Conan O’Brien’s Historical Debut: This isn’t Your Grandma’s Tonight Show

Navigating the waters of late night television is a monumental task. The iconic performers who have sustained us through countless evenings hover in rarified air. Johnny Carson, David Letterman, and Jay Leno are not simply recognizable names. They are elite brands with millions of loyal customers. Considering how difficult it is for parents to settle their newborn babies to sleep, it is fitting that the audience is cautious when it comes to choosing the last voice we want to hear before we fade into tomorrow.

Conan O’ Brien took control of The Tonight Show last night, entrusted with the most valuable real estate that follows your late local news. Far from his lofty perch at 30 Rockefeller Center, O’ Brien tiptoed onto his brand new stage at Universal Studios attempting to succeed where many have stumbled. Is Conan’s face destined for a place on the Mount Rushmore of Late Night Hosts, or will his Tonight Show fall victim to the pratfalls that sunk familiar faces like Chevy Chase, Magic Johnson, and Pat Sajak?

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PARKS & RECREATION Season Finale: Rock Show

After a pilot episode that earned justifiably mixed reviews, I have been riding a wave of enthusiasm for Parks & Recreation. Limited to only six chapters in its mini-season, I was impressed with the creative team’s focus on shaping meaningful storylines for each of its main characters and establishing a consistent comedic tone within the halls of city government. With Amy Poehler as our tour guide, viewers were becoming familiar with the local flavor of Pawnee, Indiana and the inefficient cast of characters who are entrusted with its care.

With so much momentum to build on, I was disappointed by a P&R finale that forgot the funny and indulged in melodrama. From a hasty twist in the “raggedy” Ann and Andy romance to a disastrous scene at the Pit between Leslie and Mark, the Pawnee crew felt more like a soap opera than a sitcom, and curbed my enthusiasm for its place on NBC’s fall lineup. Greg Daniels and Michael Schur are more than capable of plotting a season filled with moments that made episodes 2-5 so enjoyable, but the finale did raise some red flags about the pitfalls they need to avoid.

Chris Pratt has been a hilarious guest star in P&R’s initial run, and a worthy addition to the cast moving forward. Though his onscreen dynamic with Rashida Jones has never been magical, I was under the impression that the Ann/Andy breakup would be a slow process. During the “Boys’ Club” episode, Andy invested a lot of time and energy to clean both their house and himself. At the time, I assumed the writers wanted us to recognize Andy’s genuine feelings, and to ignore his various shortcomings. Following Andy’s confession that he delayed the removal of his casts, this love story is over. Despite a temporary victory for the aspiring rock star, reclaiming the couch while Ann tended to a fallen friend in the Pit, I am concerned that Andy might not be a permanent resident of Pawnee in Season Two.

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HOUSE: Under My Skin

The game of expectations has a long history of leaving its contestants defeated and deflated. Who among us has escaped the trap that opens when we put our emotional eggs in a tenuous basket? Examples of this phenomenon are as plentiful as the broken dreams that suffer the consequences. A father brings his son to the ballpark, hoping that this generation’s team will rectify the offenses committed by his childhood heroes. A young couple meets in person, testing the chemistry that was hatched during months of marathon phone calls. A lifelong salesman meets with his boss in private, confident that his experience will be rewarded with an exciting new opportunity to compete in these difficult times. Most people are hard pressed to recall when they emerge victorious from these contests, but the losers always remember. The sting of disappointment is often immune to any ointment, fading only when enough time has passed.

Tonight’s House produced both winners and losers in this game. If you were anticipating a torrid start to the Huddy love affair, you may have been let down by the episode’s climax, which served as more of a teaser for the season finale than as a satisfying release for fans who have waited patiently for the two doctors to become one. If, on the other hand, you were searching for answers to the questions posed by Amber’s reappearance, and the impact of House’s hallucinations on the people around him, this was an hour of television that surpassed your most elaborate hopes.

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PARKS & RECREATION: Boys’ Club

Though we say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, there are a substantial number of viewers who feel that Parks & Recreation has borrowed too liberally from the successful template of The Office. Each week, our discussions here at GMMR delve into the noteworthy moments of each episode, along with any possible links to the Scranton playbook for sitcom success. With mixed reviews and passable ratings, the Pawnee crew appears to have taken a fall into an underwhelming pit of expectations.

Here’s a little secret about P&R. It has come a LONG way since the premiere episode, and I strongly encourage anyone who dismissed the show after its maiden voyage to take a peek at episodes 3 and 4 on Hulu or at NBC.com. The laughs have been bigger, the actors have stretched their creative muscles, and the seeds for a number of long-term storylines have been planted. If you can embrace the comedic sensibility that guides both The Office and P&R, I think you will be pleasantly surprised with how much fun you can have being stuck at City Hall.

