If I leave here tomorrowWould you still remember me?
For I must be traveling on, now'
Cause there's too many places
I've got to see
"Freebird" - Lynrd Skynyrd
Here's a copy of an article posted on Huffington Post last night. I think the author just didn't get it:
Last night Conan O'Brien continued his employer funded assault on his soon to be former employer. The entire Conan-Jay-NBC soap opera has been oddly riveting. The extended late night family has joined the fun with David Letterman and Jimmy Kimmel, among others, adding to the commentary on NBC's blunders. Sympathy and support for Conan is widespread while Darth Leno and Jeff Zuckermonster compete for head bad guy dishonors.
I haven't watched "The Tonight Show" regularly since Johnny Carson walked the earth, I'm more of a Letterman guy, but I did set the DVR for the final two episodes of the Conan hosted "Tonight." I was particularly interested to see how he would handle things post 45 million dollar separation deal. In my humble opinion, Conan's Tonight Show jumped the shark in record time in what has become an orgy of disconnected self-indulgence.
Millions of American's are losing or have lost their jobs. They are angry and their employment future is uncertain. That's where the kinship with Conan ends. Unlike Mr. O'Brien they didn't walking away with tens of millions in severance pay. And they certainly weren't provided with a high-profile pulpit from which they could publicly criticize their former employers.
I have no sympathy for NBC. This is a mess of their own making. When I tuned in I was squarely in Conan's corner and remain there on technical merit. After all, in negotiating the 45 million dollar exit deal, Conan made sure that 12 million of that would go to his staff. He is legendarily generous with those he employs and is widely regarded as a decent fellow. So while there is a clear disconnect related to how most of us lose our jobs and Conan is losing his, that's not the main source of my complaint.
My problem is with a segment introduced during the last couple nights in which something not very funny is done for the purpose of spending NBC's money. Last night's skit designed to waste network cash involved a racehorse in a mink watching restricted NFL programming. As advertised, it wasn't funny, but it did cost NBC 4.8 million dollars about which Conan gloated. He's having some pay back fun by burning NBC's money. The night before the price tag for gratuitous waste was 1.5 million and involved a ridiculously expensive automobile. The two-night total is a whopping 6.3 million dollars which is more than half of the 12 million total dedicated to severance packages for the show's staff. Adding to this offensive wastefulness is the fact that Rome, or at least Port-au-Prince, is burning. In fact, Conan made an appeal for donations to Ben Stiller's Haiti relief charity last night mere moments after reveling in the lame but expensive racehorse gag. Apparently it's not just Washington and Wall Street that doesn't get it.
I've been accused of being irreverent to a fault. I find humor in even the darkest scenarios. But given the stark contrast between the world of late night spats and the worlds of record unemployment and horror in Haiti I guess I've reached my limit. Conan O'Brien, because he could, wasted 6.3 million dollars of NBC's money on a sophomoric prank because he's angry that they've unfairly taken away his show. Who knows what tonight's total will be since he has 90 more minutes of air time to get even with the evil peacock network. Ben Stiller's charity and the people of Haiti could have done something quite different with that 6.3 million.
What amounts to chump change in the land of network shenanigans is huge money in the real world. In the real world it's the kind of money that can change lives or perhaps even save them. And while I know that there's no simple formula for moving such money from one place to another, I really don't care. The contradiction between multi-million dollar pranks and appeals for disaster relief from the same host on the same show separated by mere minutes was more disconnect from reality than I could stand and I just had to get it off my chest.
UPDATE:
It now appears that Conan's spending spree on NBC's tab is not quite as costly as advertised. Moments after posting I received this link: http://www.mediaite.com/tv/conan-obrien-borrowed-the-bugatti-got-the-rolling-stones-for-cheap/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+mediaite/ClHj+(Mediaite)
My faith is Conan has been partially restored.
COMMENTS:
Please!
First of all, as other commenter noted, these are gags and don't really cost that kind of money. The Bugatti was on loan from the Peterson Museum, for example. I highly doubt that NBC now owns a horse. The only offense I took to the bit was the mink - don't know why we needed that. So, these bits really aren't costing NBC all that much.
And I can guarantee you that the bits are generating a lot more viewers and a lot more advertising revenue. Net, NBC is coming out ahead. Which is what any show business venture is all about. If you really don't like show businesses being profitable, than you might as well crucify Deal or No Deal for giving away millions of dollars to random people instead of sending the money to Haiti. Hey, here's an idea, let's shut down TV altogether until there is peace in the world.
I can personally guarantee you that those bits do not cost as much money as Conan is pretending they do. It is a joke, relax. Besides, let's say he were spending 4.5 million, do you think if he didn't use it on the air, NBC would just hand it to him to give it to charity? No, they would spend it on the olympics, which they are already pumping over 200 million dollars into. It's the nature of these huge TV networks, wasting insane amounts of money, Conan's just pretending to play the game. Luckily, he didn't really buy the horse and the coat wasn't really made out of mink, et cetera. Interesting to see he got a rise out of you, though.
Whatever cost Conan actually burns through, the money would have gone to nbc exec bonuses, investor dividends, etc.
Do you just not have a sense of humor? It was CLEARLY a joke. How could you think he was actually spending that much money... bad reporting, if you ask me.
Long live Conan.
Wow. A "column" with absolutely no evidence as to whether he actually spent that money or it was just a prank. Do you really think NBC would allow $6 million spent???
Do some research before you blast a COMEDY SHOW.
Well, for that matter, tonight Conan revealed that NBC "paid" for the fossilized skeleton of a prehistoric giant sloth holding a hose which squirted a large amount of Belluga caviar onto an enormous original Piccasso at a total cost of $65 million.
And then he shouted out, laughingly, to the idiots watching: "It's all fake!"
Amen Coco! It's all fake anyway!
Enjoy your $33 million. It's been "real".
Love ya, and can't wait to see what you come up with next. I know I'll be watching.
Peace out.