Monday, April 12, 2010

TEAM LOCO: If we're going to forfeit all recency points I might as well try to make it up with provocation on the news that Conan O'Brien will host an 11pm talk show on TBS. In joining the former home of Captain Planet and the Planeteers and Georgia Championship Wrestling, O'Brien may be choosing the option with the largest guaranteed national clearance ... and it's likely to fail.

Because the truth is that while we all generally like Conan O'Brien, we weren't watching Conan O'Brien until his tenure on The Tonight Show was threatened. He's a likable guy doing a genre of show that feels stodgy. And going head to head with Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, who already dominate the young (male) audience, I just don't see how O'Brien sustains an audience -- especially on a channel as buzz-free as TBS. I wish him well, but I fear this is the wrong setting for his talents -- and I don't actually know where he ultimately belongs in the entertainment world.