From: ddrewc@verizonSPAMBEGONE.net   
      
   On 2008-12-10 10:17 a.m., Joseph Nebus verbated:   
   > "AlanG"  writes:   
   >> 1) I'd love to be a fly on the wall and hear what Conan _really_ thinks of   
   >> this, as opposed to the yes-men pabulum we'll hear in public.   
   >   
   > 	There's a lot of suspicion that Conan would really be upset   
   > at Leno for getting a 10 pm weeknight slot, although as I read things   
   > I don't see it, myself.  I mean, Conan's ambition --- I don't think   
   > I'm unfair in saying this --- is to host The Tonight Show, to be a   
   > successor of Johnny Carson and Jack Paar and Steve Allen.   
      
   Conan seems to be genuinely friendly with Leno, but probably is wondering,   
   like the rest of us, about the eventual ramifications Leno's next show will   
   have on "Tonight."   
      
   >> 2) I've never understood why Conan wants Leno's slot anyway. Not only does   
   >> he seem like an East coast guy who'll feel out of his element there, he'll   
   >> clearly have to tone down at least half of his material, which is of course   
   >> what makes him so much more watchable than Leno in the first place.   
      
   As for toning down his material, it's not like lots of little kids are   
   watching TV at 11:30 (or 10:30 Central). Maybe Conan will give less time to   
   stuff like the Masturbating Bear, but I hardly think that half of his   
   current material is unfit for broadcast from 11:30 to 12:30. While some of   
   his humor is adult-oriented, it's never obscene -- this is broadcast TV,   
   after all -- and mostly it's just playful or wacky. (Leno will also have a   
   challenge in adjusting to the 10:00 hour, of course. Basically, the earlier   
   in the evening that a show runs, the greater the number of potential   
   viewers to please -- or offend.)   
      
   > 	I don't see why Conan wants to leave the East Coast, either;   
   > and wouldn't it be neat if Leno at Ten means that Conan gets the   
   > leverage to stay in New York City?   
      
   Yes, wouldn't that be nice? But unless I'm mistaken, Jimmy Fallon will be   
   taping "Late Night" in NYC, so NBC will still have a late-night presence   
   there. And I get the impression that Conan's too far along in his prepared   
   move to L.A. -- buying a house, setting up a production studio, etc. -- to   
   turn back now. He did live there for a brief time early in his career, so   
   it's not like he'll arrive as a total foreigner.   
      
   FWIW, this is what Conan told Charlie Rose back in 2006, after it was   
   announced he'd succeed Leno in 2009:   
      
   ``You know, Johnny [Carson] moved it there ["The Tonight Show" to Los   
   Angeles] in 1972. And it's not broke, so maybe you don't try and fix it,   
   you know? You know, it's been a strong franchise. It's been a real   
   Hollywood franchise. So I think -- and maybe that could be good for me. It   
   might be good for me to move out there. It might be a creative kick in the   
   butt.''   
      
   >  I don't see how a person can grow up   
   > wanting to be a talk show host and *not* want to host The Tonight Show.   
   > Having a better timeslot and greater visibility is nice, but it's only   
   > on NBC at 11:30 that he can get that show.   
      
   Yes, Conan has often alluded in hallowed terms to being part of the long   
   NBC late-night tradition, and despite the decline of network TV, "Tonight"   
   remains the pinnacle of late-night comedy/talk.   
      
   Also, I gather, Conan has come to realize the limitations of the 12:30   
   hour, and it's hard to blame him for wanting to improve his situation.   
   Again from "Charlie Rose":   
      
   ``At a certain point, I might have thought -- I know Letterman felt the   
   same way in '92. He felt, you know, 12:30 at night, there comes a point in   
   time when you wish you could be on a little earlier. There are so many   
   times that people come up to you and say, you know, once you've been on for   
   13 years.... I'm always meeting people that say, `Conan, I watched you in   
   high school, I watched you in college, but I have a job now or a wife or a   
   kid and I can't stay up that late. I wish...' You know, so there is a   
   feeling, I guess, wouldn't it be nice to be on a little earlier?''   
      
   In other words, it's hard to build and keep an audience when you're on at   
   12:30 at night.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)