"You've got a movie to watch, and I have a car to drive off a cliff."

TBS is shelling out the big bucks to promote Conan's new show...

I hope all goes well, because I've been a Conan fan since day one. Yes, even the first year when me and Conan's mom were the only ones watching. And is it just me, or could he pass for Donal Logue's brother at the end of this stunt?

The Saturday Night Live Movie that Never Was

I'm a Saturday Night Live apologist. No, I'm not going to tell you that they never make a mistake, or a bad show, but I will say I find it funnier than the majority. I think it's an easy target these days (it all goes in cycles of course - I'm guessing we're on the cusp of reporters and blogs declaring it funny again). Comedy is an insanely subjective thing, which makes it obviously one of the more difficult things to make successful with a broad audience. That SNL has done it for so long (mostly) is a major feat.

So when the AV Club sent me over to this unproduced SNL sketch movie script, I was certainly intrigued. And the pedigree of writers who worked on it certainly lent credibility to the whole thing.

I'll stop spewing now. Here's a recap of what could have been. I laughed a number of times just reading it. Too bad it shall never see the light of day.

Links of Interest 2/8

So what do the superbowl ads really say about us?

After reading that cheery dissertation, why not find out how this year's ads did?

And then check out the ten worst superbowl ads of all time.

Would Howard Stern make a good Simon?

New Orleans is still standing. Thankfully, it didn't join these cities.

In case you're in need of a Conan fix.

The book stunk. It read like a cliched movie. So I have no idea what the movie will look like.

Unlike the majority of America, I am excited for the Olympics. Why not check out some facts about them?

Links of Interest 1/22

I love Legos but I don’t think I could ever create these works of art.

Space stuff that you can get your hands on! Possibly.

As Conan rides off into the $33 million sunset, here’s a look at some of his funnier moments.

Keeping a nation secure is harder than you think.

Sure you can get a couch off Craigslist fairly easily. But there are other things you can get too.

What goes on in a 24 hour laundry.

A review of Pee-Wee Herman’s latest stage show.

Guy living his whole life off Craigslist.

The psychology of club dancing.

Links of Interest 1/20

A good essay trying to realize sympathy for Jay Leno. It does a nice job of explaining how I feel. But here’s my quick take that I know you’ve all been dying to hear.

I never saw Jay Leno’s standup act. All I have seen is his Tonight Show (and Jay Leno show) stuff. I imagine his stand up is different. That said, I don’t enjoy his humor. I think it’s safe, easy repetitive. Don’t get me wrong. He’s a professional joke teller and he has the cadence down to a science. And that’s a skill. I won’t say he’s not talented. I just don’t think he’s doing too many fresh things with humor.

I’ve been a Conan fan since show one. Sure, those first shows were extremely awkward and difficult to sit through, and it’s possible I said I was a fan just to be a contrarian to the majority of people who said they abhorred him. Still, I continued to watch, and enjoyed his outlook on humor. And slowly, he got comfortable, and turned his show into something worth watching.

So while I certainly would back the Conan horse in a race, the late night show debacle isn’t a race. It’s a clusterfuck. And neither Jay nor Conan had much to do with that.

It was NBC.

NBC has fucked this whole thing up from the beginning. And that’s a shame. I agree Conan didn’t get a lot of time to get comfortable in his timeslot and so it’s not fair to hold him accountable for the ratings. But I also have to give that excuse to Jay, for he didn’t get much time at all in his new timeslot. Do I think his show would ever work at 10:00? No. Especially when it’s a rehash of all his Tonight Show bits sans desk. For the love of God Jay, try something different. Especially now – what exactly do you have to lose? Look at the Towering Inferno Conan has turned his show into! It’s a mess and brilliant!

Getting back to the point though…Leno has positioned himself as a company man, while Conan is positioning himself as the noble man. You can like one more or less based on this, but neither position is bad. Yes, company man has a negative connotation, but think about it. With few exceptions, we’re all company men. We work to better the larger organization that employs us. And that’s not a bad thing. Sure, we want to root for a hero like Conan, but Jay did nothing wring here by NOT supporting Conan. He’s supporting himself, and his staff. Something we’d all find noble if we were on his staff.

My point is this. If you want to get angry and pissed off, get mad at NBC. Direct your vitriol at Zucker and Ebersol (seriously, Ebersol – perhaps you might want to simply keep quiet on the matter). NBC is in a constant state of fuckups right now, and I think the next one is putting Leno back at 11:35 and thinking it will all be business as usual. Honestly, I think the horse is out of the barn on that one, and barring another Hugh Grant situation, #1 won’t come easy.

And please, don’t make me defend Jay Leno again.

(I will take this one shot at Jay Leno. That whole Jimmy Kimmel thing – where everyone said Kimmel came on and crushed Leno by bringing all the Conan stuff up? 2 things struck me that I haven’t seen brought up.

1. By bringing Kimmel on to kill Leno, (and don’t think Leno didn’t have an idea of what Kimmel was going to do) painted Leno as a sympathetic figure. And Kimmel also pretty much said all the things Jay probably wanted to say to NBC. So it was a strategic move.
2. Why isn’t anyone pointing out that Jay Leno brought on and promoted the competition of Conan? You want to get mad at Jay? That’s a sneaky, bullshit move to get mad at.

Interview with Harrison Ford.

Remember when a talk show was just a talk show? Yay Mike Douglas.

Rock stars are insane.

No it’s not photography of Mars. It’s Earth!

Ben talks about the end of Lost.

And why not see what the producers of Lost have to say?

Comic strips that need to die.

Cool movies for 2010.

Links of Interest 1/18

A profile of author Neil Gaiman.

Here’s a good summary of the Leno/Conan/NBC debacle.

