“And all I ask is one thing. And this is — I’m asking this particularly of young people that watch — please do not be cynical. I hate cynicism. For the record, it’s my least favorite quality. It doesn’t lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen.”
Some time has passed and everyone seems to have moved on, so now we can really take a look back at that whole Tonight Show fiasco between NBC and Conan O’Brien. The late night talk show host walked away from NBC last year and we can learn a lot from the comedian and how he handled himself during those negotiations.
The quote above comes from Conan’s farewell speech on his last shooting of The Tonight Show. It’s important that we didn’t feel sorry for him then, even if we think he got “screwed” by Jay Leno and NBC. He’s clearly doing very well for himself, much better than the majority of the population.
Conan has since taken on a new gig, hosting his self-named late night talk show on TBS. It probably doesn’t pay as well as NBC, but it sure beats “telling jokes in a 7-Eleven parking lot,” as he once put it. Even if it was in a parking lot, he says he’d still do what he does, because he loves doing it.
We may never quite make “celebrity money” like Conan O’Brien, but it’s important that we still take his core message to heart: don’t be cynical. It’s far better to have a more positive outlook on life and on the sincerity of others. We never know quite what we are going to get out of life, but can work hard, keep our chins up, and be nice to our fellow man. And yes, amazing things really can happen.
Like landing a job at basic cable.
Do you really think Conan is this great guy that gives a crap?
He doesn’t and he didn’t have a problem with being kicked off the Tonight Show, no matter what anyone thinks because he had a bunch of “Celebrity Money” and never had to worry about having to be out of a gig for too long or having to find the money to pay the rent or electricity bill.
He isn’t even a very good comedian.
It helps when you have that sizable nest egg to back you up, but I still think that Conan went about the situation in a more honest manner than… some of the others involved in that fiasco. If he wasn’t already wealthy, I’m not sure he would have acted in exactly the same way, but I do respect that he stood up for his staff and ensured that they received the right compensation. He also kept pretty much everyone for his new show at TBS.
It was nice that he paid for and got compensation for his staff. That was the proper thing to do. NBC should have stood up in that situation and paid their full salaries for their contracts for what they did.
My opinion is that he didn’t really sweat it that was kicked to the curb. While I’m sure he was pissed off, he did speak his mind and did take his comedic jabs at Leno and NBC, albeit not as venomously as he could have.
I have never liked his manner or personality. He seems very snide and uncaring overall to me, but that was my first impression and he hasn’t done anything to change it.