Ending one of the ugliest chapters in NBC’s storied history, the Peacock officially announced today that it has reached an agreement with Conan O’Brien, who has agreed to abdicate his role as the host of The Tonight Show by Jan. 22 in exchange for a large cash payout that sources place at more than $40 million — some of which will go toward severance for his staff — and the promise not to seek employment elsewhere until after Sept. 1. At the same time, Jay Leno, whose failed primetime show was canceled earlier this month, will return to The Tonight Show on March 1, when job one will no doubt be to restore the franchise’s dwindling ratings: O’Brien just ushered in the Tonight Show’s worst November-sweeps performance since 1993 (a staggering 52 percent loss among viewers versus the same month last year). Late Night with Jimmy Fallon will continue at 12:35 a.m.
NBC released this statement today: “NBC and Conan O’Brien have reached a resolution of the issues surrounding O’Brien’s contract to host The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien. Under terms of an agreement that was signed earlier today, NBC and O’Brien will settle their contractual obligations and the network will release O’Brien from his contract, freeing him to pursue other opportunities after Sept. 1, 2010.”
As for Leno’s return to the post that helped him to earn the title of King of Late Night, NBC Entertainment Chairman Jeff Gaspin released this statement: “We’re pleased that Jay is returning to host the franchise that he helmed brilliantly and successfully for many years. He is an enormous talent, a consummate professional and one of the hardest-working performers on TV.”
For at least next week, reruns of The Tonight Show with O’Brien will air.
The announcement marks the end of a nasty negotiation that has captivated the media and late night fans, many of whom rallied to O’Brien’s defense as NBC desperately tried to negotiate a resolution to the brouhaha. As “I’m With Coco” campaigns surfaced on the internet, O’Brien’s resolve only got stronger with the release of his lengthy manifesto about The Tonight Show legacy and how “I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction.” By that time, no one in Hollywood believed that O’Brien would agree to NBC’s request that he agree to host The Tonight Show at 12:05 p.m. behind a half-hour version of The Jay Leno Show at 11:35 p.m. The only questions left were over much money NBC would give O’Brien to leave, and how soon he’d be able to snag a new job once he left NBC.
Ironically, the ongoing tug-a-war reinvigorated the late night landscape, with every host — from O’Brien to David Letterman and Craig Ferguson — weighing in nightly with jabs about mismanagement at NBC.
More on EW.com today:
Adam Sandler, Masturbating Bear on Conan O’Brien
Letterman and Leno insults get personal
Stephen Colbert jokes about smoke signals with Dick Ebersol
So will it just be reruns until March 1st? or what?
I think the Olympics take up most of February.
Now Fox and COCO can “talk”. NBC has been deleted from our guide list after Friday. Leno is the biggest Indian Giver on the planet. Karma’s comin’ for Jay!
The Olympics run from Feb 12th to the 28th. I’m curious as to what they’re going to run at 11:30 until then.
According to TMZ, they’ll air Conan reruns!
Adam Sandler was right when he said what “NBC” was an acronym for.
the olympics will be on
Yes, the Olympics are on nearly 24/7. I think as soon as your local news is over, the Olympics come back on and stay on till, like, 3 or 4am.
Starting on Saturday, January 23, I will be going to town on myself. Good luck with the clean up, Jay.
It’s good to see so many of Conan’s fans making their voices heard, NBC is really making such a huge mistake with this decision. Our household is doing what someone else mentioned and switching to Letterman @ 11:30 after Friday’s show until Conan returns to the air. I also hope that the other members of Team Coco did as we did and contacted their local affiliates and let them know that you’ll no longer be watching their late local news broadcasts and the “Tonight Show” once Conan’s no longer the host and the reason why. I’m sure that if the affiliates (who NBC claims are the ones that started kicking up dust in the first place) hear from all of us who will no longer be watching, that’s going to speak earlier and just as loudly as ratings, as those will take until after the Olympics and Leno’s return. I’ve lost respect for Jay Leno, I really believe he should have done the classy thing and exited a regular NBC television spot once the decision was made to cancel his primetime show. Yes, I realize he also has staff and crew to think about, but they had quite some time to prepare for an exit back when it was announced Conan would take over. The only thing NBC has succeeded in with this decision is making the executives look dumb and conniving. I, like many other people commenting here, have much faith in Conan’s talent and I’m sure we’ll all be seeing him again in September somewhere.
