How Bad Are We Really Prepared to Feel For Conan O'Brien?
But for a man with options -- particularly one sitting on an eight-figure net worth who must have understood the scale of NBC's gamble going into it -- he protests too much. Worse still, he has others do it for him. Last night, for example, the pre-Levi low point occurred when staff writer Deon Cole stepped out to explain NBC's late-night arrangement through a metaphorical taxonomy of hoes. Which is to say that in NBC's pimp harem, O'Brien represents its pretty ho, Leno its old ho, Jimmy Fallon its young ho, and Carson Daly its "freak ho." Nice.
Whether the segment was amusing or not depends on whether or not you sympathize with individuals who, of their own volition, align themselves with pimps in the first place. To the extent there are victims in this situation, Cole and his colleagues fit the bill far more affectingly and convincingly than O'Brien the Pretty Ho ever will. (And if that happened to be the point of Cole's bit, it was lost on me and the host's obsequious guests to come.) They make The Tonight Show happen, and soon they won't. But as the torrent of fury and support and, yes, entitlement carries on through the week, it's increasingly clear that O'Brien makes O'Brien happen. As if that wasn't obvious already during his run at Late Night, where the ferocity and breadth of the Coco Cult suggested bigger, better things awaited for him in the first place.
And that's the thing: They still do. However slighted O'Brien and Co. feel today, and however much longer NBC should have given his Tonight Show, and however much he thinks the network owes him (we're talking loyalty, of course; the lawyers will determine the financial quantities), and however long he dreamed of sitting at Carson's desk, everybody knows he will survive. And there must be some relief in a new beginning. The alternative is too dreadful to bear for anyone who's enjoyed O'Brien all these years, let alone for O'Brien himself. So: Let's end the pity party and get on with life. We're all Team Conan here, and well-intentioned as Zachary Levi was, the last thing I need is him cutting O'Brien off on my behalf. There's a relocation to begin! Great things are ahead! Let's get to them, already.
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"People. Let’s get a hold of ourselves."
I bet if you were to check what people were doing at 12:14 am - that would be one of them...
It seems to me that Leno must know where the bodies are buried at NBC (perhaps from the Letterman vs. Leno wars?) for them to continually screw over Coco for The Chin, who has become a cartoonish, unfunny hack (woe to the sharp, funny, self-written stand-up he used to be before TTS). I haven't watched the Not-Ready-for-Prime Time Leno and certainly won't watch the Leno: Condensed Version.
I felt bad for Conan when the Leno Prime-Time experiment was announced - he must have felt like "What do I have to do to shed this hackneyed asshat??!" . . . and now that the experiment has been determined to be unsuccessful (thank Buddha NBC doesn't conduct medical trials, we wouldn't have the polio vaccine unless it had been discovered in under seven months) - these broadcasting poindexters want to stick it to Conan AGAIN!
I applaud him for refusing to be NBC's bitch and empathize with the desire to get some digs in (even if they aren't always funny or witty elegance).
I completely agree. The only reason that I can come up with as to why NBC doesn't just ditch Leno altogether is that he must have some mob connections. Why else would NBC still support him? They say he's been around the longest on NBC, but it's not actually true. Sure, he had been making appearances on TTS with Carson since the 70's, but only as a featured comedian or guest host; he wasn't actually a full-time employee until the early 90's when he got the Tonight Show. Conan has been a host of an NBC show since '93 and before that was working as a full-time writer for SNL since the mid 80's. So arguably, Conan's been around the longest and with a better résumé at that.
My point in all this is, this is just another example of internet band-wagon jumping.
aka, it's now cool to hate conan because there is a lot of support for him.
it's just contrary bullshit, can't we all go back to mindlessly supporting James Cameron movies.
Say what you want about ratings, but when it comes down to it, Jay was the one with the show that was so bad the affiliates demanded it be taken off, not Conan.
Wrong!
It's not about feeling sorry for Conan - it's about hating the thieving, manipulative, UNFUNNY, operator that is Jay Leno.
