In my opinion, Jay Leno has never been very funny. He reads lines from people that I would let go of if I were in his position. What gets me is that he agreed in 2004 to step down, give the show to Conan, and retire in five years. I can still remember clapping in an empty living room at the prospect of Conan moving up to a time slot where I could watch without being exhausted the following day. If you think I'm exaggerating check out the original clip: Jay's Lie in 2004
Conan is not some shot in the dark person that had his chance and failed. He was the heir to The Tonight Show that received almost no publicity so that NBC could promote the new Jay Leno Show at 10pm. In a day that late night TV is declining they thought that maybe people would watch Leno as opposed to prime time dramas. Yeah Right! Conan has written for two of the longest running comedic enterprises on television--The Simpsons and Saturday Night Live. He was hilarious in Late Night with Conan O'Brien as well as his brief stint as host of The Tonight Show.
Conan will get 32 million from NBC to step down and will be free to join a new network as early as September. Fox has already approached him. That alone should tell NBC that they made a mistake since Fox is the powerhouse that they once were. I believe that we will see Conan overtake both Leno and Letterman from a network that knows how to properly promote a show. You may or may not agree (or watch late night TV at all), but if you do, there are over 600,000 fans of the I'm with COCO group on Facebook where you can add yourself and show your support to the funniest man on late night television. Stephen Colbert (The Colbert Report) is the second in case you are wondering. If I sound a little perturbed it is because I am. Conan has been a part of my late night viewing since I was 13 (and I am now 30). Well, Conan, it was fun (and funny) while it lasted.
