"People didn't want to see Leno in primetime and Conan's quirky, cerebral outsider humor was an comfortable fit for The Tonight Show and its demo. He's clearly a much better fit for TBS where he can be himself and he seems much happier there, too."
You think he's happy? He's not the same. I say that as a long-time Conan fan. I also can't believe you find Conan not as sincere. He came from a writer's background which I think had more of a different approach as a presenter whereas Fallon's whole persona is off the cuff, but I wouldn't necessarily say more sincere. I think the moment he hears Letterman consider retirement he is calling in Les Moonves direct.
Leno pretending that he was not foretold Conan was going to replace him 4 years in advance is a remarkable rewrite of history. I think had NBC had the strength it did in the 90s, what transpired would've never happened. Leno would've competed on a different station. Maybe. But I get it. Jay had his fans but I am always surprised to meet and talk with people who liked him the most. That possibly speaks more of my age demographic but I know twenty-somethings who grew up on Letterman, but most people are more into Stewart/Conan/Colbert/Kimmel.
I've never been a fan of Seth Meyers but good luck to him and whatever. I do think he is in a much better point of entry than Fallon was at the beginning. All hosts don't immediately hit but Fallon in the early days was rough viewing. I don't think he knew the difference between backstage conversations vs. official interviews for a good year.
Family always preferred Letterman but my Dad, which is often joked about as the moment he really got 'old', started watching Leno more. But he likes Fallon a good deal. Mother has also grown out of Letterman and been more about Kimmel. Kimmel has a better balance of knowing and getting along with enough celebrities but never being so eager to please on a sycophantic level like Fallon, who can occasionally feel like we are witnessing his Celebrity Fantasy Camp. But I can't completely hate him because he has The Roots.
Updated On: 2/7/14 at 03:55 PM