NBC: The End of a Short-Lived Era

Wow, last night’s episode of The Tonight Show, which was Conan O’Brien’s last night hosting, was absolutely brilliant and moving. Hearing how he talked about NBC being a home for him for over 20 years just goes to show that things were obviously pretty much fine until recently. And all the jabs made at the current network heads were well deserved. I’ve never seen so much support for a host, and there’s also the fact that his ratings went up at least 50% in the end. There were also plenty of celebrities supporting him. For example it’s pretty safe to say that after seeing Robin Williams’ Irish jig Thursday night, he is in strong support of Mr. O'Brien. Knowing that they’re willing to let Conan leave and Jay come back after all that as well as considering how NBC is in a hole right now in most other spots leaves me to believe Jeff Zucker and Co. are simply not too bright. “Morons! Incompetent morons!” indeed.

And I know Conan isn’t into cynicism, but I’m sorry, I can’t help but not like Jay after all this. I don’t wish the man death or anything, but it’s becoming much clearer that all he had to do was just bow out, or if he wanted another show so badly he could have easily gone to another network or try first-run syndication and Conan would still be hosting Tonight. Considering how he managed to push Johnny Carson into early retirement and screw David Letterman out of the job, I’m more than convinced he is not an innocent victim at all in this late night situation. This stuff and knowing that he’s stolen bits from Letterman and Howard Stern pretty much leave a bad taste in my mouth as far as his professionalism, or lack thereof is concerned.

I’m predominately a Letterman watcher, but I watched a few times for a couple celebrity interviews before, and with those, and as well as in seeing the show more recently, I’ve laughed with Conan’s short-lived era of The Tonight Show much more in this short span than I ever have when Jay hosted it. It’s really too bad that Conan was not given a proper chance to grow and find a good audience with Tonight. I'm glad that it seems Conan will have the last laugh though... all the way to the bank.

Online Pick of the Week (1/15): Ultimate Leno Ownage

You know, sometimes I can have a bit of a hard time picking stuff for this weekly entry. But this week was an absolute no-brainer.

Jimmy appeared via satellite from his own show on Jay Leno’s 10@10 segment… and let’s just say… it’s not what Jay was expecting.

My favorite part hands down was when Jimmy said: "The best prank I ever pulled was I told a guy that—five years from now—I'm gonna give you my show. And then when the five years came, I gave it to him, and then I took it back almost instantly."

I normally wouldn’t condone the bashing of someone on their own show, even if it‘s someone I don‘t like, but in this case I think it was justified. A few people see it as NBC forced Jay to retire. I really don’t see it that way. Jay agreed to retire in 2004. You don’t promise someone something and then when it happens, make an emotional farewell show, then almost right after come back and snatch the other guy’s show right underneath from him.

What was Leno expecting anyway with this appearance, especially after Kimmel impersonated Jay the other night on his show? Come on, Jay. Even the audience at Jay’s show crack up at what Jimmy says. And I notice this segment isn’t found on any official site with Jay videos. This was totally serious and one of the best moments in late night TV history.

As Kelso from That ‘70’s Show would say… BURN!

NBC: Conan Out, Jay Back In

As TMZ and People reported, Jay is back into The Tonight Show and Conan will be leaving. What a joke.

People are actually boycotting The Tonight Show and even all of NBC over Jay coming back. And it's not just a few disgruntled fans either. If I were running NBC I'd really wouldn't mess with what remaining fans the network has, especially considering that a) they're in 4th place and have been for some time and b) there are a lot of Conan followers, and c) many of Conan's fans seem to fit the ever-so-precious young demo that these network big wigs are always chasing after. I’m sure Conan’s fans range in all ages, but networks always strive and have passion for entertaining the masses of the young demos. And the majority of the younger fans seem to like Conan. And how do they know Leno won't just retire again within the next 5 years? What'll happen then? It's obvious they're not even thinking about the future. And it’s a shame, because if Leno had any class he’d have just bowed out.

It’s also awful that Conan wasn’t given a good enough chance to start out. Jay Leno had 3 years before his ratings did decently with The Tonight Show. Not to mention there was a mini chain of bad lead-ins for him, with people tuning out Jay at 10 pm and the news at 11. We all know Jay would not have liked it if 7 months after he first started hosting with bad ratings had Johnny came to NBC and asked for his show back. And I thought David Letterman was screwed over by Jay badly enough in 1992. That’s peanuts to this; and we all know how Dave is having a good old justified laugh.

And again, I think it was respectable for Conan to say no to the 12:05 offer. It could have really damaged the show (and honestly, it’s not even “tonight” by 12:05), and it would have messed with Jimmy Fallon too. Conan was actually thinking of someone other than himself when saying no.

In the past, I’d watch a segment every once in a while for a favorite celebrity, but I was never a fan of Jay before and I really am not one now. The only late night talk show I will ever be watching on NBC after Conan leaves will be Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.