Good news is probably an understatement. It's really great news because with SVU moving to Wednesday, 9 p.m., the show really didn't need to shake up the cast at this point in time. Stability mattered and NBC found a way to bring the two stars into the fold, offering them both the flexibility they sought.
a. NBC's code name for what excuses they'll use to explain why The Jay Leno Show isn't a hit (or why it is a hit or why it started out well and then died off)
b. a new Bravo reality show where contestants compete to see who gets their own 10PM show
c. a new PBS documentary about Leno and his massive car collection
Last night's Tonight Show featured Conan going outside the studio and visiting people (the thing he does best). Specifically, he went out and talked to his new neighbors in L.A. Among the stores he visits are a restaurant, a furniture store, a gaming store, and a tattoo/body piercing parlor, where he got a tattoo on his arm. Was that real? If it was, that's called being dedicated to your comedy.
He also pretended to be Jay Leno to a stranger on the phone.
A lot of dissecting and exploratory surgery has been done on the jokes that David Letterman made about the Palin family. Even after Dave apologized and Palin accepted, people still want to perform a comedy autopsy to figure out what Dave's intent was and why Palin was so vocal in her reaction to it.
The problem is it's an unnecessary surgery and it fails to attack the root of the problem while the real cancer spreads like a California wildfire. E.B. White once said about such procedures that, "Analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog. Few people are interested and the frog dies of it." The only reason this frog hasn't died is because someone wants to keep it alive and no one has dared to touch the heart.
This is the side I will debate in the never-ending Letterman vs. Palin "Joke-gate" controversy while our very own John Scott Lewinski will offer a rebuttal later in the day that a public figure's children should always be off-limits.
The ratings for The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien have been slipping since he took over, which is to be expected. Possibly less expected is that while he's been dipping, Late Show With David Letterman has seen a slow increase. So much so that last night, David Letterman beat Conan O'Brien in the ratings. That should certainly help Letterman's negotiations for that contract extension to 2012. The real question is how will this ratings battle settle down?
Certainly there's no reason for the Tonight Show camp to panic yet. Letterman stomped Leno for awhile early in Leno's run, when Letterman first jumped to CBS. But Leno is a very different comedian and host than O'Brien. Perhaps too different? The concern isn't so much that O'Brien's numbers are dipping, because the curiosity factor was going to inflate his initial numbers anyway, it's that Letterman's are on the rise. That could be defectors from the Leno era making a move. But should O'Brien even want to bring them back, or should his battle be for new viewers that maybe weren't watching Letterman or Leno.
All the talk last week was about Conan O'Brien's first week at The Tonight Show (and rightfully so), but let's not forget that David Letterman had new episodes too. The CBS site offers a recap of the best moments from The Late Show and I've posted it below. It features comments about Jay Leno and Conan, Bill Cosby, John Krasinski, Paris Hilton, Paula Abdul, Jessica Biel, a cranky new neighbor, and a giant bird flying around the studio audience.
We must really like our televisions to be filled with crap. After all, as a country we continue to support it with nice, big, juicy ratings. Take NBC's I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here debuted with 6.4 million viewers, enough for number one on the night, beating out The Bachelorette. I didn't watch it, but our own Jackie contributed to that number. I got enough of Sanjaya on American Idol thank you very much. Plus, I saw Stephen Baldwin being interviewed for this on Late Night and right there I'd had enough of the whole show.
But not America, apparently. Maybe it was all the hoopla about Heidi and Spencer (The Hills) quitting after like 20 minutes because no one would rub their feet or whatever. Did those horrible promos featuring Sanjaya getting set upon by bees really make you want to watch? Was it the last addition of Frangelina? Mrs. Rod Blagojevich? Or is it the car wreck lookie-loo phenomenon?
NBC continues to play musical chairs on Football Night in America, the network's Sunday night blanket coverage of the NFL including a prime time game. (I'm surprised NBC hasn't added Jay Leno to the broadcast!) The latest change is an interesting one: Super Bowl winning coach Tony Dungy is joining the panel and former running back Jerome Bettis is out. What's interesting is that they are two completely different types.
Bettis, whose nickname is "The Bus," is well-known as the smiling winner from the 2006 Pittsburgh Steelers' Super Bowl team. He's loud, boisterous and a larger-than-life personality. Dungy, on the other hand, was the architect and head man for the 2007 Indianapolis Colts' Super Bowl championship. He is cerebral and thoughtful and the author of a bestselling memoir, Quiet Strength: The Principles, Practices, and Priorities of a Winning Life. You could say that the two men are the anti-thesis of each other, which is likely why NBC has made the switch.
It seems more like The Tonight Show isn't the best marriage for Conan O'Brien, rather than the host being wrong for the show. From SNL to The Simpsons to his own Late Night, O'Brien was a driving force in some of the most cutting edge network comedy of the last 15 years. But, The Tonight Show isn't about "cutting edge." It's about something mildly entertaining to watch before folks tuck into bed. It's a waste of O'Brien's chops -- though you can't blame the guy for knocking down the paycheck.
