Late Night

David Letterman just got the highest beard praise possible ... because it came from ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons.

We caught Gibbons at LAX and asked him to rate Letterman's scruff on a scale from 1 to 10. The bearded legend, who's been rocking his own face piece since the late '70s ... gave us an honest assessment of Dave's.

Check it out ... Billy doesn't think Letterman quite has what it takes to pull off Ol' St. Nick just yet -- but he might wanna pick up a few guitar chords. Ya never know ...

Conan O'Brien's no Fat Jewish -- he insists he and his staff came up with the jokes they're accused of stealing from a blogger ... who's not all that original anyway, according to Conan's new legal docs.

Robert Kaseberg sued Conan for copyright infringement, claiming several of his monologue jokes were lifted from Kaseberg's online blog -- but Conan responded to the suit this week, saying his material is 100% "independently created."

Truth is, some of the jokes are very similar -- but Conan says Kaseberg's comedy was so general and based on current events, it can't be copyrighted. For instance, they wrote almost identical shrinkage quips about an announcement the Washington Monument is 10 inches shorter than previously thought.

Conan's kinda calling Kaseberg's jokes lame. Yes, that also comes off like a shot at his own monologue writers, but Conan's bigger point is you can't steal something so unoriginal.

For the first time, Harrison Ford tried to reveal the details of his plane crash, but the problem is ... HE DOESN'T REMEMBER MOST OF IT!!

It's pretty incredible -- Harrison was trying to tell Jimmy Kimmel about that day back in March when he made the emergency landing of a single engine WW2 plane on a golf course -- but the last thing he can recall is telling the tower ... this isn't going to end well.

Harrison explained why he's suffering amnesia -- check it out.

Jimmy Fallon's going to run out of fingers to injure at this pace ... but he doesn't seem the least bit rattled after cutting his right hand on a shattered bottle of booze.

Jimmy posted a shot of the his bandaged right index finger, saying ... "Nothing that a few band aids couldn't fix."

TMZ broke the story ... Jimmy was partying with the Harvard Lampoon crew Saturday night, and carrying a bottle of Jägermeister, when he tripped over someone. It sounded bad, but Jimmy seems unfazed ... especially when compared to his more horrific left hand injury.

Jimmy Fallon's healing his aching left hand in style ... hitching a ride to the Hamptons to close out the holiday weekend.

Jimmy's injured fingers and hand were fully wrapped in a cast Sunday in Manhattan as he hopped a helicopter bound for the Hamptons -- 10 days after he nearly lost a digit falling at home.

The 'Tonight Show' is in repeats now ... so we're guessing Fallon's using his time off for some quality R&R out on the Island.

Little advice, Jimmy? Keep that thing out of the sand.

Jimmy Fallon and his single working hand are looking for a little sympathy -- he just gave us a first look at the injury, and an explanation for what happened early Friday morning.

Jimmy's left hand is heavily bandaged and elevated in the pic he posted from his hospital bed. He says his ring got caught on the edge of a table when he tripped and fell at home -- and he damn near ripped a finger clean off his hand.

At least the 'Tonight Show' host can still count on his right hand for important things.

Jimmy Fallon is laid up in a New York City hospital this morning after having surgery on his hand ... TMZ has learned.

After taping his show on Thursday ... we know Jimmy did dinner at Upper East Side restaurant Scalinatella. He posed for pics with a table full of female fans.

We're told Jimmy left the restaurant around 9ish ... and went home.

His rep says the injury to his left hand happened early this morning in his apartment. He went to the hospital, and a specialist recommended he have surgery immediately.

Friday night's taping of the 'Tonight Show' has been cancelled, but Jimmy's rep says he's expected to make a full recovery.

Adam Levine never had a chance against the sugar bomber outside Jimmy Kimmel's studio Wednesday evening ... and that's evident in this new angle of the attack.

You can see Adam was laser focused at the time ... on signing autographs for the mob of fans gathered to see him -- and the attacker totally blended into the crowd.

Watch the video ... two things are amazing here: 1. Adam is pissed, but is still remarkably calm -- and 2. Maroon 5 fans are rabid.

