Jay Leno to stay with NBC; New 10 PM show

[Crapshoot]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

A pretty wide variety actually. The too-cool-for-school hipster shtick just isn't part of it.

And the boring-ass, Michael Jackson jokes are? Leno is just.... awful in his mediocrity.

[Crapshoot]

Seriously JIMGA - who do you like comedically? I'm genuinely curious.

[molson]

I'd say Conan's shtick is self-deprecation. The opposite of hip.

He's actually the only late-night host that doesn't come of like a smug jackass (though I haven't seen Ferguson).

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Crapshoot

Seriously JIMGA - who do you like comedically? I'm genuinely curious.

It's a legit question, I'm just hesitant because it's really impossible to come up with even a remotely comprehensive list. I'll throw out a few names but with the explicit understanding that I'm just going off the top of my head here, most likely heavily influenced by people I've seen/heard lately. And in no particular order ...

Chris Rock, Ron White, Richard Pryor, Bob Newhart, Bill Cosby, Tim Wilson ... those come to mind pretty easily. But then again, I've seen Sarah Silverman be funny at times so there aren't too many people who couldn't make the list in some fashion

The other thing that's kind of tough here is the line between who is funny with their own material vs who is only funny with a staff vs who is consistently funny with a script (i.e. comedic actors/actresses) vs those who are funny given the right role vs those who are capable of consistent one-liners/off the cuff opportunities. For the purposes of this question, I tried to stick to those who can stand & deliver pretty much by themselves and with remarkable consistency.

[Comey]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

A pretty wide variety actually. The too-cool-for-school hipster shtick just isn't part of it.

So, what do you have against Conan then?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by molson

I'd say Conan's shtick is self-deprecation. The opposite of hip.

And I'd put it in the realm of a contrived attempt to portray yourself as anti-hip in order to become hip. Basically trying to pull off (to borrow from pro wrestling) the sort of anti-charisma charisma of Dean Malenko.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

And I'd put it in the realm of a contrived attempt to portray yourself as anti-hip in order to become hip. Basically trying to pull off (to borrow from pro wrestling) the sort of anti-charisma charisma of Dean Malenko.

could also be that you're reading too much into it though...

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

could also be that you're reading too much into it though...

{shrug} I've got the same reaction to him now that I've had for the majority of his TV career, I've never seen anything from him that didn't come across that way.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by SteveBollea

Good luck to NBC when their demos look like Sean Hannity

Might want to pick another example, his demos aren't really that bad, especially on radio. He also does better with women than most talking heads.

edit to add: Also might want to think about the steadily aging viewers of Colbert & similar as well.

Also, as of last season at least, Leno's Tonight audience median age (54) the same as CBS's network median. Sure has hurt CBS, especially that 60 Minutes show (median viewer: age 60) ... The biggest surprise to me off hand was what the oldest skewing scripted primetime show on network TV in 2008 was: Monk, at 58.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Chris Rock, Ron White, Richard Pryor, Bob Newhart, Bill Cosby, Tim Wilson ... those come to mind pretty easily. But then again, I've seen Sarah Silverman be funny at times so there aren't too many people who couldn't make the list in some fashion

The other thing that's kind of tough here is the line between who is funny with their own material vs who is only funny with a staff vs who is consistently funny with a script (i.e. comedic actors/actresses) vs those who are funny given the right role vs those who are capable of consistent one-liners/off the cuff opportunities. For the purposes of this question, I tried to stick to those who can stand & deliver pretty much by themselves and with remarkable consistency.

Like you somewhat pointed out, you chose a bunch of standup people writing their own material.

What late night hosts do you find funny? As its another thing entirely when you have to go every night and make jokes on current events, and have a staff to write the jokes with you.

[Groundhog]

I like Conan a lot, but I think the unscripted stuff he did during the writers strike was also the best stuff I've ever seen him do.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

The biggest surprise to me off hand was what the oldest skewing scripted primetime show on network TV in 2008 was: Monk, at 58.

I think that could be somewhat skewed as the younger demo probably already caught it on USA.

[rowech]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Like you somewhat pointed out, you chose a bunch of standup people writing their own material.

What late night hosts do you find funny? As its another thing entirely when you have to go every night and make jokes on current events, and have a staff to write the jokes with you.

I'll tell you...my wife and I have been watching the Chelsea Handler show and she gets away with much more than they could on Network but it's a pretty funny show.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Like you somewhat pointed out, you chose a bunch of standup people writing their own material.

Yeah, that kind of gets into one of the distinctions about "who is funny" as opposed to "who can be funny if X,Y, and/or Z".

