THE LATE SHIFT: Part Deux!

Seventeen years ago a changing of the guard happened with one of the most famous television programs in history – ‘The Tonight Show’.

For those who remember, NBC’s late night lineup was a powerhouse. Johnny Carson who had become a television staple and even after
thirty years as host was just as entertaining as ever. He could make the lamest joke or a silly animal sitting on his head hysterical. David
Letterman, who’s goofy brand of humor gave such bizarre moments such as ‘The Monkey- Cam’, Velcro Suits and taking Siskel & Ebert
to the suburbs a NJ. Then ‘Later With Bob Costas’, a simple half-hour interview program that the host would actually try to engage the
guest with an informative interview and trying to leave out any fluff.

For me that lineup was the high point of ‘Late Night Television’ and will never be topped.

Of course everyone knows then what happened. Carson retired, Leno inherited the show, Letterman left and other wanna be competitors
in Late Night, like Arsenio Hall, Pat Sajak, Chevy Chase stepped in and disappeared and NBC’s late night programming would go on
until the wee hours of the morning with shows that you didn’t even know existed. It was all documented in Bill Carter’s book ‘The Late
Shift’. Pretty entertaining book, which was later made into an HBO movie. Conan mentioned it during his last week with requests of who
should play him when they make this sequel.

It all seems like a much more wholesome and simpler time now. Plus, a lot funnier.

With Conan O’Brien leaving the Tonight Show after his seven month stint brought to a close one of the weirdest and most entertaining
television scandals ever. Now, I’m not a highly intelligent media critic or anything, it’s a rarity I ever watch late night programming
nowadays anyway. And it’s really pointless why anyone would be interested in any of these guys. Guys who will see more money
than we will in our lives. Whose shows consist of the standard – monologue, bit, first guest, second guest, musical act-formula that
every show does. And whose shows basic purpose is to promote products of other company products, like movies and other TV shows.

But we do!

I was never a fan of Leno. His brand of softball jokes and being such a
‘good guy’ hit me as extremely boring. I can’t stand sitting thru one of his
bland interview segments where he seems disengaged from the guest,
never asks a follow-up question on something interesting they said and just
moves onto the next scripted one.

Conan meanwhile…..I watched when he first inherited Late Night out
of curiosity. I didn’t think much of him and never tuned back. When I
would catch him occasionally he would have some of his goofy bits,
which reminded me of old school Letterman, but he always seems
awkwardly nervous or something. Even seventeen years of hosting he
still doesn’t look much more comfortable than that first week on the air.

I know he’s got a small devoted following from the show, but for me,I never really got him. I remember when he first got Late Night a
friend telling me he went to his show and describing how the studio audience was half empty and they couldn’t even fill the seats. But
despite such a rocky start he seemed like he was being groomed to be NBC’s guy and would eventually get the Tonight Show at some
point. The network set things up so that the first ‘Late Night Debacle’ wouldn’t happen again.

Man, were they wrong!

I don’t think the Tonight Show is anywhere near as special as it once was. The whole media landscape has changed so much since
Carson was king that you can tune in at any point during the day and watch a talk show. Heck, get on the internet and watch people
do shows fromtheir basement (some much more interesting than what’s on the broadcast nets by the way). The Tonight Show was
THE place to try to get booked on. It launched comedian’s careers. The things Carson said every night people would talk about the
next day. But nowadays…..it’s just another link in the chain of promotional appearances. Just another talk show that resembles all
the countless others. The television legacy it had once has long ago vanished.

The Tonight Show under Jay Leno’s rule has become just another from the mold gab fest, that is probably the safest, blandest shows
around trying to appeal to the widest demographic, with nothing cutting edge or unique about it. I guess that’s what the company wants
and apparentlya lot of people enjoy watching it, which is NBC's goal.

