Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you are probably acutely aware of the power struggle between Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien and the executives at NBC. It’s been an interesting reflection on the current state of media – where old-school, “safe” comedy is threatened by a new approach in a very changing world.
Why yes, I am with Coco
The truth is the post-news variety show is a dying entity, as most people I know get their daily fix of quirky news snippets via the internet throughout their day. The information is just old by the time 10:30pm roles around – plus, I’m probably already watching a made-for-internet show, like Tekzilla, via internet versus tuning into broadcast television at a fixed time.
I feel bad that Conan O’Brien seems to be the fallguy for this current media state. From a business perspective, NBC is justified in doing something to increase viewership during this timeslot. Conan is quirky – at the very least – and presents humor that does not conform to a typical 10 o’clock news-watching audience (who happen to be older and live mostly internet-free). But the reinstatement of Leno is just wrong. It’s wrong due to the quality of product he produces. Leno is safe. Leno is boring. I can’t find myself laughing or even smiling at his show. It’s obviously not targeted at me – but it saddens me a little that there is such an audience willing to accept a lesser, safer product from NBC. Conan represents a progression of this medium – Leno represents a regression.
Conan ended his run at The Tonight Show in an epic way – by performing his own guitar solo to a star-filled rendition of Freebird. Like Conan, those who joined him in his band were not the most popular, or most broadly accepted musicians. But there were all known as “musician’s musicians” with a lot of respect for their mastery of their craft. As a comedian, Conan is truly a master of his craft.
Conan left with a well-stated reflection on his current situation. It offers some tremendous advice from which we could all learn, thus I will repeat it below.
All I ask of you is one thing: please don’t be cynical. I hate cynicism — it’s my least favorite quality and 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.
- Conan O’Brien, The Tonight Show Host, 23 Jan 2010
He is a class act and I look forward to his next endeavor in media. It is sure to be progressive.
