This particular issue, graced by a suspiciously youthful Cher on the cover, contained a blow-by-blow account of the Conan vs Leno match sponsored last year by NBC.
An interesting read, but I was left with just one takeaway: 'O'Brien made the wrong decision for all the right reasons'. After all, he quit the most coveted seat in late night, mainly because, as the article made clear, he thought allowing NBC to move Tonight back 30 minutes in the schedule would cheapen the franchise.
If I was advising Conan I would have urged him to take the move and see what happened. My guess is the odds were 50/50 that Leno would crack and Conan would get back to 11:30. And if the result fell the other way, NBC would have owed O'Brien another shot in the future - especially if Conan worked that detail into his agreement to move to midnight.
In any case, O'Brien would have appeared a reasonable man who's been given an undeserved kick by the network, but who also remained loyal and willing to pitch in and help. Isn't that worth pushing a principle or two aside?
Of course that didn't happen, and Conan is now on 'Basic Cable'. I'm not sure how it's going for his new show, but the lack of 'buzz' in the press is worrisome. Maybe this scribble will perk things up ...
[But what do I know? See my take on this spat when it was fresh in the news ...]
Coincidentally, I recently viewed the documentary, 'Ralph Nader: An Unreasonable Man'. A very worthy flick which I can heartily recommend, whatever your view of the man. The movie, while giving a glowing review of Nader's early career, really focuses on his decision to run for President during the 2000 (and again in 2004) elections. A decision which many democrats believe led directly to Al Gore's defeat (and John Kerry's in '04), and consequently the election and retention of George W. Bush.
'An Unreasonable Man' was released in 2006, when the enormity of Bush's follies were becoming clear to most of America, including more than a few republicans. The increasing bitterness, which would lead in two years to the election of Barack Obama, was seemingly assuaged in the democratic heart and soul only by castigating Nader. It was almost as if the dems had seen Annakin turn into Vader, or more surprising and galling, Obi-Wan become a Dark Lord of The Sith. Feathers had been ruffled and they were still painfully out of place.
My takeaway from the movie was a paraphrase of the one for Conan: 'Ralph made a completely wrong decision, based on logically sound reasoning'.
Of course, anyone who has worked for a big company (even in entertainment) where corporate power politics are at the fore, or has toiled in politics long enough to show scars, should know you can be 100% Grade-A correct in all things and still be considered completely wrong.
What's surprising with both these men is they haven't learned this painful reality. Well, maybe they have now ...
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