Conan O’Brien played it safe in his debut as host of NBC’s Tonight Show last night. That’s a good choice, actually. The big question is: Will it last?

As I noted in an article reporting on NBC’s choice of personable Saturday Night Live alum Jimmy Fallon to host its Late Show as O’Brien moved to the Tonight Show, Fallon was closer to the style that had worked so well for the latter program in the past: intelligent, likable, and not too challenging or edgy.

O’Brien, I noted, was much less winsome and much more ambitious in his comedy, and for the Tonight Show to have success, either he or the audience would have to change, with the latter being highly unlikely except through serious shrinkage. And of course that would be a disaster for the Peacock Network.

Fallon has done well at Late Night since taking the reins on March 3, in both entertainment value and audience ratings. Late Night appears to be in very capable hands, and although it’s simply a timewaster, that’s all it is intended to be, while delivering consistent audience numbers for NBC’s advertisers. (more…)

This week’s Washington Times column:

A digital war has broken out, and the conservative movement is losing. Read the comment sections of right-leaning blogs, news sites and social forums, and the evidence is there in ugly abundance. Internet hooligans are spewing their talking points to thwart the dissent of the newly-out-of-power.

We must not let that go unanswered.

Uninvited Democratic activists are on a mission to demoralize the enemy – us. They want to ensure that President Obama is not subject to the same coordinated, facts-be-damned, multimedia takedown they employed over eight long years to destroy the presidency – and the humanity – of George W. Bush. (more…)