Word: conan
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...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 - but as the saying goes in the TV biz, they skew young...
...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...
...example of this is a fear of telling outsiders that one is from Harvard, the so-called “dropping the H-bomb.” Doing so creates high standards and expectations, and many are not prepared to face potential failure or criticism. As Conan O’Brien described in his Class Day speech in 2000, once one is identified as a Harvard student or graduate, it is even more difficult to make mistakes because the immediate response will be, “Didn’t you go to Harvard?” The high standards...
...Leno hands over The Tonight Show to Conan O'Brien, ending a 17-year run behind one of the most hallowed desks in show business--on a program that has barely changed since its debut more than 50 years...