Quebecois
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Posts posted by Quebecois
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Late Night TV has been tremendous since this whole thing began. First time I've actually watched the shows in a while
Letterman was taking some shots at Leno this week and Leno finally fired back with a doozy. Really tired of Letterman poking fun at others, as if he is on some morale high ground or something
Get over it, NBC chose Leno instead of you.
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Haha, I've really come to like that show. Was at a friend's place watching Scrubs and everyone was too lazy to change the channel. Then we spent most of the next half hour cracking up. Unfortunately, it's all but certain to be canceled soon. Scrubs is likely gone too, unless they decide they want more episodes to sell into syndication and/or that they don't want to develop a new sitcom to go with The Middle, Modern Family, and Cougar Town.
Haha just had to point this out after you said lead-ins didn't matter in the other thread.
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His crew and their families also moved...
I do feel bad for his family, but no one has really brought this up, everyone is too busy worrying about how Conan is doing.
Here's the problem with this argument. You're arguing that the shows in recent years leading into Leno have been bad (which they have) and that it didn't negatively affect his audience. The difference is that he was already established.Jay Leno debuted in 1992 on The Tonight Show. His lead-ins at the time were: Dateline (in its first season), Law & Order (3rd season), and LA Law (7th season). Not to mention Seinfeld, Mad about you, Cheers, Wings which all aired 8-9pm on NBC. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992%E2%80%93...ision_schedule)
Now let's look at what NBC has been airing during Conan's first year on the Tonight show. The Jay Leno Show at 10 we all know about, what about leading into the Jay Leno Show... Law & Order SVU, The biggest loser, Heroes, 30 Rock (the only show with any current success).
The point isn't that Leno had success on the Tonight Show recently without a good lead in, because he has had the previous decade and a half to establish his viewing audience. Conan moved to a new show, at a new time and NBC didn't provide him with an opportunity to successfully build his audience as they did with Leno in 1992 by saddling him with a terrible supporting cast.
It's a fair counter-argument. Leno was definitely given some time to find an audience once he took over in 1992. Much more time than Conan has been given. There are two things I would say to that:
1. TV is 10 times more competitive now than it was back then. With more selection than ever, television is tougher than ever and shows are no longer given much time to "find and audience".
2. In the early 90s, even if NBC wanted to replace Leno because of poor ratings, they didn't have anyone who was ready and able to step in on short notice. Conan was just starting in Late Night and Carson wasn't coming back. With few alternatives, Leno was given a much longer leash.
Fair or not, that's just how it goes.
The funny thing in all of this is Leno's show at 10pm is performing about where most NBC execs would have expected. It is insanely cheap to produce a talk show and even with only 5-6 million viewers a night it would still be turning a nice profit for them. The problem is the affiliates feel their local news is suffering as a result, which to me is surprising since people tend to pick a news channel based on who they like, not who precedes them (as Fanpuck mentioned.)
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At the time, it was a great idea. They were going to lose Conan unless they ensured he'd get The Tonight Show and Jay Leno told them he'd be ready to retire in 2009. There was a big fuss when Letterman got passed over in favor of Leno when Johnny Carson gave up The Tonight Show and Jay wanted to avoid that sort of mess. Thus, the three parties came to an agreement. NBC can be blamed for promising Conan the job and Leno can be blamed for reneging on his retirement, while Conan has only followed the deal. He has every right to leave over this, he's the one getting the short end of the stick.
All that being said, I'll be thrilled to have Leno back on at 11:30. There's too much else on at 10 and I always love seeing Letterman lose in the ratings, which isn't happening with Conan.
I'm doubting Leno agreed to retire completely, just that he agreed to give up the Tonight Show, which he did as scheduled. It was clear he still wanted to be on TV, and it became increasingly clear that someone would sign him, be it Fox or a cable station or whatever. NBC didn't like that so they created the 10 oclock show in order to keep him.
Conan has every right to leave but he forced NBC's hand, he didn't perform up to expectations once he got the job, and these are the consequences.
