Dear Internet,
Today is a sad day. Conan O’Brien, host of The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, bids the show and NBC adieu. Before I go on, please allow me to get this off my chest:
JAY LENO, NICE GOING.
After only seven months at The Tonight Show, NBC decided to remove Conan from the show. The Jay Leno Show experiment failed, The Tonight Show was not receiving high ratings, and so the executives at NBC have chosen to course correct this mess by replacing Conan with Leno. It’s like the whole switcharoo never happened. I am angry with NBC and Leno for various reasons. Although Conan’s ratings were not blasting through the roof, he was connecting with the coveted 18-49 demographic and slowly gaining a larger following. NBC is kicking Conan out just seven months into the gig; he’s barely got his feet wet! And then there’s Leno. As you can clearly see in the video above, he initially attempted to be a gentleman in 2004 when he addressed his audience about the passing of the baton with Conan which would come in 2009. After his failed experiment show at 10PM, Leno should have recognized his time was up and leave The Tonight Show with the man who worked so hard and for so long to reach his position. Instead he tells NBC he is absolutely willing to replace Conan and end this legal mess on a low, sad note.
That said, let’s reflect back on Conan’s short stay at The Tonight Show:
In my opinion, Conan is the best late night talk show host of our generation. Proof is right there in that video. Conan knows how to make us laugh in ways that Letterman, Leno, Kimmel, and Fallon simply can’t compete with. Conan’s sixteen years at Late Night introduced us to characters like The Masterbating Bear, Vomiting Kermit, and Triumph the Insult Comic Dog and sketches In the Year 2000, Celebrity Survey, new state quarters, Pender Sings, and Small Talk Moment with Max Weinberg. His short stint at The Tonight Show added to this repertoire of laugh out loud characters and sketches. Unfortunately, just as he was settling into the 11:35PM slot when NBC cut him loose. His peak obviously had not been reached.
So where does Conan stand now? According to the latest sources, Conan signed a contract with NBC that awards him$45 million. Of that amount, he will receive $33 million and the remainder will be given to his loyal staff. Speaking about the staff, that brings me to another point why I am angered with NBC. The majority of Conan’s Late Night staff willingly relocated from NYC to LA for the big move to The Tonight Show and for now that was all for naught. The contract also stipulates Conan cannot go back onto the air until September 1. Sources close to the contract negotiators also say that NBC apparently owns the rights to many of Conan’s characters and sketches (including all the ones listed above) and that Conan will likely be leaving them behind when he closes up shop. (NBC, you can’t do this!) Lastly, it appears that various networks such as FX, USA, TNT/TBS, Comedy Central, HBO, Showtime, and FOX are showing interest in picking up a Conan-hosted show. I have no doubt Conan will have trouble finding a new job with a more respectable network in the very near future.
Conan O’Brien is one of the most popular and beloved TV personalities right now. Ever since the beginning of the NBC vs. Conan battle Conan has received nothing but love, admiration, and support from loyal fans all around the world. From Twitter’s rabid #teamconan following to Mike Mitchell’s rally-inspiring “I’m With Coco” slogan and sign, thousands of fans have proven that people love Conan and will not stand to have him barred from entertaining them on a nightly basis. Conan’s seventeen year stay at NBC was only the beginning. With so much support from fans and the celebrity world, everyone is waiting to hear about his next move. September can’t come soon enough.
After countless hours of poking fun at NBC and Leno the past few weeks, Conan reminded everyone that he is a genuine class act:
“Tonight I’m 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 at The Tonight Show, I’ve worked with NBC for over 20 years. Yes we have our differences right now, yes we are going our separate ways, but this company has been my home for most of my adult life. I’m enormously proud about the work we’ve done together, and I want to thank NBC for making it all possible. I really do.”
During his “resignation speech” he shared with his viewers his state of mind: “I’ll be honest with you; walking away from The Tonight Show is the hardest thing that 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. I have the best staff and crew in the history of the media. I will fight anybody who says I don’t…but no one would. 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 do it! I did it my way with people I love. I do not regret one second of anything that we’ve done here.”
…thanked his fans: “Here’s what all of you have done. You’ve made a sad situation joyous and inspirational. So to all the people watching I cannot ever ever thank you enough for your kindness to me. I’ll think about it for the rest of my life.”
…and left us with great words of wisdom: “And all I ask is one thing, and I’m asking this particularly of young people that watch: Please do not be cynical. I hate cynicism. For the record it’s my least favorite quality. 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’m telling you, amazing things will happen.” Conan, you are inspirational.
Hosting The Tonight Show was Conan’s dream job. He tirelessly worked at SNL as a writer, moved up to Late Night, and finally made his way to The Tonight Show to be told after seven short months that he must leave. It’s a very sad and unfortunate way to part with a network he grew up with but then again, “nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get.” NBC is the loser in this situation because they are going to miss out on all the funny Conan has left to offer. For Conan it’s not about the fame or the money. To quote his monologue from the final episode, “Tonight we are going to have fun on television. That’s what it’s all about.”
I look forward in anticipation to the return of Conan O’Brien, his trusty sidekick Andy Richter, and Max Weinberg & the Max Weinberg 7.
Cheers,
sm
PS- If you’re interested you’ll find a bunch of videos posted after the break that include other late night show hosts taking shots at Leno, coverage of the “I’m with Coco” rally in LA, and a bizarre animation that attempts to explain the whole situation.
The whole situation really was a clusterf*ck on NBCs part. While they could be correct in siding with Leno because he will immediantly regain his high ratings, such a phenomina would be short lived. Leno has always owed much of his high ratings to older viewers in older demographics, who would probably be very excited and supportive to have thier bland host return. However, those older viewers will only get older (until they are no use to gaining ratings). Meanwhile, the younger generations will grow in to those key demographics, and Leno’s behavior during all of this has destroyed his reputation with younger generations.
NBC may benefit in the short run, but they have thrown away any future they would have in late night comedy: When Leno steps down (and who really knows how much steam he has left in him) they will have no viable successor (Fallon needs more time to grow. A LOT more time.)
Leno was the Baby Boomers host.
Conan is the host of future generations, and time will favor him.
It was very appropriate that at the end of the final Tonight Show episode, a title card read “To be continued.”
The last episode of the Tonight Show was not the end of Conan’s career, it was the start of a new begining.