Better Off Jed

I’m not sure why I’m so riled up about the situation with the Conan/Jay Tonight Show situation. I just feel really sorry for Conan. He is totally getting screwed by NBC and Jay Leno. NBC didn’t give Conan any chance at all to be successful. Financially, the Jay Leno Show was a success. However, it provided an awful lead in for NBC affiliates’ local news, which in turn provided an awful lead in for Conan.

For people that like Jay Leno, they didn’t have a reason to stay up for The Tonight Show with Conan. Jay is cannibalizing Conan’s potential audience. So, how can NBC call Conan a failure? That just irks me to no end.

I have never liked Jay Leno. Never. In all fairness though, I can’t say I was a big fan of Conan either. It’s not that I didn’t like him. I had always thought he was funny, but I never really watched him before he got The Tonight Show. I tape The Tonight Show every night and the next day, I’ll usually just fast forward to the guest interviews. I don’t watch the monologues and skits and other stuff.

I know that Letterman is beating The Tonight Show in the ratings, since Conan took over. Of course he is! Why wouldn’t he be? My question is whether Letterman’s audience grew or if the Tonight Show’s audience shrunk. Basically, how many viewers switched from The Tonight Show to Letterman. I bet it’s not as much as you think. I’m sure those numbers are out there somewhere.

When Johnny Carson retired and Jay got The Tonight Show and Letterman bolted to CBS, it took Jay three years to beat Letterman in the ratings. So, now they put Conan in an awful position and blame him for not holding on to Jay’s Tonight Show numbers. It just infuriates me.

Apparently, next week is Conan’s last week. I will be watching and I hope he just totally skewers Jay and NBC all week long. Then, I hope he goes on Letterman and skewers them some more. Then, I hope he goes on Kimmel and Ferguson and Oprah and anyone that will have him and he skewers Jay and NBC some more.