I'm not quite sure I get what Tom Shales says near the end of this piece about his recent visit to the set of The Tonight Show.Shales tries to get to the heart of why Conan O'Brien, after a big start (of course), is losing more and more ground. He is even losing to David Letterman when Letterman is in repeats (overall ratings - Conan still wins the younger demographic).
He makes a lot of good points about how the set might be doing him in (too big), how the interviews are too rehearsed, and that there's too much prepared comedy. Those are all things that Conan and his crew will look at in the coming months, I'm sure. (I also think part of the problem is Conan's personality - I think he's more of an acquired taste than either Leno or Letterman.)
But Shales also says the studio that NBC built for Conan at Universal is on "a quiet little corner of the Universal lot," that O'Brien seems to be "reporting from some remote outpost," and that it's "a place that no one will happen upon, so cameos from big-time stars seem unlikely."
What the hell is he talking about? Is this a feature of successful late-night talk shows that I've missed over the years, the surprise cameo by celebrities? I don't think that ever happens, and if it did decades ago, it doesn't anymore. Any "surprise" that you see on the talk shows are carefully planned ahead of time. So I really don't think that's a realistic problem.
I also don't think this is the time for Conan and NBC to push the panic button either. Letterman beat Leno all the time when Leno started, and look what eventually happened there.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-26-2009 @ 12:38PM
const said...
Bob,
Before he got the cbs gig, Letterman was an acquired taste. now he's just a sellout.
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8-26-2009 @ 1:45PM
Ross said...
Just like when Carson left lots of people went to Letterman ... Than they got sick of him and had nothing else to watch so they went back to Leno and that's where it stood ... The same will happen with Conan as they hone his comedy to fit in with the tonight show ... You can see it evolving from week too week it is getting more ad more away from his previous show ... There are several skits that are awful (in the year 3000 for one) There are others that will work and eventually he will find his niche ... If he doesn't Leno might be back in that time slot ... I personally think Leno should have made a deal with another network and he could have stepped right in and made them # 1 for that hour ... My guess is he is banking on Conan failing and hoping to get the tonight show back ... Meanwhile he is making a boatload of money for his 10 pm slot ...
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8-26-2009 @ 2:55PM
Aml said...
I used to watch Letterman and Conan all the time, but since Conan became host of the Tonight Show he became grating. I even stopped recording him, despite having a DVR with a dual tuner. It seems to me he is trying to be Leno, while doing bits straight out of Letterman's 80s schtick.
Also, I have to agree with Tom Shales; maybe not for his reasons, but Yes, location is definately Conan's problem. He is an uptight city person, LA completely contradicts every fiber in his being. Moving him to any city in the northeast and he would've been fine (it wouldn't have made much sense, but thats beside the point.). In an attempt to bring Conan closer to the stars, they brought him out of his comfort zone and not in a good way.
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8-26-2009 @ 3:03PM
Bob Sassone said...
But Shales isn't really talking about NY vs. LA (that would be an interesting discussion), he's talking about where the studio is located on the Universal lot, that it's in a secluded area and celebs don't walk by. That's the part I don't get.
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8-26-2009 @ 9:02PM
pumpkinhead said...
The star cameo thing I don't get, but I do think that Conan feeds off of the energy around him and projects it, and a quiet setting rather than a hustling and bustling one may present less energy to feed off of, and therefore less energy to absorb and project.
8-26-2009 @ 10:05PM
jonathan said...
thats the dumbest thing i've ever heard, shales is an idiot.
it's within a friggin studio to begin with. and did he know it is at the ENTRANCE of the lot anyway? the place is great anyone can just walk in and say hey - celebrity wise.
which brings up a good question...
where was leno filmed?
burbank. where nothing is.
8-26-2009 @ 4:20PM
Elf said...
Yeah, it's not like Conan was on the ground floor at 30 Rock and could just walk through a pair of doors into the street like Letterman can (and doesn't do nearly enough any more). In fact I like that Conan has addressed his location with a recurring bit that has him and Andy rush out of the studio as a Universal Studios Tour tram is going by because it's their duty to entertain those people as well.
As for surprise cameos, does Shales think there has been a real surprise cameo on any talk show in the last twenty years or perhaps longer? Calling the Universal Studios lot inconvenient doesn't hold much water as it's centrally located between Burbank and Hollywood, easily accessible from both except during rush hour. And hell, Universal Studios is still a productive studio with scores of celebrities working there at any given time. All they have to do is hop in a golf cart from their set/trailer/office, drive past the Munster House, Town Square and Wisteria Lane to get to Conan's studio. Does Shales think it's any easier for a celebrity to navigate Manhattan traffic during afternoon rush hour when Letterman tapes so they can make a "surprise" cameo?
Conan hasn't even been on the air for three months and the show is still finding its footing. He's doing longer monologues, but since he was never particularly topical or political to begin with, it's a bit awkward. So step one should be to cut a few minutes out of the monologue.
His skits need to take more advantage of his surroundings. It's time to get fully immersed in show business. Remember when Johnny Carson interrupted the taping of Don Rickles' sitcom? Let's see stuff like that. Have Conan walk through live movie sets and show tapings. He's got a huge playground to work with.
Yes, Conan is an acquired taste, as is Letterman. But Leno is who people watch when they have no taste. (OK, that's a little harsh to Leno, but I find his humor to be overly-simple and often cruel considering how he promotes the hell out of his Jay-Walking bits.)
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8-26-2009 @ 9:10PM
MacGuffin said...
Conan is a 1,000,000x more entertaining than Leno. I've caught the new Tonight Show (and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon) almost every night now.
The biggest complaint I have is that it seems like the same show Conan had in NY, just in LA and an hour earlier.
I think when you ascend to the Tonight Show chair you could bring something new to the table. After all, this is an iconic show. Even the theme song is a retread--might want to start there.
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8-27-2009 @ 8:44AM
C.A. said...
I love Conan and crew, but the new show feels heartless somehow.
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