Okay, I’ll stop talking about Conan. After this post, that is.
As much as I’ve gotten caught up in the “I’m with Coco” campaign, there are some bigger things that I’ve been thinking about:
I’ve always been very interested in demographic studies, particularly in the analysis of the characteristics of particular generations (e.g. Baby Boomer, Gen-X, Millennials, etc.). It’s pretty clear that the support of Conan or Chin falls pretty much along generational lines. But what’s interesting to me, and the only explanation that makes sense to me for what happened, is NBC’s choice to continue catering to Baby Boomers at the expense of next generation consumers. And, I think there are probably some interesting discussions to be had about what it means for Baby Boomers to retire gracefully and let the next generation shape the world. It’s amusing to me that the generation that is known for their rebellion in the 60′s against the “establishment” has become, in many ways, a more entrenched “establishment” than their parents were. I was talking to a friend today, and we’re hoping, that when our time comes, we will be able, with grace & dignity, to turn over the reigns…- Tom Hanks. Cream Soda. Priceless. Fossil spraying Beluga Caviar on an original Picasso? “Dear Internet…”
- You can watch Conan’s final statement here, along with the full text. I loved this part:
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.”
One of my greatest struggles is with cynicism – I can get so cynical about government, people, church, church leaders, friends… you name it. In the middle of the laughter, I was challenged. I hope, sometime in the future to devote a whole post to cynicism… we’ll see.
at work i am facing the struggle of having to step up and take leadership positions after or along side baby boomers, and it is no easy task. so i concur that they are taking this stage of life very hard, in fact fighting it. on one board we are having a hard time getting one woman to step down from her position, still wants to come to the executive board meetings, and will get down right nasty with anyone that tries to talk to her about it. its sad really.
also i loved Conan’s final statements as well, showed great amount of maturity and gratitude for what he has as well as pointing out there are more important things in life.
Charlie,
Just a thought….depending on definitions, Conan fits into the Boomer generation (albeit, a latter year one). So NBC was trying to make a decision between two Boomers. The one with lower ratings (Conan) versus one with ratings that were higher when he was at the Tonight show (Leno). If Conan’s ratings had been good and he would have brought in the Gen X and Millennials demographic I think we would still see him at the Tonight Show. I agree, though, that Jay Leno should have retired and walked away. Frankly, Letterman is the man…so, as Dave said, “I don’t have a dog in the fight.”
Some great thoughts regarding the cynicism of Americans (and why we are all so dissappointed in everything) here:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2010/01/29/notes012910.DTL