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Editor’s note: This opinion is part of a point/counterpoint opinion feature about NBC’s putting Jay Leno back as the headliner of “The Tonight Show.” Read the counterpoint, “Stay with Jay” by CU Independent Managing Editor Kate Spencer.
(courtesy of Wikipedia Commons)
For nearly a week now, television has been devoid of its tallest and most appealing gingerhost.
After a highly publicized decision to remove Conan O’Brien from the 11 p.m. slot after only seven months, NBC ended the comedian’s 16 years of late-night presence.
It was not Conan’s performance that spurred this decision, but rather the disgusting downward spiral that Jay Leno took in his new primetime position that scared NBC into placing Leno later.
Everyone and their brother have weighed in on CoCo versus “The Chin.”
Some of my favorite names in entertainment (Will Ferrell, Ben Harper, Neil Young, Quentin Tarantino, Robin Williams, Adam Sandler, Joel McHale…) appeared to support Conan in the final episodes. There were grassroot rallies across the country and a viral outbreak of “I’m with CoCo” Facebook profile pictures.
But, try as fans did, the gangly genius that brought us Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, the Chuck Norris lever, Celebrity Survey and ever self-depricating humor is gone.
Now is not a time to argue about whether or not Conan deserves “The Tonight Show” over Jay Leno. (That’s science, it’s been proven. Conan’s band and sidekick are more entertaining than Leno’s entire career.) Rather, now is a time to reflect on the past 16 years.
For me and other young fans, Conan has been a constant presence in our lives.
In 1993, I started full-time kindergarten. While I dreamt about being Mary Kate Olsen, the first episode of “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” aired on NBC.
For the next three years, Conan and I both went through an awkward transitional stage. I, into the new girl in Mrs. Conant’s third-grade classroom, and he into an Emmy-nominated host. He would go on to receive a nomination every single year on air.
He evolved into a host with a strong following and reappearing, iconic sketches. His background as a writer for “Saturday Night Live” and “The Simpsons” showed through in his more improvisational style of late-night hosting.
It would be another four years until Conan would enter my life. It was the year 2000, as any good “Late Night” fan would recall from his millennium sketch, and I was still too young—and still stuck in that awkward phase—to be watching anything that came on that late. But watch I did.
During my period of middle-school borderline insomnia, I passed many-a-night with Conan glowing from my TV screen. While it is debatable how much of the program I actually understood, I became a fan for life.
In 2004, the roads became a little less safe when I earned my drivers permit. Meanwhile, Conan negotiated his future take over of Jay Leno’s “The Tonight Show” with NBC execs.
June 1, 2009, I sat in a hotel room in Kansas, half done with my drive home for the summer. I watched Conan run across the country and onto his beautiful new studio to deliver his first monologue on “The Tonight Show.”
He had reached what many consider the pinnacle for a TV comic; a show with a long and reputable history.
Seven months later, this institution of late night was turned on its head. On January 22, Conan shared his final thoughts on his nearly 20 years working for NBC.
Several outrageously funny episodes preceded this somber moment–there is nothing like a true comedian commenting on his own fall.
During his last week Conan said, “Let’s just have a lot of fun on television! That’s what it’s all about.”
So he had fun. He had fun for 16 years. He shaped what I expect out of late night, he presented new and talented musicians to his audience and he went out protecting his integrity and staff.
I only hope that CoCo returns larger and gingerier than ever after NBC releases him, so that in 16 years I can again timeline my life to his career.
We’re still with you, CoCo.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Molly Maher at Maherm@colorado.edu.
