At first I thought this was a parody, but then changed my mind and thought it was real. Then it turned out to be a fake after all. Oh, that Assange!

2. The "Party Down" initiative

It seems that today is "Party Down" Day , in an Internet effort to make a movie of the Starz's comedy happen. (How well has that worked out for "Arrested Development"?) Still, it was an amazing show, and this video roundup of the best lines from Roman (played by Martin Starr) inspires the question... "Are we having fun yet?"

3. Dueling comedians

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1. Lindsay Lohan dropping her last name: Problem is, we'll still know those are her parents.

2. Michael Scott proposes to Holly on "The Office": Good episode, but it really took this much hype to get people talking about "The Office" again? Not a great sign for when Carell leaves.

3. "The Big Lebowski" Monopoly game: Awesome when we thought it was a real thing. Turns out to be a Photoshop from Reddit. Which is still cool, but someone out there needs to market this!

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It's our hope that this list entertains, educates -- but also that it inspires you to tell us whom we missed. Tell us your choices on Open Salon (make sure to tag your post "Salon's men on top"). We'll spotlight the best nominations later this week. But for now, let's get on with the show.

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The mighty challenge in all of this for O'Brien -- and his new home, TBS -- has been how to satisfy the fans who've followed him for nearly two decades on "Late Night" and "The Tonight Show" while distinguishing this latest venture as its own special thing. To that end, it helped that he trotted out the Masturbating Bear a mere 11 minutes in.

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Late-night ratings sank over the past three months, despite the attention and extraordinary television created over the winter by the drama of Leno taking back "The Tonight Show" from Conan O'Brien.

"Late-night talk shows have been around since the 1950s, and you wonder if they are getting passe with the viewing public," said Brad Adgate, an analyst with Horizon Media.

Competition is a factor. Johnny Carson in his prime never had to worry about a Jon Stewart or George Lopez. Or video games and the Internet. Or, for that matter, his own network. At 11:35 p.m., more people now watch programs saved on their digital video recorders than either Leno and Letterman, the Nielsen Co. said.

Back at NBC, Leno averaged 4 million viewers a night during April, May and June. That's a full 1 million viewers lost to NBC compared to the same three months in 2009. Letterman wasn't necessarily the beneficiary, since his audience of 3.3 million people was off 7 percent from 2009.

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Suggesting the Academy "give this man one more thing to tweet about" for displaying "outstanding achievement in the use of SPF 150," Conan's "friends at TBS," where, his new show launches in November, are running two new ads in the run-up to Emmy nomination season.

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Conan, you're not the only one.

There's not a soul on earth who's a stranger to failure. But few have the talent to turn their biggest defeat into a moment of triumph. But for a few weeks in January, that's what O'Brien did, transforming his kiss-off from NBC into the most rousing and hilarious thing to hit the nicey nice world of late night since, well, NBC pulled a similar stunt on David Letterman 18 years ago. Now, three months and change after bidding a cowbelled adieu to "The Tonight Show" -- and in the midst of his "Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television" tour -- O'Brien opened up on "60 Minutes" about the behind-the-scenes drama that precipitated his exit. Well, sort of.

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"I'm not supposed to admit this, ladies and gentlemen, but I really missed the applause," O'Brien said Monday. "You have no idea how shallow I am."

His journey from "Tonight" to an out-of-work guy to a reborn stage performer was the centerpiece of the show, with a helping of familiar bits like Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, songs from a guitar-playing O'Brien with former "Tonight" band members and a handful of guests.

The gangly redhead worked the room hard, joking, dancing and even making costume changes that, at one point, included a pink leather outfit.

"This is the first time anyone has paid to see me. They've paid me to go away," O'Brien told the audience of more than 2,500, an obvious reference to the former "Tonight" host's $32 million exit deal with NBC.

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But then O'Brien, lately a host without a network, surprised everyone Monday by announcing he'd chosen cable channel TBS as his new home.

His decision to become a cable guy happened fast, met with an "overwhelming" level of desire and enthusiasm from the top of the company on down, said Gavin Polone, O'Brien's manager.

"They didn't let anything get in their way," Polone said, calling it the "swiftest complex deal" he's made in 23 years in business.

"There were other opportunities where Conan would have made more money, but for Conan it was never about the money," he said.

Expected to debut in November, the as-yet-untitled show will return O'Brien to the air after an absence that began in January with his unpleasant exit from NBC, his employer for 17 years.

O'Brien's new program will air Mondays through Thursdays at 11 p.m. Eastern, which will shift "Lopez Tonight," starring George Lopez, to midnight.

When TBS approached them about bringing O'Brien to the network, Polone said he and Rick Rosen, O'Brien's agent, responded that a deal couldn't happen because Lopez had the 11 p.m. slot.

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For fans, it's a chance to see the star in person and discover how he performs unfettered by network broadcast standards. For O'Brien, who joked he's trying to avoid helping around the house since leaving "Tonight," barnstorming 30 cities may help build the case for his return to TV.

