Leno / Conan / NBC / etc.

[The High Heat]

Fergussen's show is absolutely fantastic. At first I just associated him with the Drew Carry character and never gave his late night spot much thought (I really didnt expect it to last). But after catching a couple episodes and starting to watch, I've walked away impressed. What he's doing really feels unique, and he really seems to thrive in the show's intimate setting. I especially like the quirky little "pre monologue" he does before the formal introductions.

In the current late night crowd, Ferguson is hands down the best. The "pre-monologue" became necessary when CBS decided a commercial break three minutes into the show is what viewers want (according to Craig and his chagrin). Before that he used to do a ten minute stand-up routine every night. Most of it was self-effacing, topical and tightly wound, which made it fantastic. His monologues are still very good, but CBS made him cut it in half.

 

I used to love Letterman, but he has gotten stale. Leno was funny when he was on once or twice a week twenty years ago. I don't bother with Kimmel and especially Fallon.

 

I do think that all of them are at their best when interacting with regular people in an unscripted segment. When they are allowed to display their natural wit, we remember how they got there to start with. Unfortunately they all develop routines they find difficult to let go of when they have success with it.

[Analogman]

Leno anticipates return to 11:30, lauds O'Brien

 

By LYNN ELBER, AP Television Writer Tue Jan 19, 3:21 AM PST

 

Jay Leno turned serious on his show to discuss the late-night chaos at NBC, telling viewers that he'd been doubtful about launching a prime-time show but was prevented by NBC from going to another network instead.

 

Leno, in explaining events from his standpoint, also said Monday that he had told NBC he'd return to the "Tonight" slot only after Conan O'Brien rejected the network's plan to put both men on in late night.

 

NBC continued negotiations Monday on an exit deal with O'Brien that would clear the way for Leno to reclaim the 11:35 p.m. EST slot occupied by "Tonight," which he hosted for 17 years before turning it over to O'Brien last spring.

 

The network is ending its prime-time experiment, "The Jay Leno Show," because of low ratings and affiliate station complaints.

 

When NBC told him they wanted to end his new show, Leno told viewers Monday, he asked to be released from his contract.

 

"`No, you're still a valuable asset to this company,'" he said the network told him. His reply: "How valuable can I be? You fired me twice."

 

That was a reference to NBC's decision six years ago to ask him to eventually make way for O'Brien to take over "Tonight," which Leno kept atop the ratings until he left.

 

He and O'Brien have traded increasingly edgy monologue jokes as NBC tries to extricate itself from its scheduling mess, but Leno told viewers his attitude toward his colleague is unchanged.

 

"Through all of this, Conan O'Brien has been a gentleman. He's a good guy, I have no animosity toward him. This is all business," Leno said. "You know, folks, if you don't get the ratings, they take you off the air."

 

Neither of them was a ratings winner, he said, either with "The Jay Leno Show" at 10 p.m. EST or O'Brien's "Tonight."

 

O'Brien did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday night.

 

Leno gave his audience a history lesson, or what alternately might have seemed a skillfully timed effort to repair any damage to Leno's trademark heart-of-gold image before the deal is made official, as soon as Tuesday.

 

In his recitation, Leno opened with an NBC executive telling him in 2004 that he would have to surrender "Tonight" to O'Brien to keep the gangly, redheaded host of "Late Night" from going to a competitor.

 

"I said, `Well, I've been No. 1 for 12 years.' They said, `We know that. We don't think you can sustain it,'" Leno recounted the executive telling him. He joked that he asked if he could at least wait until his show fell to No. 2, but agreed to the hand-over plan.

 

"Don't blame Conan O'Brien. Nice guy, good family guy, great guy. He and I have talked, and not a problem since then," Leno said.

 

He told NBC he would retire "`just to avoid what happened the last time,'" he recounted with a chuckle.

 

What's happening now at NBC turned out to be reminiscent of the contest between Leno and David Letterman to win "Tonight" after Johnny Carson's retirement and NBC's similar dithering at the time.

