Word: tonight
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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...
...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 happens to be on TiVo, Xbox or the Internet. (See pictures of the life...
This made Jay's final Tonight an odd experience: a classy, warm goodbye, coupled with reminders that he wasn't going anywhere. Like his generational peer - and best source of material - Bill Clinton, Jay believes in staying active. Hey, you're only as old as you feel, baby...
...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...
...went on the street to ask people news and history questions and made them look ridiculous.) This is both a defining Gen X trait - think Judd Apatow's movies and Beck's "Loser" - and a sensibility suited to the 12:30 p.m. Late Night, the slacker sibling to The Tonight Show. Some doubters wonder if that can translate to a broader 11:30 audience. By promoting Conan and moving Jay, NBC is betting that this broad audience has become very different, if it still exists at all. (See pictures of Judd Apatow's war on Jay Leno...