Conan O'Brien Can't Stop

I finally got a chance to watch Conan O'Brien Can't Stop. I thought it was a concert video, but it's actually a behind-the-scenes documentary. When NBC screwed Conan (and royally screwed themselves in the process), he was contractually prevented from appearing on TV, radio and the internet for six months. To fill that void he put together The Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour and hit the road visiting 30 cities across the US.

The documentary reveals the team's shenanigans to be the sort of nonsense one would expect to go on considering the subject matter. But it also shows Conan's sadness and frustration with being away from his family for days and weeks at a time, and occasionally that frustration turns into more-than-justified anger directed at NBC.

A little of the backstory... When Johnny Carson retired in 1992 The Tonight Show should have gone to David Letterman, but NBC went with Leno and Letterman went to CBS. When Leno finally stepped down making room for someone with genuine talent, the obvious choice was Conan. NBC gave Conan the job but set him up for failure, something that I suspect Leno may have had a hand in. I don't believe that Leno wanted to leave The Tonight Show. I believe that he was nudged out as part of one of NBC's poorly thought out decisions, but then orchestrated his return by putting on a crappy show at 10 pm. His show was so horrible that viewers fled NBC and never returned. NBC likes to think that it was Conan that the viewers didn't care for but it's well documented that NBC's affiliates were complaining that Leno's lead-in was killing the ratings for their 11 pm news broadcast. When NBC said they were moving Leno's horrendous show to the 11:35 slot and pushing Conan back to 12:05, Conan did the honorable thing – he defended the institution that is The Tonight Show and said that it never had, and wouldn't under his watch, start after midnight. Well, NBC is Leno's bitch and Leno wanted the 11:35 slot, so Conan lost the battle. Conan could have compromised his principals and taken the 12:05, but again he did the honorable thing and told NBC to get stuff. Good for him!

It's still a mystery to me what NBC was thinking when they decided to return Jay Leno to the Tonight Show. Don't believe the stories that Jay is a nice guy. He's a scumbag, plain and simple. He's a thief (he's stolen bits and staff from The Howard Stern Show), he's shallow and insincere, he's a manipulator, and he's just not funny. Letterman and Conan each have more talent and comedy genius in their little finger than Leno has ever dreamed of having. NBC mistreated their talent, the two biggest talents in late night TV, so now their only option to replace Leno is Jimmy Fallon. Jimmy is funny, way funnier than Leno, but I fear that NBC and Leno have mortally wounded the Tonight Show leaving Jimmy to inherit nothing but a long-dead carcass.

But I digress. The documentary is not about Leno, it's about Conan, and it's really well done. Get the DVD, watch the film and be sure to check out the extras where you'll find some fun deleted scenes and an interview with Conan.