More

Featuring fresh takes and real-time analysis from HuffPost's signature lineup of contributors
Chris Kelly

Chris Kelly

Posted: July 5, 2010 05:40 PM

I Love America Because No One Murdered Jay Leno

What's Your Reaction:

It's a shitty world and the fix is in. The drinks are watered, the decks are stacked and the laws are cobwebs for the rich and chains for the poor. You can eat all you want, but that's because they know you'll just fill up on bread. The House always wins and democracy means you get to choose between two straight male protestant businessmen who went to school together. Meanwhile the oil rigs explode and the wars go on and the taxpayers pay the bankers' bonuses because a contract's a contract. In sæculum, et in sæculum sæculi. Like the Jerk said, it's a profit deal, and anyone who tells you different is either protecting you or they don't know what they're talking about.

I'll give you that.

But it was the Fourth of July yesterday, and as I watched the fireworks with my kids, I realized I still believe in this system.

It's okay, really. We're not as bad as all that. The fundamentals are strong.

You know why?

Because no one's murdered Jay Leno.

If the people in charge were really as evil as the cynics and the conspiracy nuts say, Jay Leno would be dead as an unfunny doornail.

Think of the worst company in the world. It would have to be General Electric, right? Now think of the least moral people in the world. Network executives, of course. Now imagine if General Electric owned a network. It would be like if Satanists were actually working for Satan. Anyway, that would be NBC/Universal. Now imagine -- let's say you were writing a thriller novel, or you've read a newspaper about Russia since the rise of the oligarchs -- that those people had a problem.

General Electric/NBC had two assets -- an aging talk show host who made them a lot of money, and a younger talk show host who also made them a lot of money, and both hosts wanted to be on TV at the same time.

General Electric/NBC wanted to make the younger host happy, but they didn't want the old host to go somewhere else and start a new show. In a cynical world, what would happen?

Jay Leno would go out for a Jaywalk one night and never come back.

Remember, this is NBC, who obviously don't think they'll ever have to answer for the sins they do. During the writers guild strike they aired American Gladiators. And they're working for General Electric, who commit war crimes.

How easy would it have been for Jay Leno to have an accident? He looks like a heart attack. And all he does is eat Koo Koo Roo Chicken and drive old cars. A bone could get lodged in a windpipe. A brake line could snap.

And Conan could have done the first week of shows as a tribute from the recently rechristened James "Jay" Leno Memorial Theater.

Last week, Jay Leno posted lower ratings than Conan did a year ago. The show will drag on, and on, but the franchise is dead. How many millions did they pay Conan to leave? How many more for Leno to stay? How many more will they lose when Conan's show starts on TBS?

And the whole mess would have been so simple to avoid.

Think about that, whenever the news gets you down.

The worst people you could possibly imagine could have made hundreds of millions of dollars by killing one man. A man nobody on Earth would miss.

But they didn't.

I think that says something pretty nice -- and pretty irrefutable -- about America.


 
 
 
  • Comments
  • 293
  • Pending Comments
  • 0
  • View FAQ
Comments are closed for this entry
View All
Favorites
Bloggers
Recency  | 
Popularity
Page: 1 2 3 4 5  Next ›  Last »  (8 total)
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
up420oz
02:11 PM on 07/10/2010
pretty low standard of conduct youn set, reflects the attitude of your fellow Patriots.

Gun crazy Americans.
01:25 PM on 07/08/2010
"I think that says something pretty nice -- and pretty irrefutable -- about America."

And that, my friend, would make you dead wrong on both counts. But then, you did have tongue in check, didn't you?
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
SaraNader
09:57 AM on 07/08/2010
The U.S. population according to a Google search just now is approx. 307 million.

Leno and Letterman combined had 7.5 million viewers in the latest book.

My trusty calculator says that equals 0.024429967.

So, barely 2 percent of the U.S. thinks enough of both of these two genre-killers to watch.

Waaaaaay too much ado about nothing.

And this coming from someone who has Leno's fax number, used to contribute to the show and STILL couldn't watch after the first year on the air even with a vested interest of potential income.
11:54 PM on 07/07/2010
All of these comments are hilarious, but some are smarter than others. You know who you are. When someone says Jay Leno hasn't been funny for 18 years, I have to discount their intelligence, since their remark indicates people who have given him those high ratings have been stupid and/or duped for 18 years. Maybe he is just being self-referrent.

"Companies in China are now renting white people from the U.S in an attempt to boost their image. That's not new. The NBA has been doing that for years."

"Every two minutes she was having pains. It's the same thing that happens from eating double down KFC."

Okay dudes, which joke is the best one? Ha ha. One was part of Letterman's monologue this evening (Wed) and one was part of Leno's. If you're real good I'll tell ya which is whose. And if you're real, real good, you'll guess right all by yourself.

If only we could see this much passion over something really important.

