Jump to content

Leno Back To 11:30, Conan To Unemployment Line.


Recommended Posts

  • Replies 161
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

I would say Ferguson is by far the best on late night. Of course the competition is weak.What gets me the most is the scripted jokes that they do, the complete lack of effort to transition into a story and the way they have turned the whole show genre into a scripted cut and paste formula.Do 6 jokes, make fun of the bandlong commercialsDo a game/skit/segment that they've done 50 times beforelong commercialsIntroduce actor plugging movielong commercialsCommence poor interview with pre-planned joke set ups and deliverieslong commercialsRepeat with lessor known actorlong commercialsSongEnd
Yea, late night in general kinda sucks... I used to be a fan of conan's.. But seriously, how many years can the phoney self deprication schtick still be considered funny?
Link to post
Share on other sites

People of Earth: In the last few days, I’ve been getting a lot of sympathy calls, and I want to start by making it clear that no one should waste a second feeling sorry for me. For 17 years, I’ve been getting paid to do what I love most and, in a world with real problems, I’ve been absurdly lucky. That said, I’ve been suddenly put in a very public predicament and my bosses are demanding an immediate decision. Six years ago, I signed a contract with NBC to take over The Tonight Show in June of 2009. Like a lot of us, I grew up watching Johnny Carson every night and the chance to one day sit in that chair has meant everything to me. I worked long and hard to get that opportunity, passed up far more lucrative offers, and since 2004 I have spent literally hundreds of hours thinking of ways to extend the franchise long into the future. It was my mistaken belief that, like my predecessor, I would have the benefit of some time and, just as important, some degree of ratings support from the prime-time schedule. Building a lasting audience at 11:30 is impossible without both. But sadly, we were never given that chance. After only seven months, with my Tonight Show in its infancy, NBC has decided to react to their terrible difficulties in prime-time by making a change in their long-established late night schedule. Last Thursday, NBC executives told me they intended to move the Tonight Show to 12:05 to accommodate the Jay Leno Show at 11:35. For 60 years the Tonight Show has aired immediately following the late local news. I sincerely believe that delaying the Tonight Show into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting. The Tonight Show at 12:05 simply isn’t the Tonight Show. Also, if I accept this move I will be knocking the Late Night show, which I inherited from David Letterman and passed on to Jimmy Fallon, out of its long-held time slot. That would hurt the other NBC franchise that I love, and it would be unfair to Jimmy. So it has come to this: I cannot express in words how much I enjoy hosting this program and what an enormous personal disappointment it is for me to consider losing it. My staff and I have worked unbelievably hard and we are very proud of our contribution to the legacy of The Tonight Show. But I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction. Some people will make the argument that with DVRs and the Internet a time slot doesn’t matter. But with the Tonight Show, I believe nothing could matter more. There has been speculation about my going to another network but, to set the record straight, I currently have no other offer and honestly have no idea what happens next. My hope is that NBC and I can resolve this quickly so that my staff, crew, and I can do a show we can be proud of, for a company that values our work. Have a great day and, for the record, I am truly sorry about my hair; it’s always been that way. Yours, Conan

Link to post
Share on other sites

Conan's a great guy. I'm shocked NBC hasn't given his new show the time it needs to fully grow and develop. The issue was that his comedy style differs greatly from Leno's, and is much more akin to Letterman's. It's silly and outrageous. Leno's is watered down, obvious, and bland.So, Conan lost a lot of people who would regularly watch Leno. This should have been anticipated by any network that knew anything about TV. Conan needed to be given a lot of time to drain a lot of Letterman's audience, especially the younger people, and to get the old Leno audience used to him. Also, Conan needed time to get used to his new show. I don't think he was able to relax, which is understandable seeing how he was only on for a bit over half a year. Conan is at his best when he's off the cuff, when he's able to be himself, and when he's not trying to be funny but instead is funny because he can't help it. He clearly had this mindset on his old show, but moving to the tonight show put a lot of pressure on him (he's a very professional guy), and he wasn't yet able to adjust to that mounting pressure (which only grew as ratings stayed pretty low). Conan will be back if he wants to be. If not, he'll still be rich and will collect a LOT of money from NBC for a long time. But TV is his life, and I see him doing another show in some way. It's hard to imagine him doing another late night show; I don't think he'd feel comfortable competing directly against Jimmy, and if Leno is reinstated, I don't think he wants to compete against him and have the Leno vs Conan issue haunt him. I'm not yet sure where he'll fit in. Maybe he'll find a 10 pm spot somewhere on Fox or cable or what not.

