Before Haiti, it was all about the Jay Leno – Conan O’Brien scuffle. (With Carson Daly thrown in the mix somehow, but I’ve never watched him… and some other talk show host I never watch.) I didn’t know if this was a real news story – I mean, networks move stuff around all the time, because they’re as bad at guessing as the rest of us, and does anyone really care about late night talk shows?

Well there’s sure been a lot of buzz about it, so, yeah.

And the letter that Conan wrote was kind of fun and sly! For some reason the Times has parsed it, as if we couldn’t understand the original FU letter, which was perfectly direct, well-mannered, and open.

In a scathing letter addressed to the “People of Earth,” O’Brien ripped into NBC for undercutting his brief reign at “The Tonight Show” with a move that he said would “seriously destroy” what he called “the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting.”

“I grew up watching Johnny Carson every night and the chance to one day sit in that chair has meant everything to me,” O’Brien said. “I worked long and hard to get that opportunity, passed up far more lucrative offers, and since 2004 I have spent literally hundreds of hours thinking of ways to extend the franchise long into the future.”

Today the Times announced that Conan O’Brien is definitely being kicked out, fired, or paid off so King Leno can do his thing. What a surprise. Like we couldn’t see that coming.

NBC said early Thursday that it has reached a deal with “The Tonight Show” host Conan O’Brien for his exit from the show, allowing Jay Leno to return to the late-night program he hosted for 17 years.

Poor Coco. No, that’s not my pet name for Conan, but apparently his fans think Conan is too ethnic or something, so they call him that on Twitter.

Even though I never ever watched Conan O-Brien more than once or twice, I still feel resentful towards Jay Leno now. What is wrong with me?

Cartoon Caption: Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien, Late night, 12:35 PM, Midnight, etc.

“Just tell me. Who will sing me to sleep each night?”

I read an article that no one likes changes of  late night shows. You’re in your nightgown or pjs, things are winding down, you don’t want to think about work the next day, you either are or you aren’t looking forward to sex before bedtime, and it’s best that TV just give you a routine, and put you to bed.

What is that baby doing, exactly? I shudder to think. I redrew Jay Leno in a later version of this, but I do think Conan came off very well.

I wasn’t thinking of the bands and singers they have on late night programs, as I meant this metaphorically, but as so often happens, that works, too!

More cartoons:

1. Who’s your rac-ist?
2. Meg Whitman’s maid has nothing on John and Ken.

Ms. Trump is obviously already guilty. I mean she’s rich, right?

The way a spokeswoman with the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office puts it, the departing jet’s pilot called deputies about 2:30 p.m. because of a foul-mouthed and unruly passenger in seat 1C, in first class.

When the lawmen arrived, they discovered the abusive passenger was the well-known socialite. They described her as “belligerent” and “aggravating.”

According to PBSO, Trump first was unhappy about her seat. Flight attendants offered her another, and headphones, to calm her down. But then Trump became more frustrated when children started running up and down the aisle while screaming.

Oh, big damn deal. I would have complained about those bratty kids and the ignorant loser parents, too.

The incident comes as airports throughout the world are tightening security measures after an alleged terrorist tried to set off a bomb on a Northwest Airlines flight on Christmas Day near Detroit.

Seriously. The airlines are going to compare their scaredy cat, ineffectual stewardesses flight attendants hearing the f-word, to a terrorist carrying a bomb?

Everyone knows flying is hell on earth now – ugh, it takes a lot of love or money to willingly schlep to the airport, stand in line for hours, get felt up by the minimum wage dummies (and when it happened to me I thought it was totally inappropriate), take off your shoes, get treated like crap, and then file onto the plane, minus the water you want and need, and have your earaches like a little kid, from the lack of oxygen and poor cabin pressure. And arrive late, ALWAYS arrive late.

Or is that just my fantasy trip?

And now you’re not allowed to swear or tell kids to shut the f up, or they’ll take you off the plane.

Really, you know, love isn’t enough. Let’s talk about the money.

*I just noticed that Amy Alkon wrote an opinion for the LA Times saying some of the same things.

There is a notion, reflected in numerous blog comments about the incident, that other passengers should “just deal” and “give a kid a break.” This notion is wrong. Parents like Root and others who selfishly force the rest of us to pay the cost of their choices in life aren’t just bothering us; they’re stealing from us. Most people don’t see it this way, because what they’re stealing isn’t a thing we can grab on to, like a wallet. They’re stealing our attention, our time and our peace of mind.

I know Amy from media events and parties around Los Angeles, and she is definitely the most in your face person you have ever met. Can’t wait to read her book! I See Rude People: One woman’s battle to beat some manners into impolite society

And yes, she really does look like this, with flaming red hair!

