Aaron Barnhart (hi, Aaron!) assesses the lay of the land as we approach the debut of The Jay Leno Show in prime time.
And Tom Shales discusses what's up with Conan O'Brien. I rarely agree with Shales and think he's wrong to say, with regards to the ratings, that "…he's in much better shape than Leno was at the beginning." Leno never finished third and even at his lowest had a lot more viewers. But I half-concur that the show feels too prepared and scripted, and that O'Brien interrupts his guests too much.
The problem — and I say this as a fan of the guy — is that Conan is trying too hard to be the comedy star of his show. He seems to not understand that principle that Shales cites; that the host gets credit for the funny things his guests say or do. When I watch the show, I keep being reminded of a variety special I worked on years ago. We surrounded the host with very funny guest stars and had him function like Jack Benny or Mary Tyler Moore — the central figure/anchor playing off all the eccentric, colorful people. The day before rehearsals started, he came to us and said, "Hey, I'm the star of the show. I should have all the punchlines."
I really liked Conan on Late Night but not so much in his last year or so. He seemed to think viewers were tuning in to hear him do catch-phrases and funny voices, and that guests were there to give him the chance to get laughs; not the other way around. He also seems curiously detached from his own monologue material. Leno came out and told jokes and made them sound like his own observations. O'Brien doesn't seem particularly interested in any of what he says. He acts like since he's the host of The Tonight Show, it's part of his job to come out and read those cue cards. (At least, he seems to have gotten over his habit of the first few weeks of constantly reminding us that he's the host of The Tonight Show.)
There are other problems. Everyone says his new studio is beautiful and it is…but it feels like a cold, vast place. Andy Richter seems to be a mile from him and the audience is off in the next zip code. It all adds up to Conan just not being as much fun to watch as he used to be. I agree that he had to change his act a little to move up to the earlier hour. I just don't like what he changed it to as much.