Late Night Television

[Matt]

What could the allure of TBS possibly be?

$$$$$$$$$$ (and possibly total creative freedom and ownership of intellectual property)

But yeah, I still associate TBS with Brady Bunch and Gilligan's Island after-school reruns. They don't really have any original programming (apart from this George Lopez show that's apparently been running for several months), do they?

EDIT: Oh, they have a couple of Tyler Perry sitcoms, too.

[flyonthewall2983]

I associate TBS with Dusty Rhodes' rambling redneck jive while men 4 times Conan's size pummeled through countless jobbers, so it's all good with me.

[mfunk9786]

But if you're going to get away from network television, why not HBO? Even FX or AMC have more clout than TBS. It seems to be pretty bottom-of-the-barrel.

[Matt]

The NYT has a run-down on the deal. The upsides to TBS appear to be: young audience, good (appropriate) lead-ins, and a big marketing campaign. I'm sure the ubiquity of TBS in basic cable packages helped, too, as did the appeal of being the main attraction on a little channel.

[Highway 61]

It doesn't seem like that bad of a move actually, so long as TBS gives him carte blanche. Like The Shield or Mad Men, they just have to make sure to put out a class A show to shake the basic cable stigma.

Oh, and the ads TBS will run during baseball playoffs will be brutal. The Frank Caliendo ads were some of the most annoying in television history.

[Brian C]

Conan's ads were awesome when he moved to the Tonight Show. I'm sure TBS is giving him control of those, too.

He's funnier than Caliendo anyway. Like most imitationists, Caliendo doesn't have much once you get beyond, "Oh hey, I get it! He's doing DeNiro!"

[mfunk9786]

So Conan doesn't have to say "TBS - Very Funny!" after every ad, while hideous bubble letters and light blue envelop him?

[Jeff]

But if you're going to get away from network television, why not HBO?

There are 114 million homes with televisions in the U.S. 100 million of those get TBS. 40 million get HBO.

Matt's right about the real reasons behind this, of course. I imagine Time Warner is backing up a dump truck full of cash to Conan's house right now.

Even FX or AMC have more clout than TBS.

That's a pretty recent phenomenon due to stuff like The Shield and Mad Men though. If TBS programs a few decent shows of their own, they'll be in that group too, and having a major late-night talk show is a good start.

[mfunk9786]

But people understand that. You can get low ratings at HBO and still get a lot of respect. Sort of like how Howard Stern or Bill Maher are doing business these days. It's a given that you're not going to have as much of an audience, because you're broadcasting on a pay service, but HBO in turn has a lot more clout and integrity [and therefore a potential for far better guests] than TBS.

[Jeff]

HBO and TBS are both owned by Time Warner. They must figure that the potential ad revenue generated by the coveted 18-35 demographic that tunes in to Conan's show is greater than the revenue that would be generated by that same demo buying HBO subscriptions just for Conan. HBO is more prestigious, sure, but money trumps prestige any day.

[Brian C]

That kind of prestige is fluid anyway, isn't it? I remember thinking that following Kilborn at "The Daily Show" was a step down for Stewart, but look how that turned out.

[flyonthewall2983]

HBO is more prestigious, sure, but money trumps prestige any day.

Plus they, as far as I know, have never pulled off a live, weekly Monday-Friday show before which tells me it would be a huge risk for all involved for that and other reasons already stated here if Conan went to HBO.

[Zumpano]

Plus they, as far as I know, have never pulled off a live, weekly Monday-Friday show...

Make that a Monday-Thursday show.

[flyonthewall2983]

Real Time is on once a week, and they take breaks which last for 2-3 months. My point is that it's questionable if they would be able to run something as continuous as The Tonight Show or Late Night.

[flyonthewall2983]

Preview of tomorrow's 60 Minutes interview.

[Jeff]

Funny or Die's "subtitling" of the 60 Minutes interview isn't funny, but it shows the good parts of the interview.

[kaujot]

According to NBC, Conan lied.

[mfunk9786]

CRAIGGERS IS COMING BACK!

[domino harvey]

OMG I hope it's available online somewhere for those of us who don't live in the test market cities

[Zumpano]

CRAIGGERS IS COMING BACK!

Awesome, I missed Kilborn's brand of humor. Let's hope it (is good and) does well in those 7 markets so it can expand.

[souvenir]

I recently saw Kilborn on that A&E/Bio special "The Battle for Late Night" and was surprised at how, um, expansive he had become, at least from the neck up.

[Polybius]

Yeah, I had the same reaction.

[Zumpano]

Jay's ratings now below Conan's.

[mfunk9786]

So having watched a few episodes of The Kilborn File now, I must say - I'm a little disappointed by the fact that Kilborn's return feels... unnecessary. Allow me to give you some of my parenthesis-filled opinions:

The guests are quite unspectacular, and the bizarre presence of Christine Lakin is inexplicable. His sense of humor is still there, some jokes still fall wonderfully flat (though - is a laugh track now being utilized?) - but there is a very cringeworthy way of cutting between each joke (presumably for time), with the show's logo loudly WHOOSHING across the screen and ruining any sense of rhythm the jokes might have otherwise had.

The return of Yambo (now Kilbo) was as funny as it used to be (though the theme of lower-rent stars still continues), but it sure would be nice to have an hour so he could fill the couch and spend more time interviewing guests (still his strength). Really, I think I would just prefer an interview show if it meant he could get better guests and spend more time fucking with them with bits like the still amazing 5 Questions.

It might come into its own, but I get this sinking feeling that no one is watching this and it'll just disappear without a trace someday. It already feels like we're getting a strange pirate feed into Kilborn's basement, where no one told him he quit his late night show and he just records it every day with whatever D-grade actor or actress he could pluck off the street and kidnap for the evening. The set is even very similar to the old one, and the HD broadcast is (deliberately?) hazy and low-grade, sort of the way It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia still shoots on video and then upconverts to keep its old style in place.

I'm wondering if anyone's watched yet, and what you all think about it (particularly Kilborn's biggest fan, Domino). Now that I have Craiggers back, I'm sort of wondering if he can ever be good again if relegated to this lowly format.

[souvenir]

My affection for Kilby dates back to SportsCenter and runs through pretty much everything he's done but this show, from what I've seen so far, does feel like a pale imitation. Something I loved about The Late Late Show was its smoking jacket feel, being on late at night and having such a relaxed, anything goes atmosphere. I haven't gotten that from The Kilborn File and doubt I will. There also seems to be too much of an emphasis on pop culture instead of more obscure figures of the Dido, Robert Goulet, Georgy Girl type.