For some time I have been wondering how long it would take to get someone funny on late night TV. The format of the shows seems a bit forced in our less washed world and, well, hairspray for men is so 80’s.
Over time we’ve heard some doozies on the late night talk show circuit but no joke is bigger than the one with this punch line: Conan O’Brien got $32 million plus to exit.
Okay, in the midst of a whacky world, heartbreaking stories from Haiti and Chile and a severe financial crisis, NBC fires someone and gives them nearly $35 big ones. According to rival CBS, “ The biggest immediate plus for NBC in buying-off O’Brien…is that the jokes at its expense will finally stop…”
It’s not so much that the big hair goof ball isn’t that funny, it is that we seem to be a nation out of whack with reality. Either that or we have a system of rewards where one of our highest values is paying the biggest bucks for those who sit around and take swipes at everyone and oftentimes cross the lines of integrity themselves. What’s funny about that?
Even the cross current of jokes about the whole sordid episode seems twisted. Take this from the other character in the midst of this big deal drama, Jay Leno. “The rain (hitting California in recent days) couldn’t have come at a worse possible time. Today was the day NBC was supposed to burn down the studio for the insurance money.”
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