Where were all you Coco fans when he could have used your support and ratings? Somehow, I don’t think the affiliates are really going to care that you promise to watch Conan NOW. lol
It amazes me that people who like Conan try to “villainize” Jay. I like them both. What if Jay, who was clearly #1 had said, I shouldn’t have to give up the “Tonight Show” Why shouldn’t Conan go to another network and make his own way? Everyone keeps saying Jay should’ve just retired. Why would anyone who is #1 consider retiring to make way for someone just because they’re younger? Jay’s already been gracious. If anyone should’ve left graciously, it should’ve been Conan. He would’ve been in a far better bargaining position than he is now. People would have offered big bucks to draw him away from NBC. Now, he is in a much weaker position.
Calla, the fact is Jay agreed to leave. He had the opportunity to say no way and leave, and chose not to. He changed his mind years later but contracts had already been signed. Why shouldn’t Conan leave? Because he just got there, and he had the opportunity to leave but the network promised him the show. He stayed at NBC for years specifically to host “The Tonight Show” and then 7 months later they try to push him out. Yes, it would have technically been “The Tonight Show” at 12:05, but with Jay Leno’s Show, which was basically the “Tonight Show w/Jay Leno” without a desk, can you see how he may have felt miffed?
Also, the “villainization” of Leno..who knows? But it’s been given credence by multiple accounts of comedians who’ve felt Leno was acted unbecomingly in his business dealings. His peers, who’ve dealt with him, don’t believe that he’s just standing idly by, that it’s consistent with their own experiences with him, where he says one thing then does another.
It’s all a matter of taste. Conan is a little edgy, geared towards a much hipper crowd. Letterman, same thing. Leno hs his place too – he is like that stupid ventriloquist guy – just easy lowest common denominator humor. Harmless and relaxing to the majority of people in this country! Remember most people who sit on their asses watching TV are in the middle of this country and they are not interested in being challenged intellectually. That’s why Leno has big ratings and will probably continue to have them as NBC becomes the new CBS.
There is absolutely no reason you should be insult the citizens in the heartland of this country. Although I agree with you about Conan’s humor being more edgy than Jay’s, I think your blanket statement slamming the intellect of a huge part of the U.S. population based merely their geographic location is utterly ridiculous and ignorant. NBC’s problems in this case are based on entertainment and business concerns, not politics.
Good for Conan. But he’s stilled gettin screwed even with the payout. Its not even a guarantee that Fox will pick him up and NBC promised him something that they later backed out on. Jay may be good for their short term but Conan was good for their long term. They shoulda let Jay go. His audience is gettin old…
Yeah! Conan is definitely getting screwed! How can anyone be expected to survive on 40 million dollars?!? I use up that much money before breakfast.
(For the record: Leno sucks.)
Some of that money is going to his staff of 150+. He also paid their salaries during the writer’s strike.
Conan is getting screwed in the sense that he was loyal to NBC so many years, and they still treat him like a pushover. Good for Conan going out like this. NBC made this public first, and because of that, Conan is screwing them over.
I read that if Coco signs a new contract, the payout at NBC stops. If this is true, he won’t see that whole amount at all.
james D wrote: “Conan is getting screwed in the sense that he was loyal to NBC so many years, and they still treat him like a pushover.” You could write this exact same line about Leno. Not sure you can get more screwed than for someone to say, hey, thanks for being # 1 for 13 years – we’re firing you. lol I also believe they are letting Conan work again way sooner than they were willing to let Jay work somewhere else, which is how they roped him into staying to begin with. Oh wait, I’m sorry – only Conan is allowed to want to work. Jay was supposed to go sit in a corner happily when HE was forced out.
I don’t believe for a second that NBC was “firing” Leno at all…I am sure he chose the date of his departure (as we knew O’Brien was taking over the Tonight Show for years before it actually happened) and regardless, Leno forced Carson out…so whatever the case, I see this as karma. Karmna is happily destroyed Leno’s prime time show, is destroying his reputation and I hope horrid rating will finally end his career come March. O’Brien will no doubt prevail.
Leno indeed sucks the big one…always has always will.
Of course Conan would have been better for the long term, but NBC is clearly in crisis management mode. If I were writing/producing/acting talent, I’d have to think twice about going to NBC.
