Conan’s skeleton show: trick or treat?

The Halloween edition of Late Night With Conan O’Brien will be broadcast in something called “skelevision,” with an episode from May reconstructed to make the participants appear as skeleton puppets. Wags have asked: How would viewers tell a “skelevision” version of Larry King (who is one of the guests) from the genuine article—or Conan for that matter? But we would never stoop so low. Maybe NBC could work the same trick on the commercials. Car companies might object, saying it would undermine safety claims. And the grave connotations (yes, pun intended) might make it risky for fast-food, juice and spirits companies, too. Skeletons could be shown in Nikes or Reeboks, but even that would cast the footwear in an eerie light. There is one media buy that makes sense. The American Legacy Foundation frequently employs images of suffering and death to point out the dangers of smoking. A new Legacy spot features a singing cowboy (get it? wink, wink) who uses an electronic device to sing through a hole in his throat. Why not make him a skeleton, just in case anyone missed the point?

—Posted by David Gianatasio

October 24, 2006 | Permalink