I'm With CoCo

The most disheartening part about watching the Winter Olympics were the commercials for Jay Leno's return to The Tonight Show. Of course, I'm with CoCo, and for reasons beyond the typical late night pissing match.

During the whole Leno-Conan fiasco with NBC, countless idiots started comparing who was right, who was wrong, and (to my surprise) who was funnier between the two comedians. Are you kidding me? They are two guys with two different styles of humor. One is zany and self-deprecating, and the other is sardonic and likes to pick on other people.

I used to watch Jay all the time when I was in high school. For a while, his "Headlines" and "Jaywalking" bits were actually funny to me, but by the time I got to college, they overstayed their welcome. I gradually laughed less and less at Jay's monologues--in fact, Kevin Eubanks, his bandleader, often had funnier lines.

Conan, meanwhile, never lost his luster with me on Late Night. It's safe to say that of all the hosts I could choose from after 11:30pm, he was (and still is) my favorite. Yes, his comedy appealed to fratboys and children, but for some reason, it never felt too lowbrow or ridiculous; Conan is smarter than that--apparently too smart for Leno's regular viewers, who could not comprehend Letterman's ironic humor either.

One could argue that Conan was too smart for his own good. He had better comedic timing than any of his peers, and could take someone as dull as Shia LaBeouf and make him look like the most interesting person in the room. Conan was so good at it, viewers didn't realize the command he had at the Late Night or Tonight Show desk.

Ever wonder why Conan's video segments and wild characters worked so well? It's because despite the absurdity of the Masturbating Bear, or the nonsense of an 1864 Old Time Baseball league, Conan always took his work more seriously than he did himself. He laughs with his audience, never at them:



Wanna know who else made a great career off poking fun at himself? Johnny Carson.

Unlike Jay, Conan never came off as threatening or mean. Watching his show was like relaxing at a party: one way or another, you're guaranteed a fun time, simply because Conan wouldn't have it any other way.

When Conan took over The Tonight Show, he was noticeably more reserved, much to my disappointment. Don't get me wrong, he was still enjoyable to watch, but it was missing that spark I clung on to during the Late Night days. Perhaps if NBC gave the show more time to find its footing, it would have succeeded. Hell, Leno took three years to beat Letterman. Conan wasn't given eight months. Even babies are given more time to develop in the womb (and let's face it, most don't turn out half as good as the worst Conan episode).

The only good to come of the NBC fiasco was that America finally got to see Conan at his best. He let loose and took no prisoners, even spending NBC's money on a Bugatti Veyron dressed as a mouse while the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction" played in the background. It was vintage Conan, the Conan I missed since his transition to Jay's time slot:



I dare say that Conan's last week on The Tonight Show was the funniest late night experience I ever had. People actually looked forward to seeing the next episode on a day to day basis. When has that ever happened? Skeptics can say overbloated things like, "late night died when Carson retired," but when Conan is unleashed and free to do whatever he wants, he is just as laugh-out-loud funny as Carson ever was.

Someone mentioned that if half the people who watched Conan in his final shows tuned in before, he'd still have his job. Maybe, but I must ask, how can people remain tuned in to NBC at 11:35 when The Jay Leno Show put them to sleep at 10? I sometimes wish The Jay Leno Show premiered in June because had Michael Jackson watched it nightly, he wouldn't have needed Propofol.

In his final week as The Tonight Show host, Conan reminded everybody of what he is capable of, and now, we are all counting down to his return. Whether it's on Fox, Comedy Central, or some online program, I will be watching and rooting for him.

As for Jay, I don't hate or entirely blame the guy. He was forced out of his spot, so it makes sense for him to come back. But I do believe he could have handled everything a classier manner. He could have stuck to his word and prevented a repeat of what happened with him and Letterman back when Carson retired.

I will never forget Conan's parting words on his last episode. He said that he didn't want anybody's sympathy, and asked everybody to refrain from being cynical. For someone who just had their lifelong dream taken away from them, Conan remained classy, poised, and grateful to the end. That's the kind of host I prefer to watch:



What saddens me most is that neither NBC nor Jay will ever have the amount of love and respect for The Tonight Show the way Conan did.

That being said, I will not be watching Jay's return.

I'm with CoCo, and I always will be.



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NOTE: After one month of daily blogging, I've decided to limit my posting to one or two or three (or zero) a week. As fun as it is to rant and rave everyday, I am looking at the entries I have in progress, and each will require a few days to complete properly. Let's face it, even for this blog that only two or three people read, I must have some standards. :)