Finally (at least to my knowledge) someone has called Conan O’Brien out for his relentless self-pitying and Irish Alzheimer’s grudge-holding.
Laura Bennett’s dope-slap in The New Republic begins this way:
“Welcome to my second annual first show,” said Conan O’Brien in the recent premiere of his new late-night talk show on TBS. Also: “People asked me why I named the show ‘Conan.’ I did it so I’d be harder to replace.” His first episode opened with a video of an unemployed O’Brien being hounded by a haggard wife and 14 kids, then gunned down byGodfather-style NBC hitmen. And, as the weeks progressed, the self-pity has persisted. “I don’t know if you know my story—I worked for a long time in network television,” he said through gritted teeth in a recent sketch.
Yeah, and left with a $30 million wet kiss. But that doesn’t keep O’Brien from throwing an endless tantrum over NBC. To his discredit, he also assails current employer TBS, which apparently is good enough to pay him, but not to respect.
On TBS’s “Conan,” martyrdom is still the brand. The show feels like a nightly kick in the groin to NBC. But the host also slaps at his new network. In his Thanksgiving show, he said, “I’m happy to be on cable now, it’s not a problem,” then slipped a flask out of his coat and took a long swig. “I don’t know if you remember, but, on my old network, that I worked at for a long time, we had NBC chimes,” he said in another recent episode, before launching into an adolescent joke about TBS’s decision to coin its own audio trademark: a loud bodily noise whenever someone says the network’s name.
The TBS putdowns are in poor taste. When O’Brien riffs on his diminished paycheck or the lowbrow nature of basic cable, it’s uncomfortable to watch him.
Translation: He borders on the unwatchable.
Bennett contributes a nice compare/contrast of O’Brien with Lenny Bruce, who also wallowed in grievance comedy after his 1961 arrest for obscenity at a San Francisco nightclub. But as Bennett points out, Bruce’s grievance had some significance.
Lenny Bruce, at least, stood for something: He was a first-amendment crusader, dangerously profane and pushing real boundaries. O’Brien is a martyr without a cause.
And without a sense of humor, to all appearances.
Campaign Outsider 
Agreed. In sort of the same vein, read “Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour”” by David Bianculli.
Conan is huge with everyone except people who watch television. Kind of a problem.
Although I’m not exactly on “Team Coco,” I think Laura Bennett’s article is a bit of a stretch, especially when she brings Stewart into the picture. While Conan’s new show hasn’t exactly been funny, he has always been quick to make fun of his network and himself. In his last few years on NBC, he consistently mocked NBC for being in last place and was quick to point out his own flaws. I will agree, however, that he should be showing more restraint/professionalism (and that he’s not very funny these days). The swell of support was less about a love of Conan and more towards an absolute distaste for Jay Leno. Giving him back the “Tonight Show” was the comedic equivalent of giving the entire Comics section of the newspaper to Family Circus.
Jon Stewart, on the other hand, is leading a cause that I’m unsure he has complete control over. The support for Stewart as a political/journalistic figure seems to grow more and more as “liberal” politicians and the TV news media continue to completely fail my generation. The only public figure that seems to represent our interests is, sadly, Jon Stewart. Bennett’s comparisons between him and Conan simplify that entire situation.
Isn’t that Conan’s shtick? Start with a funny joke, tell it until it stops being funny, and then tell it some more with the assurance that it’ll come back around again?
I think this article – although it may envelope some merit, embarks on a journey of repetence. It is condemning someone who it says is condemning something else.
In other words, you’re doing the same thing that you’re saying Conan is doing. You’re placing judgement on him as you imply he is placing judgement on NBC.
In my humble opinion – Conan was screwed. Yes, he got 30,000,000. But he didn’t sign a contract for it to be breeched. He signed it in order to have his life-long goal achieved. Which, in this case, was the ability for him to be on The Tonight Show and be among the likes of the shows past history (ie. Johnny Carson, Jay Leno, etc.). Yes, 30 million is a lot of money. But money can’t buy him back the show he longed to be a part of.
So it is my opinion; that you as a writer, you may want to do a bit more research and deliver an unbiased article from both sides of the story instead of force-feeding your point of views down the throats of your readers. Anyone can voice their opinion in an article, but a good writer can deliver both sides of a story without bias.