In The Year 2000

This week marks the end of Conan O'Brien's 16-year run with Late Night. It's making me feel mildly uncharacteristically sentimental, probably because it was the first time I saw any sort of late-night talk show that I thought was funny. I won't go so far as to say O'Brien spoke to me or my generation, but it was first time I heard regular bong jokes, and saw a Masturbating Bear, or watched a puppet dog brutally mock a line full of Star Wars fanboys... yeah, maybe I will say he spoke to me.

I don't think it's a bold statement to suggest that the 11:35 PM Conan is going to be noticeably different from the 12:37 AM Conan. I already read that the Masturbating Bear has rubbed his last one out, although I'm hoping the Robot On The Toilet sketch is probably flying under the radar of NBC's Standards & Practices. Conan is going full-blown mainstream with this move, and I'm very curious to see what other elements fall victim to the bid to woo a wider, and considerably older, audience. The truth is, I just don't see Conan winning over the Leno audience without significantly changing up his schtick. Sure, he can keep the old timey voice routines, and the patent, goofy awkwardness. But if the Masturbating Bear has already been kicked to the curb, I wonder who's going to be out there keeping him company? The Horny Manatee, mayhap?

I can't think about Conan without instantly comparing him to Leno. One cannot exist without the other; the Yin and Yang of NBC Late Night. And this is where I have a hard time picturing Leno's audience appreciating Conan. I always assumed Leno repeats his punch lines (the equivalent of "get it? get it??") because his audience is older. His jokes may occasionally border on the risque, but they certainly never cross that line. Also, for reasons not understood, a great deal of his material revolves around consumer products. Go watch a Leno monologue compared to, well anyone's. The list of available products, providers and other purchase-ables is an unstemmed flood of commercialism. While Leno makes cheap puns about various products, Conan always seems to point out their inherent absurdity, or even the absurd cultural notions surrounding them. Case in point, eating Taco Bell and sipping on 40's of Old English last night with Martha Stewart, self-proclaimed purveyor of good taste and all things wholesome. Will the Leno audience even get these jokes? Or are they too used to the punch lines being hammered over their heads for an hour? I'm skeptically optimistic at best.

Conan faced a lot of doubt 16 years ago, and overcame it with great success. The difference then however, was that he was free to be himself, what with low expectations and an AM time slot (not to mention competing for ratings with the short-lived Chevy Chase show), whereas now he is playing to a much different audience. It occurs to me though, that his audience is now getting older as well. Maybe the switch to Leno territory is apt, as twenty-somethings raised on Conan are now rapidly approaching the Over The Hill zone. This would make sense, as Leno's Baby Boomers and Greatest Generation viewers don't want to stay up as late anymore to end their evening, and can settle in an hour earlier by watching Leno in his new, earlier time slot. Maybe Conan maturing up his schtick just signifies something else that I don't want to acknowledge in anything more than a peripheral sense: That getting older means leaving certain things behind, be it barefaced awkwardness, bong jokes, or even a Masturbating Bear.