ernestsewell said:

Interesting bit of trivia. Seems like so much more than just a coincidence. Watching Conan's last show now, feels like the end of an era.

ernestsewell said:

wow.....touche..

I'm sorry, I've never got Conan - he's a carachature...totally winey, annoying and unfunny. His gags are sooooo tired too

purpledoveuk said:

Who do you consider funny?

You know I never considered Conan an amazing comedian or stand up, he seems to be much more of a writer to me. He has come up with some brilliant stuff, I will say he doesn't really POP on TV as a host. Granted I totally think that NBC didn't give him enough time on the tonight show to grow and find his audience, but he was just really not my taste.

Granted I would watch him over Leno, unless Leno was in a casket cause atleast that would be feel good moment. I've always enjoyed Letterman more than anything NBC could try and throw at me.
[Edited 1/22/10 23:18pm]

We're watching his final "Tonight Show" tonight in full support of him - then it's buh-bye NBC for me.

TEAM CONAN!

purpledoveuk said:

I agree.

PDogz said:

what I mean is that it's all so scripted and whinny, I don't really dare for either but at least you get the feeling Leno writes his stuff and could ad lib...Conan alway seems to be avtotal Ron Burgundy with the auto cue and it's the same everytime - whinny, slightly camp with jokes you've heard a 100 times before.

I consider anybody who can think on thier feet funny

purpledoveuk said:

And you don't think Conan can think quick on his feet? You must be watching another show.

Leno does write his own lame jokes, so he says. He's dyslexic too. Maybe that's why he's having problems remembering which show is his.

purpledoveuk said:

Can you name ONE comedian that you feel thinks on their feet? (...who is NOT scripted?) Or is it that no one is really funny in your opinion? Honestly trying to get a sense of where your humor lies.
.
.
[Edited 1/23/10 9:46am]

^Craig Ferguson does his monologue impov.

lazycrockett said:

Craig Ferguson is the smartest man on late night TV.

ernestsewell said:

He and Letterman are my favs, though Craig I like most
its late, why am I talking like a drunk yoda?

ernestsewell said:

Well Im glad that hes sober now, I would have loved to have hanged with him on a binder.

PDogz said:

The Roots are the show's saving grace

^Fallon has gotten a bit better, not much granted but a bit. That's the great thing bout late late night it gives time for a host and a writing crew to grow and figure out things.

Seriously if back in the day Johnny Carson only got 7 months to get a huge audience he probably would have failed also. The industry no longer cares bout talent or potential just bout making coin.

N no offense the roots ain't keeping Fallon on the air.

lazycrockett said:

That's exactly true. Conan's ratings were up 50% last week, and 80% over all. Jay scored a 1.24 rating in his demographic. Didn't Jay say "If you don't make it, you can get canceled" ? Why isn't HE canceled then?

Conan's show beats Leno's psuedo sign-off, AND scores bigger demographic tune-in than any prime time NBC show this past week.

Remember, we're talking LATE NIGHT ratings beating PRIME TIME ratings.

Here's part of an article from TVMoJoe aka Josef Adalian from TheWrap.com, regarding the REAL truth behind the numbers of late night:

Here's a look at how the two big network late-night shows have fared since 2005:

-- During the 2005-06 season, Leno's "Tonight" averaged a 2.0/9 in the demo. It then dipped 10 percent in '06 - '07 (1.8) and fell another 25 percent in '07-'08 (1.4 in the season of the WGA strike). Demo viewership in 2008 was flat, but since that was vs. the strike year's deflated averages, it wasn't much of an accomplishment.

-- Letterman's "The Late Show" has also declined in the past five years, but it has notably narrowed the gap between it and "Tonight." In 2005-'06, "Late Show" averaged a 1.4/6 -- 30 percent below the 2.0 average for Leno's "Tonight." By the 2008-09 season, Letterman was down to a 1.1/4, with Leno's 1.4/6 just 20 percent better than Letterman.

-- O'Brien maintained his demo lead over Dave when he took over "Tonight" -- at first. During the third quarter of 2009, before "The Jay Leno Show" experiment backfired, Conan's "Tonight" averaged a 1.1/5 vs. Dave and the "Late Show's" 0.8/3.

Momentum definitely started slipping away from Conan during the summer, but it wasn't until the fall that the numbers shrank dramatically. A mix of Letterman's sextortion scandal and the sharply lower numbers for NBC at 10 p.m. (thanks, Jay!) caused "Tonight" to cede its lead over "Late Show" in the demo.

So far this season, from mid-September through early this month, "Tonight" is down to a 1.0/4 in the demo. It's tied with "Late Show."

By contrast, "The Jay Leno Show" in primetime has caused NBC's 10 p.m. Monday-Friday average in the demo to plummet from a 2.2 to a 1.3 -- a drop of about 40 percent. Anecdotal evidence suggest NBC's local newscasts are, on average, down by around 30 percent.

At the end, Conan passes Dave in season-to-date ratings. So how is it not profitable?

Now with Leno returning, the real question is, "How do you market a tarnished star?"

^You go on Oprah. Which I pray thought it would happen that Leno doesn't recover.

lazycrockett said:

Leno and Winfrey are very friendly. I wonder if he'll have some big interview with her in the next year.

bboy87 said:

Man, my sense of humor is the exact opposite of all three of you, lol. I think Jimmy is very comical, and sometimes funnier than Jay. He has the best skits, and I love the stupid games he has guests or audience members play, like shooting free-throws with random objects such as office phones and milkshakes, LOL. When people win a game, they get silly prizes like boxes of Hot Pockets, or a pack of hot dogs. That's hilarious!

ernestsewell said:

I wont be surprised if Leno goes back on top, but the thing is people dont really care, the next generation doesn't watch late night. its old n tired.

lazycrockett said:

I've said before it's a dead format. It's too bad, but it's the truth. It's weird that as much as people grunt and groan every time someone gets a talk show, but yet fuckers keep watching them because the fuckers in Hollywood keep giving folks a talk show. That goes for Daytime or Late Night. I mean, who the fuck is watching Carson Daly's show? ANYONE? They're all puttering along. Sure someone is #1, but with what kind of ratings? A 2 share? 5 million viewers, out of how many households in the US? There's a whole different, and lower, standard for late night.