Monday, November 9th, 2009, marks an important milestone for NBC’s The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien, as the 100th episode aired. 2009 has been an interesting year, to say the least, for late night television.
The Jay Leno and David Letterman Effect
The forced removal of late night king Jay Leno from The Tonight Show and his subsequent return to television on The Jay Leno Show, dubbed the Leno effect, has had an adverse effect on all late night television, including late local newscasts, Conan, Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, and Last Call With Carson Daly, all on NBC.
When Leno left The Tonight Show at the end of May, some of his viewers not in the younger demographic immediately migrated to Letterman on CBS. To read a review of The Jay Leno Show after two months on the air, please click here.
The Late Show With David Letterman on CBS now beats Conan in the ratings, as much as 4 million viewers to Conan’s 2.4 million on some nights, as the New York Times’ Bill Carter reported last week.
ABC's Nightline Emerges
However, Conan has a slight edge over Letterman in the coveted younger demographic group of 18-49 with about 60,000 viewers, a point which NBC will continue to use in justifying Conan’s new job. Although Conan has brought younger viewers to his show, it remains to be seen if he can regain Leno’s old ratings numbers.
Unfortunately for Conan, Nightline on ABC has bested his show for the 19th consecutive week with 3.96 million total viewers, a feat not seen since 1994. It is important to remember that Leno was also a new host in 1994, however. Also, Nightline is a half-hour program, and as a result, it benefits from being measured for thirty minutes versus a full hour.
Late Night Alumni and Andy Richter: What Makes It Work
Conan has retained much of his appeal from the 16 years he spent having fun on Late Night With Conan O’Brien, although he has had to tone down some of the more objectionable and abstract sketches.
The majority of the writers, staff, actors, and production crew from Late Night are still with Conan, too, along with the definite plus of having the Max Weinberg Seven, now called The Tonight Show Band, truly the best band in late night television.
Andy Richter was Conan’s sidekick, like Carson and McMahon, from 1993 to 2000 on Late Night. He left the show in order to pursue acting projects in California to a certain degree of success. Conan made a very smart move in asking Andy to return to the show for The Tonight Show, and he brings out the best in Conan.
The 100th Episode
The 100th episode is a strong indication that Conan has what it takes to make The Tonight Show brand his own. Opening with his customary 10-15 minute monologue, it was interspersed with humorous banter with Andy and short comedy montages.
Most jokes went over well, including one about NBC being worth $30 billion. “Folks, either I’m missing something, or this studio is sitting on top of a massive untapped oil field, ‘cause, I don’t see $30 billion. I think half of it is Alf residuals.”
For more analysis on The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien's 100th episode, click here.
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