Although I rarely find any interest in the entertainment industry, I am very glad to see Conan O’Brien become the head of the “Tonight Show.” His ascension to the throne continues a tradition that Johnny Carson brought forth and Jay Leno continued. The new host of the “Tonight Show” is a nice guy. (Steve Allen was as well, but many would consider he and Jack Paar to be less relevant since they came before Carson. I avoid this debate since, again, I am not in the industry.)
Yes, Johnny Carson preferred that David Letterman get his job (I watch Letterman, although less so lately), but the network saw Leno as the logical heir. Letterman is just too acid-tongued. It makes for some fun comedy, but the “Tonight Show” is about harmless and lighthearted fun. It made sense that Craig Kilborn, who was harder-edged than Conan, followed Letterman. Craig Ferguson, like Letterman, let’s his liberal political ideology affect his monologues.
Conan O’Brien, a former writer for the “Simpsons,” is mild, self-deprecating, and inoffensive. Yet he is still funny. One great thing about Conan is that his show might be the only one (besides Letterman) where the sidekick actually matters. Having Andy Richter come back is fabulous. Richter is one of those people who never had the success outside of the show that his talent merited. Conan and Richter can take the most mundane things and make them funny. I used to love when they would sit and have those old fashioned staring contests. Of course it was great when they would put on black robes, dim the lights, shine flashlights on themselves, and talk about life “In the Year 2000.” Two of those I will always remember, from 1994.
Conan: “In the year 2000, an assassination attempt on the President will be narrowly averted when the shooter misses from close range. The gunman’s name…John Starks.”
Richter: “In the year 2000, baby seals will no longer be killed for their warm, shiny coats. However, they will still be killed…for revenge.”
Even when Conan O’Brien made fun of political figures, it was so over the top that it was seen as harmless. The skit with the lips cut out was hysterically funny. The Bill Clinton character would come out and say “Yee-haw! Nee-haw! Woo doggie!” After Clinton defeated Bob Dole, the Clinton character said that he was “…going to seek punitive action against the states that didn’t vote for me. I’m gonna wup those states. I’m gonna wup their @sses.”
As Conan innocently tried to get the President to settle down, the Clinton character continued. “Forget gays in the military. I’m sending gays to those states. Let’s see how they like being called ‘Oklahomo’ for awhile. Conservative my @ss.” Conan would then interject with mock indignation cries of “Sir, that’s highly inappropriate.”
The Don King character was hysterically funny:
Conan: “Christmas boxing sir?”
Don King Character: “That’s right Conan, I’m calling it the ‘Mayhem in Bethlehem.’ ‘The Holy War in the Holy Land.’ $49.95, only on pay-per-view.”
Conan: “The O.J. Simpson civil verdict?”
Don King Character: “That’s right Conan, I’m calling it the ‘Molesto in Modesto.’ ‘The Fury With No Jury.’ Only on pay-per-view.”
Conan would wrestle with the fake demons in his head. On one side would be the devil. Yet on the other side, instead of an angel, would be a bear. The devil would advocate bad deeds, and the bear would recommend that Conan eat some honey.
The importance of all of this is that comedians that need viciousness to survive are as weak as comedians that need foul language or bigoted jokes to make a living.
Rush Limbaugh has remarked that early in his career, he was being molded into a shock jock. He heard Joe Pyne tell a caller to “gargle with razorblades.” Yet when Rush studied the great comedians of all time, he noticed that they were not mean, and did not insult people. In fact, outside of Don Rickles, where everybody knew it was an act, all of the top comedians were nice.
Comedy has gotten coarser today, as has society in general. This can be seen in the failed attempts at humor over Barack Obama. Too many liberal comedians will not mock him, and too many conservative comedians just echo the viciousness that liberal comedians directed at George W. Bush (although with much less ferocity and drool.).
Conan O’Brien has stayed above the fray. He is silly, and sometimes sophomoric, but he simply refuses to be mean. Even Triumph the Insult Comic Dog just wants somebody to poop on.
Conan is a nice guy, and It is good to see a nice guy finish first. As boxing promoter Don King would say, “Congratulations Conan, my jughead, potato eating friend.” May your successor in 2026 be just as nice and just as funny.
eric aka the Tygrrrr Express
blacktygrrrr@earthlink.net