tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5576632801504816149.post7294991461821914123..comments2023-09-18T20:19:51.867+12:00Comments on Musings without a good name for my blog: I'm with CocoMatthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08196372589248892579noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5576632801504816149.post-84482017416868002862010-01-20T10:52:10.718+13:002010-01-20T10:52:10.718+13:00Another article I read on this topic, while contai...Another article I read on this topic, while containing plenty of anti-Leno material, also has this devil's advocacy:<br /><br /><i>...how would you feel if your boss came to you one day and said, “Jay, thanks for all your hard work these past 12 years. We really appreciate you keeping Tonight at number one in the ratings for nine years now, and never missing a show or demanding huge raises.<br /><br />But here’s the thing — Conan’s been hosting Late Night for 11 years now, just like your old buddy Dave hosted Late Night for 11 years, and … well … he wants The Tonight Show. You know how it is — fulfillment of a lifelong dream, ‘when I was a boy,’ et cetera, et cetera. Anyway, Conan’s managers and agents and lawyers say he’ll leave for another network if he doesn’t get it. And we can’t have another Letterman situation on our hands. We just can’t. It’s bad for business.<br /><br />“Besides, even though you’re at number one, your audience is older than Conan’s, and we’re pretty much at the mercy of these advertisers who kiss the ground 18- to 49-year-olds walk on.</i><br /><br />http://popdose.com/sugar-water-jay-leno-is-blacker-than-rod-blagojevich/<br /><br />In terms of Blair & Brown, it's reputed that they sealed a deal at an Islington restaurant around 1994 - Brown would not stand for the Labour leadership against Blair, in return for receiving widespread control of domestic policy and a commitment from Blair to stand down as PM in Brown's favour after a number of years. Of course, none of this is verifiable.Slightly Intrepidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03863685188013458226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5576632801504816149.post-1890953708984337122010-01-19T12:48:11.603+13:002010-01-19T12:48:11.603+13:00Thank you, eT.
(1) True, I did forget about The D...Thank you, eT.<br /><br />(1) True, I did forget about The Daily Show and Colbert - which is strange, since those two I definitely do watch. But I think there's a degree to which those shows are doing something different to what Letterman, Conan, and Leno do. So I don't really think of The Daily Show and Colbert as being talkshows, even though they are very similar in a lot of ways. (Plus I was technically right, since C4 has stopped showing Daily Show, and Comedy Central has stopped showing Colbert - although I hear rumours that CC may start showing Daily Show in Colbert's place. But right now, neither show is airing in NZ.)<br /><br />(2) I couldn't possibly comment - at least in part because I don't follow British politics enough to comment.<br /><br />(3) No V at all, I was running on pure anger at the situation. My anger provokes me to ranting, which makes me even more long-winded than normal.<br /><br />But to be honest, much of what the argument in that paragraph (and most of the rest of the article) is not original to me. It's analysis that a lot of people have made, and I'm just summarising it for any readers that that don't follow the network politics of US late-night talkshows. The part of the article that I will claim is original (or at least, not consciously borrowed from elsewhere) is the last substantive paragraph. I've read a lot about this situation, but I don't recall seeing anyone trying to take that long-term view of how the eventual retirement of Letterman and Leno would affect late-night. (It's not to say no-one else has made that argument, I just don't recall seeing it.) And to me, that is the most powerful argument in favour of Conan.Matthewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08196372589248892579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5576632801504816149.post-57297633218451011232010-01-19T10:43:23.100+13:002010-01-19T10:43:23.100+13:00Comprehensive and insightful as ever, Matthew. Th...Comprehensive and insightful as ever, Matthew. Three quick observations:<br /><br />1. 'The only late night show we get in NZ...' Don't forget the Daily Show, 11pm / 10 Central.<br /><br />2. So would you say Leno is Blair and Conan is Brown? Not that I'd stay up late for a Gordon Brown monologue expecting a barrel of laughs.<br /><br />3. Was the consumption of V or V-like beverages involved in the creation of the (excellent, well-argued) 565-word paragraph?Slightly Intrepidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03863685188013458226noreply@blogger.com