I know that Iím not the only one who is insanely upset with whatís been going on at NBC lately. It seems that almost everyone around is unhappy with the displacement of Conan OíBrien as the ìTonight Show” host and the possible reinstatement of its old ruler, Jay Leno. I think I can speak especially for audiences my age, who have been loyally following Conanís career ever since they were first allowed to stay up past 12:30 a.m. on a school night.
Am I the only one who remembers that Jay Leno mentioned retiring before he left ìThe Tonight Show” in 2008? I donít recall initially hearing him talk about how he wanted to hijack the 10 p.m. time slot and subsequently destroy NBCís nighttime ratings in the process.
I also seem to remember Leno making a statement right before his embarrassment of a show aired, claiming that if it were to fail, he would leave gracefully. He was, after all, already a successful millionaire who quite frankly was getting a little too old.
Never did I hear him say that if his efforts were to fail (which they did) that he would attempt to steal back ìThe Tonight Show” from his successor. And then in the weeks following all these decisions, Jay Leno is attempting to gain the publicís sympathy and make it seem as though both NBC and Conan are treating him unfairly?
Sorry Jay, the ìTonight Show” isnít your girlfriend who decided she wanted to see other people. You canít just try to win her back. Sheís not interested. You still have a job while Conan has to look elsewhere, so donít come crying to us.
It seems to me that when the most iconic, well-respected late night television program is handed over to a new host, it should stay with that host for longer than seven months. I mean, wonít it be weird when we all look back in a few years, with Jay Leno still serving as host, and say, ìOh, I remember when someone else randomly hosted this show for SEVEN MONTHS?” Thatís completely ridiculous.
Of course, this is nothing new for NBC, who has never treated Conan with an ounce of the respect he deserves. I donít know if many people know this, but when ìLate Night with Conan OíBrien” first hit the airwaves, Conan was on a night-by-night contract. Thatís rightóNBC granted themselves the power to fire Conan on whichever night he didnít bring in enough viewers.
If I remember correctly, I think there was actually a night where Conanís show wasnít even aired because of NBCís lack of faith in him.
I do realize that Conanís ratings on the ìTonight Show” are significantly lower than the ratings Jay was pulling in, but havenít we all learned by now that Conan takes some getting used to? His comedy is a little more obscure than Jay Lenoís, but that doesnít mean itís any less funny.
Honestly, NBC should never have given Conan his own show way back in 1993 if they werenít completely confident he would succeed. Itís clear that the network still doesnít have faith in him, as theyíre doing the same thing now that they did 17 years ago. If that network didnít believe in him then, they should have let him go on to other networks that would appreciate him more.
Itís not fair for NBC to hold onto Conan OíBrian just in case he becomes a success. They have to actually believe that he will.
Hallie is a regular contributer to the† Voice. She can be reached for comment at hmoreland10@wooster.edu