LAist: Conan O'Brien moving to the Southland

spoon

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 16:45:32 -0800

Love Dave, but he really is phoning it in. He is my elder statesman of choice, of course...The man is in his 60's, he's entitled. Conan and Ferguson are funny, Kimmel is a genuinely funny person, but his show....not so much. Jay, well, Jay is not all that funny. He cannot interview worth a damn. Ferguson is the best at actually having a conversation with the guests. Rather than give that talentless "fill in the blank" Fallon Conan's old gig - What about Adam Corolla?

marc22386

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 15:57:57 -0800

I feel like Conan has been ever-so-slowly toning down his show for the 11:30 slot so that it won't seem like such a transition. Case in point...watch Ferguson. The guy goes off the cuff for practically the whole show (writers or not) and, I feel, is grossly underrated.

iamrob

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 12:21:56 -0800

nice post TV Junkie. my sentiments on Kimmel. Not knocking the guy, I mean, to me there's Conan, then Kimmel, and then a bit lower Letterman, a huge drop to Ferguson, then you plumb the chasmic depths to Leno and finally, in a pool of his own filth Carson D. let's not judge conan's fall from his years of creative and bizarre grace just yet. surely he is keenly aware of the abomination that is Leno to the NBC 11:30 Late Night slot once held in high esteem. Let's hope he restores it to it's stately comedic grandeur of yesteryear. If NBC hasn't learned with Carson, then why not give it to the other Mr. Lucky-as-shit-to-even-be-a-name, Mr. Fallon.

Tom Lewis

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 11:28:55 -0800

I like Conan because he regularly decides to go "out there" unlike any of the other late night hosts, Letterman included. Letterman became too mainstream and milque-toasty after moving to CBS and the earlier timeslot and I'm afraid of the same effect on Conan. I think Kimmel is one of the hardest working guys on TV and I respect him for that but I don't think he's funny enough often enough. If you want to talk about a waste of TV time just look at "Last Call with Carson Daly" - a truly awful show. Since the Leno/Conan switch is a done deal the real newsworthy item will be who is selected to take over "Late Night". Word has it that Jimmy Fallon is on the top of NBC's list and I think that would be a tragedy since the guy hasn't had a regular gig in years and he hasn't been much of a writer, from what I can tell. It's one thing to be able to occasionally host a show but another to host it continually and be able to pick the best bits of writing to showcase. Expect an announement about this from NBC before Q1 of '08 is over. - TV Junkie

Lindsay William-Ross

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 11:01:08 -0800

personally, i'm still surprised that o'brien, letterman, kimmel et al. are even still relevant. they're barely funny, more like laughable. i think my grandmother is the only person i know who watches any of them. how about stewart and colbert? now those are funny, relevant, late night (well, 8 & 8:30, thanks directv!) hosts.

Zach Behrens

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 10:48:14 -0800

torrmoz, thanks for that, I always goof up the Craigs. Kilborn was the douchey jock show. Ferguson is the funny one. iamrob, samkim, Kimmel is not just good, I would say he's the best.

samkim

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 10:45:20 -0800

hmm Kimmel is better than Conan? You might experience some Tony Pierce-like backlash...

torrmoz

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 10:28:51 -0800

"Craig Kilborn has many great moments too" Either you mean "had" or you mean "Ferguson"

iamrob

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 10:16:25 -0800

"We all know David Letterman and Jimmy Kimmel are the kings of late-night (and to be fair, Craig Kilborn has many great moments too)." WE? Who is WE? Oh, Zach. Not true, my friend. Conan took over the title of the quickest comedic wit of a Talk Show Host years ago from Letterman. Letterman still has some zings, but not many these days. Kimmel is good, but Conan's show, and his segments (with writers) is consistently the freshest, most original and creative comedy on television. That you even put Kilborn on here is proof positive that you knoweth not of which you write in this matter.