Conan v NBC

giddyup

Anyone following this back home? Does anyone carry any of the late night stuff in Ireland these days? Its spawning some great material across all the shows. Quite the fiasco. I hope Conan survives it. I've always been a fan. Nothing against Jay Leno - he's MOTR/bubblegum TV but he kind of got himself into this mess.

Mr E

Yeah I was watching Conan last night (CNBC). He is a genuinely funny guy. Better than Leno any day.

Sounds like they're all being bumped to late night again. Conan isn't happy, and there are rumours of him jumping over to Fox?

Mossy Monk

What is happening? Apart from Leno getting canned I have heard nothing else.

Mr E

A press release on the saga from Conan, in his own inimitable style. Looks like he is staying put after all (assuming he can work out something with NBC), but still not happy with the new scheduling.

Basq

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0KFHhcFiQc

sockpuppets

i love Conan, i hope he doesn't get messed around. Does anyone know how his ratings are compared to Lenos when he was hosting it? It seems to me that Conan would appeal to a more quirky comedy fan, where as Leno was more straight laced.

giddyup

The current NBC proposal is to stick Leno on at 11.35 for 30 minutes and to bump Conan and Jimmy Fallon out by 30 minutes. Conan is not playing ball though. He has stated that he won't do the 12.05 start because it makes a joke of the long tradition of the Tonight Show. He's pretty pissed off because he only had 7 months and he brought a lot of his staff from the East Coast and they could all end up out on their asses.

JP Liz

I hope Conan wins

giddyup

sockpuppets wrote: »

i love Conan, i hope he doesn't get messed around. Does anyone know how his ratings are compared to Lenos when he was hosting it? It seems to me that Conan would appeal to a more quirky comedy fan, where as Leno was more straight laced.

His ratings are definitely down but some of the blame is going to the Leno show which has bombed as a lead-in for local news which was then followed by Conan.

I think given time Conan could have recovered and challenged Letterman....but things are moving much more quickly now.

Mad_Max

So they plan on moving the Tonight show back???

One of if not the biggest NBC is known for and they want to mess with it. Bit thick me thinks.

Linku

Leno should just retire, because everyones turned against him over this, even if it probably is more NBC execs pushing for the move than him. He doesn't need the money, in fact, he's gone on record saying he hasn't cashed a cheque from The Tonight Show in years.
The Jay Leno Show was terrible, and the whole reason the deal for Conan to take over was done back in 2004 was to prevent another mess like when Carson retired. Only it's ended up much much worse.

I hope Conan doesn't go to FOX though, all their late night attempts have bombed, and there's already enough late night shows, with none of them getting the kind of ratings they used to.

KlausFlouride

http://www.avclub.com/articles/update-conan-wont-move-with-the-tonight-show-leno,37003/


Couple of links on the page to clips from TS. It's kamikaze stuff, random people hammering NBC. It's mental, this is going on since last Friday, Conan calling them out as liars, morons and scumbags on Live TV....

Mossy Monk

Is it not recorded?

Hrududu

Team Coco all the way. Jay needs to quit NBC to resolve this. I don't care if he retires or not. If he doesnt want to retire, some other network will give him something.

KlausFlouride

Mossy Monk wrote: »

Is it not recorded?

Apologies, thought it went out live.

Linku

Hrududu wrote: »

Team Coco all the way. Jay needs to quit NBC to resolve this. I don't care if he retires or not. If he doesnt want to retire, some other network will give him something.

One of the main reasons they gave him the prime time show in the first place was to stop him going to another network, Leno's Tonight Show regularly beat Letterman.

Also Starring LeVar Burton

NBC is the new Fox... they're f**king up royally, while Fox is managing to get back on track in recent years, with the likes of House and Glee...
What has NBC got going for it these days... Chuck which is only there because the fans fought for it to be brought back - and maybe one or two comedies on a Thursday night... They've really put themselves up sh*t creek...
I prefer Conan to Leno and think the Tonight Show should remain in the slot it has always had... Giving Leno a primetime slot was never a good idea...
NBC's ratings have plumeted in general this year, which meant ABC, CBS and Fox gained ratings - so they're obviously loving the fact NBC have shot themselves in the foot...

