Why Conan and Cable Are a Good Fit

By now, you know the earth-quivering news that Conan O’Brien has found himself a new home at TBS, hosting his own hourlong talk show at 11PM on weeknights starting in November (George Lopez’ show will be pushed back to midnight, or perhaps oblivion). Everyone assumed Conan was going to jump to Fox. Instead, he’ll be on cable. Now, this is why the move was a smart one for Conan.

1. HE’S OUT OF THE SHARK TANK. O’Brien just spent the past few months in the center of the whole “late night wars” BS. If he had gone with FOX and stayed on broadcast TV, he still would have had to deal with all the perceived competition and ratings pressure in that racket. Conan vs. Dave! Conan vs. Jay! Conan vs. Gamera! Cable softens that a bit. No one will expect Conan to beat Jay in the ratings now, and even Conan knows that wouldn’t have happened had he gone to Fox anyway. It’s a competition he didn’t feel like remaining in. All he wanted to do was have…

2. CREATIVE FREEDOM. Scoring Conan is a big coup for TBS. As such, they’re likely to spend less time composing memo after memo to O’Brien, telling him how to run his show. “Could you maybe lighten up the Pimpbot a bit?” Anyone who has worked for Fox will tell you that network has 500 folks ready on staff hired exclusively to make notes and drive show runners to eventual suicide. On TBS, O’Brien gets to do his show, his way. Is it worth the smaller audience? Yes. I think all O’Brien really cares about at this point is airing the funniest show he can.

3. HEY, OPRAH DID IT. The lady knows what she’s doing.

4. CABLE IS TOTALLY THE FUTURE! There are still homes that don’t get cable. About five of them, mostly populated by hoarders. No reasonable person assumes there’s a difference in quality between something that airs on cable and something that airs on a broadcast network. Cable usually has better dramas (Mad Men), better comedies (South Park), and greater flexibility than the Foxes of the world. O’Brien’s arrival is the next step on the evolution.

5. I NEED SOMETHING TO WATCH WHEN JON STEWART INTERVIEWS SOME AUTHOR. Because man, that is dull stuff.

So cheers to Conan on his new home. We are all the richer for it.

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