I'M WITH COCO
I haven't really updated much lately. It isn't that I haven't had things I wanted to comment on or updates on my life (or lack of one, as it is), but I do have something I want to post.
I've never been a religious watcher of late night television. Do I enjoy it? Immensely. Do I watch it whenever my favorite actors and actresses and directors and musical guests are slated to appear? Of course (often more than once should the person in question be a little known man who goes by the letters NPH). But I have never been one to watch it every single night, mostly because I used to use those hours to do my assignments that were due the next day, or to sleep, or in most cases, to catch up on scripted television shows I'd missed earlier. But if I have the time and I'm in the mood, if I had to choose one late night performer, one personality that I would always watch, it is hands down Conan O'Brien (though it should be mentioned I also enjoy Craig Ferguson and his creepy, hilarious and dirty sense of humor, but this is a rather new love from the past couple years).
Conan is the funniest man in late night. His sense of humor is wacky and it's compatible with my own. I loved everything he did while on Late Night, and when I heard back in 2004 Conan would be hosting The Tonight Show in 2009, I was excited. Everyone knows the program. It's a long running show. It's been on NBC since 1954. My parents grew up watching it and so many people know the names Johnny Carson and Jay Leno because of the show. It's a big deal to host the show. And I was honest to goodness sad to hear about the mess at NBC these past couple of weeks. I desperately wanted to spend money on an "I'm with CoCo" t-shirt/poster but I can't really afford to spend any money lately.
NBC has had a lot of problems, and I think it stems from their own inability to run their network. As a long standing television enthusiast, NBC has been one of my least favorite networks (I think the honor of Least Favorite Network goes to Fox, simply because it shafted my BFF Joss Whedon twice). Whether it's this most recent mess of Conan versus Jay & NBC, or whether it's their inability to understand the genius of Friday Night Lights and Chuck (though to their credit, they've done their best to keep those two shows alive), or canceling Southland and Kings (mad props to TNT for picking up the former though), NBC has no idea what it's doing. Promising Conan the show five years ago was not a mistake. Conan has a massive fan base. It's true. If you haven't noticed it by now, then you are probably living in a cave and have no idea who Conan is and you're not reading this because you have no Internet connection. Conan has a loyal following as evidenced by the rally's held in his favor and the t-shirts and posters that have been making waves on the Internet. And he has the fan-base NBC wants, the younger audience. Jay's audience is older and it's been noted that once Conan took over hosting duties on the show, the average age of viewers went from mid-50s to mid-40s.
So no, giving Conan the show was not a mistake. The problem was realizing they had to figure out what to do with Jay Leno and his Chin. Placing Leno in prime time was one of the worst ideas in the history of bad decision making, and if the bigwigs at corporate had listened to the TV critics (the smartest people in the history of smart people), they'd have seen it's downfall coming.
I'm not saying Leno is not a talented man. He is, and I greatly enjoy seeing him pop up on Living With Ed, which is a fantastic show starring Ed Begley, Jr. and his family. It shows how he lives eco-friendly and stuff. It's awesome. And Ed's neighbor/friend is Bill Nye the Science Guy, so check it out. It's on Planet Green, part of Discovery. He is a late night talk show personality, but not someone who can anchor a show in prime-time. I doubt any late-time personality could host a show during prime-time and be successful. Putting him up against scripted drama was never going to get anywhere. Leno's problems then led to less people watching their local news channels (though that is the subject for an entirely different post on why the world as we know it is doomed), and therefore less people tuned in to Conan.
And while I will always be partly annoyed at Jay and his Chin for displacing my CoCo as host after only seven months, I understand this entire situation is not Jay's fault, it's NBC's fault. And I stand by Conan's decision to leave the show instead of pushing the show's time to 12:05 AM. I have no doubt that come September Conan will once again grace my television during the late hours of the night. He will move to another network and I will once again be able to enjoy his pompadour in all its ginger glory.
