Late night mess at NBC... Latest: Conan's new show (reply #250)

[Invader3K]

Leno's trying to spin this like NBC is the evil mastermind behind it all, so he doesn't look like too much of a dirt bag when Conan inevitably leaves the network.

[Gobias Industries]

Rumor has it that Howard Stern might be one of Conan's last guests. That would be awesome, as he's probably the biggest Jay Leno hater of anyone.

[I Heart Brewers]

He talked about it on the show last week but the problem is getting him on a plane to LA. He also heard rumors that Letterman and Conan were going to do each others shows which might give his Jay bashing appearance less teeth. Either way I'm sure there is a huge audience that would love to see it, including me.

 

Did anyone hear Leno's assessment of the situation on his show? I heard a clip and it just sounded like he wasn't being honest. Just say you didn't want to be moved and that you wanted your time slot back Jay. This everyman schtick is getting old.

[adamb100]

Leno addressed the issue seriously on his show last night.

 

When Leno heard that his show was getting the axe he asked to be released from his contract.

Leno agreed to take back the tonight show only after Conan declined to host @ 12:05

Leno also said an announcement may be out today ending this saga of events.

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34930548/ns/entertainment-television/

[RyDogg66]

I am not a Leno fan, I prefer Conan first, Letterman next. That being said, it seems to me that everything he said last night is/was true and is consistent with NBC wanting its cake and eating it too.

[Bankjob]

This whole mess is just so frustrating. If any of the rumors about Conan being not able to go to another network for 1-3.5 years I will be very upset. My grandmother, god bless her soul, loved Jay before she passed away. However even my 50 something parents cannot stand Jay. Can't they just air Jay at 1pm after the soaps before Oprah and let Conan keep his spot. That would make everybodys fans happy.

 

I do have little to no faith in NBC to make a solid diecision though. They are the Carlos Zambrano of networks. Million dollar talent in it shows and ten cent head in its decision making.

[nodakfan17]

Please vote for Conan to become the next morning radio show sidekick on Y-94 in Fargo, North Dakota!

 

http://www.tonightshowwithconanobrien.com/insider/2010/01/18/whats-next-for-coco/

[BrewCrewForever]

Rumor has it that Howard Stern might be one of Conan's last guests. That would be awesome, as he's probably the biggest Jay Leno hater of anyone.

I hope so that would be awesome, Stern warned Conan back in 2006 that this might happen. He never trusted Leno.

[Patrick425]

Well, look's like the settlement is final:

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100121/ap_en_ot/us_tv_leno_o_brien

 

I hope Conan gets to take his theme song with him. I always liked that lead in to the show.

 

I wonder what they will show in that time slot until March 1st? I think it would be great if they showed old classic tonight show reruns with Johnny Carson.

[owbc]

I wonder what they will show in that time slot until March 1st?

The Olympics take up most of February.

 

I have really been enjoying the Tonight Show this week. Conan and Adam Sandler both took some great shots at NBC last night.

[pretendastronaut]

Ya, Conan has been going after NBC, but last night he was really sticking it to them. It seemed pretty solid everything was final last night. These next two nights should really be something.

[thebruce44]

I was cracking up when they came back from the break and were playing Led Zeppelin. Conan had a great line about how it costs NBC a ton everytime they play Zeppelin.

[GAME05]

pretty sweet that each staff member is going to get a $600,000 severance package, plus Conan kicking in some of his own money, too. that's some class.

 

 

Wherever Conan goes, I sure hope Andy Richter goes along with.

[berniebrewer4life]

Wherever Conan goes, I sure hope Andy Richter goes along with.

I agree. Andy made conan really funny back in the day. Glad to see he is back.

[Patrick425]

I wonder what they will show in that time slot until March 1st?

The Olympics take up most of February.

 

I have really been enjoying the Tonight Show this week. Conan and Adam Sandler both took some great shots at NBC last night.

I guess I was under the impression that before all of this started, that the plan was to show Olympic highlights until 10:45 and then start the tonight show (like they have done in the past with U.S. Open Tennis and Golf events). But, considering the Olympics are on the west coast, I guess it would make sense that full coverage would continue after prime time.

[Invader3K]

Any idea yet on where Conan will end up? The FOX speculation seems to have cooled somewhat, and Comedy Central seems like a pipe dream. ABC reportedly isn't interested. Very curious to see what he ends up doing.

