Conan returns to tv tonight! He's replacing Jay Leno as the host of The Tonight Show and I could not be happier. Well, I could, but not about anything else pertaining to television right now.
I know Leno is very popular with people and that Conan's comedy doesn't appeal to everyone. And just like assassinating someone (in a church!) in the name of protecting the sanctity of human life or getting tea bagged at an awards show on international television, this is a subject all of us normal people can relate to, and there is a wide variety of strong opinions out there, with people declaring who is or is not funny or talented.
For what it's worth, I think humor is subjective, even more so than an individual taste in food, music or even beauty. So just because somebody might not make you laugh doesn't mean they aren't funny or talented. I find Leno boring to the point of being unwatchable. He goes for safe, easy laughs in a transparent attempt to ingratiate himself with as many people as possible. The only time I see Leno even attempting to be anything approaching edgy is in one of his frequent appearances as himself in a movie. Which is a shame, because I used to think he was very funny as a stand-up comedian prior to getting The Tonight Show job. But he does make people laugh so he is, by definition, funny. He doesn't make me laugh, though.
Conan's best humor is not all that topical, but it is arbitrary, offbeat and bizarre. He's not afraid to try something off the wall just to see what will happen. That does make me laugh. He's developed a dedicated fan base over the years and there's no reason to believe that those people won't watch The Tonight Show. The question is whether people already watching The Tonight Show will continue to do so.
I guess we'll find out starting tonight.
I'm on the fence with Conan. I like offbeat humor and while Conan can be very funny, as often I feel like he's being offbeat for the sake of it. 'Watch me being really bizarre' doesn't do it for me, there has to be something going on.
ReplyDeleteAs for Leno, his TS humor is mostly softball. As I like both softball and edgy humor, that's no problem for me. I'm not watching Leno expecting thoughtprovoking stuff, there are others that are good at that.
Still, I'll watch Conan a bit more. His timeslot was tough. Over here in The Netherlands, TS shows at 12AM and Conan after that. TS gets repeated on saturdays and sundays 9PM and 9:45PM, which is when I usually watch it.