Conan O'Brien ends 16-year run in New York to take over 'Tonight Show'

Tuesday night, he smashed the railing behind his desk and handed a lucky audience member a souvenir.

The crowds this week, his last in New York, have been filled with adoring followers who won tickets in a lottery.

Not bad for a guy who, when he started, got such a weak vote of confidence from the folks at NBC they would commit to him for only three months at time.

Better yet, this spring O'Brien will be given the keys to NBC's lucrative "Tonight" show franchise. "For a while, I was in denial - 'Oh, we'll just stop doing this show and we'll move on to the next one,'" O'Brien told the Associated Press of his pending end at "Late Night." "That's very me, very male. Men don't like to say goodbye. My wife told me about six months ago, 'I think you have to admit that you have mixed feelings about leaving this late-night show. It's very emotionally charged for you. That's okay.'"