This Week in Entertainment News

It is a testament to the bipolar American psyche that the news could be dominated this past week by two issues: the horrible tragedy in Haiti, and the late-night kerfuffle involving Conan O'Brien and Jay Leno. It is amazing that almost everyone has an opinion on the latter, even if they don't watch late-night TV or understand that the controversy is completely irrelevant to everyone except those directly involved. Then, to add another layer on the duality of real-life and make-believe, the Golden Globes were awarded last night. Maybe it was the rain, maybe it was thinking about Haitians, maybe it was James Cameron winning two awards, but did that crowd seem gloomy.

As for the late night stuff, I am a Letterman guy, when I watch TV that late, which is a rarity. I've always thought of Jay Leno as a mediocrity, the kind of comedian who seeks out not a lowest common denominator, but instead a warm, happy middle ground, where he seeks not to offend nor to stretch the boundaries of comedy. He's like the macaroni and cheese of comedy. I like some of his bits, like Headlines or Jaywalking, but the comedy in those bits comes from others--he's incidental. His monologues are egregiously bad, and he delivers them as if begging to be loved.

As for Conan O'Brien, I have never seen much of him. I've probably seen less than a dozen of his Late Shows. I watched his first Tonight Show appearance, and he seemed an improvement over Leno if not a revelation. I am completely indifferent about him as an entertainer.

Having said that, I do think he got the fuzzy end of the lollipop from NBC. As I understand it, the deal that was made in 2004, in which Leno would retire and O'Brien would take his place, was executed so O'Brien would not leave the network for a show in an earlier time-slot on Fox or someplace else. At the time, it looked like they were giving Leno the bum's rush, even though he was beating Letterman in the ratings. They were so high on Leno that to accommodate O'Brien the network gave Leno the ill-famed ten o'clock, five-night-a-week slot, which everyone and their mother thought was a desperate move of a doomed network. Indeed, if NBC had any kind of successful prime-time lineup, they would have never made the move.

But they made the move, afraid to lose Leno to another network. O'Brien promptly lost viewers, and was regularly getting clobbered by Letterman. But Leno's show was a critical and ratings disaster, and though relatively cheap to produce was angering the affiliates. Thus NBC pulled the plug, but is allowing Leno to crawl back to the 11:30 slot, offering Conan sloppy seconds and a midnight slot, which he rightly wrinkled his nose at and said stuff it.

Leno, long the nice guy of comedy, is now perceived as an ethically-challenged heel. The classy move would have been to accept the cancellation and move on, whether to a show in Vegas or a peaceful life tending to his car collection. But Leno, to me, seems like a man who craves the adoration of the public, and was not ready to leave television. That Conan stood in his way seemed small potatoes to him.

Of course, all of us would gladly take Conan's problems. Reports are that he will pocket 40 million in severance from NBC, though whether he can get another show in the short term is unknown. When this story is placed in context with massive unemployment and devastation in Haiti, it all seems obscene to even think about it.

Last night's Golden Globe awards were also on NBC. Host Ricky Gervais got in a good joke about hoping he wouldn't be replaced by Jay Leno, but aside from his wickedly gleeful humor there seemed to be a pall on the proceedings. The red carpet was full of stars carrying umbrellas, and the situation in Haiti seemed never far from their thoughts--Nicole Kidman and Maggie Gyllenhaal both urged viewers to donate, and Jason Reitman, in his acceptance speech, noted that George Clooney didn't even want to come, as he is putting together a telethon. Meryl Streep, in her acceptance speech, waxed philosophical about the frivolousness of award shows while real life is so depressing, but tried to channel her mother, whom she compared to Julia Child, and put on a wan smile.

The Golden Globes are voted on by only about 90 press representatives from foreign countries, but have the weight of something far more important. They have always been seen as looser and funner than the Oscars, but that was missing last night. For one thing they really have to do something about making it so difficult for the winners to get to the stage (for the TV winners, seated in the upper tier, it's particularly grueling). Maybe they should take the tip from hospitals, and paint a line on the floor. Escorts for the ladies seem to help, until one of them stepped on Chloe Sevigny's gown.

The winners were mostly predictable, though there were a few surprises. Robert Downey Jr. seemed to have won because he was likeable, and The Hangover's win for Best Comedy was something of a surprise, but an enjoyable one, as it meant that Mike Tyson took the stage. Mo'Nique's passionate acceptance speech probably dissipated any ill feelings about her reluctance to "campaign" for an Oscar--I think she's a shoo-in now. And the body language between screenwriters Reitman and Sheldon Turner after their win for Up in the Air was interesting--they were the product of a shotgun co-credit, as Reitman battled the WGA to have Turner's name removed, even though the reports are that Turner contributed a lot to the final script (they did not work on it together).

Aside from that win, Reitman seemed to have a miserable evening, especially when he was trumped in Best Director and Best Drama by James Cameron and Avatar. Let's face it--Cameron can't help but come across as a putz. He didn't pull a "King of the world" this time, but he was smarmy and self-congratulating none the less. For his first award he mentioned his full bladder, and then for his second, after classily saying he thought Kathryn Bigelow (his ex-wife) should have won, ruined any good feelings by speaking in Na'Vi, and then asking the assembled to pat themselves on the back for being entertainers. Puh-leeze.

My highlight was the heartfelt and funny tribute by Robert DeNiro and Leonardo DiCaprio to Martin Scorsese, who then gave an eloquent speech, even quoting William Faulkner. The only fly in that ointment was the commercial for the upcoming Shutter Island at the end of his clip montage. Nothing happens in Hollywood without the selling continuing.