This week’s cold open was a perfect showcase for the duality of Leslie Knope. As the woman who is unabashedly committed to public service, she is appalled that local teenagers would be hurling bags of dog droppings at each other. Once engaged in the conflict, however, it was easy to see how quickly Leslie became the girl who is still learning how to have fun. As the transformation took place, Amy Poehler’s talent for unearthing the childlike qualities in a character took center stage, all while armed with a garbage can shield.

Chris Pratt has a good life. As a veteran TV actor, best known for his roles on “Everwood” and “The O.C.,” Pratt spends his down time with his fiancé, Anna Faris. That is what I call upward mobility! Andy is a lovable loser, and this week’s storyline gave Pratt the chance to “expose” his comedic instincts. In the best streaking scene since Will Farrell took to the streets in “Old School,” Andy was the world’s fastest naked man on crutches, all for the sake of saving the twelve new batteries in his stolen boom box. In his softer moments, the injured hero expresses his love for Ann by saying, “I seriously love her….hard!” Week after week, Andy’s role as boyfriend, band leader, and poorly chosen human interest story have generated positive responses from GMMR readers. Regardless of Ann and Andy’s future, I believe that Chris Pratt must become a series regular in order for P&R to hit its creative zenith.

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HOUSE: House Divided

Like many long running dramas, House has an audience that eagerly awaits interesting plot developments and payoffs to long term storylines. Aside from taking a few baby steps toward Dr. House’s inevitable breakdown, this week provided little fodder for viewers who like to put those complicated puzzle pieces together. Instead, the House team continued on the lighthearted course that was charted following Kutner’s death, and gave us a carnival-style bonanza of playful material.

Writers Matthew V. Lewis and Liz Friedman crafted a script that called on Princeton Plainsboro’s finest physicians to embrace their wildest inhibitions, and explore territory that is not often explored on medical programs, namely laughter and smiles.

For my money, the funniest image of this television season arrived in the form of Hugh Laurie dancing to Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power.” The sunglasses, the boombox resting perfectly on his shoulder, the confident strut, what more could you want? After cheering up his patient, and uncovering a new symptom in the process, the pill popping rapper to be unleashed a few more of his greatest hits.

• Adding the “Broken Cowboy” to the list of required skills for Chase’s strippers

• “That’s the one that got me hooked up with Madoff”

• Homemade Booze Ice Cream, which sounds like a great party favor

• “Cuddy wants to avoid a lawsuit…and win an NAACP award”

• Practicing his bartending skills, all while channeling Tom Cruise from “Cocktail”

• “BY THE POWER OF GREYSKULL!” As a He-Man junkie, I was delighted

• Holding Chase’s bachelor party in Wilson’s apartment, without consent

With an episode to fill, and little plot to advance, the supporting cast simply played along. From Foreteen’s scouting trip to the local adult entertainment center to Chase’s creation of an Immigration angle to facilitate his attendance at the bachelor party, the entire team appeared to be having the time of their lives shaping this episode.

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PARKS AND RECREATION: The Reporter

Years ago, an innovative advertising campaign told all of us that, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” In the pop culture of 2009, with on-demand access to our favorite movies, music, and television, that phrase rings especially true. The motion picture industry has all but abandoned the development of small films, since they are rarely held for more than two weeks in our concession-driven multiplexes. New CD sales of established artists like U2, stunted by the proliferation of peer to peer sharing sites, are unfairly judged against those produced in the pre-Internet era. Most drastically, TV shows are launched with a window of opportunity more narrow than the mind set of people who are critical of Adam Lambert’s personal life.

Parks & Recreation has improved steadily each week, with this particular episode offering a full range of comedic opportunities and overarching storylines. Lost in that growth, I fear, will be a barrage of entertainment journalists and bloggers who will focus on the show’s lackluster ratings. Rome wasn’t built in a day. In fact, if the bureaucrats of Pawnee were in charge of that particular project, then HBO could probably count on their historical drama running for seventy-six seasons. My hope is that P&R’s core audience, which boasts a strong number of 18-34 year olds, will overcome the Monday Morning Quarterbacks and spread the word that smart sitcoms can still be found on NBC’s Thursday lineup.

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PARKS AND RECREATION: Canvassing

My apologies to Erik and PARKS & RECREATION fans for just posting this now. Still in L.A. and as luck would have it I have no internet connection in the hotel. Posting is almost impossible…not entirely impossibly (as you are reading this now), but it’s not easy. Thanks for your patience.

