Stolen Pixels #162: Rorschach Interview, Part 4

[qbanknight]

go conan! i support you with whatever job you get next week (it'll prob be soon, i doubt any network is just gonna sit and wait while a talented comedian wanders around)

 

[nnnnnn]

Awww...but Dr. Breen does the BEST Sheik voice!

 

[AgentChunk]

Yeah I don't think many people real care about this whole thing but everyone has taken a side like I'm about to do. I have to go with Conan cause he was once a writer and producer of the Simpsons and apparently Leno isn't funny

 

[Dev Null]

Team Whothehellcares.

 

[Amarsir]

Under Carson the Tonight Show was the place for comedians to get their start, including Leno himself. When Leno took over, no more comedians appeared on the show (he didn't like being upstaged).

That's simply not true. Leno had plenty of comedians on right from the beginning. In fact, he got rid of the Carson Cold Shoulder. (When Carson was host, he'd watch the comedian perform and if he didn't like it, he'd shake his head and the director would direct the comic off the other side. Only the ones he approved of got to come over and shake hands. Jay not only congratulated each comic after the performance, but came over to them to do so.

Jeez, I'm not trying to be a Leno supporter (I stand by my not caring), but where is all this manufactured Jay hate coming from? I'm expecting any minute now to hear that Karl Rove is involved.

Anyway, I just came across this:
http://www.hulu.com/watch/121471/the-jay-leno-show-jays-pov

and so far as I know, not a single thing Jay said is factually in dispute. He's not pumping himself up, not trashing Conan, and not scheming to manipulate things. Can't you not like his humor without making it some kind of conspiracy?

 

[Joe Matsuda]

I'm on team L.A.W

...Living Assault Weapons? the DC comic based Charlton comics characters?

The Watchmen being analogs to Charlton comics characters?...*sigh* I give up...

 

[Mistwraithe]

Conan would suck as a show host. He's only really good at killing people and looking good wearing totally impractical (ie nearly non existant) armour and leaning on a big sword on posters for woman who like swords and fantasy to drool over.

My 2c and the total extent to which I care...

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

I'll vote Team Coco for the reason that I believe Conan O'Brien is funnier on his worst day than Jay Leno ever was on his best.

Leno never "wanted to leave." 6 years ago Conan's contract was up, and he basically said "I'm not sticking around for Late Night unless I know I'll get the Tonight Show". So they made a deal with him to take it over in 5 years. Jay loved doing the show, put a lot of effort in, and his ratings consistently beat Letterman. (By contrast, at the end if his hosting time Johnny Carson only did 4 shows a week and had frequent guest hosts fill in for him, including Leno.)

I vividly remember Jay's "retirement" announcement on the Tonight Show, and it was clear that he was sad but wanted to play along. And he was 100% welcoming to Conan every moment of those years. Even now Jay isn't maneuvering to oust Conan, he's just honest in that he still likes the gig.

Some people like Conan's humor better than Jay's. I can accept that. I already noted that I think he's a better interviewer. But they can't accept that their view is in the minority, and have to invent some theory to explain why the guy they like got worse ratings in the same spot. But don't believe that Jay "wanted to leave and changed his mind." It's completely unsupported by the facts.

However, I will also go with this, because while I don't much care for Leno's humor, he's always struck me as a decent guy. Jay and Conan need to go get drunk together, stagger up the stairs of NBC headquarters, and start bashing skulls until someone works out a deal that benefits both of them.

Seriously, though. Conan gave us Horny Manatee.com [http://hornymanatee.com/] and the Masturbating Bear. How can you beat that?

 

[Kollega]

And Nazi Germany didn't hate Communism,

Yes they did. Fascism and communism are conflicting ideologies, to say the least. In the nutshell, communism is about total equality and giving power to the people whilst fascism is about "survival of the fittest" and strong leadership ordering masses around. Aren't those kinda... opposite? Yes, i know that Stalin was communist in name only, but he still used it as a "formal" ideology, so it counts.

 

[Syntax Error]

I'm Team CoCo, just because he got himself banned in New Jersey for shits and giggles.

 

[The_Ghost_Ninja]

Team Conan, Marginally Higher Brow stuff.

 

[M4rsch]

Thats not very much like Rorschach. He'd have killed off Breen and Metro and would have proceeded to terminate Leno (after a rather lenghty monologue of course)

 

[the protaginist]

The only thing I remember of CoCo is the bit he did with Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, which was hilarious, so i going with him. Never liked Leno anyway.

Oh, and the only Non-Cable late-night show i watch is Craig Ferguson, because I saw his stand-up special and fell in love, so...

The only late night show I like is Craig Ferguson, so I'm immune to these "wars".

Oh, that little Scottish man is the only one that can actually make me laugh.

*High Fivez*

 

[BlindTom]

The last panel is so much cuter than it has a right to be. You're cool.

 

[Grampy_bone]

Leno had comedians on in the beginning only, once he had more clout he phased them out of the show. Then the only comics he had on were ones that were already big stars.

Putting people through the crucible is an important part of improving your act. Every comic got booed off the stage when they started, the good ones stick with it. The worst thing you can do for someone is tell them they're good when they suck.

Everyone who talks about Jay Leno says that he is very passive aggressive; nice to your face, mean to your back. Typical fake-nice guy douchebag.

 

[DeadAccountMoveAlong]

I love Conan, but I liked him better on Late Night, when he was a little more silly, took himself less seriously.
Leno is not funny, though. His stand up is "let's see what's in the news, oh, x has happened. Isn't x silly?"

 

[diremongoose]

Great strip, but forgive me for not living in the USA because I found the side text a little inaccessible.

 

[SD-Fiend]

what about zelda?

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

I'm not from the US, and honestly I have never seen Conan. But I have seen a few Leno stand ups, and I found him funny, so I will go for Team Big Jaw.
By the way, I remember Conan telling Bart (Simpson) that he was the only one who could do the dance, so screw him....

That particular episode was put into production BEFORE Conan had his own show and was simply a writer for the Simpsons. Not that anything really changes as a result - Conan's best work was as a Simpsons writer. He managed to entertain whenever I watched his show of course but so did Leno. The entire debate was lost on me since I have not watched either show regularly in a decade.

 

[Something Amyss]

In order to support Leno you have to believe he deserved the show in the first place.

Amazingly, he has now stolen The Tonight Show from two Late Night hosts.

When Leno took over the Tonight Show originally his ratings were so bad NBC wanted to pull the plug and offered the job to Letterman, who refused.

Under Carson the Tonight Show was the place for comedians to get their start, including Leno himself. When Leno took over, no more comedians appeared on the show (he didn't like being upstaged). Conan was bringing back the stand-up acts.

It took years and years for Leno to build an audience. Conan only got 7 months.

Quite a bit of that is false or misinformed. Or just plain retroactive continuity.

In any event, I'm on team "NBC is a bunch of tools."