Watch and Discuss: Conan O'Brien Issues NBC's Response to GLAAD

No wonder Letterman's creaming him in the ratings.

That's all it is, is a cheap joke.  It isn't a stab at the gays or a political statement against NBC.  It is simply a joke that means nothing to no one except Conan who thinks its funny b/c he and/or his illustrious team of writers came up with it.

I thought the clip was funny. I wasn't laughing out loud, but I don't think its offensive at all. The joke is on NBC not the GLBT community.

If anything I think it served to publicize the fact that NBC has a lousy track record with gay representation. Anyway, it got a laugh out of me (for the "pretty much all of the American Gladiators" riff).

grr its just a joke.

lets move on.

So, I'm gonna take a wild stab here and guess that this was supposed to be funny?

Mind you, I've never been a big fan of Conan's, but this strikes me as just grasping at straws in the hopes of finding something he can wring a laugh out of.

Although, I would imagine that Conan has now been warned not to go anywhere near the set of American Gladiators...

Conan has done gay humor before, but not in a sniggering, let's-laugh-at-the-gays way (like Leno did all too often), more like "I get it, and I'm not afraid to spoof my own sexuality because I'm comfortable with myself and the situation."  Unlike NBC brass, obviously, who probably WOULD have been reaching for pathetic tokens like the ones Conan spoofed.

The man has seldom been funny. He just thinks he is and does so with a level of confidence that causes those laugh track people that show up to be studio audiences to laugh. He is about as funny as most Saturday Night Live skits and an episode of the Jerry Springer show. He just tries to dress up his sophomoric humor as sophisticated. Sophomomric, sophisticated. Maybe he has reading problems, yeah?

I am not offended by the skit at all but I also don't think it is funny.  As for who's the butt of the joke, IMO it is intentionally ambiguous.  If I see more and more Conan jokes & skits on the subject, then the intent of this skit is probably gay-friendly.

I wish we lived in a world where TV characters could be of any sexual orientation and that it would simply be accepted as natural and real -- the same way that people in real life just are.  

ive been a fan of Conan for a long time and if people ever noticed it, he ALWAYS makes fun of his own network. Even Leno did that too.

 

I think it was harmless and more or less, showed that Conan was using this as another way to make fun of his own network. Nothing to get angry about.

I think the clip was Conan's way of spinning the failing grade for NBC.  I'm not per se offended by it but it wasn't funny either.  What really is sad is that Conan isn't as funny compared to Carson or Leno. You need someone strong and super funny to deliver on The Tonight Show and Conan I am sorry to say doesn't deliver. 

Not fall-down hilarious or anything, just mildly amusing.  The joke was quite obviously on NBC, making silly claims that cars and dogs and shadows are gay and insisting that they "count".  Very clever. 

Really about the same take Conan and crew offer up on most subjects. I didn't find it offensive and didn't find it funny .. just slightly amusing. I be more interested in seeing an official statement from the nework on the issue or a lack of a statement would also speak loudly about how NBC views their gay audience.

 

 

did this many people actually like leno... i was so happy to have him off the air, he catered to the dumbest of viewers with unfunny and often offensive jokes.  i have watched conan almost from his start on late night and couldn't be more thrilledd to actually have someone funny on the tonight show.  i didn't find it offensive at all, seems to be making more fun of the network (which would make excuses like that) than of gays.

When you host any talk show you are doing a volume business... Not every joke is going to be a winner. I doubt Conan & Co. were trying to be offensive, they just had a story about NBC they could joke about and they went with it. It could have been much more offensive, actually. They have always joked that Labamba is gay. Max has always been portrayed as a pervert (a straight one) and their old announcer Joel loved kinky sex with Asian twinks. That was always obviously over the top and "just a joke". You can fault Conan for being childish with his humor, but it isn't a mean humor. As much as you can ever "know" someone from TV, Conan has never struck me as a mean-spirited guy. Whenever he makes a fat joke about Kirsty Alley he always seems ashamed of himself. Jay always seemed to produce dumb humor, and some comedians like Howard Stern (who I know isn't a homophobe) do mean humor, but Conan has always seemed like a smart guy who likes to laugh at sophomoric things.

The thing with La Bomba has been a running joke on Conan's show for years.

The point of the "response" is that NBC is actually stupid enough to believe that a dog and a car are fair representations of a minority. It is a stab at the Network, not gays.

"How many people usually make fun of THEMselves compared to people who constantly make fun of other people?" I don't know. But that was Johnny Carson's schtick, always quick with a put down when one of his own jokes failed, it's something that both Leno and Conan copied. Making fun of the network(NBC) is also a tradition that they copied from Carson.

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Being out is not "being an activist." It is being honest. Unfortunately it's such a rare commodity in this world that honesty often seems like activism.

against NBC and their "barely there" gays.  I don't get it--AfterElton complains about poor representation time and again, but when someone else does the same thing you assume it's homophobic?

glaad issues a serious report and they make a joke of it.  I didn't find it totally offensive but I have to agree that if some other minority issued a report I don't believe Conan would have done a similar skit. 

Hey Conan, as a great lady once said... "get your foot off the stage!"

The clip was mildly amusing.  I'm not a big Conan fan, I'd pick Letterman any day.

I'm hoping nobody gets all in a snit about this 'cuz it would be the Letterman/Sarah Palin thing all over again and life is too short.

I like Conan. I am assured that there was no malicious intent. I'm more surprised that it is even an issue than the joke itself.