With last week’s pilot receiving mixed reviews, the Parks & Recreation staff must have felt a tinge of pressure leading into their sophomore effort. Though I enjoyed the premiere, my expectations were that another visit with the folks from Pawnee would provide funnier moments and a clearer direction for each of the primary characters. In the spirit of subcommittee lingo, I am happy to report that progress is being made on both those fronts, and ask that we reconvene in seven days to gather additional information!

The decision to send the P&R team on canvassing missions exposed a schism that can be used to produce humorous moments each week. In one corner, we feel Leslie Knope’s steadfast belief in the power of public service. In the other corner, we hear the citizens of Pawnee express their skepticism about local government’s capacity to effect change in a positive way. When those two forces collide, hilarity ensues.

With Greg Daniels and Michael Schur at the helm, I was confident that P&R would find the funny in the most uncomfortable moments. Beginning with the cold open, when Tom conveniently forgot to supply the most important ingredient for an Easter Egg Hunt, there were several unforgettable scenes. My mouth literally dropped open when Mark, Tom, and April discovered that they were interviewing a registered sex offender. Paul Schneider’s delivery of the line, “April, please stand behind me,” made me double over in my chair. Later, Leslie’s decision to question Kate Spivack’s affection for her children showed that Ms. Knope’s world view omits any respect for people who oppose parks!

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PARKS AND RECREATION: Erik’s Take

So please to announce that Erik will be handling all PARKS AND RECREATION news and reviews for GMMR this year.  Thanks Erik!

In order to generate a wide audience for Parks & Recreation’s maiden voyage, NBC fired all the weapons in its promotional arsenal. For the past few weeks, it has been impossible to avoid the blanket of commercials, online preview clips, and promotional photos of star Amy Poehler. After making a similar investment to Poehler’s fellow SNL alum Tina Fey, NBC clearly hopes to make the “Baby Mama” duo into the new faces of Thursday night television.

Following tonight’s solid premiere, I would encourage NBC to keep one of Guns N’ Roses’ biggest hits in mind, and exercise a healthy dose of “Patience.”

In her early review of the pilot, Kath wrote that the show, “wasn’t perfect but it has all the right mixins’ to be one of the greats.” That assessment is very accurate, and speaks to the wealth of material that can be unearthed by roaming the halls of a small city government.

Amy Poehler is a gifted performer, and her introduction as Leslie Knope was the strongest aspect of the inaugural episode. Unlike so many of her characters from Saturday Night Live, which elicited quick laughs before fading from our memories, Poehler has the opportunity to build Leslie from the ground up. Many will presume that Leslie Knope is a Michael Scott clone, due to the symmetric relationship between the creative team behind P&R (Let’s go with that abbreviation, since it reminds me of a sandwich) and their days at Dunder Mifflin. In my opinion, that assertion is off-base. From my perspective, Leslie’s journey echoed the best moments from a Christopher Guest film (Best in Show, Waiting For Guffman, A Mighty Wind) more than the typical Office installment.

While I am completely in the bag for Amy Poehler, my biggest concerns about the show’s potential to hold a wide audience rest with her co-stars. It is far too early to worry about wholesale changes, but I think there are areas of improvement for some of Leslie’s colleagues in Pawnee, Indiana.

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HOUSE: Simple Explanation

Television, at its best, can provoke howls of laughter or tears of sadness from the loyal viewers who come back each week to their favorite shows. That emotional investment is one of the key provisions of the bargain we strike with the writers, directors, actors, and other players who bring those programs into our living rooms. As an audience, we can forgive a joke that does not resonate or a performance that falls short of expectations, so long as we can relish in the brilliance of stories that reach beyond the norm to shock our systems. The shocking suicide of Dr. Lawrence Kutner was the most surprising death on my television since Rosalind Shays took an ill-fated step into an elevator shaft on L.A. Law in 1991. Unlike the maudlin journeys to the great beyond that have become staples of other medical dramas, this loss felt like a swift kick to the gut.

After watching the episode a second time, and considering the ramifications that this tragedy appeared to have on the rest of House’s team, I reached a morbid conclusion. Kutner’s death was necessary to keep this show on track. After a season full of creative forks in the road, the Princeton Plainsboro team will now be forced to move forward and make clear choices about their personal and professional lives.

