Now the fun begins.After a week in the sun of L.A. — and the even harsher glare of the media spotlight — Conan O’Brien has settled in as host of “The Tonight Show.”Tom Hanks, Will Ferrell and Pearl Jam have come and gone. NBC’s booster rocket has fallen away. The redheaded Elvis is on his own now, with no special advantage over his main rival David Letterman other than the prestige of TV’s premier late-night franchise. Stuck on a fourth-place network, O’Brien will have to convince a generation of viewers that a host who giggles awkwardly at his own jokes (even after 16 years on network TV) is a suitable replacement for the relentless standup fusillade of Jay Leno … and not just for the four months until Leno’s new show begins.As he did on his very first “Late Night” in 1993, O’Brien opened with an hour strong on written comedy. The highlight was the opening bit, in which Conan, realizing he had done everything he could to prepare for the “Tonight Show” except move to L.A., takes off on a cross-country run in his late-night hosting suit (buttoned). The sketch — field-produced by Kansas City’s own Brian Hall — took him through Wrigley Field, St. Louis, the Grand Canyon and finally the entrance gate to Universal Studios. Other TV shows replayed the sketch, and a reporter at the NBC “news” station in New York even tried running down Fifth Avenue in his suit as well. Also helping that first week was NBC “news” anchor Brian Williams coaxing a “Tonight Show” plug out of President Barack Obama and, for the younger crowd, a wave of Internet chatter about O’Brien’s backdrop on stage, whose outline bore an uncanny resemblance to the scenery in the classic “Super Mario Bros.” video game (a fact O’Brien was only too happy to confirm on his show).All the hype did its job. More than 7 million viewers tuned in for O’Brien’s June 1 debut, the largest Monday audience NBC had drawn to late-night in years. Inevitably, a large chunk of those viewers went away after that, but “Tonight” still ended the week about 10 percent ahead of where it stood in the ratings a year ago. The question is whether that will be enough to fend off a hard-charging Letterman, who trailed Leno by about a million viewers at the end.Actually, there’s another question, and that’s whether Dave is interested in being hard-charging. We seemed to get an answer to that this week, when the CBS “Late Show” host brought out guest Howard Stern on Monday. Stern, the shock jock who for 25 years has been one of Letterman’s most reliably entertaining guests, immediately revealed that “your staff backstage” had informed him that “this was the night they thought they could beat Conan.”(Even with Stern and a “CSI: Miami” lead-in, Letterman lost by a whisker in the Monday overnight ratings.)Monday has been strong for CBS historically, and booking Stern (who hadn’t been on Dave’s show in more than a year) was bound to generate interest.Watching Letterman and Stern talk over each other, competing for the same oxygen, I realized how pleasurable it was to watch a familiar scene play out for the umpteenth time. And yet, however much I enjoyed it, this is the biggest challenge for the CBS host if he hopes someday to overtake the NBC host. At this point in his career, to know Dave is to love Dave. And if you don’t, well, that might be your problem, not his.

Posted on Wed, Jun. 10, 2009 10:15 PM

Buzz Up

Comment (0)

The late-night wars are back

By AARON BARNHART

The Kansas City Star

Letterman tops Conan in ratings

More News

Now the fun begins.

After a week in the sun of L.A. — and the even harsher glare of the media spotlight — Conan O’Brien has settled in as host of “The Tonight Show.”

Tom Hanks, Will Ferrell and Pearl Jam have come and gone. NBC’s booster rocket has fallen away. The redheaded Elvis is on his own now, with no special advantage over his main rival David Letterman other than the prestige of TV’s premier late-night franchise.

Stuck on a fourth-place network, O’Brien will have to convince a generation of viewers that a host who giggles awkwardly at his own jokes (even after 16 years on network TV) is a suitable replacement for the relentless standup fusillade of Jay Leno … and not just for the four months until Leno’s new show begins.

As he did on his very first “Late Night” in 1993, O’Brien opened with an hour strong on written comedy. The highlight was the opening bit, in which Conan, realizing he had done everything he could to prepare for the “Tonight Show” except move to L.A., takes off on a cross-country run in his late-night hosting suit (buttoned).

The sketch — field-produced by Kansas City’s own Brian Hall — took him through Wrigley Field, St. Louis, the Grand Canyon and finally the entrance gate to Universal Studios.

Other TV shows replayed the sketch, and a reporter at the NBC “news” station in New York even tried running down Fifth Avenue in his suit as well.

Also helping that first week was NBC “news” anchor Brian Williams coaxing a “Tonight Show” plug out of President Barack Obama and, for the younger crowd, a wave of Internet chatter about O’Brien’s backdrop on stage, whose outline bore an uncanny resemblance to the scenery in the classic “Super Mario Bros.” video game (a fact O’Brien was only too happy to confirm on his show).

All the hype did its job. More than 7 million viewers tuned in for O’Brien’s June 1 debut, the largest Monday audience NBC had drawn to late-night in years. Inevitably, a large chunk of those viewers went away after that, but “Tonight” still ended the week about 10 percent ahead of where it stood in the ratings a year ago.

The question is whether that will be enough to fend off a hard-charging Letterman, who trailed Leno by about a million viewers at the end.

Actually, there’s another question, and that’s whether Dave is interested in being hard-charging. We seemed to get an answer to that this week, when the CBS “Late Show” host brought out guest Howard Stern on Monday. Stern, the shock jock who for 25 years has been one of Letterman’s most reliably entertaining guests, immediately revealed that “your staff backstage” had informed him that “this was the night they thought they could beat Conan.”

(Even with Stern and a “CSI: Miami” lead-in, Letterman lost by a whisker in the Monday overnight ratings.)

Monday has been strong for CBS historically, and booking Stern (who hadn’t been on Dave’s show in more than a year) was bound to generate interest.

Watching Letterman and Stern talk over each other, competing for the same oxygen, I realized how pleasurable it was to watch a familiar scene play out for the umpteenth time. And yet, however much I enjoyed it, this is the biggest challenge for the CBS host if he hopes someday to overtake the NBC host. At this point in his career, to know Dave is to love Dave. And if you don’t, well, that might be your problem, not his.

Posted on Wed, Jun. 10, 2009 10:15 PM

Buzz Up

Comment (0)

Join the discussion

Share your observations and experiences about news. Lively, open, civil debate is the goal. Please refrain from personal attacks or comments that are racist, vulgar or otherwise inappropriate. If you see an inappropriate comment, please click the "Report as abuse" link.