Conan’s “Wild. Nocturnal.” Photos + BTS Video

Conan’s new TBS (“Very Funny”) show will be premiering in November and as far as I am concerned, it can’t come a moment too soon. Here are several photos of Conan that have been released by Turner Network for TBS, plus a behind the scenes video of the photo shoot. It’s a real hoot!













Photo Credit: Art Streiber

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Conan O’Brien’s New TBS Promo

Conan O’Brien’s new show won’t be starting on TBS until November, so to keep up the excitement and anticipation, here’s a video of a new commercial short being aired on TBS. The commercial has a Terry Gilliam/Monty Python look and feel to it – enjoy!




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My Advice for Conan O’Brien – Go To Fox!

It was just a little over a year ago when I wrote my opinions about NBC moving Jay Leno to the 10 PM time slot in my article titled “Has NBC Cut Off Their Nose to Spite Their Face?? Just to refresh your memory, here’s what I said:

“This also brings up the issue of the local affiliates, who currently have a scripted show leading up to their 11:00 PM local newscasts. If less people tune in for Leno, it may mean less people turning in for the local news afterwards. I’m sure they are less than thrilled with NBC right now, since it seems NBC just threw them under the bus.

I have a tendency to agree with Les Moonves that this move will only mean sunnier days and more viewers for CBS, and likely ABC as well. Think about this: two of NBC popular main stays are Law & Order and Law & Order SVU. Now, those viewers who used to watch those shows at 10:00 will likely still gravitate to another drama on another network. Then, NBC may find that when they pit these two shows up against other shows airing at 8:00 or 9:00 PM that are already well established, that they will draw less viewers for Law & Order and SVU than if they aired at 10:00 PM.”

I think my TV instincts are pretty good, and I knew that this whole mess was going to come back and bite NBC in the butt. It turned out to be true that the affiliates lost significant views after the Leno show. It came true that shows like Law & Order and Law & Order SVU suffered in viewership by being moved to earlier times and different days. It turned out to be true that CBS did see sunnier days as Leno gave CBS bigger ad revenues.

Over the weekend when NBC advised that they were moving Leno back to 11:30 for a half hour show, and Conan to 12:05, I felt vindicated. I also believe that the network has treated Conan O’Brien shabbily by still allowing him to be host of the Tonight Show, yet still having to follow Leno. As of this writing, nothing has been confirmed from Conan as yet whether he will play or take his ball and go home. The New York Times referred to the NBC mess as “In Leno Fiasco, a Window to the Midlife Crisis of NBC” where they write “No one thought the network television business would age gracefully, but NBC has turned two of its biggest stars into the equivalent of Jon and Kate: two wounded parties biding their time until the divorce comes through. By Friday night, Mr. O’Brien had a day to gain some perspective and ticked off a list of rumors, including a last one that sounded just about right: “NBC is going to throw me and Jay into a pit with sharpened sticks. The one who crawls out alive gets to leave NBC.”


My opinion is that Conan should get as far away from NBC as possible, and move over to the Fox TV network, which is in dire need of a late night show. Conan’s style of humor would fit the hip and edgy Fox television, and would provide formidable competition for Leno. It seems clear to me that as long as Jay Leno is breathing, NBC will never move him out. The fact that Leno was unable to draw enough viewers at an earlier time slot when many more people could be watching should be a clue that Leno’s style of humor is stiff and dated, and no longer a draw for viewers. In defense of Leno, it was probably a mistake for NBC to move him out of the Tonight Show in the first place. But NBC wanted to have its cake and eat it too by keeping both Leno and Conan. Now, NBC has egg on their face and possibly a new problem if Conan doesn’t want to play along. The handwriting seems to be on the wall for Conan – NBC likes Jay Leno more. NBC doesn’t deserve Conan, and I think it’s time for him to move on to those greener pastures that likely exist at Fox.


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Conan O’Brien Tonight Show Debut Off to a Running Start

Photo NBC

I’ve always been a fan of Conan O’Brien on his “Late Night” show, but I haven't been able to watch the show for a while (no time!). After watching his debut last night on the Tonight Show, I’m very pleased with what I see as a re-energizing of a tired Tonight Show.

