Word: boomerism
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...just be coincidence, but The Tonight Show somehow seems to know when America is going through a generational moment. Johnny Carson took over the show in Camelot-era 1962, after J.F.K. became the first greatest-generation President. Jay Leno replaced him in 1992, just before baby boomer Bill Clinton defeated our last greatest-generation President. Now, just after Barack Obama's Inauguration, NBC has put another tall, skinny young guy, Conan O'Brien, behind the desk. (O'Brien and Obama, who did a guest bit on Conan's second night, may be technically a hair shy of Gen X status...
Conan, at 46, is coming into his own in a way typical of a post-boomer. Like the rest of his age cohort in all walks of life, he's taking over an institution just as it has become diminished. Network TV, newspapers, Social Security, American hegemony - all seem to have stuck around just long enough to crap out on the post-boomers. The Tonight Show is still a lucrative platform, but it's not the singular cultural voice it was when Jay took over. Conan competes for attention with Jimmy Kimmel, David Letterman, Stephen Colbert and more - plus whatever...
...like a good post-boomer, Conan got promoted only to discover that his baby-boomer predecessor is not so keen on retiring after all. Come Sept. 14, Jay, 59, starts his own talk show on NBC at 10 p.m. E.T., where it will compete for guest bookings and suck up media attention...
...course, like Clinton, Jay - who got his 10 p.m. show for fear he would jump to ABC - has a wee bit more clout than the average elder boomer pushed out for a younger employee. Conan - simply by having wanted forever to host The Tonight Show - is something of a throwback. The very idea of caring about big-network late shows is retro, now that Comedy Central has so much buzz. Conan's comic style also owes heavily to his elder, and now competitor, the 62-year-old Letterman...
...Giles said. The fellows’ chosen areas of study span a diverse set of issues. According to a press release for the foundation, Beth Macy, the families beat reporter at "The Roanoke Times," will study the financial, social, and political impact of the aging baby boomer population; former NBC correspondent and current freelance multimedia journalist Kevin Sites will focus on developing a model for sustainable, independent Web-centric journalism; and Russian op-ed editor Maxim Trudolyubov will study the interaction of opinion journalism with contemporary media and society. In response to the journalism industry’s diminishing reliance...