Late night will never be the same, Conan retiring

crazyfingers · Jan 2010

http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/12/conan-obrien-says-he-wont-do-tonight-show-following-leno/

A shame he's gone, looking forward to his future endeavors.

Oh, and goodbye masturbating bear too
[ame]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVMOmt518X8[/ame]

feel free to post your favorite Conan moments

Marine · Jan 2010

maybe he can help make simpsons good again

aesir · Jan 2010

To be honest, I never thought his shows were all that funny... I hope his next endeavor isn't another typical late night show.

Quokimbo · Jan 2010

I like Conan when I watch him...

MattQ86 · Jan 2010

I was just listening to the Comedy Death Ray podcast last night and Patton Oswalt summed this one up pretty well.

[ame]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ib5lVD8GBr8[/ame]

Joseph Silverman · Jan 2010

He isn't retiring. can you read? He's refusing to accept a specific deal with NBC. Either they will negotiate, or he will get a better offer from someone else.

LEViATHAN · Jan 2010

American humor.

ebagg · Jan 2010

That really sucks, and that was a great point by Patton Oswalt, Jay Leno has never pushed the envelope or moved forward, I watch his show and he's the same as he was when I watched him over a decade ago. Conan is a truly awesome talk show host, one of the best easily, and he's getting a raw deal. Sucks to see he's leaving.

crazyfingers · Jan 2010

Updated to specify he's retiring from the late night show, thanks for the heads up Pal

Peris · Jan 2010

LEViATHAN wrote: »

American humor.

Conan is actually funny though

, compared to the other american talk shows I've seen. They used to play the tonight show on swedish tv, I really miss it! It was the only program worth putting my tv on for

odium · Jan 2010

I never heard of this guy? Is this the guy who talks abotu crumbs?

DarthNater · Jan 2010

ebagg wrote: »

That really sucks, and that was a great point by Patton Oswalt, Jay Leno has never pushed the envelope or moved forward, I watch his show and he's the same as he was when I watched him over a decade ago. Conan is a truly awesome talk show host, one of the best easily, and he's getting a raw deal. Sucks to see he's leaving.

Don't you think that's why Leno is still around? Nothing against Conan or anything...

bounchfx · Jan 2010

Conan is one of the best things on TV, hopefully they come to an agreement. Or he goes to something else that's awesome

konstruct · Jan 2010

jesus- conan bombed the shit out of nbc on the last episode:

Hulu link

Joshua Stubbles · Jan 2010

LEViATHAN wrote: »

American humor.

Better than british humor.

Horribly sad to see Conan go - I loved his show. Leno can eat it.

konstruct · Jan 2010

Gallows · Jan 2010

Is it bad that I just considered that as a new tattoo?

monkeyboy_garth · Jan 2010

Conan is simply the best...

For me to poop on!

TheMadArtist · Jan 2010

As far as I know and have read, he hasn't announced anything yet, and neither has NBC. I think that message was meant to throw the ball back in NBC's court and see what happens. He is under contract.

Fox has been wanting to enter the late night arena for awhile now and would probably court Conan if he does leave NBC. We'll see what happens..

I for one think that Conan is the best late night host since Carson. I hope it works out well for him.

Wahlgren · Jan 2010

Vassago wrote: »

Better than british humor.

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!?

I order you to watch a shitload of Little britain.

Jeremy Lindstrom · Jan 2010

yeah NBC made a dick move here. Jay Leno hasn't been funny in years. They are messing up the "Tonight Show" name by killing it like this.

Mark Dygert · Jan 2010

Leno took a risk it didn't pan out so sad. He should be a man and move onto his next great failure.

Obviously he made the mistake in thinking that people watched because he was on, now NBC is making the same mistake. People just need a familiar face to deliver a funny monologue it hasn't been about who delivers it in a very long time.

Give Jay the boot, keep Conan so I can go back to not watching either of them, except when it makes it on the interweb.

Firecracker197 · Jan 2010

God damnit! I hate Leno! FUUCK HIM

I love watching Conan and they fucked everything up for him, all because Leno keeps flip flopping around about what he wants to do and the network is putting up with it! What so great about Leno anyway, I always thought Conans show was 10x funnier...this whole thing makes me really mad.

