The GirlAlive Blog

Conan + TBS = Awesome

April 14, 2010 on 9:21 pm | In Movies and TV and Stuff | No Comments

Conan is going to TBS. I’m sure you all expected to say something about this a lot sooner. First, let me say that I love this decision. Conan gets ownership of his own show, and he has a 5-year contract and TBS will give him the freedom to do whatever the heck he wants on his new show. What gets me is the responses from other people on imwithcoco.com. (I would do drawings of the angry commenters, but I’m tired and it’s getting late.)

WHY WOULD HE GO ON CABLE? CABLE IS CRAP.

Um, no. Cable is about the same as network tv these days. Cable channels make their own shows and people watch them, just like network tv. Ever hear of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert? They do okay with late night shows on cable. Is it really a step down to go from the worst network to a pretty good cable station? I don’t think so.

WHY DIDN’T HE SIGN WITH FOX?

Fox would not give him show ownership or a nationwide audience. They were dragging their feet and making it very difficult for Conan to trust them. Fox has a habit of the same kind of random show cancelling as NBC, so I don’t think it’s a bad thing that he’s not going to Fox.

OMG! I DON’T HAVE CABLE! I’LL NEVER SEE CONAN AGAIN! I HATE HIM NOW!

If you’re posting on Facebook, there’s some compelling evidence that you have an internet connection. If you’re in the US it’ll likely be on Hulu or on TBS.com. Or you could always get cable. It’s not like it’s that difficult. Craig Ferguson isn’t broadcast in the UK, yet I see his show pretty much every day on YouTube. If you’re panicking because you don’t have cable you’re either a luddite or a drama queen.

CONAN’S A HYPOCRITE! HOW COULD HE STEAL GEORGE LOPEZ’S TIMESLOT?

You cannot steal that which is freely given. Moving to 12:00 was George Lopez’s own idea, and Conan did not agree to even talk about TBS until George Lopez himself called and talked him into it. George Lopez has been struggling to pull in a small fragment of the late night audience. Even with a move from 11 to 12, Lopez will probably see an increase in his ratings once he has Conan as his lead-in. He genuinely wants to move to 12 to make room for Conan. It’s a whole nother situation.

In short, if you’re going to call yourself a fan of Conan you should remember that he told you to work hard, be kind, and stop being cynical. If you’re not enough of a fan to remember that, maybe you at least remember him telling you, “Keep cool my babies!”

I wish I was able to go to his live show. I’ve seen a few clips and it looks completely awesome. If it is a hint of what is to come on TBS, his new show in November will be like all the very best stuff he did on Late Night and The Tonight Show.