 

With a plan in place for Leno to leave "Tonight" in May 2009, before his NBC contract ended, he would be prevented from starting at another network for at least a year, Leno said. He asked to be freed but NBC refused, instead suggesting that Leno could do well with a prime-time show that the network acknowledged would get "killed" against first-run episodes of shows like CBS' "CSI" but could get traction against summer reruns.

 

Leno said he agreed, in part, because it would allow him to keep his staff of about 175 people working. But the network's plan for patience was unraveled by affiliates, who said his low ratings were sinking their local late newscasts, which the show precedes.

 

O'Brien had his own ratings woes, which Leno said — pointedly — started in summer before they could be blamed on Leno's poor prime-time performance.

 

"Tonight" with O'Brien is drawing about half of the roughly 5 million viewers Leno attracted as its host, although O'Brien has gotten a significant ratings bump since the network flap started.

 

When NBC suggested a half-hour show, Leno told the network he wasn't crazy about doing it but said OK. He asked if O'Brien would agree to be moved to midnight and was told yes — it was almost guaranteed.

 

Leno may have been restrained with his comments, but he couldn't resist a hard-edged joke at NBC's expense.

 

"CBS is now developing a new sitcom about the troubles here at NBC," he said. "It's called `Two Men and a Half-Assed Network.'"

 

O'Brien let loose on his show Monday, too.

 

"Last night at the Golden Globes, Julia Roberts said that NBC was in the toilet. NBC was upset and toilets were furious," he said.

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

 

 

This picture keeps stopping me down...is it a picture of somebody I know, is it a non-sequitir,or an inside joke?

[cryptique]

While I acknowledge the possibility that Leno's account may be entirely accurate, I'm sensing some serious spin there.

[caliber66]

This picture keeps stopping me down...is it a picture of somebody I know, is it a non-sequitir,or an inside joke?

It is an implication that Mr. 1313 is fishing for an argument.

[Atticus]

O'Brien had his own ratings woes, which Leno said — pointedly — started in summer before they could be blamed on Leno's poor prime-time performance.

 

O'Brien's first Tonight show episode aired June 1, 2009. Leno started his 10 p.m. show on September 14th. 3 and a half months (in the summer no less) to garner an audience for a new version of the Tonight Show? that's ridiculous.

 

When NBC suggested a half-hour show, Leno told the network he wasn't crazy about doing it but said OK. He asked if O'Brien would agree to be moved to midnight and was told yes — it was almost guaranteed.

 

hmm

[OOO]

ToSho's a No-Go for CoCo

[Guest Speed Racer]

Leno is either stupid, or downright arrogant to think we're dumb enough to believe his explanation that he thought Conan would be okay with the time change.

[Atticus]

Leno is either stupid, or downright arrogant to think we're dumb enough to believe his explanation that he thought Conan would be okay with the time change.

 

you're forgetting that Leno played no part in this--that he was just another hapless pawn in the NBC machine

 

[Analogman]

From TMZ

 

Conan O'Brien Scores $32.5 Mil from NBC

 

Posted Jan 19th 2010 9:35AM by TMZ Staff

 

O'Brien is losing "The Tonight Show" but he'll be getting a $32.5 million consolation prize courtesy of NBC ... sources tell TMZ.

 

In return, we've learned Conan has agreed to sit on the bench until September. Translation -- he can't host another show until the fall.

 

In addition to the $32.5 mil, we've learned NBC is also paying severance to Conan's "Tonight Show" employees. In all, we're told NBC's payout is around $40 million.

 

But Conan probably won't see close to the $32.5 mil. Under the deal, any money Conan makes during the remaining contract period with NBC will offset the network's obligation. So, if Fox were to make a deal with Conan and pay him $25 mil during the NBC contract period, Conan would only score $7.5 mil from NBC.

 

One well-placed NBC source told us something surprising -- looks like NBC may keep its intellectual property rights. So Conan can't take his creations -- such as Triumph the Insult Comic Dog and the Masturbating Bear -- to his next gig.

