As far as intrigue in the entertainment world goes, the month of January is usually taken up by the awards season, the last straggling year-end lists, the premiere of "American Idol" and little else. But the last few weeks have been amazing because of the three-way feud between Conan O'Brien, NBC and Jay Leno. It was great because for a brief moment late-night TV was relevant again, and O'Brien was as funny as he's been since his run on "The Tonight Show" started seven months ago. Then Jimmy Kimmel and David Letterman got involved, and everybody declared themselves "Team Coco" and it made us appreciate Craig Ferguson for the first time. It was magical, and now it's over.
Conan may be off TV for the time being (the non-compete clause in his walkaway deal from NBC says he can't host another show until September), but last Friday night's final show continues to resonate. Conan's final thoughts — where he implored everybody, especially young people, to reject cynicism — have been quoted over and over again across social networks, and plenty of people have been contemplating exactly what Conan's fight with his network and subsequent exit really means. The most profound thought on the whole ordeal may have come from Michael Ian Black, the comedian best known for his work on "The State," "Stella" and "Michael and Michael Have Issues."
"I think the deeper reason people are so inflamed by this petty war is that Conan in his own way has come to represent the aggrieved, the injured, the wrongly terminated," Black wrote on his blog. "I think there is a sense in this country that giant corporations are ruining everything, even late night talk shows. Something so insignificant takes on greater importance because I think on some level, 'The Tonight Show' actually has become a very flawed stand-in for all the jobs lost to corporate greed, arrogance, and stupidity. We see Conan as a victim because we feel as though, like us, he wasn't given a fair shot. If a guy like that, a guy who has everything, can be downsized and demoted, what hope do the rest of us have?"
I miss Conan O'Brien now, but I know that he'll be back on television telling jokes soon enough. What I really miss is the argument and conjecture, and the idea that a TV talk show host had somehow tapped into a greater sense of outrage, especially for young people. It's poetic that this whole fiasco went down around the one year anniversary of the inauguration of Barack Obama. After a huge swell of optimism and empowerment following Obama's hope-based political campaign, the sense of disenfranchisement (especially among young people) remains constant, as people are still out of work and it seems like the same greedy suits are still running the establishment. Black is right: Even though O'Brien is a Harvard-educated millionaire, we saw ourselves in him. We all think of ourselves as the big idea person who can rise to the top with a sharp wit and hard work, only to be kept down by corporate entities worried about covering for their own mistakes. We'll miss Conan because we liked "Twitter Tracker" and the Masturbating Bear, but what we'll really miss is the anger.
What do you think? Is Conan O'Brien a metaphor, or just a comedian? Leave us your thoughts in the comments.
Tags Conan O'Brien, Jay Leno, Late Night, Talk Shows
