NBC Trying to Screw Conan and the Tonight Show

[bluedogok]

So the affiliates are upset because Leno is a bad lead in to their newscast, and poor news ratings make for poor tonight show ratings. NBC knew it was a gamble when they gave Leno the new timeslot, and they lost. Now they're chasing their losses which is something a gambler should never do.

They oughta just cut Leno's show to one night a week, and change the format to an american version of Top Gear.

There was an announcement of an Top Gear USA show a year or so ago with Adam Carolla as one of the hosts. Here is an article about it: Popular Mechanics - First Adam Carolla Top Gear Q&A: Exclusive Specs on NBC Show. Now that they have the original Top Gear on BBC America, I will watch it, the new season starts this month.

I don't like Conan's show, never have but I don't blame him for telling them to stick it, I do think that the show changed too much when it moved time slots and cities, it seems to me to have lost the "edge" that he had in the later NYC time slot.

This is majority the fault of NBC brass, they screwed Leno over first with the original deadline for the Conan transition that they used to entice Conan to not jump ship to some other network. Then NBC panicked when the baby was due, I think there was a huge termination clause on Conan's contract if he didn't get the Tonight Show gig and they were afraid of Jay jumping to ABC and kicking their rear in ratings (not that it would have happened, just what they were afraid of) and advertisers following Jay to ABC. I have read some stuff about it and it seems that Zucker prefers the "easy solution" every time and will just deal will the fallout later. NBC screwed up the original transition when Carson wanted Letterman to replace him, screwed Jay over when they gave Conan a deadline and screwed Conan over in this latest debacle....seems the only constant is NBC screwing someone over.

We grew up on Carson (I am 46, my wife is 44), he is still the de facto standard for that type of show. We have always switched between Leno/Letterman so when it happened we just moved to Letterman, I still think Craig Ferguson is better than all of them.

Daily Finance - How Conan Pays the Price for NBC Chief's Lack of Vision

[OKCisOK4me]

I think Jimmy Fallon is funny as hell--especially when he writes his Thank You notes, lol. He hasn't said anything about Leno or Conan so I think he's content with whatever time slot he receives...

[metro]

I think the bigger problem is too many people getting upset over has been NBC.

[plmccordj]

Am I the only one that thinks this whole Jay Leno/Conan O'Brien story is fabricated to get ratings? I mean... Watch hulu.com and you will find 20+ videos of both of them making jokes about how NBC is screwing them. On the bottom of each of those videos it has a copyright NBC on them.

This thing just seems too convenient for me.

[TaoMaas]

Am I the only one that thinks this whole Jay Leno/Conan O'Brien story is fabricated to get ratings? I mean... Watch hulu.com and you will find 20+ videos of both of them making jokes about how NBC is screwing them. On the bottom of each of those videos it has a copyright NBC on them.

This thing just seems too convenient for me.

It's not fabricated. The reason Jay and Conan are laughing is because neither of them will really get hurt too badly regardless of how this turns out. If you or I were to lose our jobs, it would be no laughing matter. But if our bosses said, "We have to let you go, but here's 45 million dollars to help tide you over", I suspect we, too, would be able to laugh about it.

[nik4411]

for me the whole thing has made for some funny jokes, coming from both conan and jay.

[duckman]

Am I the only one that thinks this whole Jay Leno/Conan O'Brien story is fabricated to get ratings? I mean... Watch hulu.com and you will find 20+ videos of both of them making jokes about how NBC is screwing them. On the bottom of each of those videos it has a copyright NBC on them.

This thing just seems too convenient for me.

I too wondered why NBC would allow videos that are detrimental to their reputation not only be posted to their website, but websites across the globe. Clearly there are issues at management.

[windowphobe]

The Simpsons have been making fun of Fox since day one.

[Matt]

[Bunty]

I think Jimmy Fallon is funny as hell--especially when he writes his Thank You notes, lol. He hasn't said anything about Leno or Conan so I think he's content with whatever time slot he receives...

I have my hands full trying to keep up with Leno, Letterman and Conan on DVR than to try to find out what Ferguson and Fallon are about and then there is Carson Daly and so on.

[oneforone]

I have my hands full trying to keep up with Leno, Letterman and Conan on DVR than to try to find out what Ferguson and Fallon are about and then there is Carson Daly and so on.

Carson's the guy that is on when you wake up after falling asleep during Jimmy Fallon. You then ask yourself, is that the guy from TRL...... Wow... I need to get bed

[metro]

ratings folks, ratings

[kevinpate]

considering the buyout tab, might of been cheaper to hire on better guests and run more ads. maybe not.

[Dustin]

OOO!! Its getting steamy!

[dismayed]

Best late nite shows....

