Conan may be replaced by Leno

[embowafa]

Originally Posted by odoreater

Yeah, Jimmy Fallon does have some lame bits, but he also has some very funny ones. I like the bit he does where he writes out the thank you cards. I also like when he does "Freestylin' with the Roots." I also like that he does a second bit involving one of the guests, which is usually pretty funny/entertaining.

What I appreciate about Jimmy is that he's trying to do different stuff. Some of it sucks, but some of it kinda works. "Would you Lick this" is stupid, the thing where he has audience members play the part of two feuding celebrities is kinda funny, hot chick celebrity beer pong just works, etc.

With Conan, some of his bits are getting tiring too. "In the Year 2000" used to be very funny, but ever since they changed it to "in the year 3000" it's kind of stupid. Also stuff like "twitter tracker" is pretty stupid. I also don't like his interviewing style (as I've stated before). In any case, I change the channel most of the time when the interviews start because I really don't give a **** what most of these assholes who get interviewed have to say about anything.

Agreed on Year 3000. It just bothers me because it doesn't make ANY sense. Why would current celebrities still be alive in the year 3000?? Conan's at his best when he goes out into the world to interview people (See: Old timey baseball league bit). He needs to do more of that.

 

[chronoaug]

See, i don't have a problem with jimmy's bits and stuff it's just that he has never been a very gifted comedian, actor, or writer. Leno was an established comedian and conan was a gifted harvard grad and writer for good snl years and if you listen to Simpsons producers and people on the dvd commentaries they can't speak enough for how talented Conan was and how great he was around the simpsons offices. Fallon wasn't funny on SNL, wasn't a good actor on snl or in any of his movies, isn't very versatile in terms of his skills (he can do the young college humor and that seems it), and isn't that sure of himself it seems. Maybe he'll be more comfortable with time but i don't see him having the strong base that the other late night guys have (leno/letterman/conan/ferguson/kimmel). At least he's better than carson daly though. Good lord, how is that show still on

 

[Dakota rube]

Originally Posted by chronoaug

...At least he's better than carson daly though. Good lord, how is that show still on

Carson's on at like 3 a.m. What else they going to put on in that slot? Infomercials?

 

[Jekyll]

I liked the bit with Jack McBrayer the other night. Fell apart a little bit as it went on, but the moment he walked out was great.

 

[chronoaug]

Originally Posted by Dakota rube

Carson's on at like 3 a.m. What else they going to put on in that slot? Infomercials?

That's true, but it's crazy that he was hosting TRL/Late late night for like 12 years combined and still seems like it's his first day on the job

 

[Roikins]

Originally Posted by imageWIS

I didn't see Kimmel as Leno posted previously....

Look at post #107 on page 8.

 

[somatoform]

Originally Posted by Dakota rube

Carson's on at like 3 a.m. What else they going to put on in that slot? Infomercials?

Yes! Give me one hour of Vince Shlomi making sexual innuendoes with his slap chopper over all three, four, five, or whatever number of late shows there are.

 

[x26]

Originally Posted by teddieriley

Jimmy's monologue is much much shorter because his delivery sucks, and yet after months to get settled in, he still seems awkward with his movements during his monologes. While Conan may have some lame bits, I think Jimmy's are pretty bad and more frequent - what's that one with the piece of carpet? Stupid. Same thing with throwing hot dogs into a hole. I mean is that to entertain the morons that make up his audience? I only watch every so often because he has the Roots on.

I don't think Conan is any better or worse than Leno. Conan is a likeable guy, although his self-depracation can be a bit tiring, but overall, I enjoy the show and don't miss Leno one bit at 11:35.

I agree and think Fallon is totally Un-Funny.
Leno an old burn out and have never liked him since he took over the Tonight Show.
Conan I think is the most talented of them all.
I'll be watching Conan where ever he goes!!

 

[imageWIS]

Originally Posted by Roikins

Look at post #107 on page 8.

I posted the whole thing, it gets funnier with Chevy Chase.

 

[BoilerRoom]

I hate Jimmy Fallon. That douchebag has nearly ruined every skit he has ever been in. He was a god damn Adam Sandler ripoff that relied on goofy smiles and hair touching for appeal. His show is terrible, and nobody should ever mention it again.

 

[GQgeek]

Originally Posted by Davidko19

I honestly CANNOT believe anyone gives a **** about this. Ive never seen people genuinely pissed off about something so irrelevant. Hell, I havent watched late night TV in in probably 10 years.

Who exactly is their target demographic anyways? Everyone I know with real jobs is in bed by 11 on weeknights.

Heh. Seriously. Either of these guys could never work a day again in their lives and still live like kings. I admit that Conan got shafted but the amount of media attention being devoted to this is astounding.

 

[Jekyll]

Originally Posted by BoilerRoom

I hate Jimmy Fallon. That douchebag has nearly ruined every skit he has ever been in. He was a god damn Adam Sandler ripoff that relied on goofy smiles and hair touching for appeal. His show is terrible, and nobody should ever mention it again.

He does do an incredible Neil Young...

