Conan O?Brien Loses Late-Night Lead in Second Week on ?Tonight Show?

[RadioHead84]

Just watched it on Hulu..the Tuesday show with that focus group and twitter.

Seriously...Conan is hilarious..Its just totally different humor than Leno and he will have to grow a bit...but he will do fine.

 

[dr150]

Originally posted by: Don Vito Corleone

Originally posted by: PimpJuice

I have always thought Leno was a highly talented comic (his appearances on Letterman in the 1980s were just brilliant), but his Tonight Show sucked IMO....

As for the prime time show, we shall see. Frankly I hope it fails because I think Leno is a phony and his show is boring.

Leno's naked lack of genuiness is a BIG turnoff.

Aside from this, I agree that Leno's stand up stuff from the 80's was great. When he got to the Tonight Show, he became a Hollywood fake.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Originally posted by: Citrix

all talk show host are kiss ass to their guest, late night tv isn't a fox news or CNN flame fest. the host want a friendly experience so their guest will come back and that they can get future unknown guest. if a talk show host became a ass to his guest he wouldn't have any. most guest are "A" list people and are doing the host and themselves a favor by coming on the show to pimp their new movie or book. its a symbiotic relationship.

of course Leno played to the most common denominator the vast majority of the county loves that. when people tune into to Leno they want to be entertained, humored and have a smile on their face. It is the type of show that people just want to watch and forget about their day for a hour.

Letterman doesn't kiss their asses at all - guests have left his show in tears. His show isn't as challenging as it has been in years past, but it's far from Leno's ass-kiss fest. IMO Howard Stern is the best interviewer in show business, largely because he doesn't agree to limit his questioning and will challenge anyone on any topic - if someone comes on his show, you're going to get a great interview (which is why ABC actually offered him an interview show years ago).

My primary beef with Leno is that he's much smarter and funnier than his show, which is deliberately dumbed-down. He's just a big phony.

 

[Ns1]

Originally posted by: Don Vito Corleone
My primary beef with Leno is that he's much smarter and funnier than his show, which is deliberately dumbed-down. He's just a big phony.

A big phony that's making a fucking killing to fund one of his greatest passions in life.


Seems like a winner to me!

I miss him If for no other reason than Fallon sucks balls.

 

[QueBert]

Originally posted by: lizardboy

Originally posted by: QueBert

Originally posted by: Blayze
Not really surprised. Conan has always been hit and miss with me, and he isn't popular with the older crowd (the ones I know don't watch the Tonight Show anymore). Fallon has also improved on Late Night, and I've actually been enjoying his show a lot more than Conan's Tonight Show.

Can't wait until September when Leno returns, although I don't know how well the 10pm time slot will work.

It'll work fine, Leno is fucking awesome. Conan is good at times, Letterman and the rest all suck. Leno owned the late night slot from day one until he decided to move till 10. At 10 he will no competition. If anything his already high ratings should go way up.

I love listening to people who have absolutely no clue what they're talking about. Leno did not "choose" to go to 10, he was forced. Leno did not "own" from Day 1, in fact, Letterman kicked his ass the first couple years. Leno's "high ratings" are expected to be destroyed by whatever the other networks air at 10pm (CSI Miami, etc.). The local affiliates are going to go bonkers b/c Leno's low ratings are going to destroy their 11pm newscasts. Don't expect more than one season of Leno 5 nights per week @ 10pm.

Here is how it is, Leno claimed he wanted to retire, NBA told Conan it would be his slot. There was no official contract at the time. It was just words on NBA's parts. Leno ended up wanting to stay, but didn't want to stay at 11:30. Conan MIGHT have had a contract at the time, but I doubt it. The bottom line is Leno pulls in the best late night numbers by far, and if Leno had wanted to stay at 11:30 NBC would have let him. Do you really think if he had wanted to, NBC would have said "no no no Jay, 11:30 is Conan" if push had came to shove NBC would have kept Leno to keep him happy and told Conan to stay at 12:30 or GTFO. Probably offering his a shit ton of money to stay at 12:30, Conan is nowhere near as valuable, and is totally un proven at 11:30. Leno wanted to do something different.

As for other networks destroying Leno at 10 lol where did you read this? LOL sounds like your personal opinion. In fact, it is because nobody with a brain would write Leno off before the damn show has even aired. NBC has nothing but confidence in Leno. And his fans will follow him to whatever time slot he has. I'm willing to bet if Leno had demanded 11:30 back and wanted Conan off NBC. Conan would be doing his show on [insert other network] Leno is NBC's bread and butter when it comes to ratings.

 

[ColdFusion718]

I don't find Conan to be very funny at all.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Originally posted by: Slick5150

Originally posted by: JS80
anyone surprised? o'brien's a lefty unfunny douchebag.