For fans of Kal Penn who may be worried about how this story came about, I am happy to share news about his exciting new public service job. Mr. Penn will be working for President Obama as Associate Director in the White House office of Public Liaison. Nice new digs, right? For more on Penn’s new adventures, and the series of events that led to his departure from House, I would encourage you to read Michael Ausiello’s interviews with the actor and House’s executive producers on EW.com. I normally do not plug other web sites, but Mr. Ausiello was kind enough to tweet about Give Me My Chuck week here at GMMR, so it is only fair to share the love, right? You can click directly to his Kutner piece at http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2009/04/house-exclusive.html

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HOUSE: Locked In

During my last trip to New York City, I spent several hours at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Like so many in attendance, I was initially dazzled by the size and scope of sophisticated paintings, sculptures, and other amazing pieces on display. As the afternoon wore on, I began to feel a deep pit in my stomach. Though my best attempt at a poker face would deny it to those around me, I was completely overwhelmed with boredom. After pretending to be an intellectual snob for almost thirty-one years, I did not get it. Faced with the prospect of spending time with Cornelis de Vos’ Portrait of a Young Woman or George Inness’ Autumn Oaks, I chose to purchase a Diet Coke and putz around the Gift Shop looking for Ansel Adams postcards. Though my intentions were to have a transcendent experience, I fell short as a consequence of taste.

Though it pains me to confess this in print, tonight’s House felt like a guided tour of the Met with no bathroom breaks or exit doors. Director Dan Attias took a huge artistic gamble with the look and feel of the story, but it simply was not enough to hold my attention. After following the staff at Princeton Plainsboro for eighteen episodes, I was looking for the pieces that would help assemble the imminent season finale. Instead, we ventured into unchartered territory through the eyes of patient Lee, the results of which I predict will divide the fan base into equally passionate factions.

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THE OFFICE: Two Weeks

It’s good to have friends…

A very special thanks to Erik who was kind enough to step in and handle the review of this week’s episode of THE OFFICE. You know it just about killed me to turn the weekly review of my favorite show over to someone else, but honestly, I’m fighting a miserable cold and just couldn’t do it.  So for this week, Erik is going to take care of my Dunder Mifflinites while I get better.

Hey, there’s a good chance you’re going to like Erik’s reviews more than mine. If so, don’t tell me.  I couldn’t take it.  Ha ha

Thanks Erik…over to you.

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Over the past three weeks, Michael Scott’s career at Dunder Mifflin imploded through a series of heartbreaking and emasculating confrontations. True to their purpose, the Office team avoided the detour into melodrama that often hinders sitcoms that touch on real life tragedy or adversity. Lost in the barrage of hilarious moments was the emotional net that tethered Michael to his longtime staff, particularly a receptionist who dares to dream of bigger things. Fittingly, it was the lack of outrage or sadness over Michael’s imminent departure that made Pam’s defection such a powerful jolt to the senses. With rejections piling up left and right on his quest to staff his new paper company, Michael Scott discovered that, at least in one case, his leadership approach was as inspirational as he had imagined.

Unlike Jerry Maguire, Michael Scott never wavered in his belief in people over process, cordiality over technology. We will never uncover a twenty-five page mission statement about relationships from Michael, because he lacks the attention span necessary to read or write such a document. To anyone who would accuse the Office writers of lifting a page from Cameron Crowe’s playbook, I would argue that Michael Scott is a far more lovable hero than a sports agent who immediately questions the wisdom of sharing his deepest thoughts, and behaves like a four year old when the corporate world rejects his approach. Tom Cruise did not bring an optimist to the big screen. He brought a narcissist. Michael Scott is a deeply co-dependent man, and the leap of faith that Pam Beesly took in joining his fragile new venture brought him the type of confidence that Renee Zellweger could never have engendered.

Before I jump off the deep end and omit the comedy gold that brings us to Dunder Mifflin every Thursday, here are my favorite funny moments of “Two Weeks Notice.”

• Cold Open: Michael’s inability to tell a story was the easy way to go, but I was on the floor listening to Oscar’s talking head. His struggle to form another syllable at the end of that rant? Fantastic, just fantastic…

• Pam and Kevin’s exchange over the meaning of “soon”

• “It’s monster.com. Singular.”

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HOUSE: Here Kitty

If you have picked up a newspaper or watched a cable news broadcast lately, you may have seen a mention or two about our ailing economy. Since most of us are not Ivy League economists or full time financial professionals, we might be hard pressed to explain the reasons behind the credit crisis or the provisions of the stimulus package just signed into law. What we can do, however, is rely on our own experiences, as well as those of our friends and family, to illustrate the emotional toll that the recession is taking on American families and small businesses. Old habits are hard to break, and it can be taxing on the soul to concede that a daily trip to Starbucks or an investment in endless movie channels may have to be curbed in order to make ends meet. The reality of the times we are living in is falling far short of our expectations of how things ought to be.

