For his part, Jimmy Fallon also referenced the NBC mess, opening with a joke about recent air travel nightmares: “There are so many delays at the airport….my flight was bumped from 12:35 a.m. to 1:05 a.m.” (Fallon spoke about the drama at a New York Times Arts & Leisure weekend panel, saying he was “just glad to have a show.” More here.)


Conan did a later bit where he joked about split-screen showings of him and Leno and showed a funny side-by-side schedule. Truth is the funniest thing in comedy, people! BTW: Both shows were especially strong last night, with Conan hosting Michael Cera, Aziz Ansari (which subsequently trended on Google search, and made me want to buy his upcoming DVD), and OK Go; Fallon hosting Matthew Broderick and Twilight star Ashley Greene, with special guest spot by Jonas Brother Nick Jonas, and a random but awesome Vince Fontaine-like Bandstand-style rap from Jimmy. I will say that of the two shows, Jimmy’s definitely seems to have a much stronger identity. I think how far that show has come has surprised a lot of people. (As the internerds would say, IMHO.) Also, Leno was on last night, hosting NBC’s Brian Williams, but ah well, you can’t catch every late-night show!

The original book installations have sold over 85 million copies — a rare home run these days for the publishing industry. The first film, against many expectations (“We just thought we were making a little cult movie,” says cast member Ashley Greene), grossed over $385 million domestically. And the saga’s second chapter, New Moon — if Entertainment Weekly’s slavish drooling is any indication — will also be a mega-hit.

Like it or not — like any wildly popular series, Twilight has many haters — but the saga is part of our literary zeitgeist, a cultural touchstone that even the anti-sparkly can’t avoid. And just like the Potter series, one just can’t help internally casting their favorite media figures as characters in the saga.

After all, if there’s any mythic creature that media characters resemble, we think “soulless vampires” and “werewolves” come pretty close.

Here’s our take on the media, Forks style.

Charlie Swan: Geraldo Rivera

He’s protective. He’s obsessed with crime. He just looks Dad-like. He’s got a moustache. Bella Swan’s overbearing pop, or Geraldo Rivera? Totes interchangable.

Renee Swan: Kathie Lee Gifford

Stephenie Meyer never explicitly states it in the series, but Bella’s mama is a hot mess. Described as “erratic and scatterbrained,” she acts first and thinks later. We picture her as the kind of woman who would flirt inapropriately with Bella’s high school friends after one too many gin and tonics. She has the best intentions, though — but still, Bella is grown-up in that relationship. She’s loud, excitable, and somewhat incomprehensible at times. Sound like a certain 4th hour host to you? Thought so.

Bella Swan: Ana Marie Cox

In the Twilight saga, almost everyone (except for some meanie vampires) loves Bella Swan. Young, lovely, but with attitude — sounds a lot like Ana Marie Cox, who spread the sunlight of blogging onto the Forks-style darkness of MSM political media. Okay maybe that’s reaching. But she’s maintained her outsider cred even while becoming one of them (oh look, there she is reviewing Palin’s book in the Washington Post!). Ana has way more spine than Twilight’s titular character (and swears more), but they certainly share the ability to collect fans: Cox is one of the top media folks on Twitter with 1.3 million followers and counting (ahead of Newt Gingrich, yo). And that little WaPo icon with Tucker Carlson almost looks like a Twilight poster.

>>>NEXT: Which media members represent the Cullen family?