I’m with Coco. See you in September on a better network.
Yes, but R.I.P. Masturbating Bear. We will miss you!
Does ‘Nothing But C****’ own the rights to all Masturbating animals??
Yeah MSNY, apparently part of the deal is NBC keeps the rights to all characters like Triumph and the Masterbating Bear.
Leno is one evil S.O.B. I don’t know anyone who wants to watch this hypocrital loser now. Nothing gracious about the guy.
Leno is also not funny. His 10 pm show was embarrassing.
Totally agree, Greg. I’ll never watch Leno. Best wishes to Conan. Can’t wait for his next TV show. Good luck!
Yeah, I can’t stomach watching Leno “triumphantly” returning to the Tonight Show after all this. I’m done with him.
If NBC really wanted to economize they should just show old Leno repeats @ 11:30 and not bring him back either. He’ll be bringing back stale bits and recycled Clinton jokes (Bill, no less) so what’s the difference? Hopefully nobody with any class will be on his show in the future so they’ll be better off rerunning that Hugh Grant appearance etc.
Here’s a noble idea, let’s diss people we’ve never met. How else can we justify our high school drop out attitude?
Embarrassing…
How delightfully hypocritical.
Regardless of our opinions about Leno’s brand of comedy, I would hope people might give him the benefit of the doubt. There may be some ego involved here, but I don’t believe for a second that this was a calculated move on Leno’s part. It was NBC that made the promise to Conan that he would have THE TONIGHT SHOW passed on to him, not Leno. As I recall, this was part of Conan’s contract renegotiation with NBC. Leno never had the power to “pass the torch” even though that’s what people saw on television in 2004. He was simply the host and one of many producers of the show who also did not have the power to do things Leno is accused of doing. If you want to blame anyone, blame NBC upper brass. This was a fiscal decision, pure and simple. They had an idea in 2004, it didn’t work out, they held on to Leno (giving him the show at 10 to appease him), and panicked when the ratings and ad profits fell. The bottom line is that Leno, in an attempt to be diplomatic and gracious about being asked to step down, “gave” the show to Conan in 2004, but only at the behest of NBC execs telling him to do so. Leno’s a professional guy with an extremely hard work ethic who has been scapegoated by press, fans, and other networks in a series of ill-informed band wagon reactions to situations in which few are privy to full disclosure. Sure, he’s happy to have the job back (he never wanted to leave in the first place). I truly believe he is sincere in his disappointment about how this affects Conan and his staff, but felt an allegiance to the network/show/legacy that made his dream of hosting THE TONIGHT SHOW come true and to his own staff-family. Leno was taught loyalty and hard work by his parents and I think he’s adhered to that life lesson in this case, perhaps to a fault. Regardless, I urge viewers to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Wow, That is a great post. Couldn’t have said it better myself.
Bravo.
Bullocks. Leno promised the show to Conan. If Leno wasn’t mingling around the edges, there would have been no story here. Leno’s inability to stick to his word makes him a hypocrite and a douchebag.
What are you talking about “Leno promised the show to Conan”? It’s not Leno’s show to promise.
Leno may be a professional hard-working guy, but he’s also shown himself to be a mediocre talk show host who has survived more for political reasons than because he does a quality program. Don’t forget that this whole brouhaha started because the NBC affiliates demanded that the network take Leno off the air at 10 — talk about failing upwards!
NOPE. NO CLASS LENO SUCKS.
Oh, I’m sure Leno is a decent guy, but I’m just not a fan of his. I don’t think he’s funny or witty. I didn’t watch him before and I won’t watch him now. I totally agree that he didn’t ‘give’ the show to Conan of his own free will. His bosses told him to do it so he did it. He didn’t have a choice. I get that. IMO, the blame for this whole fiasco lies at the feet of NBC. That said, this whole fiasco has lost The Tonight Show supporters. I know alot of people who watched the Tonight Show with Leno but won’t be watching it again when he re-takes the helm. Not because they have anything against Leno himself, but because they think the whole image of the Tonight Show has already been tarnished and they don’t want to support NBC. I doubt the Tonight Show will post the same numbers they did before Leno left. I think the numbers will be lower. It would kinda be big ol’ raspberry at NBC and their stupidity LOL
Carson didn’t want to leave, either, but NBC booted him out to make room for Leno. It took a while for Leno’s ratings to improve (quite a while), but they eventually did.
