by: Mandy Rodgers
Conan O’Brien used to host “The Tonight Show,” before NBC decided that its awesome and well-thought out (who actually believed this was going to work?) idea to run a Jay Leno-hosted show Monday through Friday during the 10 p.m. timeslot was a bad move. After much publicity-laden negotiations and battles, O’Brien left the network, giving Leno back his old home. The move angered fans and even people who had never watched O’Brien in their lives. Why? Because O’Brien became the more likable of the two, and Leno seemed to be taking back something that had been promised to O’Brien for years.
Facebook pages were created and logos were designed titled “I’m with Coco,” the playful nickname O’Brien’s diehard fans use for the comedian. Everyone became a fan and quickly picked sides. You’re either Team Conan or Team Leno!
Though it seemed NBC was giving O’Brien the proverbial “short end of the stick,” this will-go-down-in-history television flip-flop was probably the best thing that could have ever happened to the red-headed funnyman.
After the dust had settled just a smidge on the NBC decision and O’Brien final curtain came for “The Tonight Show,” he created a Twitter account that grew in popularity by the hour. Only tweeting one quip a day, everyone waited with baited breath for what O’Brien was thinking each 24-hour interval, and spin-off accounts were created featuring things he mentioned on the site.
One fateful day, O’Brien, who had decided to not follow anyone, found a random girl to name as his first and only followee. The Twitter account @LovelyButton (Sarah Killen) amassed an obscene amount of followers and fans instantly, and O’Brien’s witty comments about the girl and her love of gummy bears endeared him to the public even more.
He tweeted: “Sarah likes Twizzlers and craves cantaloupe. I like Raisinets, but melon feels creepy in my mouth. Twitter pals 4 eva! 
”
Sorry, Leno, but I don’t think your viral influence even compares to O’Brien’s.
When he announced his tour dates via Twitter, the show tickets sold quickly. The offers continued to roll in for O’Brien too, including an opportunity he passed on to host the Tony Awards.
On Monday, April 12, O’Brien finally announced his new home for a late-night talk show would be the cable station TBS. George Lopez already has a fairly successful gig that he will now follow.
“The good news: I will be doing a show on TBS starting in November! The bad news: I’ll be playing Rudy on the all new Cosby Show,” his Twitter read.
The web and all social media went abuzz for the news as many had predicted he would pick a timeslot on Fox. “In three months I’ve gone from network television to Twitter to performing live in theaters, and now I’m headed to basic cable,” O’Brien joked in a statement. “My plan is working perfectly.”
Now, he has launched a blog at http://teamcoco.com to continue dominating the web and keeping his fans satisfied.
Only time will tell how he fares on the cable side of late-night, but it does read as a well-oiled publicity machine. His ratings floundered while he led “The Tonight Show,” giving David Letterman a boost on CBS even during his infidelity accusations. He has the show taken away, essentially, only to come out with a loyal fanbase and anticipated new show through his well timed and well executed social media blips.
Leno on the other hand is making headlines for losing his long-time band director, Kevin Eubanks. The void was filled though with “American Idol” band leader Ricky Minor. And his name has now become a verb as Lopez expressed this regarding the change up of times for O’Brien’s new show: “I’m not getting Lenoed. I welcome Conan. I think moving to midnight – hey going to work an hour later it’s a dream come true, and the pay’s the same.”
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