"Conan O'Brien Can't Stop" (2011) - Documentary about Conan's Six-Month Tour after He Was Forbidden To Appear on Television

[DonRocks]

I've never been a big Conan O'Brien fan, and that's probably the main reason I watched this documentary. Conan was forbidden from being on TV for six months after The Fiasco, but do you know what his compensation package was?

$40 million.

I can't, and don't, feel sorry for him. I understand he's a "tortured artist" and all that stuff, but I cannot think of one, single time when he has ever made me even giggle - he's just not funny. He says "he's the least entitled person there is," but he comes across as being about the *most* entitled person there is. Give me $40 million for six months, and I'll be out having the time of my life.

Conan O'Brien is angry, bitter, *entitled as hell*, and not the least bit funny. I can see him being a comedy writer, but as a performer? He's a pasty white, uncoordinated, hack. Just once I want him to make me smile, or at least be likable. He is *so lucky* to be where he is right now, and he doesn't see it; he thinks he fully deserves it.

Maybe one of my problems is that I *still* don't know what NBC did that was so wrong. Yes, Conan got ousted, but so what? It happens all the time - he's rich, famous, and successful, and it's because of NBC that he is. Or am I missing something? And as for Jimmy Kimmel? He comes across as about the biggest jerk I've ever seen - and also *not* funny. Not once has he ever even made me smile. Part of being successful with the masses on television is that you need to be *likable*, and neither of these two are, especially not Kimmel - what he did to Jay Leno with that "Ten Questions" list was about the lowest thing I've ever seen. Kimmel came across as a hateful, vindictive, little twit whereas Leno tried to take the assault in good spirits, and did about as well as he could. 

David Letterman? Also not funny in the least.

Why is it that I find Jimmy Fallon and Jay Leno likable, and none of these other people?

So far, I've watched about 40 minutes of this 90-minute documentary, so I have about 50 more minutes to go. I just can't watch 90 straight minutes of Conan - would a Conan fan please tell me what I'm missing? I want to either 1) like him, or 2) figure out why I don't. Truly - and Seinfeld is pretty much the same way: He thinks he "deserves" to be a near-billionaire; I think he's about the luckiest person who ever lived, at least in terms of money - if he hadn't known Larry David, we may not even know who he is.

I think that, beginning with Tom Snyder (*) and continuing on with Larry King, late-night television hosts have always come across to me as the least-talented people that could be found. And the networks did a great job of finding them - these hosts actually thought - and still continue to think - that they're talented interviewers and stand-up comedians. It baffles my mind how this set of late-night hosts somehow duped the networks into thinking they were worth something, and I'm pretty convinced that, unless someone here who's intelligent sits me down, talks with me like an adult, and tells me what I'm missing, I will simply never understand. 

I will add that, quite often, in the early days of television, their shows were followed by a test pattern which lasted throughout the night, until about 6 AM.

(*) I remember, as a child, watching "The Tomorrow Show" with Tom Snyder, and one of his guests was a twelve-year-old boy with something like a 200 IQ (I'm not sure about the exact number, but it was high enough for him to be billed as having one of the highest IQs in the world). Snyder was a chain smoker, and puffed throughout his entire show. At one point, this child, a southerner with a heavy accent, who had almost no social graces, said, very bluntly, "Would you mind putting out that nicotine factory?" A completely flustered Snyder says, "Oh, does it bother you?" The child replied, "It makes me sick!" I still remember that to this very day and it was over forty years ago.

[DIShGo]

If you want likable, check out James Corden. He never fails to make me smile. Here is  his recent bit with Steph Curry.  I also like Jimmy Fallon. He seems like a genuinely nice person, and he makes me laugh. They are my current favorites, along with John Oliver and Trevor Noah.

I don't find Conan or Letterman funny, and Kimmel is just mean. Watching Kimmel host the Oscars this year was painful.