Allright, so the overly covered Civil War at NBC over The Tonight Show pales in importance in comparison to the tragedy happening in Haiti over the past week.  It’s honestly silly to even compare the two.  However, there is a bit of cultural poignancy that can be found in all of the uproar as to whether or not Jay or Conan should be the figurehead at the historic show.  If the Facebook networking and rallies yesterday are any indication, the lines are pretty clearly drawn between two separate generations that are both coming to terms with changing media.

As of this morning, the I’m With CoCo Facebook group is getting close to having 400,000 members.  Granted, internet advocacy has to be taken very lightheartedly as all it typically takes to “protest” is a few mouse clicks taken from your comfortable office chair.  Which is usually the case with most online movements, but the I’m With CoCo rallies spilled out in big numbers into the streets of NYC and LA yesterday.  Perhaps it is a little embarrassing that it takes the nasty removal of a late night hero to spark spirited protest in the street, but it does go to show that the slacker generation does take certain things seriously and are willing to go outside and fight for them.

Conan did a comedy bit on Monday’s Tonight Show that showed a fake pro-NBC protest down the street that had only a few tumbleweeds and a jackass uncoincidentally strolling by.  This actually rings a little true.  Where are the pro-Jay rallies?  Perhaps they could only really happen if nursing home orderlies let their residents out to do it.  NBC is gambling that even though that crowd isn’t as vocal, they’ll be more attentive to sponsors of a Tonight Show that sways their way.  Siding with Jay is a pretty clear stance, it’s also siding with this older generation who kept The Tonight Show numbers up until they realized Conan’s humor was too juvenile for them and they switched to Letterman.

It’s no wonder that in the day of Hulu that there are a lot of grey areas in all of the discussion points surrounding the debate.  NBC is taking a big risk by backing the comedian that is the figurehead of the generation they’re accustomed to instead of going the one that’s a hero to the crowd slipping away from them.  There’s a lot of money involved for comedians who are already overly compensated in all of this, but there’s also that fascinating back and forth between generations under the surface.  It may take a year or so to really evaluate how NBC’s gamble is going to pay off, but those silent yet apparently ad consuming Baby Boomers won’t exactly be around forever.

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