Saturday, January 23, 2010

In which I'm either totally hip or hopelessly out-of-touch.

I watched Conan O'Brien's last show. I thought we was a class act all the way through - making jokes about NBC but not being mean-spirited. He was so appreciative of the individuals he had worked with and spoke so lovingly of his time with them, at NBC, and hosting The Tonight Show.

I'm so with Coco.

So, the NBC folks did what they did, and Leno's back after the winter Olympics. I don't know about you, but if they were hell-bent on replacing Conan, I think they overlooked the very best option.

Johnny Carson reruns.

Seriously.



The man was the master. I'd much rather watch 30-year-old Carson tapes than live Jay Leno. Hell, I'd rather watch Johnny's decomposing corpse than Leno.



These old clips make me laugh. I feel like Johnny was a member of my family, and a class act all the way. While Leno seems to appeal to the lowest common denominator, Johnny was smart but not snobby - a Nebraska boy (actually he was born in Iowa - ahem) who was still amazed at where he landed and the world around him, even though he was the ultimate insider. He was one of us.



Johnny always made me feel so grown up. I've been a night owl my entire life and my mom swears that even as a newborn, I refused to go to sleep until after Johnny's monologue. I've always had good taste.



Leno? He just makes me feel stupid.

If we can't have Conan, let's rally around the one and only suitable replacement - Johnny Carson. Who's with me?
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10 comments:

  1. Cyndi B.January 23, 2010 at 9:22 PM

    I am! Loved him!

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  2. jeanJanuary 23, 2010 at 9:37 PM

    I watched the clips and just laughed and laughed. I had forgotten how funny he was with animals. And the smoking? Can you imagine anyone doing that today? Even the shag carpet brought back memories.

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  3. CaronJanuary 24, 2010 at 9:17 AM

    I'm with you! I loved him and have fond memories of staying up (sometimes without permission) to watch him. I would rather watch the reruns myself.

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  4. hope505January 24, 2010 at 10:05 AM

    "... I'd rather watch Johnny's decomposing corpse than Leno."

    You have eloquently expressed my exact sentiment here.

    And I hope something * really* excellent happens for Conan...something that will wwwwaaayyy make up for all this cr@p. I like him a lot.

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  5. hope505January 24, 2010 at 10:10 AM

    Oh, sry for the double but I forgot to say Johnny's clairvoyant schtick with the envelopes ant the huge glittery turban? Pure genius, way ahead of his time...so hillarious!! I loved that.

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  6. sherileeJanuary 24, 2010 at 11:04 AM

    Spot on, Cha Cha. I actually have never watched either Conan or Leno much... Craig Ferguson's more my speed, but I'm never up anyway, so it's kind of moot. But this whole bruhaha has been just a little too much, as Leno stands back with that Howie Mandel "what? what?" expression, like he has no control over what happens next. Give me a break. I hope Leno tanks.

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  7. RebeccaJanuary 24, 2010 at 12:53 PM

    I'm totally with you!

    I'm so Team Coco and also thought he did such a classy job for his last show.

    I hope he comes back to TV soon. I really enjoy his humor.

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  8. AnonymousJanuary 24, 2010 at 4:36 PM

    Sigh. You are right--Carson was funny. Leno, notsomuch.

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  9. SCREAMING FOR CHOCOLATEJanuary 25, 2010 at 5:24 AM

    I am so glad I am not the only one that didn't like Jay Leno. I NEVER understood why he was on that show. He certainly is no Johnny Carson. It is weird because I never hear anyone say "Hey, did you see Leno last night?" NEVER.

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  10. gertrudeJanuary 25, 2010 at 10:20 AM

    I'm with you too. And still confused as to how all of this happened. Team Coco indeed. Whatever happened to "no take-backs"?

    ReplyDelete