"Conan" on til 2018

TBS Renews Conan Through 2018

Anyone else surprised by this? I used to LOVE Conan. I even stayed up late and watched it for a bit after it started on TBS. But I fell out of it. And honestly, Fallon took over. You rarely see funny Conan bits floating around Facebook the next morning. I don't even hear what guests are coming on Conan anymore. Dont' even read any news about it online or in EW or in TB Guide. I kind of forgot he even existed.

In fact, was reading in this week's TV Guide about the Emmy's and NBC's submissions – they are submitting the Tonight Show with Fallon, with Leno and Late Night with Seth Myers for Emmy consideration. Among the other contenders, TV Guide mentioned Daily Show, Colbert Report, @midnight, even Inside Amy Schumer. But even among 10 or so shows listed, Conan didn't even make the cut.

Is a renewal really the best choice for TBS? Does anyone watch Conan anymore?

Jimmy Fallon to replace Leno in late night... Good idea?

David Letterman Rips "Crazy" Tonight Show Succession Plan: "What Are They Thinking?"

My thoughts exactly.

Any one who thinks this is a great idea must be suffering from some serious short term memory loss. A quick browse through my 'late night' category and it's obvious that I wasn't a fan of NBC's treatment of Conan or Leno's primetime show. But the problem started long before that, in thinking that Conan could fill the shoes of Jay Leno to begin with.

I love Conan, really I do. But he just isn't as 'traditional' a performer as Leno is to keep that audience or to compete with Letterman. And while Jimmy Fallon follows in more or those traditional footsteps (and has the backing of Lorne Michaels), I still think it is going to be too much of a change to hold on to the audience Leno has re-acquired since being back at his Tonight Show gig.

I get it. Change must happen. We can't just replace one old, stand-up guy for another. But it seems like it would be easier if NBC was in a better place in the ratings... or if they hadn't just made a debacle of all this a couple years ago.

Here'sssss Conan.

Conan's new late night talk show, apply titled 'Conan' (so it will be harder to replace him, LOL) premiered last night on TBS. And while it wasn't the funniest thing I've ever seen, I think the critics are being a bit harsh.

I agree- he looked tired, a bit frazzled at times, there wasn't really anything new or inventive...

But come on! I would be tired too if I had worked for months to get to this day. I would be frazzled too if I was in a new studio, in front of a live audience, for the first time after so much build up, hype and anticipation. And I would argue that who needs new or inventive? We all loved Conan the way he was before.... why fix what isn't broke?

And let's be real here folks- the show is only as good as its guests. When Seth Rogen was on, I didn't really care. But as soon as Lea Michele sat down with her perfect hair, I was glued to the screen. And I usually tune out the musical guests, so kudos to Conan for doing something cool and actually playing with Jack White! I hope he does this more in the future...

My only real gripe is that I hope Conan can get over the NBC jokes. Throwing it out here and there is fine, but practically every joke last night went back to him being fired. Granted, it was his first show and so commenting on the happenings of the last few months is relevant, but I hope that he gets over it.

Bottom line: Conan needs is some great guests, less NBC jabs, and for the critics to cut him some slack. 

Pale Whale

A Hip Hop....

I'm with COCO

I took a break from my five hour LOST marathon last night to catch a new episode of Conan.

I'll admit, I don't really watch a ton of late night. Now that I'm 'old' (i.e not in college), I go to bed before the late night programming even starts. But when I was in college, I loved watching late night television.

I got hooked on Conan when I was working at a little NBC-affiliate station known as KOMU. I would sit in the 'blue room' and they would have NBC playing all day long. I worked Thursdays from, oh I don't know, like noon to midnight (worst shift ever for a Thursday-loving Mizzou student). My favorite part of the night was when Conan would come on (maybe because it was also almost time to go home?).

Anyway, Conan makes me laugh. Out loud. Leno can't do that. Even Letterman can't. Conan is crazy. Crazy hilarious.

The show last night was no exception. My favorite part from his monologue was his message to kids everywhere- "You can do what ever you want in life... unless Jay Leno wants to do it."

Oh, and his list of 'changes' NBC is making to the Olympics. That was golden. Go to the Tonight Show's website to check out the clip, and while you're there, read the blog. I can't believe NBC is letting the site stay up through all of this.

His entire interview with Ricky Gervais (a comic genius) was insane. Ricky kept asking him, "Seriously, what are you going to do?" It was so natural. Like watching two buddies joke around.