I only wish now that the people over at NBC will get their heads out of their collective asses and figure out how to run a television network. And though Conan told me in his last episode as host of The Tonight Show, "Don't be cynical...it doesn't lead anywhere," I am cynical. I have been. I hate thinking now Conan's upset with me, lol, but this mess has proved only one thing to me: Conan is too good for NBC. Though they've employed him for the last 20 years and though they've helped him become the man he is today, this is not the same NBC he has been employed with for the last two decades. NBC has not always had these problems, but right now, Conan is too classy a man for a network who can't figure out good shows from bad shows and good ideas from bad ideas.
I will leave you with this, it's Conan's farewell speech, the one that brought not only laughter but definitely tears on my part (and it appears to Conan as well, as we he choked up a little bit in the middle when addressing his loyal fans).
Before we end this rodeo, a few things need to be said. There has been a lot of speculation in the press about what I legally can and can’t say about NBC. To set the record straight, tonight I am allowed to say anything I want. And what I want to say is this: between my time at Saturday Night Live, The Late Night Show, and my brief run here on The Tonight Show, I have worked with NBC for over twenty years. Yes, we have our differences right now and yes, we’re going to go our separate ways. But this company has been my home for most of my adult life. I am enormously proud of the work we have done together, and I want to thank NBC for making it all possible.
Walking away from The Tonight Show is the hardest thing I have ever had to do. Making this choice has been enormously difficult. This is the best job in the world, I absolutely love doing it, and I have the best staff and crew in the history of the medium. But despite this sense of loss, I really feel this should be a happy moment. Every comedian dreams of hosting The Tonight Show and, for seven months, I got to. I did it my way, with people I love, and I do not regret a second. I’ve had more good fortune than anyone I know and if our next gig is doing a show in a 7-11 parking lot, we’ll find a way to make it fun.
And finally, I have to say something to our fans. The massive outpouring of support and passion from so many people has been overwhelming. The rallies, the signs, all the goofy, outrageous creativity on the internet, and the fact that people have traveled long distances and camped out all night in the pouring rain to be in our audience, made a sad situation joyous and inspirational.
To all the people watching, I can never thank you enough for your kindness to me and I’ll think about it for the rest of my life. All I ask of you is one thing: please don’t be cynical. I hate cynicism- it’s my least favorite quality and it doesn’t lead anywhere.
Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen.
I've never been a religious watcher of late night television. Do I enjoy it? Immensely. Do I watch it whenever my favorite actors and actresses and directors and musical guests are slated to appear? Of course (often more than once should the person in question be a little known man who goes by the letters NPH). But I have never been one to watch it every single night, mostly because I used to use those hours to do my assignments that were due the next day, or to sleep, or in most cases, to catch up on scripted television shows I'd missed earlier. But if I have the time and I'm in the mood, if I had to choose one late night performer, one personality that I would always watch, it is hands down Conan O'Brien (though it should be mentioned I also enjoy Craig Ferguson and his creepy, hilarious and dirty sense of humor, but this is a rather new love from the past couple years).
Conan is the funniest man in late night. His sense of humor is wacky and it's compatible with my own. I loved everything he did while on Late Night, and when I heard back in 2004 Conan would be hosting The Tonight Show in 2009, I was excited. Everyone knows the program. It's a long running show. It's been on NBC since 1954. My parents grew up watching it and so many people know the names Johnny Carson and Jay Leno because of the show. It's a big deal to host the show. And I was honest to goodness sad to hear about the mess at NBC these past couple of weeks. I desperately wanted to spend money on an "I'm with CoCo" t-shirt/poster but I can't really afford to spend any money lately.
NBC has had a lot of problems, and I think it stems from their own inability to run their network. As a long standing television enthusiast, NBC has been one of my least favorite networks (I think the honor of Least Favorite Network goes to Fox, simply because it shafted my BFF Joss Whedon twice). Whether it's this most recent mess of Conan versus Jay & NBC, or whether it's their inability to understand the genius of Friday Night Lights and Chuck (though to their credit, they've done their best to keep those two shows alive), or canceling Southland and Kings (mad props to TNT for picking up the former though), NBC has no idea what it's doing. Promising Conan the show five years ago was not a mistake. Conan has a massive fan base. It's true. If you haven't noticed it by now, then you are probably living in a cave and have no idea who Conan is and you're not reading this because you have no Internet connection. Conan has a loyal following as evidenced by the rally's held in his favor and the t-shirts and posters that have been making waves on the Internet. And he has the fan-base NBC wants, the younger audience. Jay's audience is older and it's been noted that once Conan took over hosting duties on the show, the average age of viewers went from mid-50s to mid-40s.
