Campaign Outsider

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.