Skid

Listening to Conan's monologue from (I think) Tuesday, it sounds like he is on his way out. He said something like 'NBC - now not just screwing up Primetime' Ouch.


Reminds me of the upheaval when Leno and Letterman were at loggerheads over who would succeed Johnny Carson. There was a very good TV movie about it a few years ago, featuring Kathy Bates amongst others.

Linku

SkidMark wrote: »

Reminds me of the upheaval when Leno and Letterman were at loggerheads over who would succeed Johnny Carson. There was a very good TV movie about it a few years ago, featuring Kathy Bates amongst others.

'The Late Shift' - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116835/

Skid

Linku wrote: »

'The Late Shift' - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116835/

That's the one! Well worth a look for anyone interested in the current bust-up.

doubledown

Well, it looks like Jay is heading back to The Tonight Show and Conan is gone!

http://www.tmz.com/2010/01/14/jay-leno-conan-obrien-nbc-the-tonight-show/

GiftGrub100

Just watching Ricky Gervais on Conan at the moment very very funny, they don't give a s??t what happens.

Very sad to see Conan get messed around, hopefully he will get a big contract with another network, have really enjoyed watching his show every night.

Hopefully NBC will leave The Office and 30 Rock alone, I do not think this sort of messing around with schedules is good

grimm2005

this truely sucks. I don't feel sorry for conan as he has been doing what he loves for years and is paid well for it, but when he finally got the tonight show, something he had probably dreamt of getting one day, they screw him over 9months or so later. Not to mention conan is far funnier than leno.

Leno hosted the tonight show for 16/17 years, it was time he handed over the reigns to someone else but at the last minute he decides "actually i don't wanna retire", so out of fear of leaving for another network, they give him another show.

The worst thing about all this is we're probably gonna be stuck with leno again on CNBC :mad:

amacachi

For someone who doesn't really follow American TV could someone provide a list of who's been on which shows/networks?

rubensni

The competition are having a (priceless) field day. Dave Letterman is making some nasty jokes at Leno's expense, doing a few impersonations, etc. but the top prize goes to Jimmy Kimmel who is taking the utter piss - going so far as to shoot his whole show the other night as Leno, complete with wig, novelty chin and some guy to laugh along with his jokes a-la Kevin Eubanks. Here's a clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVR6R4PiEUk

Either way, I feel terrible for Conan. He's one of the funniest men on the planet and doesn't deserve to be screwed around like this. It will all end up in court in the end (O'Brien could be entitled to a $50m payoff if NBC are in breach of the contract) and although he's made a few cutting jokes, he can't actually go for the jugular or NBC might fire him and then he could get nothing.

Linku

amacachi wrote: »

For someone who doesn't really follow American TV could someone provide a list of who's been on which shows/networks?

http://epguides.com/grid/

amacachi

Linku wrote: »

http://epguides.com/grid/

I meant who presents/presented each show.

The Sparrow

K-Ren

It's a pretty bad state of affairs, and I can understand Conan's stance- whatever about the tradition of the Tonight Show, Conan's worked quite a while at 11.45-12 o'clock slot for Late Night, no one wants to go back to do the same thing after being given a new show- except for Jay apparentely! And I always liked Jay, but I think this is detrimental to the institution that the Tonight Show is, and I feel sorry for Conan. After what he went through in the earlier years of Late Night, it's almost a mirror image.

"Remember kids, when you grow up you can do anything you want. As long as Jay Leno doesn't want to do it too."

Skid

Some great clips in this link (below) from tonights shows. Jimmy Kimmel was, bizarrely, a guest on Jay Leno's show (Kimmel has his own talk show on ABC), and he really stuck the knife into Leno.