Conan's debut show opened with Conan preparing a checklist of all the things he had to do for his move to Los Angeles, the home of the Tonight Show. The problem is, he forgot to do one important thing on his checklist – actually move to LA. We then see Conan running across the streets of New York, and other locations across the country such as Amish country, St. Louis, Chicago (including a stop running onto Wrigley Field being chased by security), the Grand Tetons, Las Vegas, etc. He also runs past a Victorian Doll Museum, and then backtracks and runs in, where he admires the corn silk hair on one of the dolls. He finally arrives in LA. The problem is, the door to the studio is locked and he left his keys back on his desk in New York. Conan decides to take matters into his own hands and gets a bulldozer to knock the door down.

This was a great beginning to a high-energy show. After the crown quieted down, Conan went into his monologue, which included the following: a welcome from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (a clip of her saying “hello” from some other televised appearance); Conan – or shall I now call him Conando – speaking a line in Spanish; and Conan attending a Lakers game with other famous people, the famous sitting court side, and Conan in the last row on the upper level, eating popcorn and stroking his hair. He also included a tour of Universal studios. Conan put his own spin on the tour – literally – by having the multi-car tram drive in a circle. He then had the tram drive off the Universal lot, getting “lost” in a neighborhood and then going to the 99 cents store to buy everyone on the tram something to remember him by (including toilet paper and lettuce).

As part of his monologue, Conan does what he does best, which is poking fun of himself. He said, “Ladies and gentlemen, this is a huge night for me. I remember watching Johnny Carson when I was a kid and thinking, ‘That’s what I wanna be when I grow up…I’m sure right now, somewhere in America, there’s a little kid watching me thinking — What is wrong with that man’s hair? Is that even a man? Why is she crying?”

In order to show the size of his new studio, he brought on the letter “D” (a facsimile of course) from the famous Hollywood sign, which the stagehands proceeded to lop off the top on the doorway as they exited the stage.

Guest stars included Will Ferrell, who made his entrance on a throne carried by four muscled men. Ferrell, who also plugged his upcoming movie “Land of the Lost,” gave Conan some advice on what to do now that he is in LA. Some of his (joking) suggestion included visiting a Burger King in South Pasadena, driving on to the airport tarmac accessed through a hole in the airport fence, and borrowing a gun from any LAPD officer, because they let you borrow them for a day. Pearl Jam was the musical guest – I’ve never been much of a fan of theirs so I just tolerated the performance.

All in all, the show seemed to retain those things that I liked about Conan, the offbeat humor and the high energy. Even though I’m 54, I find Conan’s style much fresher and much more in tune with not only those much younger than me, but for those my age as well who try to stay young. This may be the best thing that has happened to the Today Show in years. The show has won me back with Conan.


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The Tonight Show: Changing of the Guard

This Friday, Jay Leno will have his last show as host of The Tonight Show.

I say this is a good thing. I have always found Leno’s style to be stiff and unfunny. I rarely watched The Tonight Show as it bored me to tears. I never recorded it, either, unlike Late Night With Conan O’Brien, which I used to record frequently. Honestly, I don’t have the time any more for late night TV.

But Leno will still be in our faces in the fall – that is, if you want him to be. As NBC is planning on airing Leno five nights a week in the 10 PM time slot, Leno really won’t be going too far away from his Tonight Show time. What is concerning is that NBC is going to be using mediocre comedian to prop up its prime time 10:00 PM slot. Let’s be honest, NBC hasn’t been able to pull off a new show in that time slot for years. OK, let's be brutal - they haven't pulled off a sustainable hit in prime time at all. Frankly, NBC has done little to promote the shows it has in the 10 PM time slot now, like Law & Order and Law & Order SVU. If it weren’t for fans who keep the L&O franchise alive by sharing every little tidbit of information they can glean from other non-NBC sources, the L&O franchise would have tanked a long time ago.

But now, NBC seems to have run out of ideas for new dramas, and has decided to throw caution, and their network, to the wind by airing Jay Leno at 10:00 PM against shows like CSI Miami and CSI New York, which have been cleaning NBC’s clock for quite some time now. My opinion is that Leno is too bland to be able to consistently draw viewers to the 10 PM slot. I suspect that some may tune in initially just to see what it is like – but only if there is nothing better on the other networks. (Good luck with that, NBC.)

I suspect that Conan O’Brien will have a much better time in his new slot, unless he won’t be able to deliver his usual “unusual” comedy at the slightly earlier hour. I am thrilled that Conan is finally getting into a slot that will get him more exposure.