What late night hosts do you find funny? As its another thing entirely when you have to go every night and make jokes on current events, and have a staff to write the jokes with you.

I'm not sure I'd call any of them consistently funny frankly. I find Leno to be funny more often than the others (not a ringing endorsement to be sure), with Letterman & Conan pretty rarely funny, about the same for Kimmel & Fallon. Craig Ferguson would probably be the next behind Leno for me but I won't claim to have seen that much of him either. I'd probably call Stewart funnier than the rest of the pack, with Colbert pretty much trailing the field.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

I think that could be somewhat skewed as the younger demo probably already caught it on USA.

Oh I'm sure it was, I was just surprised by it regardless.

[Maple Leafs]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

He'll just have to find new ways to not be funny to the majority of people who don't live in their mother's basement.

You just accused somebody of not being funny by falling back on a "mother's basement" joke.

I'm going to assume this is some sort of meta-postmodern performance art.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

You just accused somebody of not being funny by falling back on a "mother's basement" joke.

{shrug again} That's not so much a joke as it was shorthand.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Might want to pick another example, his demos aren't really that bad, especially on radio. He also does better with women than most talking heads.

edit to add: Also might want to think about the steadily aging viewers of Colbert & similar as well.

Also, as of last season at least, Leno's Tonight audience median age (54) the same as CBS's network median. Sure has hurt CBS, especially that 60 Minutes show (median viewer: age 60) ... The biggest surprise to me off hand was what the oldest skewing scripted primetime show on network TV in 2008 was: Monk, at 58.

I don't know the details of TV ratings, but is this just an issue of the public getting older, younger people watching less TV, or younger people not watching TV the way the ratings are recorded.

I'm 30 and I never watch a show I like live. Hate commercials. Only thing I watch live is sports or when I'm doing something else and want some background noise.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I don't know the details of TV ratings, but is this just an issue of the public getting older, younger people watching less TV, or younger people not watching TV the way the ratings are recorded.

Mostly the first two, since Live+7 has become common currency (i.e. what stuff often gets bought based on) although it's obviously not included in the discussion when we talk here about things like overnights.

[Maple Leafs]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

That's not so much a joke as it was shorthand.

I think this is the official slogan of Leno's monologues.

[Maple Leafs]

Interesting take on all this from the current funniest man on the face on the earth:

Breaking News - Louis C.K. Gives His Perspective on Conan, Leno | TheFutonCritic.com

When I was a kid that was Johnny Carson's show and it was kind of what old people watched you know? People my age watched Letterman. And to me that was the thing: it was Letterman and 'The Tonight Show.' And when Letterman really wanted 'The Tonight Show' I didn't understand it because he has his own show called 'Letterman.' And when they rejected him he went and got 'Letterman' again. He's doing great.

Conan had 'Conan.' Nobody really called it 'Late Night' that's how much he had made it his. That was 'Conan.' And I don't know why he'd want to give that up to host 'The Tonight Show,' [which] is just this old, shitty thing. Let Jay have it. So I think it will all turn out [well]. It's been a traumatic thing for them to all go through, I've felt for everybody, except for that guy Jed Jizz-Fucker whatever his name is. Zucker, sorry. He's just a great villain. I don't know, he's probably a great guy... [he just] has that face [and does] all these crazy things.

And Jay, Jay is a driven American guy. He's a working class [guy]. He's from Andover, Massachusetts which is close to where I grew up. He's a Boston comic which is what I am. And he's like, 'It's my show! I'm fucking holding onto that show!' He's not kidding around. So I don't blame him either, he's just holding on. And he won. It's pretty impressive what he pulled off.

And Conan will be fine. He was born in Brookline, Mass. He's two blocks from Kennedy's compound, you know house... he's a rich, Harvard educated, well yielded, milk and honey fed fellow. So he'll be okay. And he'll be the first one to tell you that he's okay. He gave me my first job. To me that's a sacred thing.

Conan went out and took a shot with me before I could prove I could do anything. And he's always let me on the show to promote and I love the guy and I think he'll end up somewhere else. And he'll go back to doing 'Conan.' It's hurting him inside because he wants to be the host of 'The Tonight Show.' And it's a little presumptuous of me to tell Conan that his dreams are misguided... but they are."

[Crapshoot]

Late Show Video - Dave Responds To NBC's Dick Ebersol - CBS.com

Letterman rocks.

[RainMaker]

Dave rules. The funny thing is that Ebersol is a complete failure as well. He has really done one good thing, Sunday Night Football. Outside of that they are losing like hundreds of millions of dollars on the Olympics because they massively overpaid. They lost all their other major sports over the years and their college football is essentially a perpetually unranked Notre Dame team. The missed on the AFL and XFL. They created some Olympic Channel that no one gives a shit about. Their online sports site is so far behind the other major networks it's laughable.