So I took great pleasure in watching this Late Night scandal unfold. The horrible television experiment of giving Jay a five day, hour-long
primetime talk show (which was essentially the same Tonight Show he’s been doing for seventeen years, oh I’m sorry – he didn’t
have a desk) became an embarrassment, Conan’s takeover of The Tonight Show not generating decent ratings numbers, affiliate stations
pissed at their loss of money and NBC trying to put out this escalating fire they created. And EVERYONE taking potshots and mocking
the network that once had a ‘Must See TV’ lineup.

Finally these shows got interesting!

They’re plan of not wanting to lose Leno and moving him back to the Tonight Show
time slot of 11:30 with a half hour show and thus creating a dominio effect that would
move Conan’s Tonight Show into the next day and everyone else they’ve given shows
to back thrity minutes seemed like desperate move. The Tonight Show, who’s airtime
has been 11:30PM for….I don’t know the last ninety years…would move. It seemed
sacrilage to some people that the once untouchable Tonight Show, a television
institution would just bemoved to a different time slot like it was just an ordinary
program. A lot of people didn’t like the idea.

And Conan was one of them.

Inevitably Conan took his walking papers, Leno will get reinstated and NBC realizes there’s no way of getting around the idea that a
successful television network has to offer some decent programming and there’s really no way around it. Until they can figure out how
we’ll get treated to Dateline reruns I guess.

I watched Conan’s final show and I thought it was pretty good. His self-deprecating jokes and ones about the network were funny. For
the past week he’s had some pretty funny bits. The Classic Tonight Show Moments from a few months ago was pretty funny (I think
he did a similar bit his second night hosting Late Night) and his expensive jokes were good too.

As the dust settles the perception is that NBC made one of the biggest blunders in television history. Leno, who’s once good guy image
(an imageI never fully bought. I’ve heard other comedians talk about him and they’ve got stories) looks to be a bit tarnished and he looks
like the guy who promised the Tonight Show to Conan and is just taking it back. He will probably have to do some damage control. I think
a lot of people see him as the main villain in this, who could have easily stopped this by just refusing to accept the offer and saying the
Tonight Show should be left whereit is. But nope, he was more than willing to do whatever NBC wanted. I can see why he looks like the
bad guy in all this.

Leno will get his show back, Conan will probably pop back on at Fox or somewhere and Leno won’t be viewed as such a good guy
anymore, being viewed as the guy who stole his show he had given away. I’m going to be curious to see how’s he received when he
returns. I’m guessing this middle America demographic that he seems so popular with will tune right back to him and his ratings will
climb back up. They have no idea what Team Coco is and don’t really care. But will this apparent disdain for him by others who see
him as helping Conan out the door remain?

During Conan’s final show Tom Hanks (who’s always great) said something I thought was somewhat interesting.

“In our house you’ll always be the host of the Tonight Show”

Whoa. Now maybe I'm reading a bit too much into that, but it sounded to
me like it could be a bit of declaration of which sides he's on in all this.
Maybe it was just a nice thing to say, but it did get me thinking. I wonder
there will be something of a backlash against appearing on Leno’s Tonight
Show after all this. Well, probably not. I mean promotion is promotion is
promotion right? And if Leno’s got the ratings and you can easily let a lot
of people know about your latest movie why not go on. I think it would be
nice to see him take a hit and never get back the momentum he once had
and NBC finding that putting right back won’t be as easy as they thought.

But for me The real Tonight Show has been called the Late Show With
David Letterman for the past seventeen years.

WONDER WOMAN FINALLY HITS THE BIG SCREEN!

Well, ok not really. This was just an attempted 'what if' film trailer of what it might look like. I still can't think of any actress who I can envision in the role other than Lynda Carter. They're probably better off goingwith an unknown for the role.
Anyway, check this out and enjoy!

STEVEN SEAGAL LAWMAN!

“I make a living in the movies, but for the past twenty years I’ve also
been a cop. My name is Steven Seagal. That’s right, Steven Seagal.
Deputy Sheriff.”

And so opens the most entertaining television show that’s come along in a long time!
Well, at least the most oddly fascinating one.

