Conan O'Brien Tonight Show debut

[Westernskies]

Tried to watch Conan O'Briens debut on The Tonight Show tonight. It was painful, I could only take 17 minutes before switching it off. Guess I just don't understand his appeal. Wonder what folks here on FIRE thought of his performance?

 

[jambo101]

I dont think this buffoon is going to last very long.So the question is who will replace Conan in the near future?.

 

[Dawg52]

I think you might be surprised at how well he does. Same thing was said when he took over for David Letterman on the Late Night Show some 17 years ago. He will lose some of the traditional Tonight Show audience to Letterman but will pick up the younger crowd. I'm not 'young' but I liked his previous show.

 

[Stevewc]

I don't care much for gonad at all.
Of course in my opinion, no one has yet replaced Johnny Carson.
Steve

 

[ratface]

My tewenty y/o son thinks he is funny. I would not have lasted the 17min.

 

[W2R]

I couldn't stay up late enough to see any of it (because I had to get up early and go to w*rk today, that four letter word). I did see Leno's farewell show with Sweet Baby James Taylor and others.

I liked Conan O'Brien on the Late Night Show. I am not so sure that his style will go over on the Tonight Show, though.

 

[steve88]

He was never funny. Wonder if Jay leno chose him as replacement so he won't look bad during his tenure. Some of Jay lenos joke was taken from howard stern like the street interview.

 

[Stevewc]

I couldn't stay up late enough to see any of it (because I had to get up early and go to w*rk today, that four letter word). I did see Leno's farewell show with Sweet Baby James Taylor and others.

I liked Conan O'Brien on the Late Night Show. I am not so sure that his style will go over on the Tonight Show, though.

What she said:
Except for the liking gonad
I'm up at 4:00 am every working day.
A big reason to look forward to FIRE !!!
Steve

 

[dex]

I didn't watch Conan. When I was waiting for my broken collar bone to heal I watched the late night talk shows - there are a lot of them. They are basically the same - into, talk with Hollywood cleb. who is pushing a movie and a skit of some type.
But the main reason they are the same is:
- The writers move from show to show
- They all do the same jokes - topical
- Too many commercials ruin the timing of the show
- Tired jokes, clebs and format.

The only thing different is the person reading the joke.

If Jay's new show is like the other talk shows - he will be a joke.

-----
What you need to do is see what is missing - Think back to the Jackie Gleason show, Jack Par show, or Tom Snyder (I worked on his show for awhile). They introduced the public to new people and ideas.

 

[Texas Proud]

Tried to watch Conan O'Briens debut on The Tonight Show tonight. It was painful, I could only take 17 minutes before switching it off. Guess I just don't understand his appeal. Wonder what folks here on FIRE thought of his performance?

My nephew in his 20s now had to go and see him live when I was in NY... I do not like him at all... so I did not have to waste the 17 minutes...

I think his ratings will be just fine... just not with the folks that Johnny was after... or for that matter Jay...


It is all about advertising... and we are not the target markets for them... even though we have money, we just don't spend it like the young... and we are more set in our ways so it is harder to get us to buy something that we do not want or do not need... at least IMO...

 

[FinanceDude]

Conan sucks.

Leno is funnier than Letterman, but he gets annoying over time.......

Letterman is "ok"

Carson is still the king!

 

[Dave J]

I had my DVR set up to tape Leno every night and would watch it the next day.
I watched Conan(on tape) this morning and will not be taping it any more.
His style is just not funny to me.

 

[REWahoo]

I followed my typical Tonight Show viewing pattern last night, watching the first 30 minutes, skipping the guest appearances. Leno was usually good for a dozen or so chuckles and an occasional belly laugh. Conan managed to generate only 2-3 chuckles. Guess I'm too old to appreciate his humor.

I'll keep watching for a while to see if he grows on me, but its not looking good at this point...

 

[tibbar]

I didn't watch it either. We have gotten into the habit of not watching either late night talk show and instead turning on the TV at 11:35 for the Craig Ferguson show. That guy is Crazy!

 

[Westernskies]

The scene at the beginning, where he was running from NY to LA was just stupid- I was actually hoping he would run past the studio, into the ocean and drown like a lemming, all in pathetic attempt to boost NBC's ratings.

 

[Bestwifeever]

I'm a Letterman gal (does anyone remember that Carson wanted Letterman to succeed him?), so although I like Conan I would probably not choose his show over Letterman on the rare occasion I'd watch either.

 

[ziggy29]

I've never been a Conan fan myself. Then again, most nights I turn into a pumpkin by 10 PM. (Yeah, I know that's what DVRs are for, but I haven't been a really big fan of any late night host since Carson so I haven't bothered.)

 

[Westernskies]

I'm a Letterman gal (does anyone remember that Carson wanted Letterman to succeed him?), so although I like Conan I would probably not choose his show over Letterman on the rare occasion I'd watch either.

If Carson rolled over in his grave over Leno, he'll need high-speed bearings over Conan.

 

[Bestwifeever]

I think Conan is much closer to Letterman than to Leno, comic-styling-wise, so I think Carson might have liked him for the same reasons Carson liked Letterman.

What I really wonder about is how having Leno (or anyone) in a daily primetime talk show is going to go over vs. the non-talk show competition. I guess it won't be much different than all the iterations of "newsmagazines" there now are (Dateline, etc.) but possibly intentionally funnier.

 

[Dawg52]

I think Conan is much closer to Letterman than to Leno, comic-styling-wise

I agree. Although I watched Leno some, I always found myself switching over to Letterman. It depended a lot on who had the best guest. But I didn't watch either one on a regular basis. I usually [-]pass out[/-] dose off in the recliner.

 

[aaronc879]

Conan is no Jay Leno but he shouldn't have a problem staying number 1 as long as Letterman is his competition. Letterman is the worst late night talk so host in my memory(~15yrs). Leno was the best. Conan wasn't great last night but not bad either. He seemed lost a couple times but deserves time to iron out the bugs. Andy Richter needs a John Melendez type role. That is, no more than a couple seconds per show. He was featured a little too much last night. I'll give Conan the summer to keep me interested in DVR'ing the show every night like I did for Leno for the last decade. Leno is the only late night talk show host who's ever gotten my lasting attention but I think Conan has a shot. I'll be tuning into Leno's new show for the duration unless it really take a dive fom his previous work.

 

[saluki9]

Even though I think I'm in the target age group I can't stand Conan. Don't know why people think he's funny.

The only person I find less funny is Letterman.

I'm missing Leno already.

 

[freebird5825]

I used to stay up late waiting for my Mom to come home from w*rk. Between Monthy Python, Benny Hill and Johnny Carson,
I found a lot of laughter.
This act could never be followed. Search on YouTube for "Johnny Carson Carnac" and have a ball.
.
YouTube - Carson Skit #11

 

[freebird5825]

And if that wasn't enough...
.
YouTube - ClassicTelevisionBlog - Rodney Dangerfield on Tonight Show

 

[jambo101]

From what i'm reading Jay's new show is going to be the same as his old show just airing at 10pm instead of 11;30pm,so for those who will be missing Jay it wont be for long.