Giving Context To A Week Of Late Night Wars

• “Hey, NBC said they wanted drama at 10 – Now they got it.” (The Jay Leno Show: 1/11/10)

Jay Leno summed it up pretty well on his soon to be defunct primetime show on Monday night. NBC is finally getting the headlines and attention they’ve sought for their fourth place, primetime programming, but not in the way that they had hoped. After the four month experiment known as The Jay Leno Show proved to be a complete ratings failure, NBC decided to pull the plug this week, and offer the funnyman a return to his post at 11:35pm. This mix-up of course comes at the expense of the newly christened Tonight Show host Conan O’Brien. The saga brought back memories of the 1992 “Late Night Wars” and resulted in a week long, late night scuffle. One thing’s for certain, I’m sure Chevy Chase and Arsenio Hall are glad they got out before this debacle.

• “Hosting ‘The Tonight Show’ has been the fulfillment of a lifelong dream for me, and I just want to say to the kids out there watching – You can do anything you want in life. Unless if Jay Leno wants to do it too.” (Tonight Show w/ Conan O’Brien: 1/13/10)

Conan O’Brien’s brand of humor is certainly very galvanizing. The younger audience seems to love him, while their parents just don’t get it. If there’s one way that Conan does connect with all audiences, it seems to be his human side. Even people who don’t like Conan’s brand of comedy seem to like the man himself, which made The Tonight Show this week, awfully somber. Of course Conan is the first person to make fun of himself, but this week his self-deprecating humor was viewed in a whole new light. After only seven months of performing his dream job, Conan released a public statement addressed to the “People of Earth” on Tuesday, expressing his unwillingness to host his show at any time other than 11:35pm. His statement didn’t seem selfish in any way. It was almost as if Conan was acting on behalf of The Tonight Show name and the integrity of the hosts who had come before him. Except for Jay Leno of course, who completely screwed him over.

• “And now according to the New York Times, Al-Qaeda is claiming responsibility for the wreckage at NBC.” (Late Show w/ David Letterman: 1/12/10)

Over at CBS, David Letterman was getting in on the action too. Of course Letterman is no stranger to late night controversy himself, having lost out to Jay Leno in 1992 for The Tonight Show gig, while many, including Johnny Carson, saw him as the rightful heir. While evoking thoughts of terrorist extremism is a bit of hyperbole, it’s hard to argue with Dave, since NBC is incomplete disarray. Most people doubted the idea of having a comedic variety show in prime time, but the NBC brass did not listen, and four months later they’re stuck with this mess on their hands. Letterman, more than anyone else, seems to be getting a kick out of bashing Leno and NBC, finally getting his sweet, sweet revenge 18 years later, now that his Late Show is the ratings powerhouse at 11:35pm.

• “Its great to be here on ABC. You know what ABC stands for? Always Bump Conan” (Jimmy Kimmel as Jay Leno – Jimmy Kimmel Live: 1/12/10)

While David Letterman is no stranger to pushing Leno and NBC’s buttons, the most scathing attack on the prominently chinned Leno, came from ABC and Jimmy Kimmel Live. Jimmy Kimmel performed his show on Tuesday night as Jay Leno, outfitted in a prosthetic chin and a white wig. Jimmy did not drop out of character for his entire broadcast and had every bit of minutiae covered, from thoughtless one liners, to guitar riffs following every joke, to Leno’s infuriating tendency to ask “Have you seen this?” or “Have you heard about this?” in each joke setup. He may not have the ratings of David Letterman but this week Jimmy Kimmel solidified his role as the bad boy of late night talk.

• “I’m getting a lot of support out there, especially from an online group calling themselves ‘Team Conan.’ It’s very exciting – it’s the first time in my life I’ve been on a team where I wasn’t picked last.” (Tonight Show w/ Conan O’Brien: 1/13/10)

People around the country seem to be taking sides, “Team Conan” or “Team Jay,” in a manner which hasn’t been seen since those crazy tweens went bananas over some sort of Vampire versus Werewolf debate. Conan seems to be leading the pack due to his younger, more tech savvy audience. The ever growing Facebook page for “Team Conan” had more than 70,000 followers by Thursday, only to be outdone by the “I’m with COCO” page, which had 120,000. Will the Conan followers influence the show or are they too late?

• “It’s no secret that late night has always been a battlefield, but it’s turning into a civil war here at NBC.” (Lee Cowan NBC’s TODAY Show – 1/13/10)

This NBC mess has been covered by everyone and anyone who has an opinion. As much as Conan and Leno may hate NBC right now, it has become an internal Civil War that seems to be bringing down the company from the inside. Despite this complete breakdown, NBC may be smiling, at least temporarily. According to Nielson, Conan drew 42% more 18 to 49 year old viewers on Tuesday night compared to the night before. Even Leno got a little chin bump, rising 13% in the same demographic over the same time period. I guess controversy sells.

• “NBC announced they expect to lose 200 million dollars on the Winter Olympics next month. Folks is it just me, or is that story hilarious?” (Tonight Show w/ Conan O’Brien: 1/11/10)

At the end of the day, it’s all about money. Conan and Jay realize that as much as everyone else. NBC is in dire straits and had to revamp its primetime lineup for the sake of their affiliates, and simply to compete. It is hard to understand NBC’s obsession to hold on to Leno, after only five years ago they signed a contract with Conan guaranteeing Jay’s ‘graceful’ exit. We all know that Conan will land on his feet. A Harvard diploma goes a long way these days. Before he leaves, however, he’s going to take every chance he can to push NBC’s buttons. Conan has always been hard on NBC, but this week it seems especially callous, calculated, and aimed directly at the people who gave him his dream job only to take it away seven months later. Who can blame the guy?

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