You gotta see and hear them go berserk. Those young girls kiss their mother's with those mouths?

Nice day for a white welcome -- Adam Levine just got blasted with powdered sugar on his way into Jimmy Kimmel's Hollywood studio.

The Maroon 5 frontman was actually taking time to greet fans when the sugar bomber attacked -- seemingly landing a head shot on Adam with some sweet sweet powder ... and leaving one side of his face completely white. He did NOT look happy. (Check out this new angle of the attack)

Unclear if the attacker was protesting on behalf of any particular group -- or just some idiot prankster -- but he was quickly detained by security until police arrived and arrested him for battery. Adam continued into the studio for his scheduled appearance.

No word on what he and the band will play, but our best guess -- "Sugar."

Maybe Zayn Malik should've left One Direction long ago ... is what you might think after hearing the group's producer Simon Cowell gush about the new foursome.

Simon's been mum about Zayn's departure, but finally spoke out Thursday night on "The Late Late Show with James Corden" -- and revealed how he reacted when he first got the news. Think hara-kiri.

More importantly to 1Ders everywhere ... Cowell leaked a few details about the upcoming album -- and applauds Harry Styles and the other 3 (sorry, guys) ... for not missing a beat right after Zayn bailed.

Watch and listen closely to Simon -- he's either putting the best spin possible on a bad sitch, or the group really is better now.

Snowmageddon has NYC in a state of emergency so Lorne Michaels isn't taking chances ... he said "no" to the snow and shelled out big bucks to put the "Saturday Night Live" staff up in swanky digs.

Some bridges and tunnels are closed until Wednesday and Tuesday is make-or-break ... it's the day they start writing the skits selected for this week's show. So Michaels and "SNL" offered to put the cast up at The New York Palace.

We're told around 15 cast and crew members signed up for the upscale digs close to 30 Rock, including Kenan Thompson, Colin Jost and a few writers.

Common caught some of Daniel Radcliffe rapping on 'Jimmy Fallon' the other night ... and gave us his honest review. But that wasn't enough to distract some people from something else -- Common's severe lack-of-Serena-ness.

Yes, sometimes break-ups (even ancient ones) can be really hard on total strangers.

CBS honcho Les Moonves is normally a straight shooter, but he carefully danced around the rumors he's picked a new host of "The Late Late Show."

Moonves and his wife, Julie Chen, were leaving Madeo Tuesday night when our photog grilled him over reports 35-year-old British actor James Corden would be taking the reigns once Craig Ferguson leaves. Reading between the lines the rumors sound .... tru-ish

And our photog asked ... what's the deal with foreigners having a lock on the 12:30 AM timeslot?

Moonves also has a strong opinion about the cast of "The Big Bang Theory" getting a huge raise.

Network rivalries aside, CBS honcho Les Moonves thinks President Barack Obama had no choice but to cancel his planned appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live."

TMZ broke the story ... the Prez was going to Kimmel's Hollywood studio at 3 PM Wednesday to appear on the show ... without a studio audience ... but he backed out.

Moonves said the appearance on a different network was no big deal ... but that Obama has too much going on right now in the world to hit up the late night shows.

Obama's press secretary said Tuesday given the 2 world crises it wasn't a good idea to appear on a comedy show.

It sounds like Chelsea Handler was never in the mix to replace David Letterman or Craig Ferguson ... because CBS head honcho Les Moonves says her comedy isn't a great fit for broadcast TV.

Moonves was leaving E Baldi in Beverly Hills on Thursday when our photog asked him for his opinion about the news Handler was going to host a talk show for Netflix starting in 2016.

The always honest Moonves said he thought the move was great for Chelsea because her "material will fit Netflix better" than it would on broadcast television.

Chelsea Handler is fanning the late night talk show flames, posting a photo on Instagram of her holding a pile of CBS papers ... which she termed a "business meeting."

Handler appears to be the next domino that will fall in the late night shuffle. She's leaving E! and the big buzz going around is that she'll replace Craig Ferguson, who is no doubt none too happy he didn't get David Letterman's gig.