My first post of the year was going to be about The Simpsons celebrating their 20th anniversary and how that show has made me happier than most everything else in my life. In wanting to do it a justice, I was taking my time with it to ensure that what I wrote would be a suitable homage to the show. Unfortunately, my first post of the year will not be about The Simpsons, but will instead be about how NBC and Jay Leno blatantly robbed Conan O'Brien.
When I was seven years old, I gave a friend of mine one of my ninja turtles. I was in a good mood and it seemed like a nice gesture at the time. The problem with seven year old kids is that they don't think long-term and I quickly realized that I still really wanted that ninja turtle. A few days later, I asked my friend if I could have it back and, although he didn't like the idea, he gave it back to me. But even at seven years old, I felt awful asking for it and felt even worse when I actually had it again. It was the first time in entire life that I felt ashamed of something I had done. My mom caught wind of it and told me to return it to my friend and when I asked why, she explained that I had to give it back because it no longer belonged to me.
Conan O'Brien is someone that I have admired for nearly half of my life. I won't sit here and pretend that I have a Conan tattoo or that I have seen every episode of his program, but he is someone I have always put quite a bit of stock in. Frankly speaking, I think he is the greatest talent on television today. But even if you put aside all of his brilliance, wit, enthusiasm, sheer ability, and passion for what he does, I think that what I've admired most about him is the fact that he has never forgotten who he is. He has always been honest about how he arrived, candid about the fact that he knows Lorne Michaels took a great risk with him, humble about the enormous success he has seen, and sincere about how lucky he feels to do what he does and how much he truly loves doing it. I feel like a lot of people who succeed lose touch with who they really are, but Conan has always stuck to his guns. He has always taken the time to point out the people who've helped him get to where he is and, until recently, one of those people was Jay Leno.
Unless he is contractually bound to do what he is doing (doubtful since he hasn't come out and said that), what Jay Leno is doing right now is totally and completely wrong. Jay Leno was the host of The Tonight Show for a very long time and some will say he stole that job (*see David Letterman). Others will will tell you that he worked really hard and that he deserved to get it. No matter which way you lean on that, the fact remains that Jay Leno
already had his time. When he had his final episode (or so we all thought) he brought Conan on his show as a guest and, in what I thought was a very classy, heartfelt, and touching segment, passed The Tonight Show torch into Conan's eager hands. It was clear that Conan was thrilled and honored and Leno, while nostalgic, seemed proud to be leaving the ship's helm to a very capable captain.
Howard Stern has been an avid Leno-hater for years and I never quite understood why he hated the man as much as he does. Say what you will about Howard, but one thing the guy
doesn't do is pull any punches and he has always stood by his opinion that Jay Leno is a rat bastard. After watching the events of this past week unfold I will go on record and state that Howard Stern was absolutely 100% correct. Jay Leno stabbed Conan O'Brien square in the back and he did it in front of the entire entertainment world. At seven years old, I felt bad about taking a ninja turtle action figure, but at 59 years old, Jay Leno has absolutely
no problem whatsoever taking The Tonight Show away from Conan O'Brien.
When he was given his ultimatum, Conan wrote a very sincere letter and submitted it to the New York Times. He talked of his dream to host The Tonight Show and how hard he and his staff worked to make that happen. He went on to explain why he would not be hosting the show if it was moved out of it's time slot and how disappointed he was that he was losing the job that he worked his whole life to secure. But where is Jay Leno's letter? Why hasn't Jay Leno stepped in to clear the air and defend himself? It's actually very simple. Jay Leno knows that he is completely wrong and he has no grounds on which to defend himself. He is well aware that you don't give something away only to take it back. He knows that you don't land one of the greatest gigs in the world and proudly (obviously he was merely acting) hand it off to someone that is your "friend", only to take that dream job back from them. That is precisely why he has not and will not address the situation. Jay Leno knows he is wrong, but he still dons that BS, lispy smile.
I don't know Jay Leno, but all that I
do about him is that I will never trust anything that comes out of his mouth ever again. Going solely on what I can see unfolding from this current debacle is that he is a two-faced liar who clearly has less regard for his "friends" than he does moral compass: a coward who wheels and deals for himself under the guise of a friend, all the while hiding behind a falsified, nice-guy front.
That being said, THANK YOU, Jimmy Kimmel, for calling him out and exposing him for the fraud that he truly is. The video is about halfway down the page. Just look at Leno. He can't do anything but laugh at all of the things Jimmy is saying because he knows they're true.
http://screenrant.com/jimmy-kimmel-on-jay-leno-controversy-conan-tonight-show-craigs-list-ad-aco-41674/
Times like these make me think that it is very unfortunate that I am not wealthy. If I had the money, I would also submit a full page ad to the New York Times.
Dear Jay Leno and NBC,
You lied to Conan O'Brien and spit straight into the face of tradition. You should be ashamed of yourselves and I sincerely hope to see you go down in flames.
I'm with Coco.
GFY,
John Porch