1. The Daily Show With John Stewart (COM)
2. The Cobert Report (COM)
3. The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson (CBS)
4. The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien (NBC)
5. The Late Show With David Letterman (CBS)

6. Virtually everything else, including Oprah reruns.

99. Jay Leno

[SoonerBent]

NBC could have thier way with me for $33 million.

[OKCisOK4me]

Best late nite shows....

1. The Daily Show With John Stewart (COM)
2. The Cobert Report (COM)
3. The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson (CBS)
4. The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien (NBC)
5. The Late Show With David Letterman (CBS)

6. Virtually everything else, including Oprah reruns.

99. Jay Leno

If I had a top 100, Leno wouldn't even make that now...

[rcjunkie]

If I had a top 100, Leno wouldn't even make that now...

Maybe not on your list, but within a few short months, he'll be back on top.

[kevinpate]

Maybe not on your list, but within a few short months, he'll be back on top.

Not my main one to watch, but I suspect it'll be less than a few months.
Now that he's once again not up against 'crime solvers are us' every night, he'll do as well as before.

[Dustin]

I think Jimmy Fallon is funny as hell

Does he write his own monologue? If not, he needs new writers because I dont find him funny at all.

[ShiroiHikari]

I'm 26 and I'm with Coco. I have been ever since I first caught his show one summer night back in like 1998.

Did anyone watch his final episode of the Tonight Show? He said some really admirable things in his "farewell" speech. To sum it up, he said, work hard, be kind, and don't be cynical.

In my opinion, Jay Leno just made himself look even worse on Oprah today. The damage has been done.

[dismayed]

I think he's damaged goods now. It'll be interesting to see if he can sustain the ratings he did before.

[oneforone]

I am just glad the whole mess is over and done. I was tired of hearing about it. This was just another flavor of the week press scandal. I would not be the least suprised if this was all scripted as a publicity stunt. They could have very easily made the change with little or no press coverage of it.

By this summer people will have long forgotten about this and moved on with their lives. Worst case scenario, Conan has a comfy retirement and he can go back to writing or doing a stand up tour just for the hell of it.

[circled9]

OK Let me weigh in. I have been watching one form or another of a tonight show since Jack Parr. The bottom line is that I watch the monologue with the ol lady, give her the big tv to watch whatever she wants and I go downstairs to watch espn. Unless there is a good music act (which you know isnt going to come on until eight minutes before the show ends) or an interview that you just cant miss, the rest of the show is pretty boring.

Of all those I have seen host the Tonight Show or whatever the other networks call their shows Johnny Carson, Jay Leno and sometimes Steve Allen have all had the best monologues. You can disagree if you want but let me continue so I can make my point.

I dont mind watching the local news, catch the monologue and then either go to bed or watch sports but seldom am i going to leave whatever I am doing at 9pm to watch a ten minute monologue. Therefore the ol lady watches whatever she is going to watch and I will go upstairs when whatever i am watching on espn is over. Also i do not believe that I am the exception. Probably none of the late night guys could hold an audience big enough to keep their ratings up for the entire hour that early during the evening five nights each week.

If i am right, NBC made the right decision to cut their losses and give Jay a half hour right after the news although I probably would have made it twenty minutes. After Jay finished his twenty minutes, he could pass things over to Conan who could do his deal, do some stupid skits, interview some boring people and have a musical act.

By the way, although I didnt think the format would work here, I did think that it may have worked on the coasts where all of the shows are an hour later. I lived on both coasts and would have stayed up until 10:15 to watch a funny monologue before going to bed so I could deal with the morning commute. However, with the Tonight Show starting at 11:30, I would seldom watch it. Of course, I guess Conan had visions of his show coming on at 1AM on the coasts which could explain his reason for bolting.

No need to agree or disagree. Just trying to put some logic into what the networks decision making process may have been.

[TaoMaas]

If I am right, NBC made the right decision to cut their losses and give Jay a half hour right after the news although I probably would have made it twenty minutes. After Jay finished his twenty minutes, he could pass things over to Conan who could do his deal, do some stupid skits, interview some boring people and have a musical act.

I agree with you. Leno's show was poison at 9pm, and if NBC hadn't tried to throw Leno a bone, mostly likely he would have tried to bolt to another network. But, NBC was aware that if they couldn't placate Conan, he might bolt, too. So then the decision for NBC becomes, "If one of these guys were to leave, who would you rather compete against? The guy who has proven that he can beat Letterman or the guy who hasn't?" The safe bet is Leno. Don't feel sorry for Conan. He was given a shot at the "Holy Grail" of talk shows. And it was his choice not to continue in that role...not NBC's. Conan's pride is the only thing that's keeping him from continuing as the host of The Tonight Show. NBC didn't fire him...he quit. So...now he has his pride...but no show. And any show he might host from here on out will NOT come with the most coveted title in tv. But, hey...that was his choice.