Shot after he lost his job on the Tonight Show through the planning of his tour and concluding before the beginning of his new show on TBS debuts.
Conan the human seemed unafraid of letting his feelings be known – and he was very bitter and angry at times. Even though he felt this way – he claimed he couldn’t stop himself from entertaining because he doesn’t know how – that entertaining was all he knew. For his emotional well-being it appeared taking a break would have been good for him though. His humor seemed more bitter and angry towards his wife, staff and friends. He claimed that it was all a part of who he was outside of the show – having a cutting sense of humor but ultimately being out of love – unfortunately that’s something we wouldn’t know.
Can’t Stop was an apt title – as throughout the documentary he didn’t have any downtime – but that was how he scheduled himself. He could have easily taken the summer off – and relaxed with his family – but instead he did 44 live shows – and personal appearances between at the Bonaroo music festival and at his 25th Harvard anniversary – not to take into account all the meet & greets he would do (insisting it would be impossible for you to request an autograph from him and not get it). You could look at it as an “I’m down but I’m not out” attitude – or a subconscious need for attention.
The documentary was mostly upbeat – it did a fair job of portraying Conan in the moments that he wasn’t on television in the light in which he was. I’m not sure if it attempted to go for an overall positive light – or if it seemed he was simply a more upbeat person – with times of sadness.
The story of what happened at NBC between Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien is an interesting one. Fearful of losing both stars – NBC made some really poor decisions – and the only real loser in this situation was Conan. He paid his dues – put on his own silly and popular show in hopes of one day obtaining the coveted Tonight Show gig – unfortunately NBC didn’t take into account how his style of humor didn’t really fit the branding of the Tonight Show – thus probably shouldn’t have lead him on.
He’s become a kind of pop culture folk hero – an underdog.
I have watched Conan since he premiered – I wasn’t always a regular viewer – but ever since his new TBS show started I have been DVR’ing it and watching it the next day after work. Some of his humor is great and it helps cut my post-work funk – some of it is lame – but he’s got a good energy to him – and I appreciate the fact that he’s willing to point out if a bit went bad. I really liked seeing him in a different light in this documentary.
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