# Leno/Conan Shakeup at NBC **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 7, 2010, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073 "2010-01-07T21:31:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 33
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/641 "2010-01-22T05:18:27Z")
Mame 3 Americans who got shot in the head. Kennedy Lincoln and the guy sitting in front of Pee Wee Herman at the porn show. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/642 "2010-01-22T05:18:39Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Wiki says Tom Hanks did it in his second Tonight Show episode, but I guess it took off when this mess broke out. The Twitter Tracker debuted on the same episode, before Hanks came on. ---
**Author:** ![sco3tt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@sco3tt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sco3tt)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/643 "2010-01-22T05:47:41Z")
Jimmy Fallon made a good observation tonight: “There’ve been three hosts of Late Night: David Letterman, Conan O’Brien, and me. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned from Dave and Conan, it’s that hosting this show is a one-way ticket to not hosting the Tonight Show.” ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/644 "2010-01-22T06:01:53Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Wiki says Tom Hanks did it in his second Tonight Show episode, but I guess it took off when this mess broke out. That’s correct. Hanks coined it. > [@Magiver](#): > > In lieu of the masturbating bear Cocoa brought in Pee Wee Herman. Perhaps woosh territory, but the bear was on the other night (last?). ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/645 "2010-01-22T06:50:34Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Yeah, if anybody ever gave off “I’m looking forward to spending more time with my family” vibes, it’s David Letterman. I’ve said before I suspect Letterman is hanging on for the satisfaction of outlasting Leno. It must be awfully frustrating for him that Jay just - won’t - leave. > [@Mahaloth](#): > > I wish Letterman would appear on Conan’s final Tonight Show. It’d be funny if he walked in, paused, and then have the following exchange: He’s unlikely to have come out from the East Coast, but if it’s true that NBC has to pay for whatever lame bit O’Brien decides to do, maybe they could set up a satellite link! ---
**Author:** ![BigBertha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@BigBertha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigBertha)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/646 "2010-01-22T07:45:04Z")
Does anyone have the lyrics to Robin Williams 'song.? ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/647 "2010-01-22T08:26:50Z")
Looks like after tomorrow, we’ll have to wait until at least September for more Conan. But thinking about it, this may in the end be a good thing for Conan’s comedy. Fox is way more edgy than NBC. Part of Conan’s problem with The Tonight Show is that it’s really kind of a stodgy old institution, and he wasn’t the greatest fit for it. So he had to tone down his humor, and even then the audience wasn’t completely comfortable with him. Here’s hoping he shows up at 11:30 on Fox with Andy, Max, and a whole bunch of edgier material. Also, don’t forget that Conan has strong ties to _The Simpsons_, which could lead to all kinds of humorous crossovers. Maybe he’ll even be able to share some writing with the Simpsons writers. That would be pretty cool. The one thing that I learned in the last two weeks, though, has nothign to do with Conan. I learned that Craig Ferguson is a really, really funny guy. I had watched him a couple of times before, but never really paid much attention. This week I watched a bunch of late night shows each night to see what they were all saying about Conan, and Ferguson hooked me. He’s brilliant. Almost a performance artist rather than a talk show host. But he’s also a great interviewer. The Late Show with Craig Ferguson is now my favorite late-night talk show. By far. If you start missing Conan, seriously give Craig Ferguson a try. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/648 "2010-01-22T10:50:07Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > \ > > Perhaps woosh territory, but the bear was on the other night (last?). This may have been a reference to ol’ Pee Wee getting caught masturbating in a movie theater. ---
**Author:** ![Eternal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@Eternal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eternal)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/649 "2010-01-22T12:25:31Z")
Conan is done on late night. The market is too crowded. All the stoners and hipsters who _claim_ to be his fans already either watch Daily Show/Colbert and Letterman. The self-identified “hip and/or sophisticated” people who are his biggest supporters only watch the good bits of his show on the internet. He’d be best served going back to writing and only doing internet bits and guest appearances to stay in the public consciousness. He was absolutely never what you’d call a natural performer, he has practically no charisma. He won’t be able to amuse people dancing like a monkey for long at his size and age. A career on the Tonight Show was a fool’s dream for him, no matter what the circumstances surrounding it were. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Credible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a8b319/32.png) [@Justin\_Credible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Credible)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/650 "2010-01-22T13:45:48Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > The one thing that I learned in the last two weeks, though, has nothign to do with Conan. I learned that Craig Ferguson is a really, really funny guy. I had watched him a couple of times before, but never really paid much attention. This week I watched a bunch of late night shows each night to see what they were all saying about Conan, and Ferguson hooked me. He’s brilliant. Almost a performance artist rather than a talk show host. But he’s also a great interviewer. The Late Show with Craig Ferguson is now my favorite late-night talk show. By far. > > If you start missing Conan, seriously give Craig Ferguson a try. I just discovered Craig recently, too. He is a brilliant host, and I’m disappointed that I’ve missed so many of his shows already. I’ll definitely be watching him in that time slot now. I’ve been watching Conan for well over a decade now, and I’m very sad to see him go. I just hope this leads to something better for him. ---