Bottom line: I heart CoCo. And I despise that man with the giant chin (click here to read my Girls Guide post on the subject. I promise it is more thought out than this horrific rambling post).

[Reblog]: I loathe that giant chin: TV & Movies Maven weighs in on the late night wars

Note: This post originally appeared on Girls Guide to the Galaxy when I was a TV & Movies contributor. The site has since gone under, and I'm not sure how much longer these posts will still exist. But they were good. And I don't want to loose them. To see the original, click here. 

JANUARY 13, 2010 -

We all know about the shuffle that is going on in late night programming right now. In fact, it is such a big deal, it was right alongside Haiti news on the cover of the New York Times this morning. 

In case that rock you live under doesn’t get the New York Times, here’s the deal: after Leno’s contract for The Tonight Show expired last year, NBC decided they didn’t want to lose such a hot commodity – and rightly so, Leno had great ratings, often beating Letterman. To keep Leno around they decided to give him a primetime show at 9 pm (central time, of course). This turned out to be a disaster (I’ll tell you why in a minute…). 

So now NBC is doing damage control, and not very well, in my opinion. Sunday they announced that they would move Leno back to late night, with a half-hour show at 10:35 pm (the old Tonight Show spot). This pushes Conan back to 11:05 pm, and Jimmy Fallon to 12:05 am (I assume this all means Last Call with Carson Daly is cancelled, but whatever. He should probably just go resurrect TRL from the MTV graveyard). This is/was supposed to go in effect after the Winter Olympics are over. 

Welp, yesterday, Conan decided that he doesn’t like this plan, and gave NBC an ultimatum: Leave his show alone, or he will leave. 

Dun, dun, dunnnnnn. 

All along, you’ve probably been asking yourself, “I wonder what Girls Guide’s TV & Movies Maven thinks of all this?” Well, your prayers have been answered. I am here to tell you that I hate Leno. 

This is really no surprise to most people. I have complained about the Leno primetime show ever since NBC started drilling the idea into our minds with obnoxious amounts of advertising this summer. In fact, the ‘Leno’ topic has been on my list of blog post ideas since I started writing for Girls Guide this fall. And now that all this hoopla has started I feel it is my duty to share with you the reasons I hate Leno (and NBC) for moving to primetime… and now moving back to late night. 

I value scripted television 

This is perhaps my number one reason for hating the Leno primetime move. I love television (no surprise there), and while I do think talk shows and reality programs have a place, nothing – I repeat, nothing – beats a quality, scripted program. Leno took over a time slot once occupied by classics like ER. I understand that producing an hour-long talk show is way cheaper than producing a one hour long, but still. NBC used to be a good network, with quality programming. Leno’s primetime show? Not so much. 

His show is not funny 

I’ll admit, I had always been on ‘Team Leno.’ I thought he was funny. And I’ll also admit that the only time I have ever, ever, watched this new show was for his first episode. And I only watched it because the musical guests included Jay-Z, Rihanna, and Kanye (fresh off the VMA debacle the night before). I didn’t even stick around for the whole show. I turned it off as soon as the interview/performance was over. 

But I don’t have to watch the show to know it’s not funny. How do I know it’s not funny? Because no one else is watching it either. 

It hurt NBC affiliates 

Here is how it works. You watch your favorite 9 pm show, then when it ends the local news starts, and then you watch that. 

Most people don’t change the channel, they just stick with the channel they are on. So if no one is watching Leno at 9 pm, then no one is watching the NBC-affiliated news that airs after him. I’m sure it isn’t true in every market, but the Leno primetime move hurt a lot of local news stations. As if they weren’t struggling enough?! 

It hurt the good shows that NBC actually has 

Ratings have been down for most NBC shows- even the long-running Law & Order. If you look at ratings, NBC shows rarely appear in the top 10, even top 20 (and when they do, it’s usually football). NBC actually has good shows- 30 Rock, The Office, Parks and Recreation, Law & Order SVU- but the network did them no favors pairing them up with Leno. Maybe if they had a better lineup more people would watch, they would make more money in advertising, and they wouldn’t need to cut costs by filling their time with a giant chin. Just sayin’. 

The good news about all of this? At least with a full, five-hours of primetime opening up you can almost guarantee that none of your favorite (albeit unpopular) NBC shows will get cancelled. Even if the shows have small followings (cough, cough, Heroes), NBC will most likely keep them around to fill the void left by Leno. 