 

We're told the Conan/NBC deal still isn't completely done, but it's very close.

[jakobnicholas]

Assuming Conan gets a show on Fox, I'm beginning to wonder...

 

Is there any downside to this NBC fiasco for Conan and his staff?

 

Originally, it seemed humiliating for Conan. But with Leno and NBC getting piled on by critics and media outlets and celebrities, Conan is smelling like a rose. His ratings took a pounding against Letterman, but nobody seems to care about that. People feel bad for Conan. People love Conan.....I'm convinced many young people who hardly ever watched him are now wearing Conan shirts and signing up on Team Coco sites.

 

 

Conan and his staff will get paid the same (or more). Conan, on Fox, won't feel like he has to keep his show reigned in a little bit to keep the typical Tonight Show audience. Fox is beating NBC, so promos should work better. Fox will hype the hell out of his show, and this blow-up with NBC gave Conan TONS of publicity and he'll surely garner gigantic ratings the first week of whatever his next show is.

[bleedorange]

Assuming Conan gets a show on Fox, I'm beginning to wonder...

 

Is there any downside to this NBC fiasco for Conan and his staff?

 

Originally, it seemed humiliating for Conan. But with Leno and NBC getting piled on by critics and media outlets and celebrities, Conan is smelling like a rose. His ratings took a pounding against Letterman, but nobody seems to care about that. People feel bad for Conan. People love Conan.....I'm convinced many young people who hardly ever watched him are now wearing Conan shirts and signing up on Team Coco sites.

 

 

Conan and his staff will get paid the same (or more). Conan, on Fox, won't feel like he has to keep his show reigned in a little bit to keep the typical Tonight Show audience. Fox is beating NBC, so promos should work better. Fox will hype the hell out of his show, and this blow-up with NBC gave Conan TONS of publicity and he'll surely garner gigantic ratings the first week of whatever his next show is.

 

The only thing about Fox is no prime time programming at 10 EST. Will it start earlier than the other shows? Can it survive that kind of lead-in?

[MattZ]

Assuming Conan gets a show on Fox, I'm beginning to wonder...

 

Is there any downside to this NBC fiasco for Conan and his staff?

 

Conan wants to host the Tonight Show. There's your downside. It's really that simple. It was also that simple 7 pages ago.

[Shakespeare In The Alley]

Assuming Conan gets a show on Fox, I'm beginning to wonder...

 

Is there any downside to this NBC fiasco for Conan and his staff?

 

Originally, it seemed humiliating for Conan. But with Leno and NBC getting piled on by critics and media outlets and celebrities, Conan is smelling like a rose. His ratings took a pounding against Letterman, but nobody seems to care about that. People feel bad for Conan. People love Conan.....I'm convinced many young people who hardly ever watched him are now wearing Conan shirts and signing up on Team Coco sites.

 

 

Conan and his staff will get paid the same (or more). Conan, on Fox, won't feel like he has to keep his show reigned in a little bit to keep the typical Tonight Show audience. Fox is beating NBC, so promos should work better. Fox will hype the hell out of his show, and this blow-up with NBC gave Conan TONS of publicity and he'll surely garner gigantic ratings the first week of whatever his next show is.

Besides the fact that Conan isn't hosting his dream show anymore, he's supposedly losing all of the characters and sketches he created while at NBC. He'll probably find a way around that, but word is NBC is retaining rights to stuff like the Masturbating Bear under an Intellectual Property law.

[Sir Stewart]

They did that to Letterman too. I imagine any network would do this, but we only seem to see late night hosts leaving NBC under less-than-ideal circumstances.

[Shakespeare In The Alley]

I think Conan is a smart enough comedian/writer that he'll find a way to keep using those characters, despite NBC technically retaining the rights to them. I mean, all he has to do is change the name slightly. Instead of a masturbating bear, it's a masturbating gorilla. Stuff like that.

 

Same with any potential "don't badmouth NBC" clause. I have no faith that Conan will refrain from referencing NBC after this is all settled. Nor should he. They fucked up in a big way. I hope Conan gets a show on Fox at 11:35, and gets the time needed to build the audience he's well capable of.