However, this time around NBC didn’t give Conan time to get into his groove like they did with Leno.
I quit watching when they dumped Carson–Leno has never been my taste. And while I like Conan, I’ve been a Letterman fan since the start, and Craig Ferguson quickly won my loyalty. I still wish Conan the best–he was at the mercy of the NBC nimrods–but CBS is where I will remain.
Bravo to Leno Advocate. I would add one slight correction – I don’t think NBC gave Leno 10:00 to “appease him” as much as to simply keep him. Leno was not free to work elsewhere, NBC wouldn’t let him out of his contract especially given that he was STILL #1 because they were afraid of the competition. They needed to find something for him.
I agree that Leno did not want to leave and it is about finances. I doubt he ‘orchestrated’ this but I don’t think he was just being a ‘company man’ or loyal, no way. Networks don’t throw hundreds of millions at a guy who’s already going to stay anyways. He was savvy, he played hardball, and negotiated a contract that cost more to the network than Conan’s.
Conan is walking away, after 7 months work with 42+ million and is free to work again in another 7 months and you try to paint Leno in a negative light by saying he played hardball? He was # 1 in the ratings when he was leaving The Tonight Show – NBC didn’t expect that and had to pay to NOT have him go elsewhere, same as they were paying Conan to NOT go elsewhere. No diff.
People, make the best of this whole thing by not watching Leno when he returns at 11:30.
Send a message.
Here! Here!
Well people SURE DID send a message to Conan by not watching…
Jay? Is that you?
Just like they sent a message to Leno by not watching his 10PM show.
That caps-lock on “sure did” doesn’t work when you copy and paste my comment from one page to another, unless the person you’re posting to also wrote the same two words. You dummy…
No -
Sorry that facts & reality bother you.
WTF are you talking about Mike…???
Funny that you pick apart Jay’s numbers, but they mirror what he was getting on The Tonight Show (and still were like 2 million more than Conan). CoCo fans need to face it, he isn’t funny to the average person. Enjoy your smart, hip comedy on FOX.
Personally, John Stewart and Colbert blow all of those network guys away, but no one mentions them!
How’s this for facts? Conan’s viewership has went up 50%. And here’s a prediction for you-Letterman will still kick Leno’s ass every single night. EWMom-by now, everyone on this board knows you are pro-Leno. Okay, great for you. Doesn’t mean you need to be constantly getting in the face of Conan people. It’s a little pathetic.
LOL J
How about
a) I can say/do whatever I want here
b) Why is it that Conan’s fans can trash Leno, but if Leno fans come here and bring you all a reality check – you all go bonkers?
And the only reason Conan’s viewership is up 50% is because he’s LEAVING soon. The week before this news broke, he was getting a crappy 1 demo
Now, with the SAME LEAD-IN….suddenly Conan is getting 1.8-2 demos! How is that possible? I thought it was all the lead-in’s fault?
Face it – no one watched or cared about Conan until he was leaving.
CoCo like your great grandmother – you don’t really make an effort to visit her until you find out she’s dying…
Hey EW’sMF, shut your ignorant pie-hole!
Did you read this: “O’Brien just ushered in the Tonight Show’s worst November-sweeps performance since 1993.”
Know what was going on in November 1993? Your comedic d-bag Jay was getting his head handed to him by Letterman a scant 10 months after Letterman went live on CBS. Yet somehow (golden kneepads) Jay was able to ride out that storm. Conan wasn’t given the same chance to build an audience, so just because you CAN say whatever you want doesn’t mean you KNOW anything.
You DO know that just because Jay got X months to build his audience *DOES NOT* entitle Conan to the same thing…right?
And I’ll take facts and today’s reality over your nearly two decade old dribble – things have changed in the broadcast world from 1993 to 2010, sweetie…a LOT. Get with the times.
Not to mention, Jay was new to the Late Night thing. Conan has been in the biz for 17 years. Conan fanatics sure are delusional.
Because Conan’s fans are younger, hipper and more media-savvy. They BEGGED us to watch the show online. If NBC is going to live by the same old Nielsen-based rules, they are going to die by them. Good luck with your advertisers! Hopefully Ensure will buy five spots a night.
