Too Soon? Conan O’Brien’s 7 Greatest Tonight Show Moments In 7 Months

Conan O’Brien‘s “People of Earth” letter to announce that he would not host The Tonight Show any later than its established 11:35 pm slot has been praised almost universally since its release. But more than the jokes and the NBC burns — he did call the network’s plan “destruction” — it was Conan’s candid emotions that made the letter feel so much more intimate than the usual PR tone we’ve come to expect from media personalities.

Conan opened up, admitting that after fulfilling a lifelong dream, he was never even given a chance to succeed: “After only seven months, with my Tonight Show in its infancy, NBC has decided to react to their terrible difficulties in prime-time by making a change in their long-established late night schedule.”

But what of those seven months? How will The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien be remembered? To commemorate a stint too short and a potential never fully realized, we’ve collected seven of the best Tonight

Show clips of the last seven months, featuring Sarah Palin, William Shatner, Bruno, the great state of New Jersey and more!

First up, Conan O’Brien’s debut on The Tonight Show:

(photo via)

>>>NEXT: William Shatner goes rogue…