Link to post
Share on other sites
So what's going on at 10 now? More Law and Order spin-offs?
Hopefully Seinfeld and Office reruns. I don't think 3 hours worth of each a day is enough.
Link to post
Share on other sites
Conan's a great guy. I'm shocked NBC hasn't given his new show the time it needs to fully grow and develop. The issue was that his comedy style differs greatly from Leno's, and is much more akin to Letterman's. It's silly and outrageous. Leno's is watered down, obvious, and bland.So, Conan lost a lot of people who would regularly watch Leno. This should have been anticipated by any network that knew anything about TV. Conan needed to be given a lot of time to drain a lot of Letterman's audience, especially the younger people, and to get the old Leno audience used to him. Also, Conan needed time to get used to his new show. I don't think he was able to relax, which is understandable seeing how he was only on for a bit over half a year. Conan is at his best when he's off the cuff, when he's able to be himself, and when he's not trying to be funny but instead is funny because he can't help it. He clearly had this mindset on his old show, but moving to the tonight show put a lot of pressure on him (he's a very professional guy), and he wasn't yet able to adjust to that mounting pressure (which only grew as ratings stayed pretty low). Conan will be back if he wants to be. If not, he'll still be rich and will collect a LOT of money from NBC for a long time. But TV is his life, and I see him doing another show in some way. It's hard to imagine him doing another late night show; I don't think he'd feel comfortable competing directly against Jimmy, and if Leno is reinstated, I don't think he wants to compete against him and have the Leno vs Conan issue haunt him. I'm not yet sure where he'll fit in. Maybe he'll find a 10 pm spot somewhere on Fox or cable or what not.
Link to post
Share on other sites
Conan's a great guy. I'm shocked NBC hasn't given his new show the time it needs to fully grow and develop.
I read the first three sentences or so and said to myself, "Yeah, I really agree with what Joey is writing here".
Link to post
Share on other sites
Conan's a great guy. I'm shocked NBC hasn't given his new show the time it needs to fully grow and develop. The issue was that his comedy style differs greatly from Leno's, and is much more akin to Letterman's. It's silly and outrageous. Leno's is watered down, obvious, and bland.So, Conan lost a lot of people who would regularly watch Leno. This should have been anticipated by any network that knew anything about TV. Conan needed to be given a lot of time to drain a lot of Letterman's audience, especially the younger people, and to get the old Leno audience used to him. Also, Conan needed time to get used to his new show. I don't think he was able to relax, which is understandable seeing how he was only on for a bit over half a year. Conan is at his best when he's off the cuff, when he's able to be himself, and when he's not trying to be funny but instead is funny because he can't help it. He clearly had this mindset on his old show, but moving to the tonight show put a lot of pressure on him (he's a very professional guy), and he wasn't yet able to adjust to that mounting pressure (which only grew as ratings stayed pretty low). Conan will be back if he wants to be. If not, he'll still be rich and will collect a LOT of money from NBC for a long time. But TV is his life, and I see him doing another show in some way. It's hard to imagine him doing another late night show; I don't think he'd feel comfortable competing directly against Jimmy, and if Leno is reinstated, I don't think he wants to compete against him and have the Leno vs Conan issue haunt him. I'm not yet sure where he'll fit in. Maybe he'll find a 10 pm spot somewhere on Fox or cable or what not.
Or he pulls an Arsenio (a Arsenio?) and spends the day waking up around noon, put on his bathrobe, walk to the mail box and says: "Hello check" Then takes the rest of the day off.
Link to post
Share on other sites
