Wow. So The NBC debacle continues...and the plot thickens. By Monday it was all eyes on Conan, what will he do, how will he handle it? Then Tuesday he handles it with total class. He lets out this letter that basically says that he will leave town if NBC goes through with the plan to put Leno back in Late Night. The Balls back in NBC's court. They've said nothing so far, which leads me to believe they are shaking.
I would be too if I kept taking misstep after misstep until it blew up in my face. I think NBC may try and play the spin machine in real life, but I have a feeling that in reality they know what they've done, and don't know how to spin it anymore, and are just lost.
Jeff Zucker should either get canned by GE/Comcast, or he should resign. The guy has done nothing but poor decisions since he got so much power. He did decent deals before, which is how he got pormoted...but once promoted he has made bad decisions over and over until the network fell to fourth place. He made that abysmal remake of Coupling, seemed to think both Father of the Pride and Joey were good ideas for shows, and just made bad reality shows after bad reality shows. The other networks haven't been THAT much better, but somehow they all come off as geniuses when compared to Zucker's plans.
This is, of course, the culmination of all this. Conan getting ousted is just the final straw for most viewers. It tarnishes the good name of one of the longest running programs on television.
For me, NBC was always the classy network. Their sitcoms used to be the smartest and best. They didn't always push for the lowest common denominator. Seinfeld, early Friends, The Cosby Show, Cheers, and even Newsradio.
Their dramas seemed more realistic. Law and Order, ER, The West Wing...they were presented in a way that just seemed real. For some reason ABC dramas seemed more soap opera-ish to me, whereas I could watch ER or Law and Order and believed the melodrama.
When it came to News, you could do know better than NBC. In the 90s, CBS had Dan Rather (he was decent), Peter Jennings (also pretty good), and Tom Brokaw (better than decent). Tom Brokaw is the news, and when he was retiring, it seemed pretty impossible to replace such a class act. His replacement is somehow just as good, if not better. Brian Williams is both one hell of an intelligent anchor and reporter, as well as one of the funniest men on the planet. He's the only newsman on television, on any network, I trust completely. No one on CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, ABC, or CBS I trust in the slightest. I trust only few people these days - Brokaw when ever he contributes, Williams, and NPR.
It also used to be that NBC owned Late Night. Leno was never a favorite, I preferred Letterman, but Leno was the Tonight Show...and the Tonight Show screamed class. With Conan on Late Night it was a damn fun schedule. I couldn't tell you who was on CBS 12:30 in those days (I now know it was Craig Kilborn).
NBC currently has a few shows that remain from their classier days. Meet the Press on Sundays even after the passing of Tim Russert. The Today Show, which I don't watch as it is far from classy these days. NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, and then theres the Tonight Show. Conan came in and classed that show up, brought it back to its former glory. It was sharp, funny, always entertaining, and smart as hell. Jay was never that innovative or smart. He let his comedy just dwindle til it was far from clever. He let it all fall apart because for him the Tonight Show wasn't about a long history, being a classy late night show or being part of something bigger...it was just an excuse to tell jokes at 11:30.
That is why I am so opposed to Jay Leno having this show. He just tells his little jokes, and acts as if he is far funnier than he actually is.
So Thanks Jeff Zucker! Your decision to fuck up late night has brought the brand new finally classy Tonight Show to its downfall. If you have any brain cells left, you will tell Leno to take a hike, to go sit home and count the millions he claims doesn't want to spend. Let him go tinker on some shitty old car, and keep that Class Act O'Brien in the top seat of Late Night, his ratings will come...just give him time.
I would be too if I kept taking misstep after misstep until it blew up in my face. I think NBC may try and play the spin machine in real life, but I have a feeling that in reality they know what they've done, and don't know how to spin it anymore, and are just lost.
Jeff Zucker should either get canned by GE/Comcast, or he should resign. The guy has done nothing but poor decisions since he got so much power. He did decent deals before, which is how he got pormoted...but once promoted he has made bad decisions over and over until the network fell to fourth place. He made that abysmal remake of Coupling, seemed to think both Father of the Pride and Joey were good ideas for shows, and just made bad reality shows after bad reality shows. The other networks haven't been THAT much better, but somehow they all come off as geniuses when compared to Zucker's plans.
This is, of course, the culmination of all this. Conan getting ousted is just the final straw for most viewers. It tarnishes the good name of one of the longest running programs on television.
For me, NBC was always the classy network. Their sitcoms used to be the smartest and best. They didn't always push for the lowest common denominator. Seinfeld, early Friends, The Cosby Show, Cheers, and even Newsradio.
Their dramas seemed more realistic. Law and Order, ER, The West Wing...they were presented in a way that just seemed real. For some reason ABC dramas seemed more soap opera-ish to me, whereas I could watch ER or Law and Order and believed the melodrama.
When it came to News, you could do know better than NBC. In the 90s, CBS had Dan Rather (he was decent), Peter Jennings (also pretty good), and Tom Brokaw (better than decent). Tom Brokaw is the news, and when he was retiring, it seemed pretty impossible to replace such a class act. His replacement is somehow just as good, if not better. Brian Williams is both one hell of an intelligent anchor and reporter, as well as one of the funniest men on the planet. He's the only newsman on television, on any network, I trust completely. No one on CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, ABC, or CBS I trust in the slightest. I trust only few people these days - Brokaw when ever he contributes, Williams, and NPR.
It also used to be that NBC owned Late Night. Leno was never a favorite, I preferred Letterman, but Leno was the Tonight Show...and the Tonight Show screamed class. With Conan on Late Night it was a damn fun schedule. I couldn't tell you who was on CBS 12:30 in those days (I now know it was Craig Kilborn).
NBC currently has a few shows that remain from their classier days. Meet the Press on Sundays even after the passing of Tim Russert. The Today Show, which I don't watch as it is far from classy these days. NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, and then theres the Tonight Show. Conan came in and classed that show up, brought it back to its former glory. It was sharp, funny, always entertaining, and smart as hell. Jay was never that innovative or smart. He let his comedy just dwindle til it was far from clever. He let it all fall apart because for him the Tonight Show wasn't about a long history, being a classy late night show or being part of something bigger...it was just an excuse to tell jokes at 11:30.
That is why I am so opposed to Jay Leno having this show. He just tells his little jokes, and acts as if he is far funnier than he actually is.
So Thanks Jeff Zucker! Your decision to fuck up late night has brought the brand new finally classy Tonight Show to its downfall. If you have any brain cells left, you will tell Leno to take a hike, to go sit home and count the millions he claims doesn't want to spend. Let him go tinker on some shitty old car, and keep that Class Act O'Brien in the top seat of Late Night, his ratings will come...just give him time.
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