Leno vs Conan: Battle of the Chin & Hair

I just had to get into this topic because I stayed up late last night reading about what happened with Letterman and Leno in their contest for the Tonight Show.  I wanted to see who was at fault in that debacle and as it turned out, it was the network, NBC, in an episode that is remarkably deja vu to the one going on now. 

The problem with the network then (as I see it), and now, is that they wanted to have their cake and eat it too.  Before, they wanted both Leno and Letterman.  This time, they wanted to have both Leno and Conan.  And it just didn't work.  They were trying to be too greedy, keeping all the late night show talents to themselves, and in the end, what happened was that it ended up all blowing up in their face.  When they were faced with the choice, they chose one way, and then when it all came to pass, they didn't want to stick with their first choice -- namely, of Conan heading the Tonight Show. 

When I first heard about the situation, I thought it was like having two great boyfriends you have to choose from.  One is a nice guy and the other is a fun guy, and you like being with both of them.  Of course, they want you to choose which one of them you want to be with, because if it's not them, they're going to explore their options, namely with your hated enemy.  But you can't have that happen.  You hate the idea of seeing either boyfriend with your rival and so you try to keep both.  But it doesn't work that way.  You can't have both, especially if both want to be your one and only.  You have to choose. 

NBC got in trouble because it couldn't choose.  It wanted too much and so it lost everything.  So that is the moral of the story:  Choose.  Either way they would have wound up with good talent, and not so much bad PR as they are getting now. 

In any case, I would just like to say that I like both men but that if I had to choose, I am on Leno's side on this.  I just find it really sad.  Just think about it.  Five and a half years ago, Conan pushed to get the Tonight Show, basically pushing Leno out of his job.  Of course, it wasn't Conan's intention to hurt Leno, he just really wanted to know that he could expect the Tonight Show -- the holy grail of late night shows apparently -- would be in his future.  If not, he could go elsewhere and make more money.  But that meant Leno, after doing a great job for NBC, would be out of a job.  Instead of releasing Leno to do a show with another network, NBC opted instead to try to keep him with a primetime show that didn't work.  And now Leno's getting all the blame for everything because he wants the job he loved, with the time slot he did well at, back.  Who wouldn't? 

I understand Conan's beef too.  After all, they promised him the show, and then without giving him much time to make it a hit, they tried to push it back.  He never really got a chance to be the first late night show, since in primetime, Leno preempted him.  I thought that sucked.  If you make a promise, you keep it, because that's what you do.  It shows you have integrity.  Now Conan is left to think about all the offers he rejected because of this promise and all the time he spent preparing to take over the Tonight Show, when it only lasted seven months. 

In the end, I feel bad for both of them.  It's neither of their faults really.  It's just what happens when you have one thing that two people want, and a judge who can't decide who to give it to.  I wish the both of them well, and hope they come out of this thing more successful.