Conan O’Brien Takes A Cheap Shot At Idaho In New Netflix Comedy
Whenever I get the email from Netflix announcing their lineup for the month, I always get excited. I geek out on watching their new original movies and series. Some of them are amazing, others not so much. It doesn't matter. I watch them anyway! When I saw the premise for Murderland, I had high hopes. Will Arnet plays a homicide detective. There is a guest star in each episode who doesn't have a script. They are forced to improv their way through the show while everyone else is scripted. After investigating the crime, the guest has to determine the killer.
In the first episode of the show, titled "The Magician's Assistant," Conan O'Brien is the celebrity detective. He was told to give a fake identity while undercover at a "Moms Against Magic Association" meeting. When asked where he was from, he was told to use a state where "nobody lives." He answered, "Idaho." He went on to incorrectly identify the state fish of Idaho as the White Bellied Cod when we all know that it's a Cutthroat Trout.
Does Conan O'Brien really think that no one lives in Idaho? An estimated 1.9 million people live in Idaho. That may be a fraction of the 18 million people that make up the greater Los Angeles area, but it's still a significant number.
Why would Conan think of Idaho as a state where no one lives when twelve states and the District of Columbia have fewer residents? Wyoming, Vermont, Alaska, North and South Dakota, Delaware, Rhode Island, Montana, Maine, New Hampshire, Hawaii, and West Virginia would have been better options.
Perhaps Conan's Harvard education failed him. Maybe his Hollywood friends that have bought homes and property here don't want him to be a part of the Californian exodus to Idaho. Or perhaps he plans to become a part of the exodus and doesn't want anyone else following. For that, maybe we should be grateful.