**Author:** ![stolichnaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/651 "2010-01-22T13:58:08Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > The one thing that I learned in the last two weeks, though, has nothign to do with Conan. I learned that Craig Ferguson is a really, really funny guy. I had watched him a couple of times before, but never really paid much attention. This week I watched a bunch of late night shows each night to see what they were all saying about Conan, and Ferguson hooked me. He’s brilliant. Almost a performance artist rather than a talk show host. But he’s also a great interviewer. The Late Show with Craig Ferguson is now my favorite late-night talk show. By far. > > If you start missing Conan, seriously give Craig Ferguson a try. This makes me unaccountably happy. I know that I have strong disagreements with you in other fora but you are clearly a man of taste and humor. What-a-do! [waves] Conan seemed to get a bit choked up last night when he was “laying out the plan” for the final two days. He seemed like a little kid. I know he’s a millionaire and all that, and a businessman, and has succeeded in a very cutthroat business and commands an armada of lawyers, but I feel bad for him. Some things you just can’t have no matter how much you want them. Also, I have a meh-hate relationship with Robin Williams mostly, but watching him power through that song after a rocky start was pretty cool. That takes some kind of blind guts to just jump into a weird bit like that with no plan and he finished it off with great energy. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/652 "2010-01-22T14:02:35Z")
Somebody will give him a show, if not Fox then he will get something on cable. He did well for 16 years so he has a big enough fan base to get another chance. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/653 "2010-01-22T14:31:15Z")
I never even noticed that Kilborn was gone. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/654 "2010-01-22T15:12:36Z")
> [@sco3tt](#): > > Jimmy Fallon made a good observation tonight: “There’ve been three hosts of Late Night: David Letterman, Conan O’Brien, and me. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned from Dave and Conan, it’s that hosting this show is a one-way ticket to not hosting the Tonight Show.” He then spent 15 minutes giggling at his own joke. 😉 > [@Eternal](#): > > He won’t be able to amuse people dancing like a monkey for long at his size and age. Yeah, that stuff was never going to catch on. It was one of those 15-year fads. It’s true the Tonight Show was probably not the best fit for him, and that Fox might be ideal. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/655 "2010-01-22T15:23:26Z")
Not to spoil a joke, by the way, but… It sounds like the expensive sketch thing is just a gag. I’m reading on the 'net that NBC has agreements with music companies that exempt it from paying for music rights for live performances, so the one-time airing of Satisfaction during Wednesday’s show would not cost them anything. (I guess it would have been expensive if they had re-aired it online.) Conan also probably did not buy the horse and he was apparently showing USFL footage, not “restricted Super Bowl footage.” None of which is surprising but it’s a bit disappointing. I also really like Craig Ferguson. He’s got a little bit of a children’s show host in him, he’s led a _very_ interesting life (you think any of the other guys would ever talk about doing heroin and LSD?), he’s intelligent, and he does a great Sean Connery impression. He also calls himself ‘Scottish Conan guy,’ which I find a lot funnier than I should. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/656 "2010-01-22T15:26:26Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Not to spoil a joke, by the way, but… > > It sounds like the expensive sketch thing is just a gag. I’m reading on the 'net that NBC has agreements with music companies that exempt it from paying for music rights for live performances, so the one-time airing of Satisfaction during Wednesday’s show would not cost them anything. (I guess it would have been expensive if they had re-aired it online.) Conan also probably did not buy the horse and he was apparently showing USFL footage, not “restricted Super Bowl footage.” None of which is surprising but it’s a bit disappointing. Except that Conan isn’t live, it’s taped earlier in the day (around 5pm I believe) and broadcast later. That said, I do think that the whole thing is a gag. NBC might have to pay for the material parts of the bit, but they don’t have to air the segment if it has copyrighted music over it. They can just cut it out and run more commercials. It’s a funny bit though. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/657 "2010-01-22T15:27:09Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Not to spoil a joke, by the way, but… The Bugatti was also borrowed from the Petersen Museum, and only cost them something like $10k. ---
**Author:** ![stolichnaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/658 "2010-01-22T15:30:55Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Yeah, that stuff was never going to catch on. It was one of those 15-year fads. It’s true the Tonight Show was probably not the best fit for him, and that Fox might be ideal. Yeah, I am in that boat too. Conan idealized the Tonight Show. It’s like how pro ballers want to play for the team that their idol played for when they were a kid. You realize that Carson’s real talent was making funny, laid-back comedy accessible to the masses without dumbing it down too far. And I at least see why these guys idolize him- none of them runs the gamut of the qualities needed to sustain a show like this- though they all specialize in one part. Take Letterman’s puckishness, cynisicsm, and “big dog” personality, Conan’s goofiness and appreciation for both the simple and the absurd, and Leno’s willingness to just muscle through the segment that everyone expects when the material or the interest is not there. Conan loved the Tonight Show but he’s not right for it, he’s too much of a comedy purist or elitist (it’s hard to think of someone who brought us the masturbating bear as a purist, but hopefully you follow me). He had his shot, it was probably doomed (the thing NBC was right about), but he was never going to just not try his hand at the Tonight Show. Now that he has had his shot and lost, given that his ego gets some padding because the public has decided that this is NBC’s failure at least as much as his, maybe he can start from scratch and show us a new kind of variety show. I love Conan, but I wasn’t watching his show until this blew up, because it was just uncomfortable. Now they are flying high again because they no longer care. Maybe that can continue into a new kind of show. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/659 "2010-01-22T15:40:06Z")
NBC is the problem. They wanted Conan because of demographics. Leno will get better overall ratings but not the spending demo. Leno is establishment and appeals to older people. So NBC figured they could have both. When Leno could not keep the ratings earlier, they had to make a decision. It is a slap to Conan but just a business decision for NBC. ---
**Author:** ![stolichnaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/660 "2010-01-22T15:44:53Z")
I think it’s safe to say that the demo Conan is going after is not interested in the tropes or traditions of the Tonight Show. So he was kind of handicapped from the start, and the decision to retire characters and change the approach was probably a death by a thousand cuts- everything viewed through the lens of “now we are on earlier” just kind of eroded the spirit of the show and made the host less comfortable. I ceratinly don’t know how much of that was NBC and how much was a self-imposed deal, but it was doomed to failure, probably. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073.md?page=32) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073.md?page=34)