Couch Potato Report

Before ending his tenure at host of The Tonight Show with a song, Conan O’Brien addressed his fans from his desk.  Here’s a transcript of what he had to say about the past couple of weeks, his time at NBC and his fans:

“Before we end this rodeo, a few things need to be said. There has been a lot of speculation in the press about what I legally can and can’t say about NBC. To set the record straight, tonight I am allowed to say anything I want. And what I want to say is this: between my time at Saturday Night Live, The Late Night Show, and my brief run here on The Tonight Show, I have worked with NBC for over twenty years. Yes, we have our differences right now and yes, we’re going to go our separate ways. But this company has been my home for most of my adult life. I am enormously proud of the work we have done together, and I want to thank NBC for making it all possible.

Walking away from The Tonight Show is the hardest thing I have ever had to do. Making this choice has been enormously difficult. This is the best job in the world, I absolutely love doing it, and I have the best staff and crew in the history of the medium. But despite this sense of loss, I really feel this should be a happy moment. Every comedian dreams of hosting The Tonight Show and, for seven months, I got to. I did it my way, with people I love, and I do not regret a second. I’ve had more good fortune than anyone I know and if our next gig is doing a show in a 7-11 parking lot, we’ll find a way to make it fun.

And finally, I have to say something to our fans. The massive outpouring of support and passion from so many people has been overwhelming. The rallies, the signs, all the goofy, outrageous creativity on the internet, and the fact that people have traveled long distances and camped out all night in the pouring rain to be in our audience, made a sad situation joyous and inspirational.

To all the people watching, I can never thank you enough for your kindness to me and I’ll think about it for the rest of my life. All I ask of you is one thing: please don’t be cynical. I hate cynicism — it’s my least favorite quality and it doesn’t lead anywhere.

Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen. As proof, let’s make an amazing thing happen right now. Here to close out our show, are a few good friends, led by Mr. Will Ferrell…”

I’ve watched Conan for most of my adult life and his brand of humor represents my generation.  I was there when Conan got Late Night. I watched him struggle to find his own voice  from my first apartment in Chicago on a beat up hand me down black and white TV.   At the beginning at times it was tough to watch.  I’d want to turn down the sound or turn off the TV when his bits fell flat.  That said, there was something endearing about him.  He had a quality that had me rooting for him to succeed.   And he did.   What he said tonight to all of us at the close of  his time on “the best job ever” is that same quality I saw years ago on a fuzzy old black and white TV.   Conan, we’ll see you somewhere in September!

We would have loved to see a Kelly Osbourne win.   It gets frustrating to hear all the praise dumped on her by the judges, and then hear scores that seem a little lower than the praise showered on her.   Last night’s dance …definitely to us,  seemed she rated more than a third place finish.

Also,  we enjoyed Miss Piggy taking out Samantha Harris.  The Muppet would make for a better co-host with Tom Bergeron.  She certainly seemed to ask better questions than Samantha last night.   Speaking of Mr. Bergeron, whenever he hosts something…he does a fantastic job.   If they ever did a new network version of Match Game…he should be the host.  That, however, is a post for another day.

My wife was curious about Patrick Swayze’s last acting job — his role in  The Beast, a show about the FBI set in Chicago.  I’ll let her talk more about his performance if she cares to, so all I’ll say is this: one review she read me called his performance (and I’m paraphrasing here) “the best performance of his career”.  I’m not one to argue.  I think it’s damn good.  If you enjoyed Swayze’s character in Road House and/or enjoy Michael Westen (Jeffrey Donovan’s character) in Burn Notice or any interesting gritty cop shows, you’ll enjoy The Beast.

One of the things we marveled about The Beast was how, by shooting entirely in Chicago, they made it not only the backdrop but also a central character.  I don’t think there’s ever been a TV show that gives such an honest portrayal of the city my wife and I call “home.”  I’m usually a little hesitant to speak for her on this blog, but I think I can speak for both of us when I say it’s the best portrayal of Chicago we’ve seen on the small screen.

The Beast embodies Chicago.  In one episode, their cover is Turano Bread delivery men.  Chicagoans see Turano Bread trucks every day.  In another episode, there’s a tanker truck involved that bears the logo for Gas City, a popular Chicago gas station in the south suburbs.  Also, they do not just include the cliche locations you’d expect, like Grant Park, the Lakefront, the “El”, the Loop, etc.  One location (that I suspect might eventually be on that  list) is the mesmerizing reflective sculpture in Millennium Park known as “The Bean”.  The scene shot there is one of the best uses of Chicago art in a TV show or movie ever (except for Seurat’s “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off).

A lot of the show is filmed in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago, which is easy to spot through the architecture and neighborhood businesses.   There’s a scene that takes place at a greasy diner called “Steak N Egger”, which is a real place.  We bet they filmed it at the Pilsen location.  When Barker (Swayze) or Ellis (Aussie actor Travis Fimmel) meet Conrad (Kevin J. O’Connor), it’s usually in an iconic Chicago location.  Finally, one small detail many Chicago-based shows fail to capture:  the hats that Chicago Police officers wear have a checkerboard boarder.  I was watching another show this season supposedly set in Chicago, and the police uniforms were close except for that telling detail.

ER did a nice job portraying Chicago, including the police caps. New ABC drama The Forgotten handles it decently, though they rely heavily on the dialogue to remind us (the characters are often saying things like, “It’s a block from the Loop” or “That place is on Diversey” or “The cops nabbed him in a liquor store on Wabash”, which are meant solely to placate those of us paying attention to the Chicago details).

Seeing Chicago showcased intelligently, and because it’s Patrick Swayze’s tour-de-force swan song, The Beast gets an A+ from both him and her.

