Dennis Haysbert doesn't tweet

With much fanfare and an over-the-top voiceover that called host Conan O'Brien "CoCo," "The Tonight Show" introduced a new segment Tuesday called "Twitter Tracker."

"Don't spit on the twit," the monster truck-like voiceover commanded. "Don't crap on the app. Don't put the Twitter in the ..." You get the idea. The madcap segment, which included the Twitter bird's head being sliced off, led up to a "Tweet of the Week" purportedly from "The Unit" star and Allstate pitchman Dennis Haysbert.

With all the build-up, surely this would be a 140-character masterpiece, a window into the soul of President Palmer. Or maybe this:

"Just saw the new Star Trek movie. Wow, really good."

Here's the thing, though: Dennis Haysbert didn't tweet that, and may not even be on Twitter. Someone with the screen name dennishaysbert does have a Twitter account, and it's accompanied by a picture of the actor, but it's never been used. (Which seems like a missed opportunity. Had "Dennis Haysbert" been watching "Tonight" Tuesday and responded to the TV shout-out, he could have picked up a ton of new followers.)

The completely manic vibe and outlandish buildup made the bit work as comedy, but with the abundance of celebrities saying equally banal things on Twitter, the show might be better served in the future by using real tweets.

(Zap2it staffers Brill Bundy, Korbi Ghosh, Andy Grieser, Joseph Kapsch, Hanh Nguyen, Rick Porter and Darcel Rockett, on the other hand, are all real and all on Twitter. You can also follow us and other showbiz-related tweets in the Twitter tab on the Zap2it.com homepage.)

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