The NBC/Leno/Conan saga is like my own personal version of an epic post on ONTD. I just talked my dad's ear off about the whole situation for about fifteen minutes straight and didn't even care if he found it interesting or not, because I was interested enough for both of us. AND IT'S RIGHT BEFORE THE START OF THE TCA TOUR, THIS TIMING COULD NOT BE ANY BETTER, HOLY CRAP HOLY CRAP HOLY CRAP. I feel bad for NBC, but in a way that makes me think of this IKEA commercial:
MANY OF YOU FEEL BAD FOR THIS NETWORK, BUT THAT'S BECAUSE YOU'RE CRAZY. IT HAS NO FEELINGS! AND KEVIN REILLY IS BUSY BEING AWESOME AT FOX, SO NOBODY NEEDS TO FEEL BAD FOR HIM.
Also, this means INSANELY good things for Chuck, FNL, Community, and Parks & Rec, because hey guess what, the network has gone and pissed off THE ENTIRE TELEVISION INDUSTRY and if they need to expand their original programming by about 50%, not only are they going to be GENERALLY less inclined to cancel anything, they will also be SPECIFICALLY less inclined to cancel awesome critically acclaimed shows, because they need all the goodwill they can get.
IN CONCLUSION, if they hadn't gotten rid of Kevin Reilly, NBC would probably still be on the rise, not kicking ass like they did in the 90s but CERTAINLY much closer to it than where they are right now: on the verge of turning into ABC circa 2003. WHICH, IF YOU DON'T KNOW, IS AWFUL ON A PRETTY MINDBOGGLING LEVEL.
[I DO, HOWEVER, feel bad for Conan, who is almost certainly going to get screwed by whatever solution to the Leno problem NBC settles on. HE MIGHT JUMP SHIP TO FOX, THOUGH, WHICH WOULD BE CRAZY - CRAZY LIKE A FOX - ON SO MANY LEVELS. I actually hope that happens, it'd be epic.]
Also awesome in recent TV news: STATE OF THE UNION VS. LOST PREMIERE SCHEDULING CONFLICT DRAMA.
Meanwhile, an earnest trade reporter at Variety suggested that Ari Emanuel, the co-CEO of William Morris Endeavor -- the talent agent that represents "Lost" exec producer Carlton Cuse -- should place a call to his brother Rahm Emanuel at the White House to "fix this."
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA OH GOSH OH GOSH OH GOSH. [Unsurprisingly, since February 2 was never formally chosen as the date of the SOTU, Lost won.]