So no, giving Conan the show was not a mistake. The problem was realizing they had to figure out what to do with Jay Leno and his Chin. Placing Leno in prime time was one of the worst ideas in the history of bad decision making, and if the bigwigs at corporate had listened to the TV critics (the smartest people in the history of smart people), they'd have seen it's downfall coming.
I'm not saying Leno is not a talented man. He is, and I greatly enjoy seeing him pop up on Living With Ed, which is a fantastic show starring Ed Begley, Jr. and his family. It shows how he lives eco-friendly and stuff. It's awesome. And Ed's neighbor/friend is Bill Nye the Science Guy, so check it out. It's on Planet Green, part of Discovery. He is a late night talk show personality, but not someone who can anchor a show in prime-time. I doubt any late-time personality could host a show during prime-time and be successful. Putting him up against scripted drama was never going to get anywhere. Leno's problems then led to less people watching their local news channels (though that is the subject for an entirely different post on why the world as we know it is doomed), and therefore less people tuned in to Conan.
And while I will always be partly annoyed at Jay and his Chin for displacing my CoCo as host after only seven months, I understand this entire situation is not Jay's fault, it's NBC's fault. And I stand by Conan's decision to leave the show instead of pushing the show's time to 12:05 AM. I have no doubt that come September Conan will once again grace my television during the late hours of the night. He will move to another network and I will once again be able to enjoy his pompadour in all its ginger glory.
I only wish now that the people over at NBC will get their heads out of their collective asses and figure out how to run a television network. And though Conan told me in his last episode as host of The Tonight Show, "Don't be cynical...it doesn't lead anywhere," I am cynical. I have been. I hate thinking now Conan's upset with me, lol, but this mess has proved only one thing to me: Conan is too good for NBC. Though they've employed him for the last 20 years and though they've helped him become the man he is today, this is not the same NBC he has been employed with for the last two decades. NBC has not always had these problems, but right now, Conan is too classy a man for a network who can't figure out good shows from bad shows and good ideas from bad ideas.
I will leave you with this, it's Conan's farewell speech, the one that brought not only laughter but definitely tears on my part (and it appears to Conan as well, as we he choked up a little bit in the middle when addressing his loyal fans).
Before we end this rodeo, a few things need to be said. There has been a lot of speculation in the press about what I legally can and can’t say about NBC. To set the record straight, tonight I am allowed to say anything I want. And what I want to say is this: between my time at Saturday Night Live, The Late Night Show, and my brief run here on The Tonight Show, I have worked with NBC for over twenty years. Yes, we have our differences right now and yes, we’re going to go our separate ways. But this company has been my home for most of my adult life. I am enormously proud of the work we have done together, and I want to thank NBC for making it all possible.
Walking away from The Tonight Show is the hardest thing I have ever had to do. Making this choice has been enormously difficult. This is the best job in the world, I absolutely love doing it, and I have the best staff and crew in the history of the medium. But despite this sense of loss, I really feel this should be a happy moment. Every comedian dreams of hosting The Tonight Show and, for seven months, I got to. I did it my way, with people I love, and I do not regret a second. I’ve had more good fortune than anyone I know and if our next gig is doing a show in a 7-11 parking lot, we’ll find a way to make it fun.
And finally, I have to say something to our fans. The massive outpouring of support and passion from so many people has been overwhelming. The rallies, the signs, all the goofy, outrageous creativity on the internet, and the fact that people have traveled long distances and camped out all night in the pouring rain to be in our audience, made a sad situation joyous and inspirational.
To all the people watching, I can never thank you enough for your kindness to me and I’ll think about it for the rest of my life. All I ask of you is one thing: please don’t be cynical. I hate cynicism- it’s my least favorite quality and it doesn’t lead anywhere.
Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen.