During the winter, NBC made late night into must-see television with its decision to cancel its new "The Jay Leno Show" and move its star back to his former desk at "The Tonight Show" in the process firing Conan O'Brien, who was effectively reduced to Leno's interim replacement. Leno got defensive, Conan got snarky and David Letterman got to sit back and laugh at them. I couldn't look away.
There's been rampant and excited speculation for months as to where O'Brien would end up once his contractually-mandated exile from television part of his NBC settlement ends in September. But when the announcement that O'Brien will be returning to television this fall with a late night talk show on TBS finally came on Monday which, not so coincidentally, was also the first day of O'Brien's decently-reviewed "Legally Prohibited From Being Funny On TV" stand-up tour I couldn't manage much more than a shrug.
Don't get me wrong I'm glad that Conan has found a new home. It's not the one most people would have predicted, but I think it will actually suit him just fine. As a Letterman fan, I've always felt it my duty to be unapologetically anti-Leno in all circumstances, and in this circumstance, that means being on Team Conan. "The View" co-host Joy Behar recently captured Leno on camera playing victim, stating that NBC had screwed both him and O'Brien. It was a good effort by Leno at blaming The Man, but given that things seem to have worked out entirely in his favor, I struggle to generate much sympathy for the guy. As I said, Team Conan.
Before the announcement, I had been a bit nervous for the host's future, given the wide-ranging theories as to what his next step would be. One idea was that he would try to fill the Oprah-sized void that will materialize in daytime television when Winfrey's eponymous show goes off the air in September 2011. Just last month, Rosie O'Donnell declared her intentions of starting a new talk show that will attempt just that (anyone else unbelievably excited about this prospect? Nobody? Liars.) Many prognosticators suggested that Conan could do the same, but I'm not so sure that his masturbating bear, vomiting Kermit and Triumph the Insult Comic Dog really appeal to the Rachael Ray crowd.
The more popular theory was that O'Brien would bring his shtick to FOX, which, as history suggests, is where late night television goes to die. The network's only current attempt at the genre, "The Wanda Sykes Show," appears poised to go the way of many previous FOX late night endeavors, including "The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers," "The Chevy Chase Show" and "The Magic Hour" (starring Magic Johnson). None lasted longer than a year.
The conventional wisdom was that Conan would try to break the pattern of failure on FOX by successfully competing in head-to-head competition with Jay and Dave. It's probably best that he didn't the reality is that he likely would have failed. Based on his stint hosting "The Tonight Show," he still hasn't garnered the sort of broad appeal and large audience of Leno or Letterman. Up against both at once, I doubt he would have fared much better than his FOX predecessors.
Now that Conan has settled on TBS, the pressure is off. In the time slot formerly occupied by George Lopez's mediocre-in-every-way "Lopez Tonight" (which will now air after Conan) and with a lead-in of "Family Guy" reruns, he won't be expected to pull in Leno/Letterman-type numbers. His new show will almost certainly be seen as a success. Even if he retains a small minority of his former followers, he'll do far better than Lopez and beat cable competition like "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report."
Moreover, he'll finally get the sort of creative freedom he long struggled for in his time on NBC. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Turner Entertainment Networks President Steve Koonin stated, "He can do whatever he wants to do here."
Given these circumstances, I understand why Conan chose TBS, but I still can't get excited about the prospect. I noted earlier that I think the network will suit him just fine not great, not bad, just fine and that is exactly the problem. By TBS standards, O'Brien will be an absolute smash, but I have to think that George Lopez's time slot is a major step backward for a man who was once seen as the future of late night television. I feel like his potential is capped on a smaller network even if his show runs for another 20 years, I don't think he'll ever be able to reach the iconic status of a Carson, Letterman or Leno on TBS. I wish him luck, and I'm sure he'll do OK. I guess.
