Jay Leno vs. Conan O’Brien: Does Quality Matter?
The truth is, we should’ve all seen this coming. As reported on TMZ, Jay Leno’s embarrassing failure at 10pm will end after the Olympics, and he will reclaim his old Tonight Show chair at 11:30. It’s not immediately clear what will happen to Conan, but it seems unlikely that he’ll stomach a return to 12:30, so NBC will probably buyout his contract (which should cost them around $50 million dollars) and then allow him to host a similar show on a competing network. Insane, right? And what’s even more insane is that almost everyone in the world – perhaps including even Jay – would admit that Conan’s show is the funnier of the two. But sadly that doesn’t make a lick of difference.
Wanna have some fun? Google the phrase “Jay Leno Sucks”, and see what comes up. I know one thing that won’t: the sentence “You know what, Jay Leno actually doesn’t suck.” Because believe you me, Jay Leno sucks. BIG time — and especially at 10 pm. Want proof? Click on this, but be advised, it may make you want to kill yourself. So if you’re someone who’s already predisposed to killing yourself, don’t watch it. And Leno somehow turned doing an entire season of lame, unfunny mediocrity like this into a job PROMOTION. He mailed it for six months without trying anything new or daring, and as a way of saying thanks, NBC is reportedly giving him the most coveted job in television! Where else does this happen? If you burn burgers at McDonalds for a while, does Bobby Flay walk in and say, “hey, I like your complete obliviousness. I’m giving you your own restaurant in Times Square!”? No. We don’t do that in capitalism. Unless you work at NBC. Or if you’re the head of a major US bank, but other than that this would be called insanity.
I'm amazed this didn't play with 70 year-olds.
How did Jay pull this off? Well, Conan’s ratings are bad – so bad that he’s being regularly trounced by Dave Letterman, something that never happened to Leno. And his show just hasn’t gelled with mainstream America, which isn’t exactly shocking. Ask my Kansan grandfather to laugh at a masterbating bear in a diaper, and there’s a reasonable chance you’ll end up getting shot. Conan excels with young men, but NBC needs more than that to float the Tonight Show boat. So back roars Jay Leno, who people watch, even though everyone agrees he’s not particularly funny anymore.
The fascinating thing is, I bet Leno would admit his show isn’t so sharp. In the late 70’s to mid 80’s, Jay Leno was a killer. He would destroy in clubs, then fill in for Carson at 11:30 and destroy there. But when he took over the gig fulltime, he just got kinda…lame. I don’t believe you stop being funny, I believe Jay knew the gig was up. America doesn’t want creative and truly hilarious – not in the mainstream. It’s too challenging, it crosses too many boundaries. No, we want something a little bit bland, a touch predictable. If you’re gonna survive at 11:30 on NBC, you gotta appeal to the largest number possible – and smart, insightful comedy will never do that. So Jay Leno comes back to the Tonight Show, and once again, mediocrity wins in America. Too bad.
UPDATE: According to the New York Times, a new possibility is Jay Leno taking over from 11:30 to 12, when Conan’s show would begin and run until 1. Which one would be called The Tonight Show? No idea. What happens to Jimmy Fallon? Not sure. Is 30 minutes of Leno better than 60? Sure, but I’m still holding out for 0.
Post Your Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment
T/S Members
Log in with your True/Slant account.
[...] gives The Tonight Show back to Jay Leno and Conan gets the $50 million buyout in his contract and is free to entertain offers for the 11:30pm slot on ABC or [...]
Jay never failed! America expects too much of him to live up to most of it….We are too demanding and this will kill off many of the worlds great talk show hosts; for if you think of it, after Oprah whats next. Say sorry to leno, give his ratings a boost why don’t you; stop laughing and start helping our great leno.
http://cliveshome.blogspot.com
I agree; Leno makes television that’s roughly as interesting as nothing at all. A peculiar talent, but one that any number of pop singers mastered decades ago. Since millions of Americans turn on their televisions at night simply to have the sound of voices in their homes, his bland white noise wins.
ha, well put, Kramer.
In response to another comment. See in context »I like Jay a lot, but you have it pinned right here. His show never captured his best talents – it was a very soft, fluffy, harmless way to end the night. Kramer captures it well in his comment.
[...] Conan reportedly could get $50 million under the buyout clause of his contract with NBC, all because Leno’s 10 pm show was a disaster and NBC wants Leno back at his old time slot. What would you do? Take the money and run (to another network)? AKPC_IDS += "311,";Popularity: 1% [?] [...]