Conan Writer Rips on Late Night, Gets Bitch Slapped by Boss

[Mark Jeffries]

Seven-year vet of O'Brien's shows Andrés du Bouchet made a series of profane tweets taking obvious aim at Fallon, Kimmel, Corden and Hardwick--Conan's Twitter response was that "I wish one of my writers would focus on making my show funnier instead of tweeting stupid things about the state of late night comedy:"

http://www.thewrap.com/conan-obrien-rips-staff-writer-over-expletive-filled-twitter-tirade-on-state-of-late-night-tv/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=mailchimp

Du Bouchet does have something here, especially considering that all of the rebels or former rebels--Ferguson, Dave, Stewart--are leaving or have left late night.  But if he ever leaves Conan, it'll be a little hard to get work with someone else after making these statements.  I also found it interesting that seemingly supporting him was standup and former Chelsea Handler panel member Guy Branum, who was on "@midnight" just last week (and Hardwick has said that the show is designed for standups to get more exposure besides the six minutes at 12:25 on the other shows--without having to burn their clean material on television).  All of which probably means that Colbert will probably be expected to be daring in taking over Dave's slot--and that he will become another Leno in the comedy community's eyes if CBS won't let him.

[Joe Hass]

I'm of two minds on this (beyond the obvious of not pissing off your boss).

On one hand (against du Bouchet), this shit works. It works exceedingly well. Kimmel and Fallon have learned that this material is YouTube gold. So why not keep going to the well? Sorry, big guy: 11:35 network, you go with what works. Especially Fallon, who is aiming broad and hitting well.

On the other (and I will yield to others), there is a sense that they go to these wells a little too often. When one of your bits actually becomes a stand-alone show on another network, perhaps this is the sign to just go ahead and let that rest up a bit.

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[David Bruggeman]

For what it's worth, long time Conan writer Brian Stack returned to NYC earlier this year to join Colbert's staff.

Since Colbert will be on CBS, I'll be happy with different, and hope he can get to daring.

David

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From: Mark Jeffries <spotl...@gmail.com>
To: tvor...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Monday, April 20, 2015 10:54 AM
Subject: [TV orNotTV] Conan Writer Rips on Late Night, Gets Bitch Slapped by Boss

Seven-year vet of O'Brien's shows Andrés du Bouchet made a series of profane tweets taking obvious aim at Fallon, Kimmel, Corden and Hardwick--Conan's Twitter response was that "I wish one of my writers would focus on making my show funnier instead of tweeting stupid things about the state of late night comedy:"

http://www.thewrap.com/conan-obrien-rips-staff-writer-over-expletive-filled-twitter-tirade-on-state-of-late-night-tv/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=mailchimp

Du Bouchet does have something here, especially considering that all of the rebels or former rebels--Ferguson, Dave, Stewart--are leaving or have left late night.  But if he ever leaves Conan, it'll be a little hard to get work with someone else after making these statements.  I also found it interesting that seemingly supporting him was standup and former Chelsea Handler panel member Guy Branum, who was on "@midnight" just last week (and Hardwick has said that the show is designed for standups to get more exposure besides the six minutes at 12:25 on the other shows--without having to burn their clean material on television).  All of which probably means that Colbert will probably be expected to be daring in taking over Dave's slot--and that he will become another Leno in the comedy community's eyes if CBS won't let him.

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[Kevin M.]

Trash talk is a healthy part of any rivalry. If the writers of the other shows didn't secretly agree with what was posted (then deleted), they'd be breaking the balls of the Conan writers in return.

I'm growing weary of the click-bait concept. If Fallon and Kimmel and the rest want to generate viral YouTube videos, let them, but then give the late night talk shows over to someone who still wants to host late night talk shows. 

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Kevin M. (RPCV)

[Joe Hass]

On Mon, Apr 20, 2015 at 1:32 PM Kevin M. <drunkba...@gmail.com> wrote:

Trash talk is a healthy part of any rivalry. If the writers of the other shows didn't secretly agree with what was posted (then deleted), they'd be breaking the balls of the Conan writers in return.

I'm growing weary of the click-bait concept. If Fallon and Kimmel and the rest want to generate viral YouTube videos, let them, but then give the late night talk shows over to someone who still wants to host late night talk shows. 

Shall I request the children be removed from your lawn, sir? 

[Kevin M.]

Believe me, if I had a lawn, those darned kids had better steer clear, but to me it isn't an age thing, it is a style thing. I subscribe to a lot of channels on YouTube. I like a lot of the memes that occur either organically or even through paid promotion. But that's a different animal than a late night talk show. I'd submit that since many of the late night hosts are more focused on those aspects of media, perhaps late night TV isn't the right place for them. 

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Kevin M. (RPCV)

[PGage]

I am late to this (I have been overwhelmed with work stuff lately) - but will chime in for the record.

I think Conan's bitch-slap was mostly about professional courtesy, I suspect he does not disagree on the merits of the critique. I disagree with the pandering approach many of my professional colleagues in both undergraduate teaching and clinical psychology approach their job, and say so in clear terms to their face, and in workshops and such where such discussions are relevant. But I think it would be inappropriate for me to bash them, by name on my Facebook page.

In terms of current and previous hosts, I think Colbert's show will look more like the old Conan show (I do not have a good enough sense of his TBS show to say if it is continuous with that). I don't expect a lot of home party game type stuff, but I do expect to see him sing along with guests (as he did on TCR), and more pre-taped bits, like Conan and Classic Dave. You might see some Improv-type games I suppose.

 

On Mon, Apr 20, 2015 at 1:52 PM, Joe Hass <hassg...@gmail.com> wrote:

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