But, if/when Leno fails at the 10:00 PM time slot, what then for NBC? Is there anyone else or anything else waiting in the wings to replace Leno? I seriously doubt it. I sense NBC is a little too confident about Leno in this new time slot to even be thinking that the show could flop.

I haven’t decided yet if I am going to bother to watch. I think I may wait for the reports to come in for a few weeks to see if it is even worth my time. If I heard good press, I will be happy to give it a look. And if I like it, I will certainly eat my words and admit I was wrong. I don’t suspect the latter will be happening, though.


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Has NBC Cut Off Their Nose to Spite Their Face?

Earlier this month I wrote about Tuesday being so crammed with programming that it was hard for me to fit it all in. NBC may have thrown another wrench into viewing patterns when, a few days later, NBC made the announcement that next fall, they would be filling the 10:00 PM time slot with a show hosted by Jay Leno. It didn’t take long for CBS’ head honcho Les Moonves to scoff at NBC’s actions, basically saying that he will be able to kick NBC’s butt at that time slot, thank you very much.

NBC may see this as an innovative move to change the look of television and save a bundle in the process. After all, they seem proud that it will cost them less money to produce Leno’s shows, even doing it 5 days a week, over a scripted drama. But NBC forgets a big fact here – if the show isn’t a big draw, it will also product a lot less in advertising revenue. They also forget that they just essentially opened the door wide for CBS and ABC to take commanding leads in that time slot, maybe even with mediocre dramas.

For me, since I am a very early riser, it is rare for me to be up past 10:00 PM as it is. I have always recorded my favorite shows at 10:00. But for a show like Leno’s, which NBC seems proud it will not be a good candidate to DVR because of the timely nature of the content, it also means that I won’t be setting my DVR to record any shows on NBC at 10:00 anymore. Despite the fact that advertisers bemoan DVRs as they let you pass through the commercials, I still have to SEE what is passing by my eyes as I forward through the commercials. I admit that some commercials seem to be done well enough that you can still get the idea of what is being advertised even as one zips through them. So even DVR commercials get some eyeballs, to a degree. And if NBC thinks that the 10:00 PM time slot just isn’t worth viewers eyes, and if they think less and less people are watching at that time anyway because people simply just want to get to bed, then why don’t they just turn over the time slot to the local affiliates for their news as Fox does? That would save them a bundle of money, wouldn’t it? From my perspective, NBC has made this change all about costs, and throwing Jay Leno into the mix is really just a stunt to try to grab whatever they can on the cheap. NBC also seems to be admitting that the don’t have a creative clue on how to come up with exciting programs for five hours a week to fill the 10:00 PM time slot. It’s almost too hard to believe.

Let’s not forget how this move could also sabotage the changeover to Conan O’Brien as host of the Tonight Show. A few years back, CNBC used to show recent reruns of Conan’s Late Night show, and I watched them every day. I grew to really like Conan and personally felt that his show was infinitely better that Leno’s. Sure, I tried to watch Leno a few times but I just can’t tolerate him. The thought of having him on at 10:00 PM every weeknight makes me feel as excited as I was hearing about Rosie O’Donnell and her failed variety show – which is not excited at all, in case you were wondering. In fact, both Rosie and Jay send me feeling from the TV, albeit for different reasons. But now, if people who watch Jay now at the late night hour can watch him at 10:00 PM, why stay up late to watch Conan?

This also brings up the issue of the local affiliates, who currently have a scripted show leading up to their 11:00 PM local newscasts. If less people tune in for Leno, it may mean less people turning in for the local news afterwards. I’m sure they are less than thrilled with NBC right now, since it seems NBC just threw them under the bus.

I have a tendency to agree with Les Moonves that this move will only mean sunnier days and more viewers for CBS, and likely ABC as well. Think about this: two of NBC popular main stays are Law & Order and Law & Order SVU. Now, those viewers who used to watch those shows at 10:00 will likely still gravitate to another drama on another network. Then, NBC may find that when they pit these two shows up against other shows airing at 8:00 or 9:00 PM that are already well established, that they will draw less viewers for Law & Order and SVU than if they aired at 10:00 PM. If they were looking to try to kill the Law & Order franchise, they may have just found the vehicle to do so. Dick Wolf is probably going crazy at the prospect.

If I turn out wrong about this move I’ll be the first to admit it. One thing is for sure, it will be interesting to see how ABC and CBS structure their new fall lineup. I suspect that they are already working on the issue, anticipating dealing a knockout punch to NBC. After all, NBC already put themselves on the ropes.



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