[isadorah]

thinking about the math of this. they are paying Conan (and staff) 40 million to go away. they originally created the 10pm Leno show to avoid forking out 3million a season for a drama. so essentially, the original decision to give Leno a show instead of sending him away has now cost the network 40 million plus the cost to put a show in the 10pm slot and whatever they are still paying Leno. seems like they would have been better of paying the 3 million for a drama, for approximately 6 season than the blunder they just made.

[Atticus]

thinking about the math of this. they are paying Conan (and staff) 40 million to go away. they originally created the 10pm Leno show to avoid forking out 3million a season for a drama. so essentially, the original decision to give Leno a show instead of sending him away has now cost the network 40 million plus the cost to put a show in the 10pm slot and whatever they are still paying Leno. seems like they would have been better of paying the 3 million for a drama, for approximately 6 season than the blunder they just made.

 

not to mention the legal and other incidental costs of a clusterfuck of this size

[Shakespeare In The Alley]

The damage to NBC's reputation is another couple million dollars worth.

[tugmoose]

The biggest joke here is that NBC, which was looking so long term that they thought they could program 6 years in advance, goes the complete opposite direction in being knee jerk with both Leno and Conan in their new slots. If I were Jay I'd just walk and leave NBC with dick. But I'm not Jay.

[kidsmoke]

His show really does seem more personal. He just seems like a great guy, who knows he doesn't always have to go out there and tell jokes. I think he's hilarious when he does joke around, but listening to him when he feels he needs to talk about things is wonderful too. Last night he talked about how sick of this stuff he is, especially given what's going on in Haiti. For lack of a better phrase, the dude keeps it real.

 

I'm a huge fan of Craig Ferguson, whether in his comedic role being cute and silly, or speaking seriously. He's quite a bright guy, very fast on his feet in interview segments, and always interesting. Since I'm an admirer of his quick mind, I recently read his first book, which is fiction, called "Between the Bridge and the River". Of course I hoped to like the book because I like Ferguson, but I didn't expect it to be as brilliant as it was! It's a great, very funny, convoluted tale that intertwines the lives of several characters like a grand train wreck of ambitions and motivations. One of the main characters is Frank Sinatra's bastard son, though he doesn't know it.

 

As for train wrecks, I think NBC is right smack in the middle of one, and will come to regret the decisions they're making. I've got nothing against Leno, particularly, but losing Conan is a HUGE mistake, I think.

[u2roolz]

Irony: MA boy Jay Leno gets pre-empted by MA Senatorial Race coverage on local NBC affiliate.

LOL.

It'd be even better if the coverage goes on until Jimmy Fallon is supposed to be on, since Conan is also obviously from MA too.

[GtrPlyr]

thinking about the math of this. they are paying Conan (and staff) 40 million to go away. they originally created the 10pm Leno show to avoid forking out 3million a season for a drama.

The average hour long drama costs 2-3 million to produce per episode, so they'd roughly be looking at 44-66 million per season. Of course all that money they would have saved went out the window this week.

[tugmoose]

At least they still have the NHL.

 

 

That's sarcasm, btw.

[The High Heat]

I'm a huge fan of Craig Ferguson, whether in his comedic role being cute and silly, or speaking seriously. He's quite a bright guy, very fast on his feet in interview segments, and always interesting. Since I'm an admirer of his quick mind, I recently read his first book, which is fiction, called "Between the Bridge and the River". Of course I hoped to like the book because I like Ferguson, but I didn't expect it to be as brilliant as it was! It's a great, very funny, convoluted tale that intertwines the lives of several characters like a grand train wreck of ambitions and motivations. One of the main characters is Frank Sinatra's bastard son, though he doesn't know it.

I, too, read Ferguson's novel and was very impressed with it. His writing skill obviously improved as the book went on. I have often recommended it to people, including a couple of times here on VC. He has also written a screenplay and an autobiography.

 

The man has depth.