Best line: (when asked what his favourite prank was) "The best prank I ever pulled was I told a guy that—five years from now—I'm gonna give you my show. And then when the five years came, I gave it to him, and then I took it back almost instantly." Ouch

http://tv.gawker.com/5448615/late-night-drama-gets-an-early-start-with-just-released-leno-bashing-letterman-clip

All the clips are worth watching, but Leno v Kimmell is brilliant.

Oat23

Jay Leno sucks balls, couldn't watch the tonight show while he was on it. I tried many times but he annoys the feck out of me. Conan was terrific, hope he's not out of TV long.

Hank_Jones

The thing is..depending on which network Conan goes to, we might not be able to get his show over here.

KlausFlouride

http://tv.gawker.com/5448615/the-late-night-war-reaches-its-boiling-point-all-the-clips-you-missed?skyline=true&s=i&autoplay=true


The interview between Leno and Kimmel is surreal....

Roar

KlausFlouride wrote: »

http://tv.gawker.com/5448615/the-late-night-war-reaches-its-boiling-point-all-the-clips-you-missed?skyline=true&s=i&autoplay=true


The interview between Leno and Kimmel is surreal....

cheers for that, some very good stuff in there

"did you know, that a baby born on the day we did our very first tonight show... is now a slightly larger baby?"

Dont be at yourself

Letterman > Conan > Leno.

giddyup

amacachi wrote: »

I meant who presents/presented each show.

NBC - Jay starts the ball rolling at 10 pm followed by local news and Conan kicks off at 11.35. He is followed by Jimmy Fallon at 12.35. Carson Daly at 1.35 is not worth mentioning and he does not always do a straight talk show format.

For reference, before the sh1tstorm happened Jay did Conan's slot and Conan did Jimmy's slot (fnarr fnarr).

CBS - The main rivalry was always the 11.35 slot between Jay (replaced by Conan) over on NBC with Letterman on CBS. Letterman is followed by Craig Ferguson to compete with Fallon on NBC.

ABC - Jimmy Kimmel does a midnight show which straddles Conan/Dave and Jimmy/Craig.

FOX - nada

Only other thing I can think of is George Lopez on tbs.

Kimmel is funny but I don't tend to watch him. Conan has always been my favorite. I just like his sense of humour. Letterman is good but he's getting a bit weary I think. I tend to flick between NBC and CBS 11.35-12.35. When I'm on a couch potato buzz I might do the same between Fallon and Ferguson.

My prediction....Conan to disappear for a while and replace Letterman on CBS. He can't be that far away from retirement and it would put a nice arc on the whole thing. If Conan goes to Fox there will be lots of channel hopping going on.

rubensni

Hank_Jones wrote: »

The thing is..depending on which network Conan goes to, we might not be able to get his show over here.

Just use <SNIP>. Everything is up there

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KerranJast

AICN quoting TMZ who say Leno has been offered his old job back on The Tonight Show. I guess Conan is for the high road. If he goes to Fox or ABC, the audience share between himself and Letterman will swamp Leno and NBC will look like prize tits (which they do already). http://www.aintitcool.com/node/43639

ixoy

Why was Leno's 10pm show removed? Poor ratings? If so why is it being moved to a later slot instead of being dumped - contractual obligations? What's replacing it in the 10pm slot given NBC dumped a load of shows (such as "Southland") to catr for Leno?

KerranJast

ixoy wrote: »

Why was Leno's 10pm show removed? Poor ratings? If so why is it being moved to a later slot instead of being dumped - contractual obligations? What's replacing it in the 10pm slot given NBC dumped a load of shows (such as "Southland") to catr for Leno?

- Leno's show was removed at the behest of affiliates who were losing a crapload of ad revenue because it's ratings tanked.
- NBC are choosing Leno over Conan for their own reasons. Maybe they think restoring him to The Tonight Show will get back all the ratings he has lost. I doubt it though. As I said if Conan goes to another channel he'll take a big chunk of his younger audience with him.
- In the 10pm slot NBC are restoring traditional scripted TV programming. Effectively lots of Law & Order :rolleyes: http://www.aintitcool.com/node/43638

grimm2005

Hank_Jones wrote: »

The thing is..depending on which network Conan goes to, we might not be able to get his show over here.