Also, while Conan’s viewership may have been up 50% during this last bruhahah, it STILL doesn’t equal what Jay was getting on the Tonight Show. People were only watching to see what all the fuss was about anyway. If he’s lucky, FOX will grab him for their tacky network.
It is amazing to me how completely mean-spirited and disgusting some of the anti-Jay comments get, yet let someone point out about ratings, or how Jay got pushed out, no Conan-bashing, etc., and you all go ballistic. Is Conan your brother or something? If not, chill out. Ratings up 50%? I have been laughing watching Conan BRAG about those numbers even tho they only mean people wanted to see the drama – that’s the only reason I have been tuning in. To Tom: Who BEGGED you to watch Conan online? I must have missed that big “no, please, watch me online instead” ad campaign. Maybe only the younger, hipper peeps could see it. EWsMom: I echo all you said – they get to bash Leno over & over and we’re not even supposed to say anything because it was said before, on another blog last week? lol We’re supposed to sit in a corner & shut up like they wanted Leno to do when he “retired.” I also totally agreed with your comment about the lead-in. Now, wait for Leno to come on. If he doesn’t IMMEDIATELY get his former ratings back, they will feel vindicated. And heaven help us if we mention that he has the same ratings-deprived NBC primetime lead-in that Conan had. lol
LOL! You guys are right! Jay totally blows. I was just yanking your chains!
Boycott Leno – watch Letterman
Im still boycotting Leno for 1992!
While all the other late night hosts were having a blast with this and making jokes every step of the way, Leno does a serious lecture. He really doesn’t get it. This job really isn’t for him.
Similarly, he coulod have renewed a bigger audience by having fun with the back and forth put-downs and jokes between all the late night personalities, but he really didn’t participate. Leno is just too uncomfortable a guy and has too nervous a personality to make late night fun. Letterman, O’Brien and Kimmel all showed that they understood how to capitalize on the moment and make it fun for viewers (bringing back lost viewers in the process). Leno is either too nervous, careful or possibly too stupid to understand what the job is about. He claims to have studied Johnny Carson for so long, but he managed not to learn the heart of the job.
Not to mention everything Jay said in that “lecture” completely contradicted what he said 5 years ago when you was going to give up the show to Conan. What a sleazeball.
he was going*
Okay. Jay has been making some jokes, but mostly at NBC and its executives. He has taken some digs at Letterman, for which everyone has acted SHOCKED – omg, how dare he? Letterman, O’Brien & Kimmel have all been too personal and out-of-line IMO, attacking mostly Jay and not NBC where it belongs. I admire Leno for not taking Conan on…he is the classier of the two. As for giving a serious speech, guess it was when you Conan fans weren’t back to watching him yet, but Conan has done his share of “serious speech-making” on his show as well. Grow up. Leno gets to have his say to set the matter straight if he wants to – afterall, he has three “hipper” guys tearing him down nightly with their funny version of the “truth.” And PJ-Jay saying he was going to “give up the show to Conan” after being fired by NBC is an example of a class act reciting the company line like the good company man he has always been. I’m also sure he wanted to preserve some pride also, and not have to admit to the world that he got forced out when he was #1. Imagine how comfortable his show would have been if he had told the truth – 5 years of whining? I can’t wait for Conan’s 2-3 weeks of whining to be over – can’t imagine it going on 5 years. (Then, again, Letterman has been nursing his for 17 years, so I guess I should count my blessings.)
Whatever you feel about the situation, Jay Leno not making jokes about Conan has nothing to do with class. If he could, he would but he is negatively affecting Conan, not the other way around. From a comedic standpoint, Leno has less material to work with. It’s much easier to get humor out of misery than happiness.
You can believe what you want – I don’t think Jay wants to make jokes at Conan’s expense. Anything he would say would have to be very personal…..I don’t think he wants to do that. You don’t have to agree with me.
So I’ll watch The Tonight Show tonight and tomorrow night and after that, it’s all Letterman. I will not watch one second of that big chinned c**ks**ker ever again.
Wow, always appreciate how classy the Letterman fans are.
I don’t think Jay will ever be the power house he was before. He retired and now since his primetime show bombed, he cried and got O’brien kicked off so he could get his old time back I won’t be watching. I found I like Letterman better.
If you love Conan so much how have you found you like Letterman better? Give it a few weeks, you’ll be sick of Letterman. He gets old fast.