Artifice · Jan 2010

I think The Tonight Show was the worst thing that could have happened to Conan. It completely neutered his comedy and edgyness for mainstream success. I really hope he gets a show on Fox, I think he'll be given a lot more artistic liberty there in a comparable time slot. In the meantime, this will be the death of The Tonight Show in the long run. The tame and often boring format just isn't going to cut it with a generation raised on Ren and Stimpy. NBC had their chance and blew it.

slipsius · Jan 2010

definitely my least favourite of the top 3 late night shows.... i always liked letterman the best, then leno... conan just sucks..

Geezus · Jan 2010

Poor Conan? POOR ANDY!

He had just come back, too.

bounchfx · Jan 2010

Artifice wrote: »

I think The Tonight Show was the worst thing that could have happened to Conan. It completely neutered his comedy and edgyness for mainstream success.

I'm assuming you didn't watch it, then? They took away stuff like masturbating bear, but the humor was very much intact. it just didn't have the audience at the new time slot.

Artifice · Jan 2010

bounchfx wrote: »

I'm assuming you didn't watch it, then? They took away stuff like masturbating bear, but the humor was very much intact. it just didn't have the audience at the new time slot.

I did watch it, as much as I watch anything these days (which is to say infrequently). I do think there was a conscious effort to tone it down and give it a more 'adult' tone. Conan is who he is, and I do think he came across well in the role, but it seems to me like he reigned it in for the target audience. Chalk it up to personal opinion, I suppose.

konstruct · Jan 2010

Geezus wrote: »

Poor Conan? POOR ANDY!
He had just come back, too.

I was pretty stoked to see Andy back. That's almost Beatles reunion caliber. but I`d be lying if I said I didn't miss Joel. personally I think that's whats missing from the new incarnation of the show.

bio_joel_godard_conan_obrien_late_night_tonight_show.jpg

f-ing creeper.

Josh_Singh · Jan 2010

"I just want to say to the kids out there watching: You can do anything you want in life. Unless Jay Leno wants to do it, too."
-Conan

OH SNAP.

3DLee · Jan 2010

Hahaha, epic. And for the record, I'm with CoCo.

Firecracker197 · Jan 2010

I might just have to tune in to these episodes to watch Conan bash NBC and Leno until they take him off the air...probably the funniest stuff yet! Conan was never one to hold back!

die_Kröte · Jan 2010

I hadn't watched Conan in years... age and getting up at 5:30am to commute has limited staying up that late (when he was on later before). The "In the year 2000" bits were hilarious, expecially after it actually passed...

It's lame that he has to go...

Junkie_XL · Jan 2010

Conan could be a lot nastier to NBC if he wanted to. I personally think this drama was cooked up by Conan, Leno, and the executives to boost ratings...and it's working wonderfully. He's up over 40% now.

http://insidetv.aol.com/2010/01/13/tonight-show-conan-o-brien-ratings-up/

Conan already feels like he's back to his old late night self as I watch this. I say within the next couple of weeks the masturbating bear is back and nobody is going anywhere. It feels like a tactic. Cause drama to get the old fans to tune in as you prove to them you're back to your old self.

Should we start placing bets that he stays? This really is the funniest he's been in months IMO.

konstruct · Jan 2010

the thought did cross my mind, that hes not going anywhere, and this is a publicity stunt.

even jimmy kimmel is getting in on the action:

Firecracker197 · Jan 2010

If it is a stunt its a bad one, for Leno that is, no one is on his side. Even if this does work out and his show does get moved I bet so many people will hate him that his ratings will plummet and he will get canceled anyway, way to beat a dead horse Leno!

Besides, people wish they could fuck up this bad on purpose, but that never happens, usually its legit.

LoTekK · Jan 2010

http://tv.gawker.com/5448615/jay-leno-turns-the-tables-bashes-conan-obrien-with-biting-monologue

Holy shit. This is fucking awesome. Jimmy Kimmel utterly decimates Leno. Also, Conan's porn movie titles are brilliant.

TheMadArtist · Jan 2010

Man, I don't really care for Kimmel all that much, but that was fucking amazing.

konstruct · Jan 2010

sorry to smear this dead horse even further (surprisingly, I've stopped caring about rich T.V. star beef ) , but I found this interesting:

http://www.hulu.com/watch/121471/the-jay-leno-show-jays-pov

Id be willing to bet its because of redundant employees in a shitty economy.. NBC has three late night shows, and I bet that's an expensive undertaking, especially when there's almost 200 employees (per show) that probably rake in roughly 60k a pop.

maybe 36,000,000 is just a drop in the bucket for NBC, but I admit I have no idea what that amount of money even means.

