Froodee

Living. Blogging.

Conan Trounces Leno & Letterman

By

All eyes were on Conan O’Brien Monday night — and that’s not a figurative statement. TBS‘ debut of Conan defeated both his Tonight Show rival Jay Leno and fellow Leno roadkill, Late Show‘s David Letterman.

Conan’s premiere pulled in 4.2 million viewers, with 3.3 million in the 18-49 demographic. Leno managed 3.5 million, with less than 1 million in the key demographic — a very telling statement about who his show appeals to. Letterman did close to Leno’s numbers, with 3.4 million viewers, and a marginally better 1.3 million in the key demographic.

It’s typical for the premiere of any new show to bring in more viewers than the series will be able to hold onto in the long run, and Conan also benefited from all of the drama surrounding Lenogate, with more than a few people (such as myself) tuning in just to see what O’Brien would say about the fiasco in hindsight. Just how much those ratings dip as the season unfolds is the real question.

Still, the sense of revenge over at Team Coco must be sweet. O’Brien tweeted on Tuesday, “It feels great to be back. To all my fans: Thank you. You are the reason this happened.”

Bye bye, beard!

By

Letterman announced that he would be shaving the beard . And just after it got the key to the city, too…

But good riddance. He looked like a cross between Santa, a terrorist, and a poorly groomed Shih tzu.

The beard will be shaved off on Monday, and incorporated into some kind of “trick.”
Is this the kind of comedy material we’ll get during the writer’s strike?
Oh wait… Letterman got his writers back.

Apparently not the good ones.

TV talk show ratings spike

By

Theeyyy’re back….

After late night talk shows plunged into two-month replay hell because of the writers strike, Jay Leno has finally returned, and with a vengeance. About 7.2 million people tuned in, over 40% more than his usual ratings. Letterman drew in 5.5 million viewers, about 45% more than usual.

Letterman was able to negotiate a deal with the writers, and had dancing girls carry picket signs that supported other writers. The others — Leno, O’Brien — said they wrote their own scripts. Many of them made references to the strike. “The walkout’s cost the town over half a billion dollars. Or as Paul McCartney calls that, `A divorce,'” joked Leno.

Only hot topic aside from the strike? Letterman’s beard, which guest Robin Williams compared to Gen. Robert E. Lee, a rabbi and an Iraqi mullah.

With no writers (and no new haircuts) O’Brien and Leno had to resort to other segment fillers: showing Christmas cards, spinning wedding rings, dancing on tables, and (gasp) taking audience questions. What’s next, bingo?

Creative stretch marks were immediately evident on the shows without writers. O’Brien, sporting facial growth to match his red hair, showed off Christmas cards, danced on his table as his band played the Clash’s “The Magnificent Seven” and tried to see how long he could spin his wedding ring on his desk. Leno took questions from his audience.

What’s next, bingo?