Some light reading for those following Latenightpocalypse:
1. Jay Leno in 1992, shortly after taking over The Tonight Show, pretty much stealing it from under Dave Letterman's nose.
2. NBC promising The Tonight Show to Conan O'Brien.
The thing is, I've been watching the Leno/O'Brien block for over 10 years (shit I'm old). I watched Leno when he announced he'll be handing over The Tonight Show to Conan in 2009. At the time, I thought, but that's gonna take forever! But I also realized it'll give Conan's audience time to grasp the implications of The Cone Zone moving to The Tonight Show: we (the audience, plus Conan and his writers) were going to have to grow up.
When 2008 rolled around, with the turnover imminent, Conan would say in interviews that there were some bits he was going to have to leave behind (like the Masturbating Bear). Fast-forward to June 2009, and there's Conan, nervous but ready to host The Tonight Show.
It hasn't been the easiest time for Conan, as host of The Tonight Show. From the announcement that instead of stepping away from late night, Jay Leno was going to be hosting a 10PM show; to being beaten by Dave Letterman in the ratings. But everyone watching wanted him to succeed, if only because everyone watching him knew how much this meant to him.
As I've mentioned previously, for the past few months Conan seemed to be dying in California: his humor seemed to have lost its fire, and there almost seemed to be a wary regard for his audience. There was little doubt that Conan and his team were desperate to conform to what his company clearly thought The Tonight Show was, which is the not-really-creative platform it's been for the past dozen or so years. Then this whole fiasco happened, and suddenly we had Late Night Conan again -- that self-deprecating, irreverent, kind-of-mean-but-really-earnest guy was back, and, let's face it: this guy, we'd watch.
And I'm pretty sure Conan's talked to his staff and crew before issuing that awesome missive - he's worked with these people for years, I'm sure they knew and understood how Coco felt about the NBC plan of action.
But if (sigh. I know, it's not "if", it's "when") Conan leaves NBC, there'll be no more Masturbating Bear, FedEx Pope, Conando, or even Cody Deveraux.
In the spirit of full disclosure, though, I admit: I used to be more of a Dave Letterman fan. I liked his humor more, and he was more unapologetic than Jay Leno. And I liked that Dave never bothered to hide his anger and bitterness: what was the point? We all knew what had happened and why he was on CBS hosting The Late Show.
At one point, though, some local programming genius pitted Dave against Conan. To be fair, Dave was on a local channel and Conan was on cable. And because The Late Show's start time would always be affected by the program before it, it became more convenient to watch Conan. Then Letterman got lost in local programming, and I was stuck with Jay and Conan.
I didn't "get" Conan right away, I can't remember why. But I do know that the more I watched this tall pale redhead, the more I found him hilarious. And that he didn't always go for the obvious jokes, instead choosing to be a little smarter, a little more snide with his humor, just got to me.
But what I liked most about Conan was that he was never mean. Not to his audience, nor to his guests. He would always make himself or Andy (or Max or Joel) a target first, before directing anything at his guest. And when he was, it was never personal. Or insulting. It was the one thing that bothered me about Dave, that he sometimes seemed to not care about the guest he had on; and it certainly was why I loathed Jay Leno - the ignorance of people, in this case Americans, is always funny, but those people on Jaywalking don't sign up for that kind of humiliation (except for those who go into the studio).
Coco was tons better in New York, I won't bother to conjecture why. But I do know this: those New Yorkers seem to be tight - the Stewart/Colbert/O'Brien feud of 2008, plus his affiliation with The Simpsons and SNL, demonstrate as much.
Will celebrities and the like steer clear of The Tonight Show if Conan is let go? Let's face it: that's not likely. But late night isn't likely to forget, and if Dave is anything to measure by, they hold long and lasting grudges.
So, sure, NBC, Jay might have his audience and they're not on the internet. And, sure, it looks like you'll be prying The Tonight Show from Jay Leno's cold, dead hands, but think about it: the man isn't above going back on his word anyway, much like you. What makes you think he won't be pulling another stunt like this in the future?
And also? Good luck finding someone who'll want to host The Tonight Show after him now.
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