I think that's an unfair characerization of the situation. NBC gave Conan an contractual guarantee that he would take over from Leno in 2009. This was a decision made by Leno, Conan and the network. The decision to late move Leno to a 10pm show was not Conan's doing. The biggest issue for Conan is that he has no legitimate lead in. When leno was doing the show NBC always had relatively strong shows leading into the news which lead into the Tonight show. When NBC made the decision to move Leno to 10pm it killed Conan. Leno's show at 10 has been TERRIBLE. The ratings have plummeted and it has affected the viewership of the Tonight Show.Basically because Leno is performing poorly it is hurting Conan's ratings.
Let's also not forget that Conan has moved his entire family, all his staff, all his staff's families from New York to LA to do this show, and now NBC is telling him 9 months later sorry for all your trouble but it isn't working out.
NBC has to be the worst run network out there right now, these guys continue to show how incompetent they are by mismanaging talent. I don't blame Conan for being pissed off at being jerked around, I hope he follows through on his threat and walks.
I don't know if I buy the lead-in excuse either. Not because I don't buy whether a lead-in matters, but because it is not like Leno has had tremendous lead-ins in recent years either. NBC has basically been a graveyard for all shows, but it is particularly dry when it comes to Dramas, which are what air at 10 oclock. Leno didn't have a lot much more to work with than Conan.
And I have a tough time feeling sorry for him and his family for having to move from NY to LA. Plenty of people with normal salaries have had this happen to them, Conan probably makes in excess of 20 million dollars a year at this point, he'll survive. Probably just a matter of moving himself back to his NY home at this point, if thats what he wants. Or he can get a show on Fox and stay in LA.
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I was liking The Jay Leno Show.
I'm always too tired to watch those shows at 11:30. It was perfect right after Habs games.I don't understand this outcry for Conan. He pushed Leno out when Leno was not ready to give up his spot and he hasn't performed well in the ratings since taking over. To me, the only mistake NBC made was promising him the job in the first place.
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Pretty crazy game in Arizona. Should be another shootout at the superdome next week.
I'm getting tired of hearing about the Cowboys, I really hope my Vikes don't disappoint next week.
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Carter is the only one. Looks like we got Dawson (I would be surprised if he wore a Cubs hat.) I think Guerrero should be a HOFer and has a decent chance to go in wearing a Spos hat as well. Tim Raines appears to be getting the shaft.
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What are everyone's picks for the weekend?
I'm going with:
Who dey vs. J-E-T-S: Bengals offense has been putrid for a while now and the Jets D will be able to continue that trend. Sanchez won't have a great day against that secondary but they should be able to win a low scoring affair. 13-10 NYJ.
Pats vs Ravens: I don't think much of the Pats this year, but they have been able to dominate at home and they should survive for one more week, despite no Welker (Edelman is a poor man's Wes anyways.) 30-23 NE.
Packers (suck) vs. Cards: Despite my hatred for all things Green Bay, I think Rodgers is an excellent QB with some real wepons surrounding him. Woodson should be the DPOY in my opinion (sorry Revis), and I look to him to be a difference maker against a great passing attack. 34-21 GB
Cowgirls vs. Eagles: the 'girls certainly looked impressive last week, but I'm not convinced. I've never been a fan of Tony Romo and the Eagles big play ability can only be shutout for so long. I think they lose a close one. 28-27 PHI.
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Hopefully he goes in wearing the right Cap!
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Ugh Refs...
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Am I the only one who thinks the Cap is overrated? We kept hearing about how the Cap was going to go down by several million this season, back to the high 40s range, and look what has happened. It may even got up by a million or two! This is during a recession. Imagine how much it'll be going up in a couple years if the economy turns around.
There are just so many ways to get around this salary cap that I don't think it is worth panicking over. Sure it isn't like things used to be, and maybe in a previous time we would still have a guy like Mark Streit on the team, but it isn't a big of a factor as people make it out to be.
