go Team Conan!

The late-night television feud between Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien absolutely captivated me the past couple weeks. I'd tune into the first 20 minutes of Conan - celebrity interviews really just don't do it for me - cause I was just amazed at how Conan was attacking Leno and NBC, and NBC let it continue on their network. I understand he was raking in the ratings doing it, but is anyone in America going to take Leno seriously when he returns to the Tonight Show? Sure celebrities will still appear on his show to promote their projects, though I imagine some will boycott due to loyalties to Team Conan. And old-school fans will still turn in to watch, but I can't help but feel that NBC has alienated the younger generations of TV fans from that show and possibly ensured that it will die out before there's another host ready to take over for Leno, again. And why this really hurts NBC is that their best non-reality shows appeal to a younger audience. The Office has risen to popularity among the generation of young adults entering the professional workforce for the first time, and in my opinion Chuck is the funniest and most inventive show on television, using an absurd secret agent subplot to depict ordinary, everyday emotional obstacles we all confront.

One absolutely great development spawned by the Leno-Conan feud is the rekindling of the Leno-Letterman feud. After watching the first 20 minutes of Conan, I'd usually late-night blogs to see if Dave was attacking Leno that night. I can only hope this continues and intensifies when Leno returns to 11:30, or 11:35 or whatever. I think it'll be a little bit like the Mavs-Knicks game over the weekend, but I'll enjoy every second of it.

And finally, the sad part of Conan's departure from NBC is the length of time he now must stay off the air. As a society, we have very short attention spans and I fret that Team Conan will lose all substantive momentum by the time he is able to return to the air - and for the record I favor the Bill Simmons plan for O'Brien: an hour long show airing at midnight on Comedy Central.