Exactly, i think its a lose lose situation for us. We're almost certainly gonna be stuck with Leno as it seems CNBC only air the tonight show and with conan gone it looks like we're gonna have to get our conan fixes online (when he inevitably goes to another network), unless someone over here picks up the rights (like 3E did with kimmel)

icdg

You'd think NBC would have learnt from the 1992 Carson -> Leno succession debacle. They lost a rising star in David Letterman over it who has now become a major success over on CBS and the Tonight Show's biggest competition. The apparently smooth succession from Leno to O'Brien seemed to suggest they had, but now they have pannicked and now risk losing O'Brien in the same way they lost Letterman.

The thing is that things are not the same as they were when Letterman jumped ship. When he did so NBC was the only network running a late night line up and that was Carson followed by Letterman. Now there are at least five late night talk/comedy sketch shows roughly following the Tonight Show format. Where is there room for O'Brien? Not on ABC, where they've tied themselves to the Nightline format. Definitely not on CBS. What does that leave? Fox? The CW (hardly likely)? Cable?

O'Brien's best bet would be to take the "compromise" deal offered by NBC (Leno at 11:35pm, Tonight at 12:05am) in the knowledge that Leno is probably only a few years away from retirement anyway and that he will eventually get 11:35pm back.

paddyismaddy

Is Conan going to Fox?

OpenYourEyes

Heard rumours about this a week or two ago, only just read this thread now and realised the full extent of it! I always found Leno's Tonight Show watchable, but Conans Late Night/Tonight Show actually funny.And bringing back Andy with Conan was a great move too. Like lot of people here,i hate to see Conan bein messed around

iseegirls

OpenYourEyes wrote: »

And bringing back Andy with Conan was a great move too. Like lot of people here,i hate to see Conan bein messed around

No i disagree with bringing in Andy Richtor, I felt it was more funnier when he used Max Weinberg a bit more. Also there is no need to have Andy on the couch when Conan is interviewing the guests.

Elmo

Did you hear RTÉ are planning their own verison of this where Pat Kenny moves back to the Late Late Show.

Mossy Monk

Hitler hears the news.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOQvsuJ5wIA

But more seriously

Dick Ebersol wrote:

What this is really all about is an astounding failure by Conan

http://www.time.com/time/quotes/0,26174,1953988,00.html

rubensni

Mossy Monk wrote: »

But more seriously

"What this is really all about is an astounding failure by Conan."
- Dick Ebersol, chairman of NBC Universal Sports and a veteran of the network, saying that the reason for Jay Leno's return to NBC's late-night roster was disappointing ratings for Conan O'Brien's Tonight Show.

Not surprising really that he'd say that. It's obvious that the real failure here was the management at NBC, in particular Jeff Zucker who apparently gave Leno the earlier show in the first place and consequently is a dead man walking. He'll take a lot of the management down with him.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-is-jeff-zucker-still-running-nbc-2010-01-15?reflink=MW_news_stmp)

OpenYourEyes

iseegirls wrote: »

No i disagree with bringing in Andy Richtor, I felt it was more funnier when he used Max Weinberg a bit more. Also there is no need to have Andy on the couch when Conan is interviewing the guests.

Alot of the time he just made reference to Max though, with Andy he actually talks and replies. And Andy doesnt really get involved unless he has a decent contribution to make. It gives the writers more options for sketches too.

I thought Andys "plea to the networks" was very funny
http://www.tonightshowwithconanobrien.com/video/clips/andys-letter-011410/1193151

grimm2005

ha, this is ironic:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6115643/ns/entertainment-television/

alpha2zulu

Conans gettting a lot of love on this facebook site,188,000 and growing by the hour. The graphics for the poster pic on it is pretty dam good too! Apparently they are holding their first demo outside the Today show studio at 30 Rock at 7am Monday morning so should be on the Today website for us over here Monday afternoon to have a look.

http://www.facebook.com/imwithcoco