Conan Off the Tonight Show

Alright, this blog is a bit overdue and out of date, but I wasn't in my full swing of blogging at the time of its newsworthy height. But still, I need to vent because the issue still angers me: Conan was essentially kicked off of The Tonight Show.

Being the avid Conan fan that I am, it seems natural that I would get this livid over this issue. Of course I rise to the defense like a mother whose child has been cheated or slighted. It's hard to put into words how much of a travesty this entire fiasco really is, but I keep trying to tell myself that Conan has bigger things in store for him. I really do believe that everything happens for a reason, so hopefully this will only launch Conan to greater heights. If NBC is going to treat him this way after working for them collectively for over 20 years, then maybe he doesn't deserve them after all.

So we all know the Conan story. I wonder if I am being too biased or wounded over the whole thing. As my father said to me, "How can you feel so sorry for a guy who got paid MILLIONS of dollars to walk away? It's not like he's totally left in the dust screwed." Fair enough. I know he got good compensation, but it seems that it's not about the money to Conan. It never was. It was about "having fun on television," which is what he always claimed. He has fun making comedy and making people laugh--I am sad that he isn't doing that every day.

But, I want to know Jay's real side of the story. I haven't seemed to find it or run across it yet. Does anyone know what his deal is? To be honest, I can't understand why he would want to come back. He doesn't need it anymore. Isn't it selfish for him to take it away from Conan forever just because he wasn't succeeding on his other show? And what is this ridiculous NBC/Jay Leno love affair anyway? Why not just cut him loose? Why is Leno choosing to end Conan's career? I'm sure he has other options!



When I first heard about it, I thought it was a total joke. How can they actually kick Conan off? And then the issue suddenly started to snowball into the disaster that it became. I then watched Conan avidly, hoping for the news to change. It feels like he only just arrived in LA, and now he's been ditched. He left his whole life on the west coast to come out here, and not even a year later he is kicked off the show. What a mess.

I thought Conan's jokes the whole week prior to the last episode were hilarious in terms of giving digs to NBC. Especially his bit on spending a lot of money to piss off NBC--that was gold (even though it really wasn't wasting that much money). In any event, it saddened me because everything on his show worked so well. His band. His writers. His sidekick. The jokes. The bits. Everything meshed SO well, and I'm afraid that, from now on, he might not get that back again. What if he doesn't get everyone back? What if he isn't picked up? Now I sit and fret! I miss watching Conan and hearing his hilarious perspective on the world.

But I do think Conan will get picked up though. He's so popular and has such a wide fan base. I just don't know if there is a venue for him, and if those who are willing to have him can pay him what he deserves.

Conan's heart-felt speech at his last show almost brought me to tears (just like it did him). He's right about not being cynical; I'm trying not to hate NBC for it. He really is lucky to have worked every comedian's dream--the host The Tonight Show. It's just sad that it had to end so quickly. I bet it's partly because Conan is so out there, he's not as safe as Jay. He's more like Leno, causing a controversy every now and then. Oh NBC, take risks!

In any event, I've written more than I've wanted to because now I'm just making myself want to watch him even more! Does anyone know any rumors of his future or why Leno has decided to take his show?

What do you think of Conan leaving The Tonight Show?