What Is O.B. Nex Really Like?
ARIES04 – J. Frank
[TV Magazine, The Morning Star, Washington, D.C., Program Listings March 25-31, March 25, 1962, Pages 2-3, C2152211811518S16]
“I’m not replacing Jack Paar. No. Haha, no. No. I’m transcending his temporal existence. The show will be reborn. Everything will be undone and done again. It will return as the “The Tonight Show, Starring O.B. Nex. Well, actually, maybe, O.B. Nex’s Tonight Show. Once they clean up Paar’s body anyway.”
Very little ego lurks behind Nex’s proclamation. Merely, as he puts it, an incontrovertible truth which has been sending shivers down NBC’s spines. Jack Paar’s final bow was slotted to come this Thursday, until his unexpected and untimely demise. After some deliberation, it appears O.B. Nex will be filling the void left by Paar, come October. In the interim, Art Linkletter, Joey Bishop, and Robert Cummings shall struggle to stave off the creeping dread that has filled the 23 Rockefeller studio.
Paar, despite his periodic bouts of madness, proved to be quite the financial juggernaut for NBC, turning the midnight slot from a $3 million, 62-station ghost town into a $15 million, 168-station empire. Now, after nearly five years, the question “What was Jack Paar really like?” has been laid to rest alongside him. The next enigma, or should I say complexity: “What is O.B. Nex really like?”
Physically, O.B. Nex remains the enigma he always has been. His true face concealed beneath his gigantic mascot sphere head emblazoned with his bright green question mark. Nex has confirmed he won’t be removing the mascot head for his new late-night show.
“You couldn’t handle what I actually look like, you know. No one can. Not even the airwaves. It’s a mercy. From me to you.”
Professionally, O.B. Nex has helmed ABC’s surreal and often unsettling game show “Complexico!” for the past five years, ensnaring contestants in webs of existential bewilderment and mind melting puzzles. He’s also graced panels on “What’s my Line?”, “To Tell the Truth,” “Password,” and “I’ve Got a Secret,” leaving a trail of befuddled guests and fellow hosts in his wake. His electric green question mark has graced shows by Steve Allen, Garry Moore, Perry Como, and Ed Sullivan. He’s even ventured into the dramatic realms of “Playhouse Eight” and “Wicked Hour.”
O.B. Nex's ascent promises to be meteoric and he vows to deliver a show that is "…intriguing, entertaining, and mind-bending."
O.B. Nex has one final episode of “Complexico!” to tape this coming Wednesday, with returning all-stars, Michael, Herb, and Nancy! Who will be the first, but more importantly the last, to buzz in and prove that they are the master of the enigmatic, elusive, and complex?