Normal, plain pizza is so boring.

Awesome NBA dunks.

Things Facebook keeps tabs on about you, that you probably wish it didn’t.

I love public access shows. Here are some really good ones. Though none of them come close to what Ithaca, NY television broadcast in the early 90s.

From the Big Picture, pictures showing “Fire and Ice.”

Clicking on this link, I knew Floyd made the list.

Bands support their own tours – why not authors?

I don’t think we should be throwing around the “biggest” moniker since we’re constantly told the universe in infinite and everything.

Links of Interest 1/13

A simple love story of two women getting married, while one is incarcerated.

Conan’s press release yesterday about his future plans. Stay classy, NBC.

I’m not sure many of you have even heard of the new comedy Blue Mountain State. I accidentally stumbled upon a “sneak” preview of it the other night, and got through about 10 minutes before I had to turn it off. This review does very well in explaining why.

I will say I did get a chuckle when I heard one of the creators goes by the name, “Romanski.” Too bad he couldn’t use the same cleverness in the show.

The band OK Go – of the famous treadmill video – are back at it again. Damn if these guys haven’t figured out the fucking pop culture landscape right now. I’m tempted to buy their album simply to support their future endeavors.

Is this a news intro or the opening to a Steven Bochco series? And I've got to see Greg Moody report - I hope he's still around.

The point is – WITI in Milwaukee has some fantastic openings for their news.

Director Eli Roth is coming out with a book about the business and his adventures in it. You can read an excerpt of it here.

Because I can. Bill Murray’s lounge act from SNL.

Sometimes it seems, people put more effort into the con then they would have to put into a legitimate life.

I’m not worried about the 30-50 foot sized ones that will most likely burn up in the atmosphere. I’m worried about the ones that require an oil rig crew to go up and destroy.

Trailer for the new HBO show Treme, about New Orleans’ musicians living in a post Katrina world.

No, this isn’t a deforested shot of Pandora. It’s Mars! (via mentalfloss)

Links of Interest 5/29

Please, if you haven't already, vote for Cline's blog post here so we can send him to Costa Rica. Seriously, haven't you ever thought how cool it would be to get into an international incident with Costa Rica? Cline's our best hope.

On to the links...

Will Zack Galifianackis become the breakout star from the movie The Hangover?

10 movie homes that would be worth owning.

I think the quest for the best rapper ever is doomed from the start. But what do I know?

Even if you have no interest in the Indianapolis 500, this interactive piece mapping out the entire race is pretty cool.

Errol Morris and art forgeries.

Ancient text that still baffles us today.

A look at how Sponge Bob is affecting our culture.

Soon it will be Conan running things at the Tonight Show.

The best movie soundtracks.

Outlaws can be cool. If you look past the murdering and stuff.

An Appreciation to Late Night Television - The rest of them

(Note: I realize that Carson is the king and that everyone pretty much from his point forward owe their careers to him. I watched and enjoyed him but my influential years were spent with Letterman. I'm an east coast guy and Letterman's sensibilities fit right into that. Anyway, that's my Carson rant.)

On the flip side, a collection of the others over the years...



Jay Leno

Say what you will about Jay Leno, the guy has done more than people routinely give him credit for. Us cynical Letterman fans just can't give him the credit he is due, and that's too bad, because he has seemingly created a late night empire that will propel him into prime time this summer when he takes his show to the 10 PM slot five days a week this summer.



Leno can definitely sell a joke, and his monologue is tight, professional and funny. He has risen from the ashes of The Late Shift (HBO movie on the whole Letterman/Leno/Carson thing) to become the king of late night.

Chevy Chase



Unfortunately, I trumpeted Chevy Chase as genius almost as much as Conan. But let me defend my self real quick. At that time, Chase could do no wrong. He was in Caddyshack. He was in Fletch. He had been an integral part of the success of Saturday Night Live. How could he be bad?



Oh well.

Arsenio Hall



While I realize he filled an important role as one of the first African American late night talk show hosts, I just couldn't get into him. Flashy without much substance, it wasn't my thing. He also had a tendency to really kiss up to his guests, something I definitely wasn't used to with Letterman's style and approach.



Pat Sajak



Anyone else remember that Pat Sajak had a late night television show? I'll admit, I didn't watch too much of this show. I can kinda see why someone might think Sajak would be a decent host, as he is fairly witty on Wheel of Fortune in an innocent way, but not for a late night show. Put him on in the afternoon and he might have had something special.



Alan Thicke



If you didn't remember Pat Sajak, you're definitely not going to remember Alan Thicke's show, known only for the awesome pun in the title. Apparently Arsenio Hall was Thicke's sidekick though, so he's go that going for him...

An Appreciation to Late Night Television - The Conan Years

While the juggling of late night shows was going on back in 1993, one new, timid voice joined their ranks - Conan O'Brien. Plucked from relative obscurity (yet having some credentials, including editor of teh Harvard Lampoon, SNL and Simpsons writer), Conan didn't fit the mold of standard host. The big three at the time (or 4 if you want to include Arsenio) all had backgrounds in stand up comedy, and at the very least, had been in front of a crowd before. Not so much with Conan. As a result, his show started out awkwardly.





It started off a little rough...



But eventually it turned the corner...







For whatever reason, I decided to like Conan O'Brien from the very beginning, and would defend him to everyone who bashed him. Even when he was painfully unfunny. And slowly but surely, he rewarded me by winning everyone over.

And now he is about to make the same move as Letterman, to an earlier time slot and presumably a different type of audience. Will he succeed? Only time will tell. He has promised to bring his same brand of "stupid" humor, but I'm not sure if that's going to fly on a different coast, in a different studio, with different eyes watching. Let's hope that's the case.

Next, the horrible rest...