"Why I'm so pissed at NBC
I've always been a night owl. So, when I was a little kid I used to stay up, much to my parents frustration, and watch The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Carson was amazing. He was funny, sophisticated, graceful and one hell of an interviewer. I watched Carson pretty much religiously till he went off the air. I remember a couple of the shows that Leno guested for but he never did it for me so after Johnny left I stopped watching the Tonight Show. I watched Arsenio for a while, till he went off the air. I watched Letterman, he was funny unlike Leno. So, for most of my teens I would watch Letterman on CBS and then switch over and watch Late Night with Conan O'Brien on NBC. That was my late-night viewing. But I still missed Johnny. Nothing and no one would ever replace him. Over time this freakishly tall kid with even taller red hair hosting Late Night really started to grow on me. He was funny, in a bizarre conceptual way, charming and witty and most importantly he was a good interviewer - something that in all their years Leno and Letterman have never quite nailed. I should say that somewhere in my late teens I stopped watching late night programming, scheduling no longer worked for me... So, five years ago, when NBC made the announcement that Conan would take over The Tonight Show I thought "great, I'll have to check this out". Right from the start I was impressed by the show. For starters, I like "CoCo" - he's funny, in the way that Leno isn't. Second, the studio that they are shooting in is worthy of the legacy of The Tonight Show - the layout is very reminiscent to Carson's set and layout, something that Leno's set never was. The new set is grand and feels like "showbiz", it feels like The Tonight Show. And third, Conan has the qualities I want in a late-night host. He isn't Carson, no one ever could be. But in several important ways The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien has the potential to be, for my generation, for ME, what The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson was for my parents - that show that we watched year after year. So, the reason that I'm so pissed off with NBC is that they fucked up my plans. They fucked up my plan of getting to watch an entertainer that has the potential to be my generation's Carson and who has a great appreciation for the legacy of The Tonight Show and of broadcasting history in general. If this truly is the end of The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien then, for me, it is also the end of The Tonight Show. And that makes me very sad."
Steve Allen 1954-1957
Jack Paar 1957-1962
Johnny Carson 1962-1992
Jay Leno 1992-2009
Conan O'Brien 2009-2010
Jay Leno 2010-?
Le Cram would like to thank David for his thoughtful analysis, and just add that NBC at the very least should have given Conan the five years they gave Jack Paar.
-Le Cram
I used to like Jay Leno years ago, when he subbed for Johnny Carson and during the early days of his Tonight Show tenure. He would have interesting guests and wasn't afraid to invite writers on to talk about their books. But then, horribly, he dumbed things way down on the show. The last straws for me were the Dancing Judge Itos during the O.J. Simpson trial and the showcase of imbecility in the Jaywalking segments, in which people off the street seem to delight in showing off how ignorant they are. David Letterman and Conan O'Brien and even Jimmy Kimmel now fill my late-night tv watching. I refused to watch the Jay Leno Show and I certainly won't watch Leno when he returns to the Tonight Show. I'll watch Letterman and Kimmel and then Conan when he returns to the air. (I like what I've seen of Craig Ferguson, but he's on too late for me to watch with any regularity. I still don't know why Jimmy Fallon was given Late Night. And Carson Daly's show, though he seems like a nice guy, is just sad.
ReplyDeleteThat Guy-
ReplyDeleteYou don't know what you're talking about! jimmy Fallon is fantastic! Have you even watched the show? I agree with you about Carson Daly.
-The Other Guy
...One night, I'm gonna come into your house, wherever you're sleeping, and I'm gonna cut your throat.
ReplyDeleteDaniel Plainview
AKA "This Guy"
Of course, I've watched Jimmy Fallon. Do you think I would judge the show without even watching it? I don't say, "Jimmy Fallon stinks," lightly. Late night comedy is serious stuff, after all.
ReplyDeleteWow. Jack Paar was cute!
ReplyDeleteJay Leno looks like he's about to lose his dinner in those pictures above. By the way, what's with all of the J-named people in late night tv? Jack Paar, Johnny Carson, Jay Leno, Jon Stewart, Jimmy Kimmel, and Jimmy Fallon, not to mention Javid Letterman, Jonan O'Brien, Jraig Ferguson, and Jarson Daley.
ReplyDeleteYou forgot Jeve Allen!
ReplyDeleteJorry jbout jat...
ReplyDelete