Go Team Coco
 

Tonight's Conan's final night as host of the Tonight Show. You have to wonder at this point what NBC is thinking. The have to know that they're in a total lose-lose situation. Conan's popularity just jumped, and if Leno's wasn't already considered in the tank, it's floating around in there now. I would be shocked if he returns to 11:30 and doesn't fail as badly as, or worse than, he has at 10:00.

Meanwhile, I can't wait to see what Coco ends up doing. If I caught what he said on last night's show correctly, the severance deal he signed prohibits him from doing anything until September. Not sure if that includes online content. Because if he's smart (and he seems to be) he'll be all over YouTube et. al come Monday morning. My real hope is that he'll get to work coming up with something that's not yet another "monologue-sketch-interview-interview-musical guest" cookie cutter show that he can sell to another network. Probably a pipe dream, but I think he's got the momentum to pull it off.

I'll be watching tonight, should be fun. I'm mostly hoping he lays into Hanks for starting the whole "Coco" thing :D

Do you know just how long it took me to figure out that all the references to Coco were about Conan? I was trying to figure out why everyone on FB was talking about Coco Chanel.

One thing not often mentioned is that just many people were watching Jay Leno at 10pm as had been at 11:35, that's just not a good number for 10pm.

But back at 11:35 Leno can lose 40% of the audience he had before leaving The Tonight Show and he'd still be doing better than Conan has been doing. To the extent that I'm picking sides, it is in favor of Conan but he was stinking things up to an extent not explainable by poor lead in. And even with all the scandal his ratings last week were still below Leno's average as host. This week being known to be the last may have driven it up more.

Time may have fixed things but it is only in late night that you get to lose to reruns on the other networks and even have a hope of being given time.

If he sticks with the format I hope he goes to cable rather than Fox. He's a niche product and to be able to pull satisfactory numbers he needs to go somewhere that appreciates niche audiences or go back after midnight.

But as much as I like the idea of Conan O'Brien's style I never actually watched it regularly and I doubt that'll change wherever he goes.

I was certainly watching the Tonight Show more than ever with Conan at the helm (and by "more than ever" I mean "at all").

I think a large chunk of Conan's struggles were the result of a combination of the traditional drag of a poor lead in and the fact that it was specifically Leno that was providing that poor lead in. When Carson left and Leno took over there were lots of Carson fans that were not interested in seeing Leno...but they were also quite used to watching something at 11:30 on NBC in the form of a late show. So some portion of them watched anyway out of habit, which softened the inevitable drop off. Whereas with NBC slapping Leno on at 10PM, that segment that would have otherwise stuck around at 11:30 for whoever took it over were more likely to say, "screw it, I'm sticking with what I know" and just watch Leno at 10 instead.

So strip away the habitual late night watchers AND reduce the overall # of people watching the network at all, and you've got a recipe for disaster. Does it entirely account for it? Who knows, maybe he would have still failed even if given the best possible opportunity. But while success in a good situation isn't guaranteed, failure in a bad situation pretty much is, and that's what they gave him.

While Coco did in fact get a bump, I know I watched last night for the first second time ever, I'm not sure it will stay with him in the long run. I was only watching to see the train wreck. Now that that's happened I doubt I'll be back when he makes it to Fox or wherever.

I do hope he keeps "Speedy" The Bugatti Veyron Mouse. That was a great character who was never fully developed. Still, I guess Speedy is the property of NBC now. Perhaps they will do a spin-off show. Something like a Knight Rider 2008 but with charm rather than suckieness.

"There's been some outrage on the internet that we're wasting all this money...IT'S NOT REAL! Ok, just want to make that clear." --Conan

Leno's career better not survive this. It's time for him to retire to his garage. Even if one decides he is funnier or that Conan sucks, Leno is the one who signed on to steal his show back. In case you haven't seen it - Leno in 2004. Too bad he didn't keep up what he said here. This whole thing could have been far more dignified.

So what happens after Leno is gone (which should be soon)? Who hosts the Tonight Show? Please don't say Jimmy Fallon...he needs at least another decade of ripening before even being considered.

Well, pretty much my thoughts exactly.

I think Conan also has a more niche audience. I'm not a habitual watcher, but when watching live programming, I'm more likely to turn to Conan than just about anyone, as his humor suits me.

That and I just don't think NBC is going to see a jump when Leno comes back to 11:35. Maybe I'm wrong...

Poor Jimmy, he falls flat so many times. Loved the beginning of his show last night, though. He definitely needs time.

Leno, yeah, hey, he can go and do an auto show like that guy who who buys/repairs/sells cars at auction. Leno

I had watched Carson, Leno, and when Conan came on, I actually watched him more than Leno because of the time slot. I really enjoyed his humor. I like Leno but this does leave very bad feelings. Why couldn't he retire or get a one night a week show? Leave Conan to build his audience?

When he sprayed cavier on the Picasso, I knew it was a joke. Before that, I wasn't so sure. :blush:

His 'speech' to NBC and the fans at the end was great. I love how he addressed the young people not to be cynical.

I just got through watching the final episode. I admit I expected a train wreck, but instead was pleasantly surprised by a lot more class than I anticipated.

Personally, I think Leno is taking FAR more heat for this situation than he deserves.