When I first heard about the premise of this I thought of that kooky story of how President Nixon had made Elvis an honorary agent or
something and gave him a badge. I immediately thought that’s what this Seagal show would be like. Some celebrity gets an honorary
badge presented to him and it goes to his head, he takes it a little too seriously and starts to act like a real cop.

Then I realized they did attempt a show based on that idea – ‘Lookwell’.
Adam West played a washed up ex-action hero who having once years ago been ceremoniously deputized, now goes out to try to solve
crimes.

But that was an intended comedy. ‘This isn’t Hollywood”, intones Seagal in his unique, ultra-dramatic way, “This is for real.”

Seagal made a name for himself as an action film star. His debut in 1987’s Above the Law in was the beginning of a string of increasing
successful action vehicles he headlined in. The stories, characters and acting weren’t always the best, (Seagal’s acting skills aren’t exactly
a deadly weapon) but the draw was watching him kick the crap out of bad guys utilizing his martial arts skills. I mean, sometimes that’s
all an action fan wants.

By the mid-90’s Seagal seemed to be taking himself a bit too seriously. He began writing producing and acting in his films and the
satisfying quality of the action began to weaken. His performances started to get more stiff and his monotone voice got more amusing
the more dramatic he would try to be. Hard-hitting messages about the environment, spiritualism and Native Americans seemed to
overshadow the basics of the action his fans loved about him in the first place. His musical career seemed more like a distraction to the
weakening additions to his film resume.

By the time the credits rolled in 1994’s On Deadly Ground, with Seagal making a wooden plea

about the environment, his best years as an action star were behind him. All his films since 2002
have been released direct to DVD in the US and he just seemed like an actor who got too big of
a head and thought he could do no wrong.

So with the way his career has gone it should come as little to surprise to see him pop up on his own
reality show. I’m not sure how much time Seagal has actually spent in the last twenty years patrolling
around in the town of Jefferson Parish, Louisiana (I can’t imagine the show would exaggerate
it too much, they must know someone’s going to check up on that fact), but it seems like he hasn’t
changed much. He’s still as melodramatic and unintentionally funny as ever.

Steven Seagal Lawman (I love that title. Just try saying it in a dramatic whisper with a nice pause to it) is basically a hybrid of COPS
and a celebrity reality show. Seagal helps takes down some perps, offers sage advice to his fellow officers and reminds viewers he has
practiced the martial arts for forty years with his trademark squint, all the while going in and out of a southern affect in his voice.

What makes the show entertaining is the earnestness in its presentation. The police arrests aren’t anything
we haven’t seen countless times before on COPS, but having Seagal narrate the proceedings with his hammy
delivery is what makes it fun.

As he describes how after being trained in the martial arts he is skilled at being able to read a person and
whether they’re a threat or not the show tries to demonstrate this with a ‘SEAGAL SENSE’ effect. The
video zooms in on Seagal, freezes and lights up as he spots something suspicious. This ‘SEAGAL SENSE’
is an instant classic!

I suspect he must annoy the other officers sometimes. I’m not sure how much of the show is exaggerated and how reliable a partner
Seagal actually is, but it has to be played up, at least a little. I kept looking to catch someone rolling their eyes in the background.

After a suspect resists arrest, Seagal explains to us that ‘this gentleman is not a very good Zen practitioner’. I’m not sure with the gravity
in Seagal’s voice if it was meant as a joke or not, but I certainly laughed.

To give him credit he does show off some amazing marksmanship. The scene of him tutoring an officer at the firing range could have
been in one of movies. Plus, he still has his moves that he teaches his fellow officers. He’s seems pretty passionate about his role he’s
been given in the town and respects the other officers, but this show plays as more of an ego boost than anything else.

Already the show has gotten some of the best numbers A&E has ever seen. There still seems to be plenty of Seagal fans out there who
remember him and welcome his return. This is the most exposure Seagal has seen in years and who knows, maybe this show will be the
start of the next phase in his career. Martial Artist, Movie Star, Singer……now LAWMAN!