If you don't know what I'm talking about, this isn't about a court case (yet). Please use your search engine in the off chance you don't watch TV/Twitter/Facebook/talk to other human beings.)
Oh, I'm not talking about the wounded pride or career aspirations of one millionaire performer or another. Conan O'Brien himself told all of us earthlings not to feel sorry for him. Instead, this story resonates for me because it is another example of the corporate-favored screw-up getting preferential treatment while the competent employee gets the shaft.
From the very start, NBC promoted the hell out of Leno's new prime time show. O'Brien's "Tonight Show" takeover? Not so much. Despite all the marketing behind it, Leno's show sucked so badly that affiliates squawked about the damage to their 11 p.m. (10 p.m. central) newscasts. In fact, they led what has been called "a revolt." Do you remember affiliates reacting to a low-rated show in such a way before? Do you remember a show having such a disastrous, dramatic effect on the newscast before? I don't.
O'Brien's "Tonight Show" suffered a bit in the ratings, too. Let's use common sense and logic here -- Leno caused people to stop watching NBC affiliate news, so that also dipped O'Brien's ratings as the show that FOLLOWED the news. But who gets punished? Conan O'Brien. Who gets rewarded? Jay Leno, the man who ruined the network.
To me, that's what this story is about. This is why America continues a downward slide unless we do something. Jay Leno getting a new show during the "Tonight Show"'s opening time slot for collapsing NBC = our financial institution leaders getting huge bonuses for collapsing our economy.
Good job, one and all! Keep heaping rewards on your dangerously incompetent "Golden Boy" buddies as the rest of us poor schmucks keep doing our jobs and getting shit upon!
Lucky for Conan he can tell the NBC jerks to stick their peacock up their asses without exposing his family to poverty. But I'm glad he could take a very public stand against what so many of us face in private.
