Lopez, Conan To Make Late-Night History With TBS Cross-Over Event

Two decades ago, who would’ve ever thought that a late-night television precedent would be set by, of all the networks . . . TBS?

Believe it or not, it will happen. For the first time in late night history, two back-to-back hosts on the same network will guest on each other’s shows this Thursday, June 9. starting at 11 ET/10 CT, reports Deadline today.

Conan O’Brien will get the ball rolling dropping in on George Lopez’s “Lopez Tonight,” followed by Lopez immediately dropping in on “Conan” right after. What workhorses these two are: O’Brien will hang about for Lopez’s taping, then turn around and tape his own show, whereas Lopez seems to be getting the rougher deal, taping a full episode of his own show before sticking around for another chat with O’Brien.

Now, think about this a moment. Think about the other hosts who have never swung this. Johnny Carson and David Letterman never did it. Nor did Leno and Letterman. Nor Leno and O’Brien. Letterman and Craig Ferguson have never tried it – for that matter, nor has Letterman tried it with anybody who has hosted “The Late Late Show.” To date, Jimmy Fallon and Leno haven’t even tried it yet.

How you look at this depends on your perspective/degree of cynicism. Lopez and O’Brien are quite chummy, so sharing the timeslot has worked out pretty well. However, O’Brien has a good stretch remaining on his contract, while Lopez’s is coming up soon and the network is still on the fence.

So depending on how you see it, it’s either a couple chums just having a little fun with their coinciding schedules, or one friend helping out another who’s desperate to make a big impression on TBS for a big new contract.