Sorry if this poops on all your hard work dlbalr, just my two cents
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I like Gomez, but man... 7 mil? Ugh... what are you thinking Pleks?
hmmm I figured 3 assists would have been enough for us to avoid the Gomez contract talk for at least one night.
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but we're getting outshot
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I watched 10 minutes of that game. Last world junior game I'll be watching. The hockey was poor and the ambiance was dead - and this was in Canada with the Canadians leading. Holy boredom Batman.
To be fair, it was a pre-tourney game. But I've never been impressed by Calgary crowds, even in the playoffs.
I agree the hockey was poor though. I found myself fast-forwarding between Nattinen's shifts...
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Petteri Simila is vying to back up Juha Ortio (I think that's his name, pulling his name off the top of my head), we'll probably see him tonight as well.
I thought Simila was cut but maybe I'm wrong. It looks like Ortio has the number one job locked up anyhow.
Is Trunev Russain?Nattinen is on team Finland?
Yes and Yes.
Nattinen didn't impress me all that much last night, but it's one game I suppose. He didn't shy away from the physical play which was a positive and created space for himself a couple times, but his skating looked well below average. He wasn't wearing a letter so it looks like I was way off on him being a potential captain.
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Thought this was a good place for us to discuss our prospects at the WJCs.
Joonas Nattinen and the Fins will be taking on team Canada tonight. Apparently he has a good chance of being named Captain.
Danny Kristo and Maxim Trunev are our only other players in the tourney as far as I know, am I missing someone?
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For the record, Gill led the team with 22:47 in TOI...that I don't like, he's much better suited to play around 16-18.
With a recovering Markov, a banged up Spacek and Mara, and no Hamrlik, it isn't all that surprising. Obviously not ideal though you're right.
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Movies
in The Lounge
Just got back from Invictus, phenomenal. Would this movie have been made if Morgan Freeman had've declined the role of Mandela? Can't think of anyone else who could realistically play him.
Was going to see Avatar but the IMAX was sold out and I'd rather wait to see it in all its glory.
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not sure why I bother watching games against the Devils. Always a snoozefest and we never win.
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how did the devils not get hit with a penalty in front of their net just then? total interference
I think you're talking about the play on BGL and yeah, terrible non-call.
Its not the penalties that we are getting that is bugging me from a reffing point of view, we are playing dumb hockey. It's the non-calls on our opponents that's killing me.
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well, I can't see them sac bunting, double stealing all over the place, swinging early and often, and just generally spitting in the eye of accumulated knowledge, but ya never know. They will be a relatively fast team, but I doubt they'll be reckless.
Cameron's defense is still top notch and one has to imagine that not feeling the necessity to cover his teammates' space would help this season. I get a little leery about quantifying defense (especially measuring it directly against offense), but here's some fun reading: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/bay-vs-cameron. Basically, it says you are going to lose about 25 runs from your offense by switching from Jason Bay to Mike Cameron, but get all those runs back in defense.
Another look at the offense: last year the sox were the no.3 offense according to total runs scored (872) and were 11th in runs allowed (although they were 3rd in the AL). Now I think it is pretty safe to say that they should be a better run prevention team than they were last year. I'd argue that if they could reproduce last year's offense, they'd have to be considered a true contender. Now Lowell and Beltre are probably a wash offensively at this point their careers and while they lose (let's say) 25 runs in Bay, they do get back a lot of those runs on the season by getting a full year of VMart instead of Varitek. Scutaro had a career year last year (which we shouldn't expect again), but with a regression to halfway between his 2008 and 2009 performances would still net you a few runs above what the sox got from Lugo/Gonzalez/Lowrie/Green (not to mention the potential intangible benefit of having a consistent starter at the hardest defensive position on the field). After his horrid April and May, Ortiz actually produced OK. Now I've seen some projections that show him having a slight bounce back year(Bill James thinks he'll do ~.880 OPS), I am hoping that his contract status will at least stop him from declining further... and as always, there are internal (Reddick, Kalish, Westmoreland) and external (Dunn) options that could provide a midseason fix if necessary. All in all, I think we should still expect to produce well over 800 runs - a feat accomplished by only 7 teams last year. The sox are a good Scutaro, Pedroia rebound, and/or Ortiz rebound away from being a top 5 offense.
