The Jaypocalypse

[vovat]

I haven't really said much about the Leno-Conan fiasco, mostly because I can't think of anything to add. I don't actually watch Conan much, but I think he's a funny, likable guy who deserved more of a chance in the new time slot. Leno, on the other hand, makes me uneasy. It's partially that his jokes are so dumbed down, but I think it might be even more because of his put-on masculinity. Hey, it's fine that he likes to work on cars (in fact, maybe his talents are being wasted as a comedian), but I get the impression that he likes to call attention to it as a way of saying, basically, "I'm a REAL MAN, not a nerd like all those other comedians!" Tim Allen comes across much the same way, and I remember catching a glimpse of him on Leno recently. The hyper-masculine insecurity in that studio must have been thick enough to cut with a knife. I think Conan is okay with being a nerd, which gives him more cred in my book. But even putting all that aside, if Leno wanted to leave the Tonight Show to a younger comedian and the network didn't like Conan, why not suggest another young talent instead of taking it back yourself? And why WOULD Leno have gotten worse ratings in prime time, anyway? Were his fans too out-of-it to think of turning on the TV an hour earlier?

In other news, you've probably heard of the coded Bible verses written on weapons. Apparently the military is now planning on removing them. But anyway, I also recently read vee_ecks's review of The Book of Eli, and apparently the movie is about a future in which all Bibles have been destroyed. I put two and two together, as I'm wont to do when I really want four of something, and determined that these Biblically-inscribed weapons are actually prototypes for Bible-seeking missiles. Everyone thinks the verses are there to promote Christianity, but it's secretly the exact opposite, with the verses there as some kind of text-seeking magic. Makes as much sense as just about anything else in these crazy times, anyway.


And to tie the entire post together, I believe the Bible spoke of Leno, who is the Beast of Revelation. His wound that healed represents his failed prime-time experiment. And the second beast, the one from the land who makes everyone worship the first beast, is presumably Kevin Eubanks. Why else would he laugh at all of Jay's bad jokes?

Comments

[travspence.livejournal.com]

Roger Daltrey didn't sign a contract.

[brostron.livejournal.com]

Geez, I'm actually defending Jay Leno. What is this world coming to?

Jay Leno signed a contract with NBC. NBC then wanted to move his show back to 11:35 p.m., and he was in favor of that. Conan O'Brien also signed a contract with NBC, but publicly announced that he wouldn't accept NBC's plans to move "The Tonight Show" to 12:05 a.m. even though his contract did not require the show to be broadcast at 11:35 p.m. So who wasn't inclined to honor the terms of his contract?

[travspence.livejournal.com]

Are you a lawyer? :-)

Actually, I think that NBC is to blame for the situation. They screwed up by making a transition plan that was way too long. It was just very poor management.

I think they are making another mistake by assuming that everything will be peaches and rainbows once Leno is back at 10:30.

Jay just kind of irritates me so I harder on him.

[brostron.livejournal.com]

Well, everyone can agree that NBC screwed up. First, they agreed to give Conan "The Tonight Show" years in advance, even though Leno's ratings went up slightly during the interim and O'Brien probably lost a bit of his buzz. Then, they kept to the plan but moved Leno to prime time, which everyone thought would fail and did. Leno was killing their affiliates' late news ratings, so they announced that they were moving him back to late night. Conan wasn't going to go along with this happily, so they ended up having to give him a huge payment to go away.

I think that Leno will do ok back in late night. I realize that his show is lame, but I don't dislike him as much as most people. I give him credit for killing when he appeared as a guest on "Late Night with David Letterman" in the mid-80s. He was honestly the best comic on during that period (well except for maybe Emo Philips), and he and Letterman seemed to genuinely like another at the time.

[travspence.livejournal.com]

Yeah, when I was younger I used to love Leno when he guested on Letterman, which seems like it was about once a month. They were good friends, which adds another layer of sadness to all this. When Letterman had his heart surgery, Leno sent him a letter and he never responded. Or so I've heard.

After Tonight Show War I, it was a no-brainer who I was going to watch: Letterman. When Conan moved to 10:30, if I were watching TV at that hour, I'd default to Letterman. But even after TSW I, I thought Leno was basically a decent guy who, like Letterman, was caught in a bad situation created by NBC. But now I think Leno is kind of dick who doesn't know when to retire, like that one dumbass football guy.

I've been interested in Tonight Show War II mostly because I remember the first. To be honest, I don't watch that much TV anymore and have only been tuning in lately to see what was going to be said about the situation. Now that it's resolved, I'll probably go back to not watching anyone in late night. But in my heart, I will always be Team Letterman. I can't help it. I have a huge soft spot for the dirty old grouch. I started watching him on Late Night when I was 13 and had the chicken pox and couldn't sleep from all the itching.