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.
Here's the thing--the standards for success on basic cable are lower than they would be on a network, and the TBS leadin--Family Guy and Office reruns--hit Conan's demographic dead on. They also are a blank slate, and Conan can be their baseline. The one worry I have is TBS is chained to Tyler Perry, which does good ratings, but has a demographic that I suspect is not Coco-oriented. Sepinwall's on the same page.
ReplyDeleteSepinwall likes it, but I tend to agree with you. For all the freedom, and possibly money, that TBS will bring, I just get the feeling that Conan on TBS will not succeed as much as he might think. There is a great advantage in being on a network program. Conan will probably make a great show on TBS and it will be given the creative freedom it needs, but his NBC show (before and during the Tonight Show) had a broader audience that I fear will not follow him to TBS. Because even though most people have cable, cable channels are still treated as the second tier. Every time Jon Stewart makes a joke about being on basic cable, it shows the gulf between cable and network shows. I feel sad for Coco. He deserves so much better than TBS. He deserves to fill the spot after Stewart/Colbert (though cable, he fits in perfectly there) or he deserves to fit in on FOX and kick Leno's ass. He's now the classiest thing on TBS, and I fear he will be dragged down by it.
ReplyDeleteI'll watch Conan over on TBS - especially since he'll be on earlier. I hope he's successful and that this move to cable marks a return to the really funny stuff he did on Late Night - especially during the writers' strike. And hey, now I have a reason to watch TBS!
ReplyDeleteHowever, I must admit that I cling to the hope that if Craig Ferguson isn't interested in 11:30 when Letterman decides to retire... Conan will be his replacement.
Maybe Conan should go back to writing for The Simpsons.
ReplyDeleteLooking back in the annals of history, and the last time someone did something this maverick-y and innovative in late night talk shows was when Leno went to 10...
ReplyDeleteTBS shows up on a remarkable amount of basic cable plans, possibly because it's a Superstation (yes that is an industry term) as opposed to a cable network. As for Stewart and Colbert, their inherent Hulu-bility makes them ideal candidates for work or next-day streaming (to say nothing of the rebroadcasts -- I can watch their shows at 7:00 pm the next day and still feel current), so I think it's possible that he'll do OK.
ReplyDeleteIf you mean the Simpsons should go back to being AWESOME, I completely agree with you, Bin.
ReplyDeleteAny thoughts about this bumping George Lopez's show an hour later? I'm team Coco all the way, but saw something saying he's basically doing to George Lopez what Leno did to him, and apart from Lopez not being as good as Coco, didn't know what to say about that.
ReplyDeleteI'd read that Lopez is fine with it -- he's not particularly against getting a relatively strong lead-in from Conan. There's also not a back-story extending 5 years into the past.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that Fox more or less took a pass. Maybe they realize that however much Conan is the sympathetic one out of the NBC fiasco, his show still failed at 11:30, bad lead-ins or no.
Apparently Conan's immediate reaction was that he didn't want to bump George Lopez back like NBC was going to do to him. It wasn't until Lopez personally called Conan and explained that he wanted him as his lead-in that Conan was willing to make a deal.
ReplyDeleteI've heard more about George Lopez in the last day than I ever did when he had that ABC sitcom, and (other than that youtube clip of him giving Sandra Bullock a Chola makover) I have never watched his show. So the Conan Effect is already working for him. The downside is that most likely the Lopez show will be canceled within a year and replaced by Conan repeats.
ReplyDeleteI've watched the Lopez show, it's bad. And now it's less likely to be cancelled now than before. (Still not contradicting PJ's estimate on when it will be cancelled.)
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