Ebersol is horrible at his job. Zucker is horrible at his job. I honestly don't know how you can fuck up things any worse and keep your jobs. It is amazing.

[Tekneek]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Ebersol is horrible at his job. Zucker is horrible at his job. I honestly don't know how you can fuck up things any worse and keep your jobs. It is amazing.

Must have something to do with the Peter Principle, except everyone in the entire company has been promoted to their level of incompetence and nobody is left to fire the truly incompetent. Comcast will do something about it, but it will just make things worse.

[ISiddiqui]

LOL! Seeing Dave saying he's telling jokes about Jay for only one reason: Because I'm simply enjoying it. And it's Fun... priceless.

[larrymcg421]

What's interesting is that Ebersol was one of the most outspoken execs pulling for Dave to get the Tonight Show.

But yeah, he's pretty bad. He almost destroyed SNL and he was behind the awful Deborah Norville experiment.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

He almost destroyed SNL and he was behind the awful Deborah Norville experiment.

For the record, I'm happily married........but I'd like to experiment with Deborah Norville.

[RainMaker]

[k0ruptr]

fucking greatest video ever! hahahahahha

[Neuqua]

Norm McDonald on Conan tonight

[DeToxRox]

I wish Norm had been on longer but that was great.

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by Neuqua

Norm McDonald on Conan tonight

Oh snap. Some of the greatest moments in TV history (imo) have come from this combination.

[Matthean]

Conan needs Izabel Goulart on his show before he's done.

Supermodel Izabel Goulart on the Conan O’Brien show

[Swaggs]

I hope he gets Jim Gaffigan on this week, as well.

[Neuqua]

Hah, Masturbating Bear makes an appearance.

[Schmidty]

So I haven't been following this much, but is he going to another network?

[DeToxRox]

Haha 1.5 million dollar comedy bit. Awesome.

[SackAttack]

I hope Robin Williams' appearance is on Friday night. I'll be working late tomorrow.

[DeToxRox]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

I hope Robin Williams' appearance is on Friday night. I'll be working late tomorrow.

It's tomorrow.

Hanks and Ferrell are Friday.

[Swaggs]

Originally Posted by Schmidty

So I haven't been following this much, but is he going to another network?

Unknown, so far. He has reportedly gotten a $30-40-million settlement to terminate his contract (and has also gotten compensation for his crew, most of whom moved from NYC to LA for the show), but details of if or how long of a non-compete clause he had to agree upon.

[cuervo72]

One thing I've learned from following this whole deal - I need to watch more Craig Ferguson.

[Galaxy]

Originally Posted by molson

I'd say Conan's shtick is self-deprecation. The opposite of hip.

He's actually the only late-night host that doesn't come of like a smug jackass (though I haven't seen Ferguson).

What's funny about it is Conan is the only one of the Big 4 (Dave, Leno, Craig) guys that isn't a comedian. He was plucked as a writer when he got the Late Night show and never done stand-up.

[Galaxy]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

I like Conan a lot, but I think the unscripted stuff he did during the writers strike was also the best stuff I've ever seen him do.

+1

Sounds like he wants to take care of his staff before signing off.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

It's tomorrow.

Hanks and Ferrell are Friday.

Balls.

Although that doesn't sound like a Friday lineup at which to turn up my nose, either.

[RainMaker]

Does anyone think Jay's recent crack goes below the belt? I mean trashing each other seems like one thing but pulling his wife into it seems a little low. Maybe it's fair game though, who knows.

[Galaxy]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Does anyone think Jay's recent crack goes below the belt? I mean trashing each other seems like one thing but pulling his wife into it seems a little low. Maybe it's fair game though, who knows.

Which crack is that?

[RainMaker]

That if you want to get Dave to ignore you, just marry him.

[Swaggs]

Has there been any scoop on when Leno would begin doing the Tonight Show again? With Conan closing shop after this week, if Leno is MIA for a few months, in order to get the Tonight Show back up to speed (and NBC will also be carrying and milking the Olympics for the next few weeks), I could see Letterman pulling way ahead and holding it for a long time.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Swaggs

Has there been any scoop on when Leno would begin doing the Tonight Show again? With Conan closing shop after this week, if Leno is MIA for a few months, in order to get the Tonight Show back up to speed (and NBC will also be carrying and milking the Olympics for the next few weeks), I could see Letterman pulling way ahead and holding it for a long time.

I could have sworn I read right after the Olympics.

[M GO BLUE!!!]

The only way the reruns could make a dent is if they go with a full week of Johnny.