??? Conan is pretty much the most un-political talk show there is. He rarely, if ever, has any real talk of it. He might crack a joke or two at a politician, but it isn't party specific.

Yeah, no kidding. He made Bush jokes just like every other comedian. But I remember him making Clinton jokes back when Clinton was in office... just like every other comedian. It's just par for the course. You can't not make fun of the president.

You want to know who really is blatantly political? David Letterman. Being a liberal myself, I often agree with what he says, but that doesn't change the fact that he's obviously biased in one direction and uses his show to promote his ideals. Conan is most likely left-leaning as well, but it doesn't come through that much in his show.

 

[shiner]

Originally posted by: Citrix
i have watched a few episodes before conan went to the tonight show and i didnt care for him. i have watched a few episodes with him on the tonight show and i still don't care for him. the one thing that annoys the hell out of me is his stupid band especially the obnoxious trumpet player who has to blast out that damn high note 5 fucking times when Conan comes out on stage.

I didnt watch Leno that much but when i did i enjoyed it and wasn't annoyed by slap stick half wit sophomoric comedy.

You kids get off my lawn!!!!

 

[GrumpyMan]

Conan = not funny
Fallon = not funny
Kimmel = not funny

Late night = no hope.

:thumbsdown:

 

[Aharami]

i still think the best clip of Conan was when Rebecca Romjin (sp?) kissed him on the lips and he jumped out of his chair and flopped down on the floor in excitement. and then threw his chair across the room

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: GrumpyMan
Conan = not funny
Fallon = not funny
Kimmel = not funny

Late night = no hope.

:thumbsdown:

I give Fallon props for at least bringing videogames and their creators on to his show. They demoed MS's Project Natal on his show last night.

 

[Lorax]

conan needs to book a big guest right after they're caught soliciting a hooker... my guess is jon from jon and kate?

 

[seemingly random]

Originally posted by: GrumpyMan
Conan = not funny
Fallon = not funny
Kimmel = not funny

Late night = no hope.

:thumbsdown:

Funny that no one has mentioned craig ferguson. His guest interviews are generally very good. The rest of his show usually sux dog pooh. He tries way too hard to be off the wall. It's as if he's competing with conan.

One particularly tacky thing fallon has started doing is mentioning the show's sponsors - a throwback to the fifties.

 

[destrekor]

The drop makes perfect sense. The debut would have artificially high ratings due to two groups, maybe three:

- the group that always watched Leno, wanted to see what the replacement would be like. Maybe these people had watched Conan once or twice before, but never got caught into it or didn't work with their time. They caught his debut, weren't impressed, and decide they won't be watching that network at that timeslot.

- the group that were interested in Conan to a degree, but couldn't quite get themselves to watch the show when he was on. Now, they tuned in for his debut, maybe hoping the time change would bring about a different comedy style to appeal to those who watch that timeslot. Unimpressed, they don't tune in anymore.

- Maybe people who were fans of different networks were intrigued by the concept of a new host, and wanted to see if they could be swayed to someone else in the event they just happen to be better than what they watch. This group might also not even be a fan of any of the late-night hosts, but may have figured a fresh face might have changed their interest in a late-night show.

I think as time goes on, the ratings will creep up, but Conan's style is a bit different. I knew one person whose schedule didn't even allow him to watch the typical Leno time slot, and he liked Conan but can't watch him now. But regardless, he's a different type of host from the big names, and might not appeal so well to the earlier night crowd. I always did other stuff while the big names were on, and would catch Conan or put it on in the background while I sat around.

 

[oiprocs]

I hate old people.

 

[SSSnail]

Originally posted by: ducci

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: JS80
anyone surprised? o'brien's a lefty unfunny douchebag.

There is something wrong with you if you're bringing up politics in this thread. :roll:

Seriously. Everyone knows Conan isn't funny because he's a filthy Irish drunk.

Hey, HEY! Leave Craig Ferguson out of this. Craig is a funny guy...

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Originally posted by: SSSnail

Hey, HEY! Leave Craig Ferguson out of this. Craig is a funny guy...

I've never been a fan, and I don't understand now NBC didn't at least take notice of the fact that Ferguson managed to beat Conan in the ratings despite a lower-rated lead-in. I just find the Leno-to-Conan swap hard to rationalize, even if I think Conan puts on a better show than Leno.

 

[torpid]

He's still competitive with Letterman. Despite Letterman's Palin controversy, Conan won Tuesday night, for example. Though barely. I think there's been some drop-off from Leno's numbers, but I would be surprised if Letterman doesn't reign supreme for quite a while once the Conan-is-new bump recedes fully.

 

[Mide]

Pretty predictable considering that he's not funny at all.

 

[oznerol]

Originally posted by: SSSnail

Originally posted by: ducci

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: JS80
anyone surprised? o'brien's a lefty unfunny douchebag.

