the networks anything, it's that they are unwilling to let ratings dictate when a show gets axed.

The CBS series "Jericho" was dying a slow death in 2007 at the hand of the Nielsen ratings, but an online movement resurrected the doomsday-scenario drama. Fans shipped bags of peanuts to network executives, an homage to a "nuts" reference made on the series.

President Obama dropped by NBC Thursday for what will hopefully be a future fireside chat series, although better off without Jay Leno. And who was out in full force to greet our newly elected leader but a bunch of grumpy SAG members.

Oh yes, and ousted national exec Doug Allen. The actors' union continues to gripe about Hollywood's "last, best and final offer" regarding contract negotiations.

Sesame Street Needs Another Hero

If the fact that media companies are quickly turning to dust hasn't scared America yet, one recent news item should be causing serious concern.  Sesame Workshop, best known for producing "Sesame Street," announced last week it would be cutting 20 percent of its staff thanks to financial concerns.

The recent circulation of Christian Bale's meltdown on the set of "Terminator: Salvation" reminded me of that infamous recording that threatened the career of another lauded actor.  No, I'm not referring to Michael Richards' racist tirade or David Hasselhoff's burger incident.  Neither of those celebrities' careers could sink any lower.

Word of early renewals came down the pipeline this week as the CW delivered golden tickets to shows including “90210,” “Smallville,” “Gossip Girl” and “America’s Next Top Model.”

Kudos to the casts and crews. But instead of thanking CW exec Dawn Ostroff, these shows should consider giving a big hug to an advertiser’s greatest nemesis -- the DVR.