Watching the last few weeks of late night drama shows how people let material things run their lives and destroy relationships.
So far, we’ve seen four of the seven deadly sins played out for late night television audiences with David Letterman, Conan O’Brien, Jay Leno and, for some odd reason, Jimmy Kimmel.
Anger: Lately, we’ve seen a huge contrast from their public image. The childishly funny O’Brien in the last month has unleashed a humorous diatribe directed at NBC and Leno after he learned of NBC’s plan to move his show to 11:05 p.m.
Meanwhile back in New York, Letterman, still bitter about losing The Tonight Show in 1992, wasted no time going after Leno. Kimmel apparently thought it would be fun to join the Leno bash-fest — an interesting move for someone who barely has a show himself.
Pride: As the saying goes, pride comes right before a fall. And there’s been plenty of that from O’Brien. When learning of NBC’s plan to move his show, Conan said he would not host a show following Leno, giving up one of the biggest jobs in TV history.
Because of pride, O’Brien walked away from a job he spent five years preparing for. Maybe he decided to risk giving up The Tonight Show because he knows he’s the future of late night.
Envy: It’s obvious the three are envious of Leno, who many consider a second-rate comic who doesn’t deserve the show. His competitors take every opportunity to make that known. As NBC executive Dick Ebersol said, the personal attacks are only professional jealousy.
Kimmel’s we-got-kids-to-feed segment on The Jay Leno Show did nothing for his image either. If he were smart, he’d do like Fallon and stay out of it.
Greed: If Kimmel were offered Tonight, he’d most likely take the chance too. Every comic would jump at the chance to host the program.
Despite the blame game and name-calling, Leno has not publicly trashed any of his competitors, at least not to the level Letterman, Kimmel and O’Brien have.
One thing they should learn from Leno is humility.
