On Fri, Jun 19, 2009 at 10:39 AM, M-D November <[email protected]> wrote:
> > I don't think there's anything necessarily wrong with Conan basking in > the adulation of the crowd (for now, anyway) - it's got to be a stark > contrast to when he started on Late Night, so I'm willing to chalk it > up to indulgence. What is somewhat surprising, and a little > offputting at times, is his initial entrance from backstage. Here is AB's point: http://blogs.kansascity.com/tvbarn/2009/06/conans-lead-over-letterman-shrinks-to-100000-maybe-he-should-start-warming-up-the-crowd-again.html ************************* "Why, you may ask, is Conan O’Brien still getting the crazy-fan treatment three weeks into his program? Very simply, because it’s being encouraged. Again, this is a problem Letterman worked through nearly 16 years ago. When he first went on CBS, he started getting nightly standing ovations. The adoring crowd some nights would hijack the monologue. And then, someone did something about it. Audiences were actually told to stay in their seats and not get too lather-mouthed when the host came onstage. In recent years the folks steering the “Late Show” crowds seem to have found the right balance between enthusiasm and restraint. It is, after all, people’s bedtime when they watch this thing. Now Conan’s facing the same issue, and I have a simple solution for the “Tonight” show staff: Have him do warmup again. Back in the “Late Night” days, he used to participate in the preshow ritual with the studio audience. He’d come right into the seats and, with the band backing him up, belt out a blazing version of “Burning Love” in his best Elvis — hair sticking straight up, Conan shimmying and shaking, serenading women in the audience. The crowd went nuts — and then, having gotten that out of their system, they’d pull back a little for the broadcast. Thanks to reader Mark Magers of Kansas City, I’ve learned that ritual has gone away. Magers went to a “Tonight” show taping and reports that the warmup was now handled by comedian Jimmy Pardo and Andy the announcer. No Conan. That would explain the unbridled nuttiness that goes on when O’Brien takes the stage. An easy way to deal with that would be to bring Conan on stage, even for just half a minute, to say hi and soak in the love. That's how they've done it for years with Letterman. It could help tighten up the intro of the "Tonight" show — unless, of course, NBC is happy delaying the monologue by nearly two minutes every night. (Wasn’t this the same bunch of network executives who sped up the “Late Night” theme and lopped several bars off the intro because they thought it was taking too long to get to the show?)" ************************* --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ TV or Not TV .... Smart (TV) People on Ice! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
