Late Night Controversy

[Cagliostro]

The latest thing we are all supposed to care about.

Whatcha think about the whole Conan/Leno/NBC thing?

Actually, I'm coming out of the closet as a Coco supporter. I think he's damn funny, and completely insane, and doesn't tend to ride on repeated jokes as much as, say, Letterman does. I'm annoyed that since he has moved into the earlier timeslot, I now work a job that makes me wake up too early to enjoy it. I tape it occasionally, but I'm trying to catch it when I can now.

That aside, I have new respect for him for standing up to NBC and saying that it not only affects the franchise, but also the late night lineup after him. I watched it tonight and he is getting vicious in his attacks. I suspect he's out. He's getting as nasty as David Letterman did before he left...well, NBC.

I've never liked Leno, and I'm very confused why he left the Tonight Show for Conan. Was this not his decision?

[sgt.null]

i like COnan but never thought his humor was a good match for the tonight show.

Jay is weasel.

and Craig Ferguson is the funniest guy on right now.

[[Syl]]

I think NBC is shooting itself in the foot on this one. I've never cared for late night TV much other than TDS and Colbert and Letterman for a while. I've never thought Leno was funny (see also: Rosie O'Donnel, Ellen Degeneres). I thought Arsenio Hall was more entertaining. At least Shaq was good for a couple episodes, like watching a train wreck. Conan's funny, but never enough to get me to watch his show. I think he'll go far once he leaves NBC and gets something going. Personally, I'd like to see the whole late night show format evolve.

[danlo]

I think I lost my taste for late night as soon as Tom Synder retired and Letterman left NBC. I can hardly stay up that late, but I heartily agree with sarge that Craig Furgeson is an absolute riot and seriously deserves an earlier time-I'd be very happy if they got rid of both of those guys and replaced them with Craig...

[dANdeLION]

Heh, I quit watching late night when Johnny Carson retired......I knew from watching Television Parts that I didn't care for Leno's humor.

[Kil Tyme]

Conan used to be much more funny, at least the skits and with sidekick Andy R, back in his beginning, but I have since caught his Tonight show and thought he wasn't as good. I think going to his own show again, where ever it is, will free him up again to be like he used to. I am surprised Jay is on after all these years; he just is not that funny at all, but like Conan, he sure was funny back in the beginning. Lettermans a bore for the last decade, but Craig Ferguson is by far the best of them all as far as humor. The rest no comment; never seen em.

[Damelon]

I haven't really watched much late night tv for years. I do like Letterman better than Leno though. To be honest, I've never watched enough of Conan to judge one way or another. A late night show that I've seen parts of recently that I do like is Chelsea Lately, on E!.

[matrixman]

Syl's mention of Arsenio Hall reminds me how entertaining that program was.
While its energy lasted, I enjoyed it more than the other late night talk shows.

That said, I watched Johnny Carson more consistently - by far - than any other talk show host.
If Arsenio was the zippy hare, Johnny was the grand tortoise.
When Carson left, I only sporadically tuned into Leno's Tonight Show.
I liked Leno's monologues, but his "Headlines" segment was the only reason I stayed past the commercials.

I thought Letterman was great for a time, but only during his heyday on NBC.
It would have been nice to see Dave take over from Johnny, at least when Dave still had "it" - whatever it was.
I rarely saw his CBS show.

By the time Conan arrived on the scene, I had next to zero interest left in the networks' late night format.
(Charlie Rose on PBS became my talk show of choice.)
However, I get the impression here that Conan is a breath of fresh air for the Tonight Show.
If so, then NBC shouldn't be shoving him aside just to bring Leno back.

Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are very funny guys, but I can take their brand of frenetic comedy in only small doses.

[Ki]

Always been a big fan of Conan but when he moved to the Tonight Show, he's not been as funny. I don't know if the NBC executives told him to calm it down or what but he's not been his usual quirky self which is what made Conan funny and so different from Leno. And in my humble opinion, is what made him popular with the younger crowd. Anyway, I think the executives hoped he would be a big hit with the younger crowd at the Tonight Show but how could he if he wasn't allowed to be himself? So, he didn't get the ratings they were expecting (not that they gave him very much time to do that..he's only been doing the gig for 7 months). And from what I recall, when Leno took over for Carson, he didn't immediately bring in Carson's ratings either. I'll never watch Leno again. I thought that Conan's statement he recently released showed integrity and I hope that Conan will end up with his own show on another network and I hope he will be successful. I've decided to never watch Leno again.

It's been a lot of fun watching Conan the last couple of nights. He's been skewering the NBC executives. Wouldn't you love to do that in front of millions of people to your company and bosses when they were screwing you over?