Conan O'Brien lands TBS late-night gig, tweets his joy

Looks as if Team Coco has mucho cause for celebration this morning (remember, they're fond of Jameson) -- former "Tonight Show" host Conan O'Brien will be back on the air in November, doing his late-night thing on cable network TBS.

"In three months I've gone from network television to Twitter to performing live in theater, and now I'm headed to basic cable," O'Brien said in a statement released by the network. "My plan is working perfectly."

O'Brien left his post at "The Tonight Show" in January after NBC reinstalled ex-host Jay Leno in its late-night schedule. 

Ever the funnyman, O'Brien took to Twitter on Monday after the announcement, writing, "The good news: I will be doing a show on TBS starting in November! The bad news: I'll be playing Rudy on the all new Cosby Show."

O'Brien will air before TBS' current late-night chatter, George Lopez. We wonder if Max Weinberg will join Conan as band leader?

-- Matt Donnelly

P.S.: Rudy's the one in pink.

Photo: Conan O'Brien at Comedy Central's "Night of Too Many Stars" special in New York on April 13, 2008. Credit: Peter Kramer / Associated Press.

Congratulate Conan O'Brien by checking out our late-night headlines. We tweet the headlines and more (we're @latcelebs) and get friendly on Facebook.

Will Ferrell and Viveca Paulin welcome baby son Axel

This post has been corrected, as detailed below.

Will Ferrell and Viveca Paulin welcomed a third son, Axel, Saturday morning in Los Angeles. The little guy joins brothers Magnus, 5, and Mattias, 3.

And talk about working up till the last minute -- a very pregnant Viveca rocked out to "Free Bird" with Will (see below) on Conan O'Brien's final show, just hours before heading to the delivery room.

Will and Viveca met in an acting class, according to People magazine -- and the Ministry can confirm that, because we were there too: South Coast Repertory theater's eight-week professional acting conservatory, summer of 1991, just down the road in Costa Mesa. "Awakenings" catch, anyone? (Approximately 20 people on the planet will get that joke. OK, maybe six.)

Congrats to the whole family!

-- Christie D'Zurilla

[For the record, Oct. 24, 2011: Viveca Paulin's first name was misspelled as Vivica in this post's original headline.]

Photos: Will Ferrell sits courtside, above, at the Jan. 15 Lakers-Clippers game in L.A. Below, in jeans and a hat, he rocks the mike while a hippie-clad Vivica Paulin sways to his left Jan. 22 on the final "Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien." Credits: Stephen Dunn/Getty Images, top; Margaret Norton / NBC via Getty Images, below.

Related dispatches from the Ministry:

Matthew McConaughey, Camila Alves welcome baby No. 2

Johnny Knoxville and Naomi Nelson welcome a baby boy

It's a baby boy for Kourtney Kardashian and her boyfriend

The Duggar family welcomes baby Josie Brooklyn early

It's a baby boy for Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen!

Lil Wayne and his newest lil boy -- and then some

Overpaid actor Will Ferrell is also a nice guy: Just ask Pete Carroll

Follow the Ministry of Gossip on Twitter (we're @LATcelebs).  And if you want to become a fan on Facebook, find us at facebook.com/ministryofgossip.

Conan O'Brien's after-party details: Irish wake for his final 'Tonight Show'

Looks like the Sundance Film Festival can't take all the celeb glory this weekend -- I've just learned that Conan O'Brien threw an epic after-party on Friday night for his final turn at hosting "The Tonight Show." So epic, in fact, the theme was a traditional Irish wake.

Jameson Irish whiskey and ginger ale flowed for hours on L.A.'s Universal City set, where O'Brien toasted loud and long with cohorts Andy Richter, musical director Max Weinberg and the show's band, including  trombonist Richie "LaBamba" Rosenberg, as well as more than 200 crew wearing "Team Conan" and "I'm with Coco" shirts.   