Due to lazy NBC programming ideas, O'Brien's popularity could be damaged by his predecessor. No, Jay Leno is in no way out to sabotage his protege. But Leno's upcoming prime time, pre-news lead-in to The Tonight Show seems like overkill. Will audiences want to watch "Leno's old Tonight Show" followed by "O'Brien's new Tonight Show?"
Today is the day Conan O'Brien takes up the mantle of one of the most beloved shows in TV history - The Tonight Show. And since feelings about O'Brien on some of my previous posts have been so strong, I thought it might be a good idea to do a point/counterpoint on the question, "Will Conan O'Brien succeed on The Tonight Show?"
I will be taking the position that he will be successful, and my formidable opponent will be John Scott Lewinski, who will take the position that O'Brien will not be successful.
Coming as no surprise to anybody, the final performance of Jay Leno on The Tonight Show absolutely slaughtered the ratings of the rerun of The Late Show with David Letterman. Given the enormity of the event, it's a good thing Dave just decided to hang it up and show a rerun that night in the first place.
I've made no secret of the fact that I've always preferred Letterman to Leno, but even I can see how Leno's laid-back, straight-forward presentation style seems more palatable with mainstream America than Dave's snark and wit. But then, I've never had anything resembling mainstream tastes.
Jay now moves to 10 P.M. and Conan takes his place as Letterman's direct competitor. Leno's style does suit the more family-friendly hour he's been placed at. Starting Monday we'll learn whether it was the man or the name-brand built by Leno and those before him that kept people watching The Tonight Show.
I don't ask this question because I've watched David Letterman a lot more and think he's better than Leno (though I have and I do). This isn't about quality, it's about what exactly we're saying goodbye to.
When Johnny Carson left The Tonight Show in 1992, it was major news because ... well, jeez, he was Johnny Carson. He had hosted the show for 30 years and we probably weren't going to see him on television again (and we didn't, except for an appearance on Letterman's show).
When Letterman left Late Night, it was a big thing that he was saying goodbye because he was not only leaving the network, he was moving to another time slot to compete head to head with Jay. When Conan leftLate Night earlier this year, it was a big deal because he was moving across the country to another location, and he was taking over the most iconic late night talk show in history.
The world's armchair TV executives proudly proclaimed that the only way Conan O'Brien's cavalcade of foul-mouthed puppets and surreal pop culture mechanes could work every night at 11:30 p.m. is with a potent injection of Ritalin (present executive included).
O'Brien noted, however, that television has broken the time barrier.
"I think especially now, people don't watch an episode of Lost when they are supposed to watch it," he said during a recent conference call. "DVRs changed everything. The Internet has changed everything. People are getting it off Hulu and watching shows on their iPhone. What's most important to me with The Tonight Show is it needs to be funny so people can experience it at 11:30 or watch it the next morning while they're eating their oatmeal."
I've mentioned before how funny a guy Brian Williams is. It doesn't usually come out on NBC Nightly News, of course, but it shines on talk show appearances. On Friday, he was on Jay Leno's show and talked about the type of ads that run during his new show, including spots for products that help men ... in various ways. (Video also here.)
Last week, I wrote about Jay Leno's last week on The Tonight Show and his announcement that Conan O'Brien will be his last guest. Judging by the response, a lot of TV Squad readers have strong opinions about the change. A large share of the comments bashed O'Brien. Some people said they didn't find him funny and would watch Letterman. Some said they'd watch Leno's new show and go to bed early.
Some got nasty, criticizing O'Brien's looks, some (who may need to take a break from TV for a while) said they thought the emergence of O'Brien was a harbinger of the downfall of civilization. And a small subset called him a "nerd" (to those people, your copy of Vision Quest is surely in the mail by now, you can skip late night TV altogether).
Well, that's a relief. After months of speculation that NBC would be bringing Law & Order: SVU back for the 11th season without the two stars that have anchored the show, there's good news. Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni have re-signed with SVU. They pair agreed to stick with NBC's top-rated Neilsen drama for two more seasons. 
a. NBC's code name for what excuses they'll use to explain why The Jay Leno Show isn't a hit (or why it is a hit or why it started out well and then died off)
A lot of dissecting and exploratory surgery has been done on the jokes that David Letterman made about the Palin family. Even after 
The ratings for The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien have been slipping since he took over, which is to be expected. Possibly less expected is that while he's been dipping, Late Show With David Letterman has seen a slow increase. So much so that last night, 
We must really like our televisions to be filled with crap. After all, as a country we continue to support it with nice, big, juicy ratings. Take NBC's 
NBC continues to play musical chairs on 
Here comes the response to 
Today is the day Conan O'Brien takes up the mantle of one of the most beloved shows in TV history - 
Coming as no surprise to anybody, the final performance of Jay Leno on The Tonight Show absolutely 
I don't ask this question because I've watched David Letterman a lot more and think he's better than Leno (though I have and I do). This isn't about quality, it's about what exactly we're saying goodbye to.
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