This week, Dr. Taub became one of us, a person struggling to find satisfaction and purpose in a career path that has taken him from a life of vanity to one of simplicity, and from an ivory tower of control to a dunce cap of verbal abuse. Though the reasons for Taub’s decision to join House’s team were not scripted to reflect the news of our day, the journey that he took in this episode illuminated a fight that millions of us have to wake up to every morning.

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HOUSE: The Social Contract

As a reformed high school debate nerd, I was overwhelmed with flashbacks after seeing the title of this episode. For eager young minds who are desperate to assert their intellectual superiority, few topics brought out more first class blowhard behavior than the various theories regarding the Social Contract. Though many of history’s most admired thinkers offered their own provisions of this imaginary agreement, my personal favorite came from an English philosopher named John Locke. Though he lacked the experiences of being confined to a wheelchair and participating in a walkabout, Locke possessed enough wisdom to prescribe an individual’s role within a larger society. While Locke believed in the freedom of each person, he theorized that rational people would curtail some of their liberties in order to resolve conflicts in a civil manner.

This week’s House delved into the broad landscape of how we treat each other in routine social situations. Faced with a patient who had surrendered the ability to reconcile his selfish thoughts with his familial discretion, the good doctor was thrust into a strenuous renegotiation about the pact signed by best friends. Writer Doris Egan threaded these stories into an impassioned exploration about the schism between one’s duty to self and duty to others.

My “blogmance” with House & Wilson’s chemistry has been blatantly obvious all season. Television friendships are rarely compelling to watch in both subtle and heightened moments, but Hugh Laurie and Robert Sean Leonard have mastered those scenes, along with all points in between. After learning his homeless brother Danny had resurfaced after thirteen years, Wilson took elaborate steps to keep House out of the loop. Using Taub as a racquetball alibi was a fun device for generating comedy, and likely served as the first time a TV show has ever presented a racket sport inside of a morgue. Once the laughs had subsided and Wilson’s true story emerged, the rest of the story gave us two men, stripped of any pretext, trying to express their concerns in patently different ways. Though House may never know the right thing to say, he appears to have a knack for being where Wilson needs him to be. Rather than accept the conventional wisdom that we are all supposed to follow the same rules, Wilson welcomes the dysfunction of his best friend, contract or no contract.

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HOUSE: The Softer Side

Last week, I asked whether the producers of House had thrown down the gauntlet regarding Foreman & Thirteen’s increased roles on the show. With the entire television world struggling to accurately calculate ratings, there is no empirical evidence to suggest that Omar Epps & Olivia Wilde’s added screen time is turning away scores of loyal “House-holds.” On the other hand, the feedback that we read on GMMR, along with the opinions offered at other respected blogs & entertainment sites, have crystallized the disconnect between longtime fans, who long for a return to the House-driven plots of Seasons One through Three, and newer viewers who find the soap-driven elements of the Foreteen saga to be tantalizing and compelling.

This week’s chapter brought the two competing camps into direct conflict, with both Dr. House and the new couple sharing the spotlight. If you are drawn to the show because of Hugh Laurie’s aptitude for all things thespian, I would assume that the roller coaster that House rode this week was to your liking. At the same time, if you enjoy a little romance with your misdiagnoses, Foreteen’s efforts to hide their relationship while helping the young patient provided enough light moments to satisfy your romantic comedy quota.

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HOUSE: Unfaithful

The medium of television hatches a special bond between the audience and their most beloved characters. In dozens of ways, both profound and infinitesimal, a familiar face in our living room transcends the gap between fantasy and reality. Unlike their film counterparts, who drop in on us for two hours in between handfuls of popcorn, the actors who grace our television screens become anything but larger than life. We see them as proxies for our non-broadcast adventures. They provide shorthand methods of conversation, and emotional reference points when we cannot find the right words. For instance, I find it daunting to describe the type of woman who I would like to marry. On the other hand, I am really just looking for my Pam Beesly. These relationships, though crafted in a fictitious world, can feel intensely personal. For this reason, producers have to be very careful when steering “our” characters into unfamiliar territory.

This week, the producers of House took a leap of faith. Throughout the first half of Season Five, a vocal and passionate constituency of loyal viewers have taken to forums like GMMR to express their dissatisfaction with Olivia Wilde’s increased screen time. Whether those opinions originated from a preference for more of Chase & Cameron, a personal judgment regarding Wilde’s talents, or a frustration that the House creative staff was simply fixing something that was not broken, the concerns were real. With Foreman & Thirteen’s romance functioning as the primary story in “Unfaithful,” I am curious whether Katie Jacobs and David Shore were throwing down the gauntlet. With Foreteen having the last laugh at episode’s end, the decision to allow the students to outsmart their teacher may have been short-sighted and ill-conceived.

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