Television - I want to bask in your golden light

[Chakan]

Anyone have any thoughts on the Jay Leno/Conan deal?

I'm pretty peeved as I've enjoyed THOUSANDS of Conan broadcasts from the early 90's until now. Granted, I don't watch it religiously now like I did, but he has been consistently decent. I was very pleased to see Andy Richter return to the fold. Now just bring back consistent Max. I love the whole team: Conan, Andy, Max, La Bamba, etc. It's a very fun show and you can tell they enjoy doing it the majority of the time. Man, so many favorite sketches over the years.... Money Shot Lincoln, Muppet Rubber-necking Channel, Max on Max, etc.

Whenever I would catch Leno, I would laugh at Kevin Eubanks more than anyone on the show...

I can remember Carson from when I was young. He was always consistently decent as well.

Even with an uncertain future, Conan's not forgetting why he's got a show. Here's a list of Conan's Options.

[JoshF]

I watch Conan almost daily. I don't know why though. The monologue is generally a disaster and there are rarely wacky characters/sketches like there used to be. I hope when they get a new show they don't feel like they have to play to a different audience and get back to what made the show awesome ten years ago, or even during the Walker Texas Ranger Lever period.

[Chakan]

I just started watching the show from Monday night on Hulu and I don't know what you're talking about Josh. Yes, he's toned down the racy stuff, but it's still decent quality compared to Jay, Dave, Jimmy, Carson, etc. I haven't watched a lot of Craig Ferguson, but he's probably my 2nd favorite amongst them. This is, of course, excluding Stewart and Colbert. Wow, it's a pretty crowded field right now. >.>

Anyway, that monologue was great the way through.

Here's Conan's recently released statement concerning this recent turn of events. I think it is incredibly classy. He not only illustrates his immense frustration, but he even refuses to push out his successor, Jimmy Fallon.

People of Earth:

In the last few days, I’ve been getting a lot of sympathy calls, and I want to start by making it clear that no one should waste a second feeling sorry for me. For 17 years, I’ve been getting paid to do what I love most and, in a world with real problems, I’ve been absurdly lucky. That said, I’ve been suddenly put in a very public predicament and my bosses are demanding an immediate decision.

Six years ago, I signed a contract with NBC to take over “The Tonight Show” in June of 2009. Like a lot of us, I grew up watching Johnny Carson every night and the chance to one day sit in that chair has meant everything to me. I worked long and hard to get that opportunity, passed up far more lucrative offers, and since 2004, I have spent literally hundreds of hours thinking of ways to extend the franchise long into the future. It was my mistaken belief that, like my predecessor, I would have the benefit of some time and, just as important, some degree of ratings support from the prime-time schedule. Building a lasting audience at 11:30 is impossible without both.

But sadly, we were never given that chance. After only seven months, with my “Tonight Show” in its infancy, NBC has decided to react to their terrible difficulties in prime time by making a change in their long-established late night schedule.

Last Thursday, NBC executives told me they intended to move the “Tonight Show” to 12:05 to accommodate the “Jay Leno Show” at 11:35. For 60 years, the “Tonight Show” has aired immediately following the late local news. I sincerely believe that delaying the “Tonight Show” into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting. The “Tonight Show” at 12:05 simply isn’t the “Tonight Show.” Also, if I accept this move I will be knocking the “Late Night” show, which I inherited from David Letterman and passed on to Jimmy Fallon, out of its long-held time slot. That would hurt the other NBC franchise that I love, and it would be unfair to Jimmy.

So it has come to this: I cannot express in words how much I enjoy hosting this program and what an enormous personal disappointment it is for me to consider losing it. My staff and I have worked unbelievably hard, and we are very proud of our contribution to the legacy of “The Tonight Show.” But I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction. Some people will make the argument that with DVRs and the Internet, a time slot doesn’t matter. But with the “Tonight Show,” I believe nothing could matter more.

There has been speculation about my going to another network but, to set the record straight, I currently have no other offer and honestly have no idea what happens next. My hope is that NBC and I can resolve this quickly so that my staff, crew, and I can do a show we can be proud of, for a company that values our work.

Have a great day and, for the record, I am truly sorry about my hair; it’s always been that way.

Yours,

Conan

[Chakan]

Yes! I almost forgot about The Kids in the Hall's new series Death Comes to Town! It premiered last night and can be found through various means if you're not from Canada (like me).

[JoshF]

24, 4 5ur3!

Bortumer did you see it? The Motherfucking Hair from Slumdog Millionaire makes an appearance as a guy. Also, Bubba Gump.

[Bortumer]

I can't wait to see it!

[JoshF]

Check this site in a day and I bet it'll be there.

http://tvshack.net/search/24

More fun with numbers: As in, telephone numbers. Jack Bauer would make a great answering machine message. "Hey, answer meeeeeeeee! Who do you work foooor?"

[Bortumer]

They actually had his voice mail in an episode once. Imagine (babyz) somebody trying to call you and hearing "Leave a message for Jack Bauer". They'll think you're an SSJ3!

[Chakan]

Man, I'm so weird with 24. We started watching it on A&E or whatever cable channel grabbed the rights. We watched the entirety of season 1 through it, then I started torrenting them to catch up (that's what you get for $50 season sets, you fuckwads).

For all of the other seasons, I watch the first few episodes, get psyched up, then lose track of the show. I think I made it a record 5 episodes into last season.

[Chakan]

Human Target started recently and you can watch it on Hulu. It's a dumb, fun action series about a guy who rents himself out as a body guard. It's a lot like most dumb action series from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Think Magnum P.I. Without the bitchin `stache.

I thought the second episode was better than the pilot, fyi. Since I like it, Fox will probably kill it after four or five episodes.


Caprica finally debutted on TV last night. It was the same content from the DVD they put out last Spring (I think). New stuff starts next week. I'll be watching this.

[Chakan]

Caprica has, so far, turned into a more mellow BSG/ST:TNG-style character drama. Consider it a soap opera for real grown-ups?

Josh pointed out Archer a few weeks back and it's on par with most of the Adult Swim shows. My favorite episode was the third one so far, Diversity Hire.

The Kids in the Hall Death Comes to Town series is flying by way too fast! Every time I sit down to watch it, it feels like it goes by in a blink of an eye. It's good stuff, though. Put together, it seems like it will be a movie-length affair. I'd love to see more new KitH material afterwards, of course.

[Chakan]

I've really enjoyed the dumb fun of Human Target's past few episodes. Eagerly looking forward to it this week (tonight), as the majority of the live action shows I watched won't be on for a bit now.

At least new episodes of Caprica resume this weekend. :O

Have any of you guys tried to watch Seth McFarlane's Sunday night animated shows lately? I used to watch all of Fox's animated block before hitting the sack Sunday night, no matter what. Now I start with Simpsons and I'm lucky to stay interested in whichever random show I watched afterwards. I usually put them off to the next day and am disappointed.

[JoshF]

Last night's Tim and Eric was quite possibly the greatest moment in TV history.

[Bortumer]

Do you remember the name or number of the episode?

[Chakan]

Do you remember the name or number of the episode?

It was the one with the Manshake. On mobile at the moment, so a big pain to look it up.