Conan O'Brien on '60 Minutes': a TBS tune-up
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Reviews of Conan O鈥橞rien鈥檚 Sunday night outing on CBS鈥檚 venerable 鈥�60 Minutes鈥� news magazine show run the gamut from dubbing it a self-indulgent fiasco, to a great job 鈥� warm, human, and honest.
The appearance won the night with more than 13 million viewers tuning in to hear what Mr. O鈥橞rien had to say about his abrupt departure from NBC earlier this year. This robust 鈥済awker鈥� turnout is in contrast to the low ratings he garnered during nearly all of his short-lived tenure as host of NBC鈥檚 鈥�The Tonight Show.鈥� Expect even tinier audiences for his new program set to debut on little-known cable channel TBS in November.
Yet O鈥橞rien continues to embody the most cutting edge, boundary-breaking comedy, say media watchers and fellow comedians alike.
鈥淭here is a growing gap between what is culturally relevant and what will draw ratings,鈥� says Syracuse University media expert Robert Thompson. The red-haired comedian has been a standard-bearer of that split, he points out, noting that it took years for Conan to find his 鈥渧oice鈥� when he first arrived at NBC in 1992, yet his cultural impact has been enormous.
Similarly, Comedy Central鈥檚 鈥�The Daily Show with John Stewart鈥� and 鈥�Colbert Report鈥� with Stephen Colbert have tiny ratings, yet their 鈥渂uzz factor,鈥� fueled by video clips shared on the Web, is off the charts. 鈥淐onan鈥檚 move to TBS completely seals the deal that the leading edge of late-night comedy is no longer in an age of grossing big audiences,鈥� Thompson says.
O'Brien is embracing the same Web tools, launching a wildly popular Twitter account in February.
翱鈥橞谤颈别苍鈥檚 impact on television comedy has been huge, says K.P. Anderson, a stand-up comedian and executive producer of E! Entertainment Television's "The Soup." 鈥淐onan changed the boundaries of the game,鈥� he says. His absurdist attitude has influenced everyone, including the various late-night hosts on the broadcast networks.
鈥�Craig Ferguson and Jimmy Fallon and all those guys, they take a page from Conan who came in and said, 鈥榳hat the [heck], what鈥檚 the worst they can do, fire me?鈥� 鈥� 翱鈥橞谤颈别苍鈥檚 early late night ratings were low, he notes, and took years to build. Comedians such as Mr. Stewart and Mr. Colbert 鈥渉ave a different template, but they all built on the kind of brashness that Conan brought in.鈥�
This split between what some perceive as 鈥渉ip鈥� or 鈥渃ool鈥� extends beyond the late-night comedy stage, says Barry Katz, president of talent management at New Wave Entertainment. 鈥淭ake a look at the top-rated sitcoms on TV,鈥� he says, a list that includes such current and recent highly conventional sitcoms such as 鈥淭wo and a Half men,鈥� 鈥淵es, Dear,鈥� and 鈥�King of Queens.鈥� Their healthy ratings, ranging anywhere from 10 to 14 million viewers, completely overshadow shows such as 鈥淭he Office,鈥� 鈥�30 Rock,鈥� and 鈥�Arrested Development.鈥�
The latter three were the darlings of critics, he notes, though they routinely languish in the ratings.
鈥淐ritics rally around these niche shows and make them hot,鈥� he says, often for good reason: The shows push the creative boundaries and usher in new ideas and styles. But, Mr. Katz adds, 鈥�America decides what it likes and frequently, that doesn鈥檛 click with what the insider media writing about these shows says is hip or cool,鈥� noting that the entertainment industry is built on ratings.
As O鈥橞rien noted in his 鈥�60 Minutes鈥� interview, he is willing to risk his career to gain a chance to be creative 鈥� a stance his current 40-city stage tour amply demonstrates. "Conan is the former head of the [Harvard] Lampoon,鈥� Mark Stevens, CEO of global marketing firm MSCO, writes in an email. 鈥淗e wants to be Important more than he wants to be rich. He is the standard bearer for that vaunted position now. And he will play to it to the hilt," Mr. Stevens says, adding, "and then he'll sell out and make a superhero summer blockbuster."
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