"We didn't rehearse today because we don't care. We've all been drinking," O'Brien joked during the show ...  

The Conan-NBC fracas, as interpreted by Pee-wee Herman

Comedian Paul Reubens, riding high off the opening of his "The Pee-wee Herman Show" in Los Angeles this week, stopped by for one of Conan O'Brien's final "Tonight Show" tapings to explain the whole NBC fracas.

With toys. 

If you haven't been keeping track of the story, this is a fun way to catch up.

-- Christie D'Zurilla

Photo credit: Frederick M. Brown / Getty Images

Related dispatches from the Ministry of Gossip:

'Pee-wee Herman' premiere: Hasselhoff, Arquette, Tomei, Samberg and more flock to the L.A. after-party

MOG presents a photo gallery from 'The Pee-wee Herman Show' opening

 'Coco and the Chin': Conan O'Brien apparently 100% OK with this #LenoFAIL situation

'Coco and the Chin': #Conan O'Brien apparently 100% OK with this #LenoFAIL situation [Updated]

Conan O'Brien's monologues lately are proving that he's totally OK with all this Jay Leno stuff.

Absolutely. Completely. I mean, who wouldn't be?

The monologue above, from Friday, is short and hysterically funny. The monologue embedded after the jump (It's the entire Monday show, actually, in case you weren't very busy at work) is long, but, um, illuminating, with good stuff up front and then another list at 5:30.

The "Twilight" and "Avatar" gags come shortly thereafter. 

What were we saying last week about comedy coming from pain?

[Updated at 12:36 p.m.: You know we were joking about him being OK with this whole mess, right? Conan just released a statement rejecting what he calls the "destruction" of "The Tonight Show." In other words, he ain't OK with a 12:05 a.m. time slot. He also says that although there's talk of him moving to another network, he has no other offer.]

-- Christie D'Zurilla

Photo credit: Reed Saxon / Associated Press

Conan O'Brien apologizes to Levi Johnston, with William Shatner's help

If only every apology could be as heartfelt as Conan O'Brien's mea culpa to Levi Johnston.

Levi was made to look foolish on Wednesday night's "Tonight Show" through the use of Twitter messages that turned out to be written by a Johnston impostor. But on Thursday night, Conan made it right.

Fortunately, William Shatner can work with whatever material he's been handed -- which means that Thursday he managed to make Levi look equally foolish using verified tweets.

Ahh, closure.

The Shatner stuff starts about two minutes in, but the lead-up is worth watching too.

We are giggling. Can only imagine what Shatner would do with this one, if we were famous enough for anyone to care. Alas, it ain't Taco Bell. 

-- Christie D'Zurilla

P.S. Note to "Tonight Show" writers: Was it that hard to miss that the first account was bogus? Or did the joke seem worth the risk? Not as if fake Twitter accounts are a new thing.

Levi Johnston wants a retraction after Shatner's NBC beat tweets

And it's all fun and games until someone adds bongos to a Twitter account...

Imagine beat poetry in 140 characters or less.

Performed by William Shatner.

On Conan O'Brien's "Tonight Show."

Written, allegedly, by Levi Johnston. Or -- maybe by "Fake Levi Johnston"?

At any rate, the Shatner sketch really happened, and the real Levi Johnston is ticked. And he's invited his lawyer to the party, TMZ reports.

And we thought everything was better with bongos.

E! Online has the story "in happier times," before Levi said, "Hey, that's not  my Twitter page" and demanded a retraction from NBC. The "Tonight Show" video is there as well, plus links to Shatner's Sarah Palin beat tweet performances from back in July.

(Be aware that this aired on late-night network TV, where you can more readily say certain words that aren't in fact profane.)

-- Christie D'Zurilla

P.S. It's not as if Shatner hasn't done this kind of thing before. Hey, the man just loves poetry. 

Photo: William Shatner accepts the Ultimate Scream award in Los Angeles on Oct. 17. Credit: Chris Pizzello / Associated Press