#1 -- Leno
#2 -- Letterman
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Rogo99
Has the world changed, or have I changed?
07:48 AM on 07/08/2010
Letterman is in reruns this week, the more topical one had to be Leno's.
11:18 AM on 07/08/2010
Given the subtle evocation of race and nationalism in the first quote, I will have to go with Leno for that one. Leno reliably uses conservative framing for his jokes. That's why, no matter who he worked for, he would still benefit GE and other global corporations. So that's why no one bumped off Jay Leno.
11:31 PM on 07/07/2010
Point taken.
But I think what it really says (i.e., that Leno lives on) is that despite the fact that having suffered through any amount of Leno would justify homicide (in my opinion at least), not a single self-centered, vicious, pampered, whinging, obnoxious, armed American could be bothered. Forget GE, they mostly have an incentive to use Leno. Think of all the people who have suffered through his "monologue" or "comedy" or "tv show" (yes, these need the quotes in this context) and yet failed to murder Jay Leno.
07:20 AM on 07/08/2010
your tv doesn't have other channels, or an on-off switch?
photo
HUFFPOST BLOGGER
Tallulah Morehead
Award-Eligible Film Legend
10:02 PM on 07/08/2010
I was okay with just changing the channel myself. I can't respect the taste of someone who loves Leno's show, but they have a right to enjoy the crap they like, just as I do. It's not compulsory viewing.
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
eklousia
Sarcasm is like, soooooo effective.
09:58 PM on 07/07/2010
I am completely Team Coco, but this article does raise a very good point. Our corporations may be corrupt (well...ARE corrupt) but it could be a lot worse. It is a lot worse in many places around the world. The Tonight Show situation illustrates this point very well (bad corruption vs. really bad corruption) but it isn't really about Conan or Jay and the same point could be made using other situations. I don't think it is really a Team Coco/Leno arguement.
photo
HUFFPOST BLOGGER
Tallulah Morehead
Award-Eligible Film Legend
09:20 PM on 07/07/2010
It takes a special writer to see an upside to Jay Leno still living. I couldn't do it myself.
04:55 PM on 07/07/2010
the team coco member who is flagging non-abusive comments as abusive is really showing their maturity level right now.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
gtx281
04:51 PM on 07/07/2010
No wonder the best part of Bill's show is the last segment of New Rules that he actually writes.
04:20 PM on 07/07/2010
Ridiculously unfunny; not very bright. Reminds me of Maher.
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
babyjesussaysso
On the internets nobody knows you're a dog.
08:29 PM on 07/07/2010
It's kind of interesting that you apparently spend your time watching and reading things that you find to be stupid and worthless and then feel compelled to advertise that fact.
02:19 AM on 07/08/2010
You have to read something to realize if it's unfunny.
03:30 PM on 07/07/2010
Is it me or Huffington Post is on "Team Coco"?
07:42 PM on 07/07/2010
Abusive comment? Really? Jeez....
02:43 PM on 07/07/2010
Leno could do better. Maybe host his own version of the awful Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts, once a month. Dennis Leary does Foster Brooks. Megan Fox or someone updates Angie Dickinson. Kevin Smith does Orson Welles.

It's a winner, I tell ya!
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Rogo99
Has the world changed, or have I changed?
07:51 AM on 07/08/2010
Comedy Central does that better, once a year with a ragtag group of veteran comedians, and usually a surprise older actress (Betty White, Bea Arthur). Seeing the ads for the DVD's of the Dean Martin roasts reminds me of some of the good old days. They're funny, and seeing most of the big shots of that time in this format is really an interesting study.
02:38 PM on 07/07/2010
I thought that in America it is the duty of the State to provide safety and security to every inhabitant. Chris Kelly thinks that a citizen should feel grateful if he or she does not get bumped off overnight.

Mr Kelly, there is something seriously wrong with your thinking. Or do you wish Jay Leno be dead?
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
gemini2
01:55 PM on 07/07/2010
Chris Kelly is the voice of Bill Maher. Can you hear it?
10:43 AM on 07/07/2010
I love to read an article that could have been ghost written by Conan himself. I would agree with the article, in part, if Conan were funny. His slap stick movements are childish, his jokes are vapid and every day is a bad hair day. His recent interview was all sour grapes. I tried to watch him and could not hang in there. The best I can say for Conan is that it was a sleep catalyst.

Leno was offered the spot because he is a better entertainer, is funnier, is wittier and commands a larger audience. I'm not surprised his ratings are down. Conan helped kill the time slot and it will take some building. I predict if will improve. I predict Conan will self destruct.

Read Me: http://theHARVview.blogspot.com
See my products: www.attitudejewelry.com
photo
HUFFPOST BLOGGER
Tallulah Morehead
Award-Eligible Film Legend
09:23 PM on 07/07/2010
Leno is "funnier" that Conan? This must be some new meaning to the word "funnier" which I had not previously encountered. Jay hasn't said anything funny in the last 18 years.
07:06 AM on 07/08/2010
neither has conan
07:10 AM on 07/08/2010
you sure seem "holier than thou" for somebody who has been blogging about 'survivor' religiously.