The Tonight Show has been evolving into this wanna be cutting edge garbage that has completely come off the rails form the shoot at the hip days of Johnny Carson.I had a friend in the comedy business, telling me of how the comedians were so excited when Leno got the spot because they were sure he would book lots of comedians, instead Leno booked less. Way less. He apparently didn't want anyone on that was funnier than him. At Bernie Mac's funeral there were even some people commenting on Leno not letting people on his show during the eulogies. ( pronounced as in Zoolander of course )But the Tonight Show needs to get back to the older crowd that made it what it was. We have plenty of alternatives for the younger crowd who think "In the year 3,000" skit is funny enough to do more than once.Conan was a horrible choice. Leno was barely able to be the guy. We need someone more sophisticated, who is secure enough with himself to allow the show to make the guests special, instead of just the host.I do not have the right person in mind, but he would be strikingly like Johnny Carson.
I find myself in complete agreement with Balloon Guy. Odd.
Link to post
Share on other sites
The Tonight Show has been evolving into this wanna be cutting edge garbage that has completely come off the rails form the shoot at the hip days of Johnny Carson.But the Tonight Show needs to get back to the older crowd that made it what it was. We have plenty of alternatives for the younger crowd who think "In the year 3,000" skit is funny enough to do more than once.Conan was a horrible choice. Leno was barely able to be the guy. We need someone more sophisticated, who is secure enough with himself to allow the show to make the guests special, instead of just the host.I do not have the right person in mind, but he would be strikingly like Johnny Carson.
A couple things. First off, I loved carson as a kid.. during the summer, I'd stay up late and watch him.. and I'd also watch the best of carson shows that were syndicated. And when you say " cutting edge garbage".. well.. carson was pretty cutting edge for his day, he would do sketches, tell jokes and make sexual innuendo that were pushing the envelope, for it's time and place. It's just the envelop is much further out there today than it was in the 70's. In the 70's, Art Fern and the Slauson Cutoff was cutting edge, in the 00's the masterbating bear was. Another thing.. I don't even think Carson could be Carson today. Back during Johnny's heyday, there were basically 3 networks. He was IT when it came to late night.. he was the premier show. If you got on carson, you'd made it. And there weren't many other forums for you to see stars like that, in "casual" settings, talking conversationally, so each night was a bigger deal. Tonight Jimmy Stewart is on, Last night Raquel WelcH! It would be the only time you'd get to see stars like that, to get to know them. Now, not only are there infinite late night talk shows, there are afternoon talk shows, morning talk shows, sports talk shows. There are 300 networks now, and several of them are dedicated to celebrity. there is the internet, TMZ, and all manner of other medium for people to consume stars. So, when a star goes on Leno, or Letterman, it isn't special any more, because we've seen them 100 times before, in a 100 different ways. Unless the show is memorable, unless the show and host are funny, then it's hard to get an audience. Also, you say that the tonight show should look to find an older crowd, but 1) older people go to bed earlier, so there are going to be less older people watching late night shows than younger people 2 ) older people are much less desirable to advertisers, as older people tend to be more set in their consumption ways, and it's younger people the advertisers covet. And Advertising runs the show. So yes, Johnny was special, glamorous, legitimately funny and his show had a certain cultural cache.. but I don't think that cache is achievable these days, for a myriad of reasons.Personallly, I pine more for the golden age of letterman in the 80's. When Comedy central first came on the air, they would show old 80's letterman shows that would just SLAY me. He was so good back then, he's a shell of that now.
Link to post
Share on other sites
Personallly, I pine more for the golden age of letterman in the 80's. When Comedy central first came on the air, they would show old 80's letterman shows that would just SLAY me. He was so good back then, he's a shell of that now.
I saw Brother Theodore on Letterman one night and it changed my life.
Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

Announcements


×
×
  • Create New...