Conan, Kimmel, Fallon, Handler 

All these guys (and gal) are, in my opinion, funnier that Leno. They also do better in the 18-49 year-old demographic, which appeals most to advertisers. I vote we ditch the old guy altogether and stuck with these late night hosts instead. 

The people have spoken 

While I know that my opinion is the only one that matters, I thought it was important to note that most people agree with me. In a TVGuide.com poll, 83 percent of voters said Conan deserves to stay. 

So that settles it. Leno is a menace to television. NBC made a lot of bad decisions. They need to fire Leno, give Conan a raise, and oh, while they are at it, do some more promotion for one of my new favorite comedies, Community. 

Thank you, and good night.

Is Conan a loser?

Looks like Conan isn't delivering the goods for NBC. While they may have declared victory early on, now TV Squad is reporting that Letterman's reruns are beating Conan in ratings. Whoopsie daisy.

The good news? Conan is dominating the under 55 age bracket. It's true, I would watch Conan over Letterman any night... if I could stay up that late. Conan is younger, and a little nuts, which makes him appealing to young folks like me.

The (sort of) good news? The real ratings winner in this late night battle isn't Letterman or Conan- it's ABC's Nightline, which brings in more viewers than either of the other two. Sad for late night comedy, but refreshing to know people in America are watching some form of news...

Seinfeld's on Leno... who cares.

The first guest on the Leno show will be Mr. Seinfeld himself.

Although I've read that Leno won't be doing sit-down couch chats with his guests, THR.com reports that is exactly what will be happening, along with some stand-up from the comedian (Seinfeld, not Leno). Seinfeld has been on Leno six times already, including right after the Seinfeld finale (which drew 15 million viewers to the late night talk show).

Also appearing on the show are musical guests Jay-Z, Rihanna, and Kanye (<3).>

I, however, will not be tuning in. Ever. I feel bad that NBC sucks and has to do this to save money, but I support scripted television during prime time (okay, and a little 'reality' too...).

Oh, and also, I'm still labeling this 'late night' because, even thoguh it is on early, I don't think I care enough to give it it's own tag. Sorry, Jay.

Ah, my two loves- social media and television

I just finished reading this article from THR about new marketing techniques networks are using to get their shows some publicity. Obviously, word of mouth is huge- the article claims that it is second to on-air promotion when it comes to advertising, but I disagree. Just last night I saw a commercial for The Good Wife with Mr.Big and my Mom asked me what I had heard about it. Despite seeing the commercials, I have heard nothing. Will I watch it? No.

See, word of mouth wins.

Nowadays word of mouth has evolved into word of ‘mouse,’ using sites like Twitter and Facebook to get buzz going for your show. In fact, I just told you last weekend that you could become a fan of Community on Facebook and watch the pilot (which I did last night- hilarious!).

The one thing I don’t really agree with in the article is their assessment of which shows each network is pushing hardest for in their marketing- ABC fof Flashforward? Okay, sure. Fox for Glee? Um, duh. But NBC for Leno? I don’t think so. There has most definitely been a bigger word of mouse push for Community than any other fall show on NBC. I mean, come on, you even mentioned it in your article! I don’t see NBC doing anything new or original to advertise for Leno (beside the usual billboards, press releases, etc).

Anyway, here’s the bottom line. Word of mouse works. Just take a look at what happened to Bruno.

Word Vomit

Here are some tidbits I've seen (and felt were worth noting). You can spend the weekend thinking them over while I bask in the sun at Tablerock Lake and wait for ABDC, True Blood, and Mad Men on Sunday.

-There is nothing stressing me out more than my crowded Thursday night line-up (well, that and my Sunday night line-up...) so, thank you to NBC for letting me view the pilot of Community before it premieres just by becoming a fan on Facebook! Yes!

- I'll admit, I did not read the whole Vanity Fair article (did i not just mention I have a pilot to watch?), but I don't need to read it to know how gorgeous Mad Men is. Just take a look at its two stars on the beach in Nassau!

-TV Guide has there own list of stars they would like to see on DWTS this season? Great picks! But none of them are on my rumor-radar.

-Word on the street (in EW magazine actually) is that ABC and CBS are not allowing their stars to appear on Leno's new late night show. Make sense? Why cooperate with other networks? Especially when their show is airing during yours?!

-I love Paul Scheer. I love Lost. So this website is basically the sh!t.