\n\tAs he accepted one of this year\u2019s top Television Academy honors, star Conan O\u2019Brien admitted that the award came at an unusual time. Speaking on Saturday to the audience at the Television Academy Hall of Fame, O\u2019Brien noted that at this moment, \u201cthere\u2019s a lot of fear about the future of television, and rightfully so. The life we\u2019ve all known for almost 80 years is undergoing seismic change.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tBut, he told the audience gathered at the J.W. Marriot Hotel in downtown\u2019s LA Live district, \u201cthis might just be my nature. I choose not to mourn what is lost, because I think in the most essential way, what we have is not changing at all. Streaming changes the pipeline, but the connection, the talent, the ideas that come into our homes\u2026 I think it\u2019s the focus. We have proof here tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tO\u2019Brien pointed to the success of recent series \u201cAbbott Elementary,\u201d \u201cHacks\u201d and \u201cI Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson\u201d as a sign that there may still be creative opportunties in Hollywood. Said the comedian: \u201cIt\u2019s all electrifying a new generation of viewers. Yes, late-night television, as we have known it since around 1950, is going to disappear. But those voices are not going anywhere. People like Stephen Colbert<\/a> are too talented and too essential to go away.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tAnd that\u2019s where O\u2019Brien addressed the state of his longtime late night stomping grounds. O\u2019Brien, of course, spent nearly 30 years in the daypart, via \u201cLate Night With Conan O\u2019Brien,\u201d \u201cThe Tonight Show With Conan O\u2019Brien\u201d and \u201cConan.\u201d \u201cI\u2019ve dabbled in other things, but that\u2019s where I\u2019ve lived,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd for those of you under 40, late-night television was a service designed to distract college students until science would perfect the internet and online pornography. Boy, did they get that right.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThen, he added about Colbert: \u201cStephen is going to evolve and shine brighter than ever in a new format that he controls completely. So, technology can do whatever they want. It can make television a pill. It can make television shows a high-protein, chewable, vanilla-flavored capsule with added fiber. It still won\u2019t matter, if the stories are good, if the performances are honest and inspired, if the people making it are brave and of goodwill.\u201d<\/p>\n