Conan O’Brien

So Long for Now Coco (January 23, 2010)

Becky SarwateLeave a comment

conan-o-brien-stephen-colbert-jon-stewart-baby-delivery-vide3

I watched every last moment of Conan O’Brien’s finale on NBC’s The Tonight Show . Hilarious, intelligent, weird and completely human, the last show of O’Brien’s brief stint at the helm of the late night stalwart was the very essence of the host himself. The program was so unexpectedly joyous, and yet it was hard not to seethe with indignation at the knowledge of what NBC let get away. For the return of Jay Leno.

Conan is so in touch with his fan base, and is wizened enough to know that a legion of Coco followers felt very disillusioned by the unabashed, out of touch corporate politics that have now deprived them of the opportunity to laugh at the tall, funny looking pale looking pale guy. For the first time in 17 years, there will be a marked decline in humorous oddity on late night television. It makes one angry, particularly in a time when we may not be able to find much to laugh about on our own.

There were so many great moments involved in O’Brien’s Tonight Showswan song. How nice it was to be reminded that Tom Hanks got his start in Hollywood as a damned funny guy. But the best, was of course, for last: a brief, emotional and achingly gracious speech from the host, aimed at everyone from his cast and crew, to his loyal fans, to an unbelievably mature expression of gratitude to NBC for a long and fruitful career – the very network that he has now left.

In case you haven’t had the opportunity to witness the moment I am referring to, I encourage you to click the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhKTUPBvqSc

It’s not often I am inspired by the words of a television personality, but in a world of self-entitlement, bitterness and huge egos, this was a gorgeous parting gift.

Conan is legally obligated to remain off the airwaves until September. I can’t wait to see he does next, and my guess is that a lot of America is with me.

Team Coco! (January 16, 2010)

Becky SarwateLeave a comment

conan2

Isn’t it comforting to know, when you might be going through a period in which you can’t do anything right, when everything you touch turns to shit, that you can always look around and find someone or something more lost and confused than you? That touchstone for me right now is legendary TV network NBC.

Unless you have spent the last couple weeks spelunking, you have heard about the whole mess. Last Fall, the Peacock network gave The Tonight Show to the funny, red haired one and moved the tired old man to primetime. Though I think everyone in the free world could envision that a primetime show each and every night with Jay Leno would end up destroying viewership for everything else that aired, NBC thought it knew better. It in fact went into a mode of self-congratulation for its out of the box thinking and cost cutting savvy.

Fast forward four months and NBC has a real debacle on its hand. The Jay Leno show has been mercifully cancelled. But instead of giving Big Chin his walking papers, the next bright idea was to put him on at 10:35 PM (local time) and bump Conan’s program back to 11:05, which on the East Coast actually means The Tonight Show would air the next day.

Well NBC clearly didn’t count on someone having the integrity to put history before their own financial gain. But this is precisely what funnyman Conan O’Brien has done. This week he issued this statement:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/12/conan-obrien-statement-i_n_420521.html

Huzzah! So NBC, which has done nothing but bungle this whole situation, beginning six years ago when it promised The Tonight Show to O’Brien, found itself railroaded by a man with a Harvard education. And now, Conan’s people are saying that next week Friday will be his last air date – a mere 7 1/2 months after the first. On so many, many levels, what a shame.

Conan is a class act. I never liked Jay Leno on late night before, and especially after this outrage, I will never make an effort to try. As for me, and many others, it will take a long time to forgive the network. It is almost, but not quite, enough to make me stop watching Community.