Yep, I'm definitely with Coco.
He's getting a really raw deal from NBC, but he's still handling the situation with honesty and class.
Loved his letter to the People of Earth yesterday, honest, eloquent and a subtle bitchslap to the face of NBC.
How can you not love a man who brought you:
The Masturbating Bear (seriously, that bear was a furious masturbator!)
Pimpbot
Oldy
The Fed-Ex Pope
The Horny Manatee
All jokes aside, Conan really is getting the shitty end of the stick in this whole debacle. So what is this whole brouhaha (love how Craig Ferguson makes that word sound like it has 18 fucking syllables!) over? Here's the background as I understand it.
In 2004 Jay advised NBC that he was going to retire in 5 years (2009). NBC, acknowledging Conan's talent and his ratings contracted with him to take over the Tonight Show as Jay's replacement in 2009. Conan, who had loved the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and had dreamed of hosting the show said 'HELLS YEAH!' and accepted NBC's offer. Prior to the switch, Jay decided he didn't want to retire and insisted that if NBC didn't give him a show he would host a show elsewhere (I think ABC was the speculated competition he would have jumped to). NBC, the chumps that they are came up with this awful, pathetic excuse for a variety show to keep Jay. The problem was the show was so awful it tanked in the ratings; everybody essentially switched the channel when it came on and didn't switch back to see their local news or The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien either! So, as the new host of the Tonight Show, Conan's numbers were disappointing. Let's also not forget that the new audience demographic to which he was playing was much older than his previous one and Conan's creativity was stifled to fit the new target audience. This hurt him too, I think, but he was KILLED by the fact that any lead in he would have received from the 10p.m. 'drama/reality show' timeslot and local news had been eroded by the viewers all jumping ship because of Jay's 10p.m. drivel of a variety show!
So, what does NBC do? They are canceling the Jay Leno Show (in essence agreeing with all of us who thought it was HORRIBLE!). They are giving Jay another show (Jay Leno Show 2.0: Will Still Suck Balls) at 11:35p.m. Yes, they are essentially giving Jay Leno the Tonight Show timeslot. The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien will now move to 12:05a.m. Say it with me, lovies...What.The.Fuck?? How can it be The TONIGHT Show if it's technically on TOMORROW??? This would mean pushing the Late Night With Jimmy Fallon show back as well and push Last Call With Carson Daly right off the late night schedule...all because Jay Leno changed his mind about retiring and NBC kissed his ass and accommodated him to ensure that he didn't jump ship and compete with them.
My thought is it doesn't matter what timeslot the Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien is in, if it is dependent upon a lead in from Jay Leno it will not fare well!
Bottom line is Jay Leno is NOT FUNNY! He used to be years ago, but he's not anymore and EVERYONE (except for those idiots at NBC) knows it.
So, if Conan stays with Jay on before him not bringing in numbers, the ratings for the Tonight Show will be disappointing. If Conan quits then he suffers as he had only realized his dream of hosting The Tonight Show for 7 months! His hands are kinda tied. I think NBC should cut their losses and DUMP JAY. He has shown that he cannot bring in ratings with his own brand of drivel, so let him go to another Network (if they'd take him) and let him sink!
Let's talk about Jay for a second. If he was a decent man, he would bow out gracefully and leave NBC now. However, he's a whiny little bitch with a BIG EGO, so he probably won't go. Also, judging by the support that the other late night hosts on CBS and ABC are giving Conan and how they are skewering Jay, I don't think he'd be welcome at either network now.
For those of you who've been accusing us Conan fans of over-reacting and blaming Jay for this clusterfuck, let's take a look at the videotape, shall we? Jay Leno is an egotistical, narcissistic LIAR, who has put his EGO ahead of the 'dynasty' of the Tonight Show and has caused all of the things which he said he didn't want to happen like in the Letterman/Leno Late Night Wars Part Une. I hope the Tonight Show ratings tank when you resume the helm and you have to slink away in shame when NBC realizes they made a HUGE mistake bringing you back.
Even though it's from the AWESOME site funnyordie.com, it is not funny, more sadly ironic.
Jay's 2004 Announcement - watch more funny videos
So, what if Conan decided to leave NBC? I wish that Conan would exercise his right to move to another network, have them pay him $1 per year so that YOU NBC are forced to pay his salary differential AND have Conan eat into your ratings by competing directly with Jay!
If you've been a fan of Conan for as long as I have been (since college days in the late 90s, God I feel so fucking OLD now) you know how much he loves doing his show and how much he wanted to do The Tonight Show one day. Conan actually cares about the Tonight Show and keeping its integrity intact. He hates the fact the legacy of the franchise is being tarnished by this poor management clusterfuck playing out in the media.
There's also some other things to consider. If Conan does take the 12:05a.m timeslot, he can get back to being the creative genius with the snarky, dorky, frat guy humor that we know and love and regain all of the fans he lost by having to change his show. Just a thought. That still doesn't change the fact that the show will be the TOMORROW show though.
This is a hard one, but my feeling is that this is the second time NBC has treated Conan poorly (there was that dark time in the beginning of Late Night history which we do not like to speak of) so it probably won't be the last, Conan.
Think on That.
Team Conando, all the way! This loyal viewer will follow you where ever you go, you Pretty Ho!
Gawker has the most awesome recaps of what's been going on on the late night shows regarding this whole mess. David Letterman is loving this shit! He so fucking hates Jay and he ain't holding anything back about 'Big Jaw'!
Love the Conan as the 'Pretty Ho' explanation and Tom Brokaw acknowledging himself as the News Ho! Conan, know that you have a lot of supporters behind you babe!
Gawker Recap
Dazz
