The Tonight Show with Conan O'brien

I watched the last episode of The Tonight Show with Conan O'brien this weekend. It was excellent television and while I realize that no host can have Tom Hanks, Neil Young and Will Ferrell on the same night very often it does make me feel like Conan losing the show is a sad event.

I feel partially responsible for Conan getting cancelled. Let me explain, my wife and I watched the last episode of Conan on Saturday morning. We did not even TIVO it, we watched it on Hulu. The power of television when you want it gets stronger and stronger. I do not think it would be a stretch or even much of a speculation to assert that Conan's audience would be much more tech savvy than would Jay Leno's audience. Frankly they are used to watching what they want in snippets.

This is not the only reason Conan's audience was not what NBC wanted. David Letterman, making his own news thru the fall, showed a renewed vigor himself and well let's just say that Conan had reason to complain about his lead in as well. As Dave said this might not not all be Jay's fault but it is funny he always shows up where the body is. The whole deal reeks of shortsightedness and the fact is in the short term it will look brilliant as Jay will get better ratings than Conan. Jay is a contrast to Dave; Coman and Dave are really selling the same show. Jay will not be the second talk show on each night as Conan was and presumably if NBC puts something on a few people want to watch at 10:00 this will help the whole schedule.

Conan is funny. He will find another home. I am not sure what the expectations will be from the network that puts him on. He is Dave's successor but until Dave goes away that will not be a high profile position. But that time will come. Jay Leno is old news and soon his viewers will be buying denture cream and hearing aids. Not exactly the prime advertising revenue they might look for. NBC made the right decision but did not stick it out. They will regret it.

See you soon Conan