Late-night Watch: The Revenge of Conan O'Brien

In many ways, it’s been a pretty good week for Conan O’Brien. On Monday night, Martin Scorsese offered to put him in his new HBO series, and last night Quentin Tarantino said he'd help O’Brien follow the director’s template and make a revenge movie. “They pushed him too far," Tarantino growled, imagining the trailer. "They made promises they had no intention of keeping. They took his show, they killed his dog....They had their way and now Conan will have his.”

O'Brien’s even become the “star” of a Chinese animated video attempt to explain the whole late-night mess. The clip, in which he morphs into the Incredible Hulk, made the rounds on the Internet and pleased O’Brien so much that he decided to air it last night, claiming that now, at last, he understood what had happened.

“And we wonder why they’re beating us,” quipped Andy Richter, proving that maybe he could have become a great side-kick, given enough time.

All this on top of pro Conan rallies, the Team Coco T-shirts and the ever increasing applause the moment he appears on stage. Indeed, O’Brien has become so universally beloved, you have to wonder where all these fans were hiding during the last seven months as “The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien” opened to mediocre ratings and steadily slid. While it’s touching to hear his fans frantically applaud, as if O’Brien were Tinker Bell and could be saved if only enough of us believed, simply watching the show on a regular basis might have been more effective.

O’Brien, of course, is past all that, joking as he took the stage Wednesday night that he was "just three days away from the biggest drinking binge in history.”

As he nears the end — “Thursday,” he said, “or Friday depending on what the lawyers say” -- he has developed something of a shtick, buoyed by the intoxication of crisis and more than a little bitterness —when Tarantino claimed the strangulation was the most violent thing one could do to another person, O’Brien begged to differ. "I've got another one for ya,” he said, and he was clearly only half-kidding.

Once again, O’Brien referenced news reports that he could not legally say anything bad about NBC. While Monday he circumvented this by singing his criticism, on Wednesday, he went bilingual, calling NBC executives “brainless sons of goats who eat money and crap trouble” in Spanish. There was another clip of great moments in "Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" history. (Strangely, this pattern also seems to involve an "Avatar" joke followed by a reference to the death of the founder of Taco Bell, but hey, Conan, whatever gets you through the next few days.)

A host to the end, O’Brien dutifully interviewed his guests and plugged their films — along with Tarantino, Paul Bettany made an appearance — but there is no denying that these final shows are playing more like an Irish wake than anything else, with everyone eager to laugh and tell scandalous stories. Bettany got bleeped twice and even Colin Firth spent his time on Tuesday night making penis and anus jokes.

And if anyone out there didn’t understand just what was going on, comedian and favored O’Brien guest Norm MacDonald showed up with a gift basket he claimed he’d bought in June. As he read the card --"Congratulations Conan on finally securing your place as the permanent host of 'The Tonight Show. That's something they can never take away from you" -- the words were funny, ironic and genuinely sad. NBC’s late-night mess is not the worst thing happening in the world today, but it may be the most unnecessary.

--Mary McNamara

Video: Norm MacDonald on "The Tonight Show"/Credit: NBC

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Comments

[FV]

That quote below is the issue. I think it took Leno three to four years to actually surpass Letterman in ratings - but NBC executives couldn't even give Conan 7 months. Add in the fact that Leno himself has contributed to the poor lead in to the 11 o clock news and consequently, the Tonight Show with Conan - you actually should applause the fact that Conan has respectively held his own.

"you have to wonder where all these fans were hiding during the last seven months as “The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien” opened to mediocre ratings and steadily slid."

[Wish CoCo wouldn't gogo]

It is truly wrong what is being done to Conan. I do believe that he will emerge victorious from all of this however. As you pointed out, ratings have been down for Conan. It is my strong belief that FOX will offer Conan a spot as soon as they are able. I believe that all of this will bring much more attention to that show. I think many of Conan's fans just couldn't get used to watching The Tonight Show. I dislike Jay Leno so much that I myself could not get used to flipping to NBC at 11:35. Conan will get a new show on FOX, if he wants it, and he will probably destroy The Tonight Show in the ratings. I do not believe that Jay will recover, and it is my strong belief that ratings for the new/old Tonight Show will be lower than that of The Jay Leno Show. The only thing I disagree with in your column is that I believe that Andy Richter was already a phenomenal sidekick. I think he was one before he left Late Night in the first place. A much funnier man than he gets credit for. Luckily that genius has never gone unnoticed by Conan. So here's to the man who gave us Pimpbot, a masturbating bear, a lever that plays scenes from Walker: Texas Ranger, and the Sea Captain from the Simpsons. I look forward with much pleasure to watching whatever his next endeavor is.

[Chris C]

And to think the only funny things to come from Leno have nothing to do with comedic ability, but rather rely on the stupidity of people's knowledge and misspellings in a penny saver (Jaywalking and Headlines for those slow Jay viewers)... Hurry up Conan, and show the world your comedic brilliance you have shown before the moronic execs told you to tone it down for the "Jay viewers"... Good Luck CoCo!

[Kip Cricket]

Conan's getting a knife in the back along with his severance package.

NBC and Leno would have you think Conan's to blame as it benefits them to make Conan the bad guy. Take away the man's show and now try to take his legacy!

Don't let NBC and Leno rewrite history! Check out the following link to read of Leno's deceit:

http://www.therestrainingorder.com/?p=2250

[Michael]

Where have all the Conan fans been for the last seven months? Hulu.

Didn't see any online numbers, only the numbers for the few Americans that have a Nielsen box. I'm sure most of those people live in mid-America where the states run red with ignorance.

I watched on Hulu and rarely watched live....but again it wouldn't have mattered as I'm not a Nielsen family.

[conan is passed all that]

yes conan is indeed PASSED ALL THAT

[steve]

I was listening to this song and it made me laugh, it summed up how everyone seems to be feeling

thepeppermintpatties.com

[celtcwrtr]

it's prudent to follow the motto to never trust a spell checker... spelled right usage wrong will slip passed, er past, you every time.

[Bryan]

It seems this whole mess is due to 'ratings.' Can anyone explain how these ratings are collected? How do the 'ratings' know if I'm watching? And how accurate (+ or - what %?) are they?

[Big Sam]

NBC is self destructing in front of our eyes. They represent what is wrong with America today...overpaid executives who fail to deliver a superior (or even half-a$$ed product, thinking the Chinese will come with accessories later).

Because of NBCs paranoid non-compete clause, Conan will not be back on TV for awhile. I do hope he walks away with so much money from NBC, the shareholders have torchlight mob scenes at 30 Rock and Burbank, and tar and feather all of the executives in the entertainment division.

In summation, the only reason I am weighing in on this is because NBC made a promise to Conan and then broke it, when they had broke the network. NBC...I never watch you or the news on your stations, and, some industrious lawmaker should introduce legislation that would require NBC executives to wear clown suits in public, anytime they leave their home.

[Anna Morrison]

It's sad when anyone gets fired, but Conan must know millons of people have lost their jobs over the last year and got jack. Poor Conan gets no less than $20 Million. And that stunt with punishing NBC by buying a million dollar plus car. How many lives would that have saved in Haiti. WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?

[Hank]

"quipped Andy Richter, proving that maybe he could have become a great side-kick, given enough time"

You do remember that Andy Richter was Conan's sidekick when Conan started hosting Late Night, right? And did quite well then.