That’s funny…I’ve been watching him for 25+ years, and I’ve never found his humor to grow stale. That’s why when Carson retired, all the comedians looked to Dave for his stamp of approval, the way they used to look to Johnny.
I’m with you dave – Letterman is good on occasion, certainly not consistently. And I have found this bash Leno at all costs, reliving the past, just kinda sad.
The past couple of years, Letterman pretty much seems to not really care anymore. Maybe it’s because he has a child now, he has different priorities. He’s still good when he has bothers to care, but Leno while he’ll nvr be as good, is at least ocnsistent.
How did you find you liked Letterman better? Here is the deal – you Conan fans weren’t watching him, period. Maybe because you are younger & hipper (uh huh), you were still too busy partying to remember he was on at 11:30? lol Seriously, everyone who keeps insisting Jay isn’t funny also claims they haven’t watched him since 1992 – somehow, I really don’t put alot of weight behind their “opinions.” Can’t critique what you don’t watch.
Jeff Gaspin, the guy who made the 12:05 offer to Conan, is the same person who made the decision to cancel Southland 2 weeks before its Season 2 premiere and replace it with the cheaper Dateline, a show he helped develop. Now he is forced to order additional episodes of Trauma, a show that he had previously cancelled last year.
NBC wanted to save money and it blew up in their faces.
BOYCOTT LENO. EVERYONE WATCH LETTERMAN.
YES YES!
Who in the world calls Leno the King of Late Night? Not me, or anyone I know…or any Letterman, Stewart, Colbert or Conan fans? Just the press, so if y’all could stop calling him that, that would be fantastic! Kthanksbye!
Only the ratings call him the King of Late Night (aka the only objective measure available)
Next time, try to use some common sense….kthanksbye!
more like King of the Retirement Homes
I believe Johnny Carson will always be the King of Late Night. Leno was merely a pretender.
EWsMom is a total Jay fantard. lol.
And that’s why David Letterman has so many more awards then Leno…and why Johnny Carson like Letterman better and wanted him to have the job. Johnny KNEW that David was the better talk show host. It’s not all about the numbers. Numbers don’t necessarily show talent. Leno appeals to the more bovine, cattle-like followers in our country, and Letterman appeals more to the intellectuals. Leno dumbed down his show to appeal to more people because let’s face it most people in America have no taste…just look at Top 40 music and crappy sitcoms/dramas/etc that last for years. Both Letterman and Conan are more funny and witty then Leno whose brand of humor is tired and not all that funny. Too bad more Americans don’t have GOOD taste. And the ‘King of Late Night’ will ALWAYS be Johnny Carson. To even consider Jay Leno to be even close to Johnny’s level is an insult to Johnny.
Cloudy, amazing how many generalizations you make: cattle-like dumb followers for Jay, the “intellectuals” for Letterman. And you also are very sure you know exactly what Carson thought and said way back when. lol You then equate it with “crappy” sitcoms/dramas when I think most TV Critics and fans would agree that TV is awash with a great many quality shows right now, on both network and cable channels. I think you are out of touch. Letterman’s humor basically appeals to people who want to feel they are “in” on something – but, frankly, Letterman is just like all the rest: he relies on old bits and gags, old tics, and worse of all, he exposed himself as just another self-obsessed dirty-old-man. Your post also gives me the chance to point out a major discrepancy in the logic you anti-Leno people employ: You seem to think Leno forced Carson out. Yet Carson wanted Letterman – wouldn’t Carson have been more powerful than Jay at that point? Why didn’t he get who he wanted? Because, sillies, neither Carson or Leno had any power over their respective situations. Learn it, live it. Jay is not the demon bad guy you all want him to be – or are told he is by your guru Letterman. If Jay had the power, he never would have agreed to leave quietly when he was fired by NBC. I don’t see it mentioned much on these blogs, but Jay WAS the permanent guest-host for The Tonight Show for years before getting the show as his own. Many people would think it makes sense for the permanent guest host to move up when the time came. But, no, somehow Leno STOLE it from Letterman. lol lol Too funny.
Jealous, huh? He’s been the King of Late Night for years, it’s called RATINGS. Something that Conan knows nothing about.