Photo through Creative Commons from Brian U. Thx!

More cartoons:

1. Easter cartoon on the birthers.
2. LA Times forgot Dilbert, but readers didn’t.

Oh, David. First Sarah Palin, and now this. I used to think you were cool beans. Then I stopped watching you, but I still respected you. Now…

Well, what you said to Sarah was not appropriate, especially about her kid, but comedians say far worse at times. And it’s not like you’re as vulgar as Jimmy Kimmel is, at times.

But this confessing to your audience is GROSS! Don’t you know it’s wrong to hang your dirty laundry out in public?! No one cares! Tell it to your lawyer or your shrink or your manager!

And now, tonight, you even talk about how you have to make it up to your wife. OMG!!! This is not a self-help group, so just keep quiet, and STOP TALKING ABOUT YOURSELF. 

*Double X has an essay on his shenanigans in which the writer compares his self-serving monologue to a feature he does called, “Is this anything?”

When he tells us that someone has proof that he does “terrible, terrible things,” “embarrassing, terrible things,” “quite a lot of terrible stuff,” and “creepy stuff,” we are eagerly anticipating the anticlimax of the event, which, in this case, is the fact that he slept with women in his office. What could be less of a story than plain old heterosexual sex? Letterman breaks the tension and gets a big laugh and a round of applause.

Yeah, laughing out of embarrassment and sheer relief THAT HE HAS STOPPED TELLING THEM all the gritty details. Gosh, I wish the author would apply this standard of who cares about sex (she seems to hint that having plain old gay sex might be a story!)  to politicians, who invariably end up either out of work or with a sullied record on their name which never goes away. In the article, Ms. Silverman throws in the fact that he was also unfaithful to his wife, but who cares. (As it happens, I believe this all happened before he was married, so at least she isn’t hurt.)

Cartoon Caption Starring David Letterman, The Invention of Confessing. Variety: TMI, not funny LA Times: we’re not your therapist Hollywood Reporter: uses show as soapbox NY Times: employer seduces workers CBS: David who? Puff Post (who I hate, as if you didn’t know): he’s liberal, so it’s all good.

I know, he has that gap between his teeth, which I forgot to include in this cartoon, although I did for the one running in Slate now.

This ran first in Slate today! Took me a little work, but I think I played well off the popularity and top of the news movie, The Invention of Lying. Say, who wants to go with me?

More cartoons:

1. David Letterman has a secret crush on Sarah Palin.
2. Men like to talk about sex.

TMZ broke the big story of Michael Jackson's death, but why skim over Senator mark Sanford's affair? We'll let the Democrats dig up the dirt on this one. All rights reserved ©D.Barstow

I like reporting on the media. But how many mirrors does the world really need? I don’t care, I find it fascinating to reflect on what newspeople think is news, and how they report it.

If fate is right, that means eventually someone will report on me reporting on the media reporting on the news – perhaps one of those hate liberal blogs.

I remember watching the TMZ head honcho, Harvey Levin, back when he reported on the OJ trial. He was a good reporter/lawyer. I don’t know how or when he turned to sleaze and  getting crap about celebrities, but I guess he’s a staple on Hollywood news now. I never go to the blog – too much vulgarity -but I’ve seen the TV show in passing, which spends a lot of time on a goodlooking blond photographer, who I just found in passing, from this blog, is called Max Hodges. 

Anyway, the LA Times made a big deal as to how cool it was that TMZ  broke the MJ story before anyone else. I don’t know why that would be worth a story – they’re on the tail of anyone who’s famous or interesting all the time, anyway. But the Times will never waste a good excuse to suck up to Hollywood! (True, but I love Hollywood, too, so I don’t mind.)

But the Jackson drama puts the spotlight on TMZ at a delicate time. Its tactics have stoked growing outrage among publicists and government officials. Its tabloid sensibilities have made some other news organizations reluctant to cite its reporting — including CNN, a sister company, which relied on the Los Angeles Times’ reporting rather than TMZ’s on the day of Jackson’s death.

Now, when an LA Times reporter calls TMZ “delicate”, you know someone is hoping for a big fat ad deal in their dwindling paper…

So the same weekend, everyone went crazy over the fact of Mark Sanford’s affair. Get over it. Some huge percentage of people have affairs. It’s not nice and it’s not kind, but it certainly isn’t a political or partisan thing – which all the liberals screamed about.

Mark Sanford cartoon as reported by TMZ. They like MJ better.

So, TMZ is sleazy, but this time the Democrats were worse.

