Coco the Underdog

I root for the underdog.  It's ingrained in me, I just can't help it.  The only exceptions to this rule are when either UNC or the Vikings are playing.  But rooting for the Underdog is a tricky, tricky business.  For example, after the Vikings beat Dallas last week, I felt so bad for them- they had become the new underdog.  I got over it pretty quickly, but still...

I can't believe I'm about to blog about Conan and Leno and the Tonight Show fiasco, but I am.  For the sake of pop culture posterity.  Okay.  So way back, five years ago, when NBC announced they were having Conan replace Leno in 2009 and Leno went on the record saying he didn't want to retire, I immediately was on Team Leno.  Which is odd, because I am a loyal Letterman fan.

And then I watched Leno's last Tonight Show, and as his eyed filled with tears, so did mine.  I thought it served Conan right that NBC gave Leno his new prime time gig.  Team Leno all the way.

I still didn't watch either show, I'm a Letterman Girl, but I'd tune in occasionally when nothing else was on.  Then came the current fuster cluck that became then end of The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien.  I don't know what I was hoping for in terms of a resolution, because really, there wasn't any outcome that I would have liked.  But I never wanted NBC to fire Conan and replace him with Leno.  They didn't even give him a year.  It took Leno three years as the host to finally beat Letterman in the ratings.  NBC didn't go Ooops, we made a mistake when we chose Leno over Letterman to replace Johnny Carson- let's get rid of him and hire David.  I know television is a money making industry, but you have to give these things a chance. 

So today when I read that Conan was officially out, I was really sad for him.  Then when I read that  he demanded part of his contract include $13 million for his production staff and crew, I was officially on Team Coco.  He's the new Underdog.  But here's the thing;  I feel guilty for being on his side because I was Team Leno for so long.  And it's not really Leno's fault, I mean it kinda is, but it's mostly NBC's fault for creating this whole stupid fiasco in the first place.  They should've never ousted Leno in the first place, and once they did, they should have let him go to a competing network instead of holding him to his original contract which didn't expire for another year.  And poor Conan.  He picked up his entire life, uprooted his family, and his crew's family for his dream job, the job of his lifetime- all to be fired within 7 months.  It's just wrong.

Rooting for the Underdog is not always easy, but someone has to do it.