This week’s column is all about new shows. Well, kind of. The Tonight Show certainly isn’t new, but Conan O’Brien hosting it sure is. I take a look at that, examine jungle morality with Frangela, and decide if The Listener is worth watching.

Conan’s first day on the job

I’ve been super-excited about the prospect of Conan taking over for Jay Leno on The Tonight Show, though I have been worried that Conan’s antics may not mesh well with Jay’s established audience. After his first night, I have no idea whether or not he’s going to be successful in this new job, but I do know this: His opening was amazing.
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Hey did you get outside and enjoy this beautiful weather this week? Don’t worry if you did, we’ got your back. Here’s some of what went down in the world of television:

• The TCA (Television Critics Association) Awards nominees were announced, with NBC and The Shield leading the pack. But I still want BSG to take home “Program of the Year.” Winners to be announced Aug. 1.
• Susan Boyle didn’t win Britain’s Got Talent, which of course has lead to some controversy about the voting on that show as well, and a clinic stay for Boyle.
• Conan O’Brien debuted on Monday as the new host of The Tonight Show with huge ratings, in what some are unhappily saying is a subdued iteration of himself.
• We spent way too much time talking about Sacha Baron Cohen’s “Bruno” character landing ass-bare on Eminem’s face at the MTV Movie Awards.
• Tell your children not to worry, Miley Cyrus has signed on for a fourth season of Hannah Montana, which will feature her and her father moving out of the beach house.
• Octomom Nadya Suleman is going to film a reality show, but has no networks to air it in the US.
• Actor David Carradine dies, and his death may be more colorful than his career was; I’m sure some sleazy network is looking for the rights.
• Prison Break’s “T-Bag,” Robert Knepper is cast in Heroes, where he’ll play a sleazy villain … that’s a stretch. But still great casting!
• Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag contiue to annoy everyone on and off the set of I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!

Kind of makes me want to take my television outside and just throw it in the garbage… except that I just got a 52″ plasma and video games and Blu-Rays look amazing on it!

I hate NBC right now. Sure, they’re the home of some of my favorite shows: The Office, 30 Rock, Chuck, Medium, and of course, the Law & Order franchise, but I am about fed up with this network. My problem started, as my problems often do, with Jay Leno. Forcing him off of The Tonight Show was a boneheaded move, and it took about four years for NBC to actually realize this. It was right around the time Conan O’Brien was pissing his name on the Tonight Show set to mark his territory (that giant leprechaun knew he won the lottery, is what I’m sayin’).

Anyway, in order to atone for their colossal screw up, NBC ceded their last hour of primetime to Leno. That means that we are losing five hours a week of shows. That’s all well and good if Crusoe is what we’re going to have to live without, but now it looks like Life may be getting the ax. What the hell, NBC?

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(Week of Nov. 15, 2008)

“There’s a big learning curve to this whole ghost thing.” – Jim, Ghost Whisperer

“If it’s creepy to use the Internet, military satellites, and robot aircraft to find a house full of gorgeous young models so that I can drop in on them unexpectedly, then fine, I’m creepy.” – Howard, The Big Bang Theory

“When immortality is outlawed, only outlaws will be immortal.” – Hood, Eleventh Hour

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