———————————————–

I can’t tell you how hard it is for me to make these deadlines. In the past, I grab a good idea as soon as I have it, but I like to turn and twist it in my mind. It could take weeks, or even years, to make it work. But now I have to not only draw it, but then figure out colors in Photoshop, and I find PS to be pretty slow – I just don’t know many tricks or shortcuts yet, and it’s a time-killer.

But when I really get into trouble is when I change my mind after it’s drawn and lettered! The first one was not quite clear, I don’t think. The 2nd one is good enough. And the colors are sublime.

More cartoons:

1. Mark E. Kelly, your wife called.
2. Farewell to Lost cartoon.

Sure, I’m curious why he died. But NO, I never thought he was funny. Not the animals, the plastic surgery, the kids. Nor is his death funny. I’m sad a talented performer died so young.. What about Farrah Fawcett, or Ed McMahon, or the strange, sad confluence of the 3? NO. Not funny, either. All equally sad.

My job as an editorial cartoonist is to comment or reflect on the news, not make instant flower bouquets, or practice sanctimonious phrases. But… is death funny?

Actually, this is the first time a well-known figure has died since I started doing cartoons for Slate in February, so I wasn’t sure just how to approach it.   I rarely read other editorial cartoonists cartoons(, but I read a lot of silly comments by Daryl Cagle and Ted Rall and other political cartoonists, on Facebook and Twitter, wondering aloud how far they could go with Michael Jackson’s peccadilloes. And then there was the Jeff Goldblum hoax on Twitter. Maybe death just makes people stupid.

Anyway, I sure didn’t want Michael Jackson’s death to steal the spotlight from the lovely Farrah Fawcett, and the, um, advertorial Ed McMahon! I mean they all deserve a dignified goodbye. Each is special. So I included all 3 of them, and picked a graveyard – always a favorite backdrop for me – and you can see the cartoon above. The first cartoon. Because I chickened out. All it took was seeing those weeping, obsessive fans in Hollywood, and all the reverential tributes in the media, and I wondered if I was being disrespectful. (all this agonizing and second-guessing usually takes part in the middle of the night, when friends are asleep, so I can’t get any feedback.)

So I redid it for Slate, below:

Michael Jackson, King of Pop, Farrah Fawcett Majors, Queen of Hair, and Ed McMahon, Jester of Johnny. Gravestones. ©D. Barstow 2009

But this time I asked people on Facebook, which is the better cartoon? They liked the first one. And I think I do, too. Sometimes death can use a little humor. I think these stars would have smiled, too. But what do you think? Which cartoon would you rather read with your coffee, or would you rather do Sudoko?

PS. Joe Heller is one of my fave editorial cartoonists and did a great cartoon on MJ. (Do you think he drew all of these views by hand, or was it Photoshop magic?!)

*Just found this post  on how to draw cartoons about death or people who have passed on, by Steve Greenberg:

The problems are either doing a cliché — usually something involving St. Peter and the Pearly Gates, and there have been a zillion of these — or doing cartoons similar to what other cartoonists might be doing for the next day.

Some tributes work, too. Read the whole thing for insight from an experienced cartoonist.

More cartoons:

1. Who paid for Michael Jackson’s flamboyant funeral?
2. Sarah Palin resigns as governor, but the cartoons keep on coming.

"I'm thinking about putting my face on our new product line, like Paul Newman does...would that turn you on?" ©D.Barstow 2009

I heart Paul Newman! Not so much for his movies, although he was great – but for entering my own life by doing movies on location, where I found him in person.

I was dating the special effects guy on one film, and I remember he had to build a special sweat hut so Paul could sweat off all the beer he drank each day and still look trim for the film. (What, no Paul Newman beer? I think I saw a beer in his hand most of the time.) Another time, I was with some friends who went to a car race in Pennsylvania, and there he was, glowing on the track. He did have that star sparkle, and good for him.

He passed away this year, shortly before I started doing cartoons for Slate. You have to realize, I never even read editorial cartoons until the last year. Not ever.  So I was suprised and pleased that they also do cartoons about holidays (not just war holidays, like Memorial Day, but Easter, too) and also note when interesting or important people pass away. I would surely have done one for Paul, but this is the only cartoon I did about him, a couple of years ago. It’s typical New Yorker, although it wasn’t IN the New Yorker, of course.

Design note: I picked the colors out in about 10 seconds, and LOVE them!

Here’s to you, Mr. Newman.

More cartoons:

1. Paul Conrad, cartoonist extraordinaire, died this week.
2. Wordless Wednesday: Not ready for primetime Slate cartoon.