[TooLiveBrew]

Wherever Conan goes, I sure hope Andy Richter goes along with.

I agree. Andy made conan really funny back in the day. Glad to see he is back.

The bit Richter had last week, addressed to "TV" about all the money he'd spent, & how he's been there for TV when TV needed him... was just hilarious.

[chuckiehacks]

pretty sweet that each staff member is going to get a $600,000 severance package, plus Conan kicking in some of his own money, too. that's some class.

.

Isn't it $60,000 per staff member? $12,000,000 split between 200 staff members? Still a nice deal.

[dadofandrew]

I've said it before, I don't think there's anywhere for Conan except Fox...and that's not much of an option, as many local stations would not carry him until later...they depend on that 10/11 slot for local ads, as they carry Seinfeld and such, which often finish 2nd, right behind the top local newscast.

 

Other than out of the box thoughts like HBO or TBS/USA, I don't see much of a shot for him for now.

[TooLiveBrew]

Fox, HBO, TBS, USA... wherever he winds up, imo Conan is going to pull strong ratings with a new show. I actually really like the idea of him on HBO -- Late Night... was always really creative & atypical, and HBO would really allow him to keep that style going strong.

 

My dream scenario, I have to admit, is Conan getting the 11:35p ET timeslot & just murdering The Tonight Show... though with Letterman that would be a bit complicated.

[AJAY]

I personally think Conan should have accepted NBC's offer to return to his old time slot. If he gets a new show with FOX or ABC, he will then have to compete with both Leno and Letterman. His ratings were already terrible when he only had to compete with Letterman, and they are sure to be even worse if he has to compete against both.

 

If he does another late night show with another network, I am not sure what kind of lead-in he will get on those other stations. I do think he could beat out Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon, but with NBC, he would have only had to compete against one and not both in all likelihood.

[Invader3K]

It would have ruined his career if he moved back to his old time slot. It would have made him look like a total loser as far as being an entertainer and ratings draw.

[Schlitz001]

Conan took $42 million from the network, got huge ratings and publicity from the whole mess and will be back on another network shortly with the same audience tuning in to see his new show. Agreeing to a later timeslot would have been TERRIBLE for Conan.

[statman0007]

Yeah, this was the best thing that could have happened for Conan. He went from a late night host with a core group of die-hard fans but little mainstream momentum to a household name. They say no publicity is bad publicity, and Conan came out of this one looking like a martyr and hero who "stood up to the man". Whether that's accurate or not doesn't really matter as it's the public perception that matters. Conan's people have said themselves that this is his "Hugh Grant interview" that will make him much more marketable in late night TV.

[1992casey]

If I were Conan, I'd create my own company ala Oprah and sell the show in first run syndication, with the stipulation that the program must be shown at 10:35 CT. I think this tack also would have worked for Leno if he would have found himself in that boat.

 

I agree with Al when he says that FOX doesn't seem to be a great option. One attraction of being a FOX affiliate is that stations have much more control over their programming than those affiliated with NBC, ABC, and CBS, and I think we'd find that many wouldn't want to give up another hour to the network.

 

I'm not sure that FOX affiliates would have the choice to delay the show, though. It seems that I read somewhere that it's in their contracts to carry a FOX late night show at its prescribed time if one ever starts up. I could see something like that causing some affiliates to drop FOX in favor of another network or going independent.

 

I can't blame either Conan or Jay for this mess. I place all the blame on NBC. Handing over the Tonight Show to Conan five years before the fact was dumb. Not recognizing the impact of the new Leno show on local news before the fact was dumb. And the idea of moving the Tonight Show back a half an hour was dumb. As someone said above, all this involves having one's cake and eating it, too. It's impossible to accomplish.

 

The idea of moving the Tonight Show back a half hour might be the worst idea of the bunch, and I'm glad Conan was smart enough to prevent that. For fifty-five years, the Tonight Show has been on after local news (first at 10:15 CT, then 10:30 starting in the 1960s, then 10:35 starting in the 1980s). As a matter of fact, NBC has insisted on the importance of the Tonight Show being on after local news in the past. When Channel 4 wanted to delay it for half an hour back in the 1980s (to show syndicated reruns), NBC said no. Channel 4 dropped the Tonight Show from 1984-88, and it was shown on Channel 18.