Tarek Fahmy: Cultural Critic

Conan O'brien

Conan O’Brien’s popularity was based on one important ingredient; he wasn’t a run of the mill host. He was ‘different,’ goofy, and original and his time slot during his impressive ‘Late Night with Conan O’Brien’ run had a lot do with that.

The show started at 12:37AM and appealed to a segment of the population that was still awake (and stoned), expected weirdness, originality, and shock value (college kids, out of work folks, ‘weirdos’, and creatives).

After his move to replace the Doritoes guy (Leno), his time slot went back almost an hour. His show now started at 11:34 instead and with that comes a whole different market and a whole different sensibility. His main audience drastically changed. He had to adapt his schtick to Middle America in a sense and, to me, he lost that seeming ‘anti-Carson-Doritoes Guy’ image. As a result, his show became stale and Andy Richter’s presence (the Ed McMahon formula) did not really help at all!

O’brien was no longer Conan the ‘anti-host’ (Ala anti-hero). Self effacing and depracating humor no longer played a major role in his monologues. It did back in the day consistently as I recall. So did his complaints about his low budget etc. That was what appealed to me originally and NBC as well.

As a result of the ratings failure NBC decided to try to capture some of that ‘Late Night with Conan O’Brien’ magic and move the show to a 12:05 slot. Too late NBC. That did not work and this marriage with O’brien was doomed to fail from the start. My 2 cents.

Since June of 2009 I have made a concerted effort to change my lifestyle. I quit smoking cigarettes and started to change my diet. Simply put, I stopped eating processed food like Gyro, hot dogs, cold cuts (Sopressata, sausage) pizza, etc. I started to eat natural unprocessed lean proteins like fish (wide variety) and chicken, white meat only. I also increased my vegetable intake and made sure to eat veggies during breakfast (in my eggs), during lunch (on my tuna fish or turkey sandwich), and during dinner with a huge delicious salad.

I also cut egg yolks. For me it made sense since my cholesterol was high and I needed to cut my fat intake. The egg yolk is filled with goodness and also filled with fat and cholesterol. If you are in shape and your cholesterol is low go ahead and eat them. For me, eating one egg yolk with 3 whites for breakfast has done me wonders.

My meals also increased from 2-3 a a day to 4-6 small ones a day. It feals like I am always eating but never stuff my face sort of speak. The majority of my meals do not exceed 350-400 calories. My dinner is double that easily.

Finally, I am more physically active. I go to the gym consistently and play sports at every opportunity. I led a ‘processed’ life for 17+ years and had to make a change. I hope this could help you as well. I’ve shed close to 40 pounds and feel more energetic and more creative then ever.

Good luck and happy new year.