He FAILED in the 10 time slot, hurting Conan's chances of success by failing to provide a strong lead-in - and Conan is the one punished?
Leno should be put out to pasture.
It's ratings, people. Leno beat Letterman every night. Conan lost to Letterman every night. Couldn't be any simpler. Tough to feel sorry for someone who wallows in self-pity whilst looking to trouser tens of millions in payoff. If Conan had beaten Letterman in the head-to-heads, then Jay's chin would be on the block. But he didn't.
Amen.
OK. We watch a lot of NBC shows. We are not big fans of Conan but give the guy a chance - he erned it and we support him by watching his show most nights. Jay was getting tired at 11:35 PM and his time was up. He has a great following and I am sure he can get a lot of stand-up jobs if he wants them. It is time for Jay to step aside and give Conan his shot. If we are looking for a replacement for Johnny then give it a rest. Craig Furgson is the best on late-night but we want NBC to support Conan.
We feel badly for the people who work for Jay most of all - writers, musicians and stabe peiople who will now be out of work.
When Jay Leno was on at 11:35 hosting the Tonight Show I felt like a lot of the Conan fans were watching his show while waiting for Conan. So Jay Leno's ratings were basically his own fans + Conan's fans. Then when he moved to 10 however many of his fans went with him and Conan's fans stayed with Conan to watch The Tonight Show. So obviously Conan's numbers weren't going to be huge yet because he needs time to build his version of the Tonight Show. Then it will be a Conan/Fallon combo and since the younger demographic loves them I'm pretty sure in the long run they are the best choice. Out with the old in with the new.. eventually that's what always happens. So I don't know what NBC is thinking. I thought they were supposed to be about long term success
Dear NBC: Unfortunately this may be the last time I will ever contact your business or support any functions or participate in any NBC programming. I am 100% absolutely appalled you are removing Conan O'Brien from your list. He is the leader in generation X and younger talk show hosts. Speaking for the majority of individuals in my age group and for the future of comedy, you're company has made a drastic mistake. Jay Leno is washed up, boring, and does not have the genuine raw sense of humor that O'brien portrays. I'm not one to threat nor am I one to ever post/write about complaints, but I am passionate that I will NEVER watch your shows ever again and will dedicate my life to supporting the boycott of NBC. Conan is the funniest, most original comedian you have between all of your programming schedules throughout all your networks. I am sorry that not only have you lost all support for your business, but I assure you I will voice my opinion through my large network of friends/business partners.
I think the reason people are all aflutter about this (to the degree they are and for the durration they've been) is not 100% for Conan, it's the combination of factors. 1) Leno's numbers when he took the spot weren't great at first either and he was given time to establish himself in that slot, 2) The entire staff of the show (not just Conan) moved across country for the gig and while Conan won't have trouble the rest might, 3) if NBC decides they want to they can pay and keep Conan off other networks which means he, his staff, and the people who enjoy his show are all out of luck.
I am one of those who would chose to watch Conan over Leno or Letterman if he went to another network in the same time slot, but I get that I'm probably a minority because there's too much overlap between Conan's target audience and Letterman's and Letterman is established in that time slot (one reason, though far from the only one, that Conan's numbers aren't as good as Leno's were). Which is why I worry that Conan will choose to take a pay out and stay off the air for the next 2-3 years. You see, I'm sure Conan gets it too. He probably knows that another show in that slot on another network is not a good idea against both Leno and Letterman. Hence, the extreme outpouring of support for Conan. I think everyone is just desperately hoping that something will change and that this doesn't mean we won't see anymore of Conan (in this format).
I think he (and his guests) should give as much time as they want to this. Even if every guest he has on from now until he leaves interupts him to give their support, his interviews will still be about 1000 times more entertaining that Letterman who pretty much leaves his guests to their own devices instead of actually interviewing them. What would have been really great is if Zachary Levi had taken some of his time on Letterman's show (he wouldn't have had to interrupt since Letterman wasn't really saying anything anyway) to voice his support for Conan.
Conan sucks. Hes never been funny and never will be. Why he has a show is a mystery.
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