I love my Coco.

I’m with Coco. Team Conan. Up with Coco. Just a few of the ways to express my love for Coco….a.k.a. Conan O’Brien. Back in 2004, I couldn’t have been happier when Conan announced that Jay Leno would be leaving The Tonight Show, and he….Conan….would be taking over in 2009. It wasn’t that I cared about The Tonight Show, per se….I was just happy for Coney. But the thing I liked best about it, was that it came on an hour earlier. I might actually be able to watch his show LIVE, instead of DVR-ing it and watching it the next day. This was exciting news for an over-40 year old.

With great anticipation, on June 1, 2009, I watched his first Tonight Show. It was awesome. The beginning of that first show was brilliant…..classic Conan. If it’s on youtube, find it and watch it. You won’t be sorry.

I have not always been an avid watcher of “Late Night with Conan O’Brien”. By the time I started watching, Andy Richter was no longer on the show. I never saw that dynamic. So when Andy showed up on The Tonight Show, it was a little awkward….to me. I couldn't figure out why Andy was there, and what exactly he added to the show. I always felt Conan did wonderfully on his own….with a few awkward silences between he and Max Weinberg. Didn’t think he needed anyone else. But I grew to enjoy the chemistry between he and Andy.

What I did not enjoy watching, was Conan’s attempt at what I will refer to as the “dumbing down” of his comedy to appease the long-time older viewing audience of The Tonight Show. Because I was a fan of his, I could see his struggle at trying to balance his brand of humor and keeping the demographics that NBC had attained with the tamer Jay Leno. It was, at times, painful to watch. His beloved “string dance”, and signature jumping spin move at the beginning of each “Late Night” show, was apparently considered too “out there”, and was dropped almost immediately. So were many of his mannerisms and facial expressions, which I had always found to be delightful and endearing. Much of Conan’s humor was considered edgy and sarcastic, which many times didn’t translate to this earlier time slot. It was a tweaking process that needed time to work.

The BIGGEST problem with Conan’s transition to The Tonight Show, however, was the horrible NBC prime time lead-ins…. The biggest offender was The Jay Leno Show, which aired at 10PM each night. That show was so horrible it cannot be thoroughly described here. Many NBC affiliates were threatening to drop the Jay Leno Show, because it was absolutely KILLING their local news ratings, and more importantly, their revenues. All of this was bad news for Conan. When Jay Leno took over The Tonight Show, back in 1993, it took him 2 years …. 2 years… to beat David Letterman in the ratings. That’s right…even with “Must-See TV” as a lead-in, Jay could not beat Letterman. And had he not wrangled the newly scandalized Hugh Grant as a guest, I don’t believe he would’ve ever beaten Dave.

I feel Conan wasn’t given a chance. Without knowing specifics, it looks to me like NBC is treating a loyal employee for at least 17 years, with no respect whatsoever. And Conan’s lawyer should, at the very least, be admonished for making the colossal blunder of not specifying the time slot of The Tonight Show in his contract. Unfortunately, this is a learning experience for Conan. But he has weathered other storms during his career. In the beginning of Late Night, his contract was basically renewed on a weekly basis pending the ratings. He survived that, and he will go on to survive this. He’s a brilliant guy. A gifted writer and comedian. And if his contract is honored, he’ll have 40 million reasons to sit back and watch Jay Leno choke on his own greediness as The Tonight Show franchise implodes in lame-ass, milk toast humor. As much as Jay wanted to be Johnny Carson, he will soon realize that he is and always will be …just Jay Leno. An above average strip club comic who traded integrity for a fleet of classic antique cars he will never drive.

Kevin Reilly, this is your wake up call. You need to grab Conan, and ride that red curly wave into Late Night talk show history. Just do it.