Tomorrow, Conan O’Brien will host his last “Late Night” and on June 1, he will host his first “Tonight Show”. The difference between “Late Night” and “Tonight Show” is like the difference between Oprah and Tyra, Camry and Kia, Boeing 747 and 737.

When I was a lot younger, when I used to travel by bus along the East coast of the United States, I used to put in quarters to watch O’Brien on small TV screens at Greyhounds bus terminal chairs. He used to be very funny then.

As I grew older, I got to know that the real deals were Jay Leno and David Letterman. With Leno and Letterman, I chose Leno. Leno’s monologue is longer and funnier. But Letterman is the best interviewer in Late Night. So what I do all night is to watch Jay Leno’s monologue and switch over to Letterman to catch the Top Ten. And depending on the guest lists, I will decide who to watch for the rest of the night. When Leno is on vacation, I get the chance to see Letterman’s monologue.

The nights I had the stomach to stay up beyond 12.35 am, I found myself watching CBS Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn. Though O’Brien was leading in the poll, I found Kilborn more matured. I continued to stay with Late Late Show when Craig Ferguson took over from Kilborn.

With the coming shift, O’Brien will be in direct competition with Letterman. I do not expect it to be any competition. Letterman will trash him night after night. For O’Brien to have any chance, he has to reinvent himself and come up with a more matured show that will appeal to audience as diverse as the 11:35 pm audience. At 12:35 am, O’Brien has the mainly student audience who are inclined to appreciate his kind of humor.

Producers of Conan O’Brien’s “Tonight Show” will work really hard to fill the shoes left behind by Jay Leno. It does not help that Jay Leno will not be going too far away. In a deal with NBC, he will be swinging over to 10.00pm time frame for a prime time show.

It will be interesting to see what happens in the fall of 2009. Night TV will definitely be a different ball game. Someone will lose out when it is all said and done. The person who will lose out is likely going to be the one who fails to innovate.

Goodbye O’Brien. Welcome O’Brien. I bet you are ready for the bumpy ride ahead. Good luck.