On losing the "big bat": Obviously teammates can affect each other's offensive stats -> pitchers lose efficacy when they have to pitch from the stretch or are worried about stolen base threats; hitters are more apt to get hittable pitches if the pitcher is worried about walking their way to a guy who can rake, but the Sox showed themselves to be quite competent at scoring runs with the lineup they had last year and I'd be hardpressed to attribute whatever intimidation factor the offense had too squarely on Bay's shoulders. Now I loved Bay (perhaps because he was Canadian?), but I think they should be able to produce adequately without him.
The Angels weren't an ideal comparison because of the factors that you mentioned. I really just meant a team with good fundamentals, that can steal a few bases, make smart decisions on the base paths, go from 1st to 3rd etc. It isn't the same offense as what they had in the 03-07 era but that doesn't mean it can't be productive. As you mentioned, they get a full season from Vtek, an upgrade with Scutaro (though he won't be near what he was last year).
That Cameron tidbit is interesting. I find it hard to believe his defense can make THAT much of a difference, but interesting nonetheless.
Still might be a hair behind the Yankees (remains to be seen what they will do this offseason), but I think the Sox will be better than last year.
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Apparently we might be trading Michael Taylor to the As for Brett Wallace once this original deal goes through. I liked what I heard about Taylor so I'm not sure how I feel about this.
As for the Sox, Lackey, i think, was a nice signing. Certainly the deepest rotation in baseball right now, with three legit number 1 starts in Lackey, Beckett and Lester. I've never liked Dice-K but you can't deny he is an excellent number 4/5.
Not sure about Cameron. Is his defense still top notch? Might be a good move if that's the case but offense will be the weakness on that team this season, barring another move. Having said that, it's still not a bad offense. It is a far cry from when Manny and Ortiz were bashing 40+ per season, but theres some good OBP guys in that lineup and they should be able to play a solid, LA Angels-style offense.
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My hair stood on end during that final scene. One of the best seasons of television I've ever seen.
Wow. I'm blown away by the season finale of Dexter... still shaking.Now, maybe because I'm an idiot, I'm unclear about
Rita's death. Clearly it looks like she was killed by Arthur, but when did he have time to slip away from Dexter (who was presumably following his mustang around) to go to the house and kill her? It just seems like a very short window of opportunity. But it was him, right? Not a copycat killer?
I'm gonna miss Rita. I loved her as Darla on Buffy & Angel, and now Dexter's gonna raise 3 kids on his own?
I think that it had to be Trinity, but I also hope they explain how he pulled it off. He must have found Dexter's address at Deb's apartment and then plotted from there. Did he know about Dexter's past though? Having Harrison sitting in the pool of blood made it seem like he knew what had happened to Dexter as a kid.
A bunch of other questions too. Will people suspect Dexter killed Rita? Will Trinity's family tell the police about "Kyle".
I was kindve hoping Trinity would survive into next season. Lithgow was incredible and deserves some Emmy recognition.
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a) would likely be true.
You have fabricated b and c for the purpose of your argument. How exactly do you know that the Habs were the only team willing to take on Kovalev's 1 million dollar price tag for the stretch run? Teams around the league take on similar price tags every year, even in the capped world, let alone before the cap was in place.
But I'm done with this. Believe whatever you want.
The Official TV Thread
in The Lounge
Posted
It was a funny segment, but that had to have been scripted. I mean Jay asked him what he would like to host that he hasn't already hosted, come on.
I didn't find it to be that awkward other than the part that Fanpuck mentioned, with Kimmel pointing out that Leno doesn't have any kids.
Kimmel has been pretty funny in all of this mess, but it really comes across as a cheap attempt by him to become relevant in the late night scene IMO.