NBC’s High School Complex

By Stephen Tramontana on January 19th, 2010

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Mark Lorenz has already covered this topic in great detail, as have a number of really insightful Hollywood reporters.

I know my beat is comics and geek-related stuff, but like the rest of America, I have been caught up in the drama that has suddenly erupted over at NBC regarding The Tonight Show. That is, you know, when I’m not donating $10 to a real concern like what just happened with Haiti. But the point of this post is not to discuss Conan or Jay, but to really figure out NBC.

You see, it’s like this, you remember that really popular guy or girl you went to High School with? You know the one that was supposed to go light the world on fire and you could say you knew them when, but then they just end up hanging out on the football field for the next couple years trying to constantly relive their glory days? That’s what NBC has become, and this debacle just furthers the point.

Every time NBC gets nervous, they instantly try to recreate the glory days of the 90’s all over again. Seinfeld is going off the air? Quick, sign every cast member up for a new show! It can be just like it was. Conan hasn’t dominated late night in seven short months? My God man, get Leno in there quick. If you’re having real issues, just book Seinfeld on Leno, and you’re really set. If only one of the Friends cast members could stop by. Ah, the old days…

But the truth is, that’s why NBC is dead last. Because they keep stinkers like Heroes around long after anyone cares, while playing Russian Roulette with their top franchise (besides SNL). Don’t get me wrong, they stood by both The Office and Parks and Recreation longer than most networks, and they’ve been rewarded for it. I felt they were showing the same courage and prescience when they tapped O’Brien for The Tonight Show.

I love Conan O’Brien, as most people my age do. My parents can’t stand him, and I get that too. It’s a generational thing – like most comedians. But wasn’t that the point of bringing him to The Tonight Show in the first place? If not, then what the hell were they thinking? Anyone with half a brain knew that bringing Conan O’Brien to that famous desk only worked if you took the long view. It would take time for an audience to get used to him when all the world knew for the last 16 years was Leno and Letterman. It was for the under 40 crowd who found O’Brien in High School and College, and were willing to grow into old, loyal viewers with him. But now that’s dead, and Leno is coming back to a show he never really left.

Much like that popular kid we were talking about, you know, the one still hanging out on the football field two years after he graduated – the perception is now different.  No doubt that Leno will find some kind of audience again – but probably not the one he enjoyed during his first go around. It’s just too hard to watch someone who doesn’t know when to move on.