Replacements

Headline News was gushing about JT, and they were saying that it was a shame that Jay Leno had already given (forcibly) the Tonight Show job to Conan O'brien. Which got me to thinking... there are a number of TV shows that deserve to have the correct replacements (and most have been filled by the wrong people.)

Late Night Talk Shows: Okay, so Jay is leaving. And frankly, I'm counting the days for that to happen with as great anticipation as the Democrats are waiting for GWB to leave. It hasn't always been that way, however. Jay Leno used to be a very entertaining and worthwhile replacement for Johnny Carson. He maneuvered the rivers of post 9/11 American airwaves with skill (mostly with the help of Arsenio Hall, who was amazing), and it was a time when my mom and I actually looked forward to watching the monologue each night before I went to bed, especially during my teaching years, which was a nightmare. It was good to laugh those days. But sometime afterward, the executives at NBC decided that Leno needed to abandon his Conservative leanings (he only half-heartedly picked on GWB, and focused more on the Democrats in the news) and his writers started making jokes that put down the Republicans. Either it was a change in writers, or Leno just didn't care anymore, but now there are few good jokes, a whole lot of filler, and fewer laughs from the households. We turn on Leno only because we can be doing other things while waiting for Conan to come ..wards.

So Conan is going to take over June 1st, 2009. Can't wait. I wonder what they're going to do with the set, with Kevin (who deserves special note, because without him, Leno would be barely watchable), with Max Weinburg (sp) (who deserves to go with Conan, since he is as much of Conan's act as Kevin is for Leno.), and more importantly, who they're going to use as Conan's replacement. They've announced that SNL alumni Jimmy Fallon is going to take over there, which is good. It leaves Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert on the Comedy Central channel, making tons of money to stay where they are, I'm sure. The only other person I'd like to see there would be Justin Timberlake, and maybe he'll do that, in 10 years or so after his sex symbol status wears off (see prior blog).

TPIR: But the choice was wrong. Bob Barker made The Price is Right. And when he retired, it was the same as Johnny Carson leaving his show. So it was up to CBS to find a replacement, and the field was wide open. You know who they picked, and it was a bad choice. Drew Carey should have stayed on Whose Line.. and done what he's definitely good at. My choice would have been either Marc Summers (sp), of Nickelodeon's Double Dare fame, and more recently of Food Network's Unwrapped, or John O'Hurley, who is an animal lover himself and has hosted Family Feud for a few years. His personality was perfect, his mannerisms almost exactly like Barker. The old saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." was so blatantly ignored here. Now I don't even watch TPIR anymore, and I watched it religiously before that. (I did a prior blog on this some time ago...)

Brett Farve...has lost his mind. He was a legend up in Green Bay, and now he's nothing more than a nuisance. And yes he'll be in the Hall of Fame some day, but right now the Packers are trying to pay him not to play. He's the joke line of the Espys, of Sportscenter every night, and it used to be that Farve was looked up to as a legend. Now he's ridiculed, and it shouldn't be that way. Aaron Rodgers (his replacement) deserves better than the treatment he's getting.

And speaking of football...legend John Madden, now making millions off his cursed EA sports game (poor Farve, the curse strikes again), will at some point leave MNF (now SNF) and leave NBC looking for a replacement. It either has to be a coach, or a player. In the coach ranks, rivals Barry Switzer and Jimmy Johnson come to mind (although Fox will probably not let Johnson go.), and for players, how about Farve? Naahh... but there is one person who would be perfect, if he doesn't decide to become an actor afterward. Put Payton in after he retires, and his mind could dissect plays just a easily as John Madden could in his prime, before he went senile.

I'm sure there are a lot more "Replacement" issues I could bring up, but I'll leave it at that for now. It's all fluff anyway. :)