undeadink · Jan 2010

Conan made bank on leavening nbc 40mil plus his moving his show to another channel... lol

crazyfingers · Jan 2010

You can draw a lot of parallels between late night and game development. Appeasing the masses vs honing the craft. Conan vs Jay. Regardless of your view here's some random nonsense:

[ame]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJ9m1an-pQ8[/ame]

Jeremy Lindstrom · Jan 2010

As I understand it Conan was promised when Jay took over the tonight show he'd have it after X amount of years when Jay's contract was up. To placate them both, Jay didn't want to leave but they had to honor their contract with Conan so they gave him the tonight show and gave Jay the same show he had at an earlier time spot which nobody wanted to see in prime time. So, it's not like either one of them are assholes. They just had a contract dispute. Conan is walking away with a lot of cash to not have a show. If he moves to another network, the money he makes comes out of that 40 milllion though, so he'd be smart to lay low and let them pay him for nothing.

I don't really watch either one of them but think that this whole thing makes NBC look like crap.

Junkie_XL · Jan 2010

crazyfingers wrote: »

You can draw a lot of parallels between late night and game development. Appeasing the masses vs honing the craft. Conan vs Jay. Regardless of your view here's some random nonsense:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJ9m1an-pQ8

It's almost like they actually tried from 0:14 to 0:19.

While the pushing, pulling, and fighting is going on they should've put a 3D masterbating bear standing on Conan's desk doing his thing.

TheMadArtist · Jan 2010

Looks like tomorrow night will be Conan's last night on the Tonight Show. His guests are going to be Tom Hanks and Will Ferrell, same people he had on the first show (which is a bit of a tonight show tradition apparently).

flaagan · Jan 2010

"CoCo"... please. He wasn't funny when he was small time, definitely wasn't funny when he became 'big time'. There was some link recently of "the celebrities that support Leno vs Conan", and all the jokers that support Conan are of the ADHD generation of 'comedy and entertainment' - nothing of any actual substance, just a bunch of flash in the pan. I'm sorry, ginger, but Leno and Letterman are late night. The only school is old school. The fact Conan can't adapt to 'big time late night' and keeps pulling stunts to stay in the lime light shows just how unfit for it he is.

notman · Jan 2010

I think Conan is funny when he isn't over doing it. For instance, his monologues are funny, until he beats a joke into the ground, or tries some of his 'moves'. I think his interviews with guests are WAY better than Leno or Letterman, which I think is why so many celebs like him.

I honestly am tired of Leno. He reuses news stories in his monologues, so he can change the punchline. I've seen him use the same story 4 days in a row, just because he had 4 different punchlines. It gets really old, and bad.

What I wish they had done is, keep Conan where he was, and have Jay do the Top Gear American Edition, since they can't seem to get that show together. He'd be a perfect fit, and it would allow NBC to retain Jay.

bounchfx · Jan 2010

hush flaagan

Justin Meisse · Jan 2010

It seems the crowds have been huge and vocal on Lettermen and Conan, on Leno I actually caught some 'boos' when he tastefully made a crack about Letterman's marriage.

I don't like Leno because he just seems to put off this fake weasely vibe

crazyfingers · Jan 2010

http://tv.gawker.com/5455131/cocos-last-dance-hardest-thing-i-have-ever-had-to-do
Really worth watching if you guys have a minute

if you don't get teary eyed at 12:45 i'll see you in hell.

Entity · Jan 2010

Yes that was an incredibly sad and touching moment, especially to those (like me) who have been following conan throughout his career.

Jeremy Wright · Jan 2010

flaagan wrote: »

"CoCo"... please. He wasn't funny when he was small time, definitely wasn't funny when he became 'big time'. There was some link recently of "the celebrities that support Leno vs Conan", and all the jokers that support Conan are of the ADHD generation of 'comedy and entertainment' - nothing of any actual substance, just a bunch of flash in the pan. I'm sorry, ginger, but Leno and Letterman are late night. The only school is old school. The fact Conan can't adapt to 'big time late night' and keeps pulling stunts to stay in the lime light shows just how unfit for it he is.

You are old.

My opinion:
Leno: nice guy, good interviewer, lame monologues, skits/bits are of average funniness (never being hilarious or attrocious).
Conan: nice guy, decent interviewer, good monolugues, skits can be hit or miss (when funny they are hilarious, when bad they are fucking horrible).
Letterman: douche-bag, shitty interviewer, not funny. - note: I do not find this motherfucker funny at all.

I think Leno is kind of getting a bum rap with all this. Leno's going through his version of Favre's retirement.

Late night will never be the same, Conan retiring

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