Coco will love you, baby
The bizarre late-night television spectacle pitting Jay Leno against Conan O'Brien at NBC is ending. At least the chapter that ends with O'Brien getting a huge buyout in return for relinquishing his job as host of “The Tonight Show.” I've read reports he'll get $35 million and his staff will split another $12 million.
Both hosts have lashed out long and loud at the network wizards who got them into this mess. You can watch replays online of both shows.
See Conan at: (www.tonightshowwithconanobrien.com)
and see Jay at: (www.thejaylenoshow.com).
You’d better act quickly, though. O'Brien's final show is set for Friday.
I'm a big fan of O'Brien's; I enjoyed watching him in the new role (which he's held a whopping seven months). I never cared much for Leno. I grew up watching Johnny Carson and Ed McMahon, who yukked it up for 30 years. I even have a videocassette somewhere of the last Carson-hosted show. (Not that I have anything to play it on, mind you.)
I became a David Letterman fan when he went head-to-head with Leno. The gap-toothed kid from Indiana, along with Paul Schaffer and his band got my eyeballs most weeknights. I reluctantly shifted them to Conan when he took over the 11:35 p.m. slot from Leno in June. Leno's first stint as “The Tonight Show” host lasted 17 years.
When Leno returns to “The Tonight Show” on March 1, I'll be watching something else, likely Dave and Paul. I'll start watching “The Late Show with David Letterman” on Monday night. I'm eager to see where Conan surfaces in the fall, as his buyout will keep him off the air until September at the earliest. The smart money is on Fox, but who knows?
Conan's fans have been dubbed "Team Coco," and they took to the streets outside the studio where The Tonight Show is taped early this week. The rain that has pelted southern California didn't keep them away. And Conan didn't disappoint; he joined the crowd and took to the rooftop to address his followers.
Watch the video:
Tonight Show Clip Guy Doug Karo attends the "I'm With Coco" Rally outside of Universal Studios!
http://www.tonightshowwithconanobrien.com/video/clips/the-coco-rally/1194351/