The cast of Community

When my wife and I decided to give Community a shot on Thursday nights, I wasn’t sure either of us would like it.   With The Soup’s Joel McHale and Chevy Chase, I expected a snappy, edgy comedy that would utilize both comedic actors’ talent to the max.  (Think Joel Mc Hale’s comments on The Soup and Chevy’s “I’m Chevy Chase and you’re not” smarm from his SNL days.)

But what the show delivered was a different brand of comedy than one might expect from McHale and Chase.   The episodes have a sweetness to them that I didn’t expect and that I like very much.   The show has been pitched to viewers as something akin to the John Hughes movie The Breakfast Club and so far, that’s an apt description.

The cast is a melting pot of students from different backgrounds, ages, races and life experiences.  They’re all thrown into this shared experience at a community college and each week, they end up learning about each other through the course of  time spent together in  “study group” (reminiscent of the time The Breakfast Club kids spent in detention in the library).

It would have been simple to present one-dimensional,  stereotypical characters that make up a community college and rely on the physical comedy of Chevy Chase and the sarcastic wit of Joel McHale to drive the show without bothering to define the other characters.  Community doesn’t do that, which not only makes the show work but imbues it with a subtle and unexpected sweetness.

The show has gone to great lengths to present multi-dimensional characters and paint a picture deeper than the former HS football star trying to find his way, the fast talkin’ lawyer who’s back in school because his law degree was revoked, the dropout with something to prove, the pop culture junkie,  the perfectionist,  the divorcee with kids, and the guy who thinks his life experience has given him all the wisdom in the world.

Chevy Chase as Pierce, at times showing vulnerability (by deeply wanting to be liked and respected), is a character I didn’t think we’d ever see Chevy Chase play.  And Joel McHale as Jeff Winger does a great job of balancing smarmy with a genuine affection for the people he unwittingly befriended in the first episode.   His interactions with Britta (the 28-year-old dropout played by Gillian Jacobs)  effectively showcase the struggle between Jeff’s fast-talkin’ cool guy routine and his desire to be real and open around her.

While Joel McHale and Chevy Chase are the heavy hitters on Community, by no means do they make the show.  It’s definitely an ensemble cast, and each character is important.  In fact, out of four episodes, two have focused heavily on other characters.  One, on the pop culture junkie Abed and the other on the divorcee, Shirley.  Every ep gives a good dose of McHale and more than a little bit of Chase and Jacobs, but it’s great to see the show is spending some time on the other characters.  Also, at the end of each show Abed and Troy get screen time as a fun little bonus.

In addition to the acting and writing, the show does an excellent job with  playing on the stereotype of a community college, referencing popular culture (especially with regards to Generation X), and poking fun at the various eccentricities of college professors and administrators as well as the general stereotype of young college students.

All these things make Community a fun show to watch and add a breath of fresh air and a bit of sweetness to Thursday night TV.

The rumors are official: there will be a crossover between all three CSI series this fall.   CSI’s Dr. Raymond Langston (Laurence Fishburne)  will appear on each of the three CSIs in a single week,  wrapping up on November 12th.  I stopped reading the article in the Chicago Tribune after learning this information because I don’t want to spoil the episodes for myself.

I think when shows like the CSI franchise, or the Law & Order franchise, do a crossover it can be pretty neat.  It can be even wilder when two shows you enjoy do a crossover, such as Law & Order and Homicide back in the day.  It can also be kind of a bummer when two shows crossover, one of which you don’t watch.  (For me that was CSI and Without A Trace.)

We just started watching the original CSI: Crime Scene Investigation again this season.  In fact, we spent a lot of time catching up on last season’s episodes during a Spike marathon last weekend.  I like Langston, and he certainly fills Grissom’s shoes very well, but there’s still part of me that thinks Catherine and/or Nick should get to grace the shores of Miami and New York in lieu of “the new guy.”  Of course, the point of the crossover might be to get skeptical fans that checked out with Grissom to check back in.

I think skeptical fans will be pleasantly surprised. Langston is as cerebral as Grissom, but very different. He’s certainly not a cloned character.  On the whole, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation has done a nice job of evolving their characters, introducing new characters and retaining a familiarity that makes me want to watch it.

As promised I checked out Letterman’s monologue tonight.  He did apologize to his staff, for causing an intrusion and disruption into their lives with his actions and what he said Thursday.  He didn’t however apologize outright to his wife on the air.  He touched on the subject and acknowledged he hurt her, and it’s up to him to fix it, and through some of his jokes admitted she’s pretty angry with him.

The more I thought about it though, I don’t have a problem that he didn’t apologize to his wife on the tube.  When you get past the public extortion plot, he’s dealing with perhaps marital indiscretions (if the affairs occurred while married), or at the very least cheating on his then girlfriend if it happened before he got married.  Which really, isn’t much better.  As he said, he has to fix it, and while an acknowledgement that he hurt his wife on air may be part of the healing process for both of them… it certainly is only one very small part of the fixing he has to do.  Most of which probably is better done privately.

It was also very interesting to watch how he handled his body language tonight when talking about it.   It obviously was well thought out, and it very well may have been vetted by his lawyer.  However, it didn’t seem as picture perfect as the story did Thursday.  He seemed to look down at his desk a lot as opposed to looking at the camera.  I interpreted what he was doing tonight to be much more about his feelings and thoughts and about the personal mess he found himself in.  Thursday was about getting the story out before the headlines, Thursday was show business.  Tonight, I think, may have been a little more personal.

Of course, what do I know.  If only we could get Lie To Me’s Dr. Cal Lightman to interpret the tapes.  Then we’d have some answers.