There is something wrong with you if you're bringing up politics in this thread. :roll:

Seriously. Everyone knows Conan isn't funny because he's a filthy Irish drunk.

Hey, HEY! Leave Craig Ferguson out of this. Craig is a funny guy...

Ferguson is Scottish.

And he's my favorite late-night host.

 

[Hacp]

Originally posted by: PimpJuice

Originally posted by: lizardboy

Originally posted by: QueBert

Originally posted by: Blayze
Not really surprised. Conan has always been hit and miss with me, and he isn't popular with the older crowd (the ones I know don't watch the Tonight Show anymore). Fallon has also improved on Late Night, and I've actually been enjoying his show a lot more than Conan's Tonight Show.

Can't wait until September when Leno returns, although I don't know how well the 10pm time slot will work.

It'll work fine, Leno is fucking awesome. Conan is good at times, Letterman and the rest all suck. Leno owned the late night slot from day one until he decided to move till 10. At 10 he will no competition. If anything his already high ratings should go way up.

I love listening to people who have absolutely no clue what they're talking about. Leno did not "choose" to go to 10, he was forced. Leno did not "own" from Day 1, in fact, Letterman kicked his ass the first couple years. Leno's "high ratings" are expected to be destroyed by whatever the other networks air at 10pm (CSI Miami, etc.). The local affiliates are going to go bonkers b/c Leno's low ratings are going to destroy their 11pm newscasts. Don't expect more than one season of Leno 5 nights per week @ 10pm.

Sounds like you're the one who doesn't know what they're talking about. Leno said he wanted to retire......so they gave Conan the contract, then Leno changed his mind and had nowhere to go but 10pm.

Get your facts straight if you're going to call someone out.

Um, leno did not choose to retire. Other networks wanted Conan and NBC felt pressured to transfer Conan to the Tonight show. Remember, Conan's contract was ending! Leno was the odd man out. I have no idea what NBC was thinking.

 

[Perknose]

Originally posted by: ducci
Ferguson is Scottish.

And he's my favorite late-night host.

Ferguson > Conan > Letterman > An Arsenio Hall look-alike hired from a disreputable discount temp agency > Leno.

Edit: That said, it is no surprise to me that Leno's fans don't much take to Conan.

 

[RadioHead84]

When I was a kid I watched letterman all the time and though I thought he was funny, but he was never that great.

Leno got on my nerves as he always seemed totally fake.

Conan is fricken hilarious, and to me is the most genuine of them all. You can tell he is having genuine fun doing his show, and he can improvise around to make everything just a little bit more funny. Also, if you want proof of what makes Conan special is what he was able to do when the writers strike was going on...some of those shows were better than when there wasn't a writers strike!

I never really watch Ferguson but the few times I did I was impressed. Same with Kimmel...kinda wrote both of them off but they both pulled it off pretty well.

Fallon is terrible. He is just too jittery...

 

[RadioHead84]

Originally posted by: destrekor
The drop makes perfect sense. The debut would have artificially high ratings due to two groups, maybe three:

- the group that always watched Leno, wanted to see what the replacement would be like. Maybe these people had watched Conan once or twice before, but never got caught into it or didn't work with their time. They caught his debut, weren't impressed, and decide they won't be watching that network at that timeslot.

- the group that were interested in Conan to a degree, but couldn't quite get themselves to watch the show when he was on. Now, they tuned in for his debut, maybe hoping the time change would bring about a different comedy style to appeal to those who watch that timeslot. Unimpressed, they don't tune in anymore.

- Maybe people who were fans of different networks were intrigued by the concept of a new host, and wanted to see if they could be swayed to someone else in the event they just happen to be better than what they watch. This group might also not even be a fan of any of the late-night hosts, but may have figured a fresh face might have changed their interest in a late-night show.

I think as time goes on, the ratings will creep up, but Conan's style is a bit different. I knew one person whose schedule didn't even allow him to watch the typical Leno time slot, and he liked Conan but can't watch him now. But regardless, he's a different type of host from the big names, and might not appeal so well to the earlier night crowd. I always did other stuff while the big names were on, and would catch Conan or put it on in the background while I sat around.

Also Conan appeals to the younger crowd obviously. At 11:30 he is directly competing with the likes of the Colbert Report which is really popular. I don't watch a lot of TV and usually only watch it here and there, but the next time I sit down to watch TV at that time I know I am going to have a hard time deciding to watch Colbert or Conan. Granted they are two very different shows, but they both appeal to the same age group and comedic tastes.

With Colbert being in Iraq, and having each episode be extra special, this could be drawing away from Conan more.

 

[Lorax]

fallon has gotten a lot better since his debut... i don't watch him much but he seems to be very tech savvy (as far as late night hosts go), previewed the palm pre and xbox nadal.