 

[chronoaug]

I never understood him on SNL. He's not a gifted character actor/impersonator like a phil hartman or darrell hammond. He's also not a naturally funny guy who can write good jokes and do good standup like chris rock, dana carvey, etc... or a good physical/goofy comedian like chris farley or will farrell. He was a safe-attractive guy to get younger female viewers who had no discernable skill or talent and mostly detracted from skits.

 

[tricota]

Originally Posted by Douglas

I'll preface this whole thing by saying that I am as big a Coney fan as anyone, but...

I'm not sure that Leno is really some kind of devil in all this. He did sign that contract five years ago to step aside, but was that something he really wanted to do, or was it something NBC asked him to do? I don't know that you can blame a guy for accepting a (damned lucrative) position that is being offered to him, particularly one that he occupied for a long time with incredible success.

I personally prefer Conan to Leno, and yes, Leno is at times really awful, but he seems likeable enough. I'll watch either over Letterman, whom I personally can't stand. But the bottom line is that Leno does have more widespread appeal. A lot of people, particularly older people, don't get Conan at all. My father, who is relatively but not entirely out of touch, wouldn't watch 30 seconds of Conan with a gun to his head. He thinks Leno is funny. Leno is mass-market. Conan is not.

And hell, Conan isn't even that in touch with the younger audiences anymore, as we see in this thread. Jimmy freaking Fallon is preferred by the younger set.

And Conan never was a good fit for the Tonight Show. His best stuff is too edgy and random for the meat-and-potatoes crowd.

I don't think we'll ever know for sure if it's Jay's fault that Conan started losing ground (are there ratings for Conan from the period before Jay's show kicked in at 10pm?) but I think it's odd to place the blame entirely at Jay's feet and make him the bad guy.

Hell, I'm even tempted not to call NBC stupid in all of this. What's likely to happen now is that Conan goes to Fox and lands a spot at 11:35. Then there will be FOUR guys competing for the same audience. Well, had NBC not strung Conan along for the past few years, they'd have been dealing with Conan as a competitor long ago.

It screws Conan over, and plenty of sympathy is due to him. But I think Jay's evilness and NBC's stupidity here are vastly overblown.

I agree wth you somewhat, in the sence that not all blame should go to Jay Leno nor should Conan be freed from him responsebility in this. We are getting more and more information from parties with no stake in either show, claiming that NBC several times warned Conan that the show wasnt doing well and sugested changes, which he refused.

As we are often told, the 11.30 audience is verry different from a 12.30 one, and yet Conan seems to be doing pretty much the same show that he did at 12.30. Same type of guests, comedy etc. Sure, at first they tried to mix in some country and broad music, but pretty soon they were back to rap and alternative rock, which may go down well with the college crowd, but hardly with middle america where a show like that needs to get a lot of its viewers. And what happend to the "going of the lott" bids they did at first? Not unlike a young Letterman, Conan is often at his best, outside the studio, finding humor in everyday people. But that was also largely droped in favour of "in the year 2-3000", finding the audience member that looked most like a celebrity and of course the old stable Cornando...

And to illustrate the last, and perhaps most damaging example - guests - lets look at fridays show. Jeff Bridges, a pretty big celebrity known by most, got 11 minutes of speaking time. So did that chick from 24... Now, obviously Conan knows - as everyone does - that the biggest stars often do not make the best guests. Far from it in fact. And he seems to have focused on mainly what is funny and interesting, rather than on what would draw in the most viewers. Which I personally prefer. I would much rather have funny b-stars, than akward a-star interviews. But that does come at the expence of some viewers. In sted of trying to actually get Tom Cruice as a guest, Conan chose to have to with a wax dummy looking like Tom. Now, was it more fun to whatch wax tom cruice and wax foncy shoot out of a canon, then watching Tom and Camaron Diaz on Lenos show? Abso - freaking - lutely. But I also have no doubt, that Leno had the biggest share of viewers for a buch of lame questions, aproved by god knows how many agents and seudo-religious people. Thats not Conans style, as he apparently poointed out to NBC, and I dare anyone to find the major difference in style, comedy or guests with any of the shows from the last few months and a 2 year old Late Night with Conan show.

So to round up, yeah, 11.30 is a different audience and if you want to keep doing it, you have to do an 11.20 show, not just a 12.30 with bigger budget. And in that sence I guess everyone is at least partly to blame. Mainly NBC though, for completely forgetting how business is done and hireing Jay to continue to do his show, and therefor not really giving Conan a chance to succed. Perhaps that is even why he retracted to his old ways, I dont know.

As for JAy, well I supose it would have been nice to see him say to NBC, give the "kid" a chance. That would have been the classy thing to do. But 2 things are needed for that to work. Class, which he doesnt have or doesnt care about AND power, which, with a failing show, he doesnt have either. Leno has never really made a secret about the fact that he only ver wanted to do the Tonight show and that was it. He didnt want to retire but was forced out and may no secret about the fact that he would go back to the tonight show if asked. Had the 10 pm show been a hit, he could have aforded to be classy and say lets Conan try a bit longer. Be with a show that isnt working at 10 pm, he also knows that his only chance to continue to do a show at all, is to go back to 11.35 and basicly screw over Conan. Just the way it is I guess.

 

[willy cheesesteak]

"When Johnny left, he left."