"He's not doing this to keep the wolf from the door, but to keep his name out there. It's important not to be yesterday's talk show host. There's a lot of them out there," said Tim Brooks, a TV historian (author of "The Complete Directory to Prime-Time Network and Cable Television") and a former network executive.

Fox affiliates -- wary of letting the network take over late-night time slots currently filled locally by profitable sitcom reruns and news -- are first in line among those he needs to lobby. O'Brien is also eyeing a possible switch to cable or syndication.

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For starters, he needs to keep posting those random tweets on his recently opened Twitter account.

Then in April, he hits the road for a cross-country comedy tour that's scheduled to last two months.

And by mid-May, he just might be anointed by Fox as its late-night leading man, when the network's program lineup for next season is officially unveiled.

Rumors and reports that O'Brien was likely headed for Fox were almost instantly set swirling in January with his abrupt departure from NBC. Since his "Tonight Show" finale Jan. 22, O'Brien has been out of sight. But next season he could be back on the air with a new late-night show on Fox.

"They are definitely talking," said O'Brien representative Leslee Dart on Thursday, but added that Fox "is by no means the only place he's talking right now."

"There is nothing imminent," according to another person with knowledge of the talks, who commented on condition of anonymity because a deal has not been finalized. "I don't know if I'd say we're in negotiations. Discussions is more like it."

The logical moment to have a deal in place would be Fox's upfront presentation May 17. But that's two whole months from now and, lately, things have been moving very fast for O'Brien.

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The former host of "The Tonight Show" announced a 30-city theater tour on Thursday. Sidekick Andy Richter and the former "Tonight Show" band will join O'Brien for what he promises to be "a night of music, comedy, hugging and the occasional awkward silence."

The "Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour" begins April 12 in Eugene, Ore., and concludes June 14 in Atlanta. It will visit theaters in at least 20 states and two Canadian provinces. Additional dates may be added.

O'Brien quipped: "It was either a massive 30-city tour or start helping out around the house."

On the itinerary is New York's Radio City Music Hall, just steps from where O'Brien first gained fame hosting "Late Night," and the Gibson Amphitheater in Universal City, Calif., near the studio where he presided over "The Tonight Show" for eight months.

The tour also will make a stop at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, the annual festival that takes place June 10-13 in Tennessee. Aside from performing in the comedy tent, O'Brien will emcee the festival's largest music stage on June 11 and 12, the festival said.

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The unemployed late night talk show host, finding himself with some time on his hands, joined Twitter last month -- and soon found himself amassing a devoted horde of followers (and possibly creating a few hilarious spinoff accounts). On Friday, he returned the favor a little. "I've decided to follow someone at random," he wrote. "She likes peanut butter and gummy dinosaurs. Sarah Killen, your life is about to change."

Sure enough, it did. In mere days, the woman known on Twitter as LovelyButton has found her own ranks of followers swollen to 18,587 and counting -- up from a previous total of three (including a few that seem suspiciously Coco-flavored). And because the world loves an instant celebrity, she's been interviewed on MTV, the Los Angeles Times and New York magazine. The budget-challenged 19-year-old has already also raked in a new iMac, the promise of a custom-made wedding gown from Kelima K for her forthcoming nuptials and lots of other swag. Jackpot!

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"Why wouldn't I?" said Richter, who was filling in Tuesday for Regis Philbin on "Live! with Regis and Kelly."

Richter told Kelly Ripa he was frustrated that Leno was allowed to reclaim "The Tonight Show" host chair just nine months after O'Brien had inherited that plum assignment.

"NBC, definitely, everybody said they were going to do something and they didn't," said Richter, implying the network broke long-standing commitments it made to O'Brien.

O'Brien left NBC and "Tonight" in January amid complaints by NBC of low ratings. NBC had proposed reinstating Leno in the 11:35 p.m. EST slot and bumping O'Brien back a half-hour.

O'Brien's future is unclear. So is Richter's, though he said, for now, he's still an NBC employee, "so we'll see if those checks keep coming."

He called a rumored live concert tour for O'Brien and Co. "a distinct possibility."

It all ended much quicker than he could have imagined, said Richter, who figured his "Tonight" job was "as good as it gets in show business."

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Riffing on the original campaign that featured Leno roaring triumphantly into primetime, the host now zooms back to the 11:35 p.m. slot to the strains of the Beatles' none-too-cheap-to-purchase-the-rights-of "Get Back." What could be subtler than that? Maybe only if Leno's license plate had read "UP YRS COCO."

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One would hardly expect the network, which parted ways with Conan O'Brien in January, to keep a lot of sentimental mementos hanging around. But considering the long history O'Brien had there, you might expect something to remain, if only for the fans. Think again. NBC has quietly scrubbed the redheaded host from its history. Not content to have his image removed  from the mural at 30 Rock (replaced by one of -- ouch! -- Jay Leno)  and his set dismantled, the network appears to have obliterated his whole oeuvre from Hulu and the NBC online archives. There aren't even any photos of the guy to be found on NBC's Web page.

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