Jimmy Fallon still loves Conan

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Jimmy Fallon is hosting the Emmys on Aug. 29. And it's entirely possible that in the course of the program, his predecessor on "Late Night" will win one.

Conan O'Brien's "Tonight Show" is nominated for a total of four Emmys, as a matter of fact. Which means that the guy NBC got rid of could be accepting an award for outstanding variety, music or comedy series when the Emmys air — on NBC.

The guy who took back "The Tonight Show" after handing it over to O'Brien, Jay Leno, won't be winning an Emmy. He's not nominated. Neither is his version of "The Tonight Show."

"The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" is also nominated for writing, directing and art direction.

All of which could add up to a big, fat embarrassment for the Peacock. And Fallon, who hosts NBC's "Late Night," will be presiding over the whole thing.

"If he wins, it would be interesting to hear what he has to say," Fallon said diplomatically.

"We're looking forward to seeing him," said Fallon's producer, Mike Shoemaker. "We haven't seen him in a while. I think people at NBC want to see it, too."

(Um, really?)

While this could be uncomfortable for NBC, it won't be for Fallon. In the midst of all the late-night unpleasantness at the network, he has managed to remain friendly with both Leno and O'Brien.

"Absolutely," Fallon said.

And he gushes over O'Brien.

"If it wasn't for Conan, I wouldn't have this job," Fallon said. "He kicked butt for 16 years, 17 years, whatever, and then I came in. So I owe him a lot."

O'Brien, for his part, has been lying pretty low as he prepares for his November debut on TBS. He has been doing his comedy tour but refusing interview requests.

Despite the urging of the Television Critics Association, TBS didn't even bring him to the association's press tour, despite the chance to address a room where the writers hit a combined 100 million readers.

"He's living in a cabin somewhere, working on his manifesto. I'd love to see him and say hi to him," said Fallon, adding that he missed O'Brien's tour stop in New York because "Late Night" was on hiatus and he was out of town.

"I was planning on going to see him in New York, but I sent him a cooler full of Guinness beer, and I said, 'Break a leg.' "

Except for the occasional joke, Fallon wasn't really heard from during the Leno-O'Brien controversy. Even though NBC's proposed solution — to give Leno a half-hour late-night show and push O'Brien back to 11:05 p.m. MT — would have pushed Fallon's "Late Night" back to 12:05 a.m. MT/1:05 a.m. Eastern and Pacific Time.

"I just kind of just kept my head down and kept working hard and just looking for the next joke . I wasn't really in the mix of all of that," he said.