All the way to September 1st gives Conan and his people (something tells me wherever he goes he is taking his team/crew) easily 7 months to prepare for a new show so he can be on the air by September 6th. I really hope we don’t have to wait too long to see him again, and since now everything is settled; I bet Fox is making an offer soon.
If Conan “cannot seek employment elsewhere until after September 1st” does that mean that he can’t begin the process of a new show with Fox (or whatever network picks him up) or his show cannot air before September 1st? Any lawyers know the answer to this?
He can’t start working until September 1st. Until September 1st, he has to (contractually, not literally) act as though he’s still an employee of NBC hosting a show every night.
It’s also possible that ABC would cancel Nightline, move Kimmel back to 12:35 and then give Conan the 11:30 spot. It will be interesting to see whether ABC or Fox will approach Conan.
That’s possible, but do you really think Conan would want to do the same thing to Jimmy that Jay did to him?
Hire Conan and cancel Nightline? Last I heard Nightline had the same ratings as Letterman and better ratings than Conan on the Tonight Show.
Why should ABC cancel what they’ve got?
I don’t think Conan would “pull a Jay” and screw over Jimmy. There are plenty of opportunities elsewhere. On the other hand, if Jimmy’s show wanted to take some of Conan’s staff, that would be pretty awesome for them…
I wonder when Letterman’s contract is up… I bet he’s thinking of retiring soon and would love to hand his show over to Conan… I really like Letterman too thought…
LOL Jan. You might want to run that by Craig Ferguson’s fans. They might not agree with you.
oops, forgot about Craig… not up that late.. he is hilarious too!
God, I would LOVE to see what Letterman thinks about his fans contemplating forcing his retirement for Conan. He might have some new-found sympathy for Jay. lol lol
I’m actually a Leno fan. I look forward to seeing him again at 10:35 on The Tonight Show.
Jay – quit sending comments!
Sorry…I’m not Jay. My name is Tom.
Tom Leno?
i honestly don’t know what there is to like about leno. He’s not funny and he’s dreadful of making fun of himself. just not a likable guy.
Clearly you must have no sense of humour to be a Leno fan.
Me, too. These past 7 months without my Tonight Show has been rough. Conan honestly needs to go back to comedy school and learn how to carry a show, he has a lot to learn.
I think Conan is actually quite funnier than Jay-Conan is better off the cuff…maybe Jay is better at bits, but I don’t think that’s the same thing. I don’t think you go to comedy school but by the same token you may need to go to “come back” school bc you’re bordering on “the jerk store called and they’re running out of you” territory.
I like both men, think they are both funny. I also found Conan very endearing….but he has not seemed comfortable at 11:30, IMO. And he really doesn’t seem comfortable or like himself at all now – which may be understandable, but I had to say it since everyone else seems to think he’s been doing great. He hasn’t, IMO.
This gives Conan just enough time to come up with something brilliant! Hopefully whatever show he does next will not be watered down like The Tonight Show and more like Late Night.
Yeah, it’ll take him several months to learn how to masturbate better on a new network.
“and the promise not to seek employment elsewhere until after Sept. 1″ – does that mean he can’t begin negotiations with Fox until Sept. 1? If that’s the case, we probably won’t see Coco on the air until early 2011.
starting a boycott Leno wave!!! who’s with me?
I’m in. CBS here I come
Yes – beginning negotiations means he’s seeking employment. I don’t think he’s allowed to do stand up either. ( I could be wrong…)
You’re not upset about that, are you? Because all the Conan fans were fine with the idea of Jay having to just sit around after his forced retirement, right? That’s what he was supposed to do rather than take the 10:00 show, right? For Conan’s sake? (Just making sure I have all the arguments straight.)
Enjoy the wait. Maybe Conan will actually learn how to handle a REAL show by then.
Buncha crazies you all are… Conan could have moved 30 minutes and carried on doing what he was doing, but he refused. He was on at 1230, moved to 1130, and then asked to split the difference and go on at 12. Why say no? Leno was asked to go to 10 and he did, even tho it was a dumb idea and everyone except for NBC knew that. NBC didn’t want to get rid of Conan. They wanted him at 12 to host the Tonight Show for an hour, but he didn’t want that. So quit feeling sorry for ‘old COCO. The idiot had every chance to stay, but his ego was too huge and refused to move the show 30 freakin minutes. Poor guy, what a shame, he gets millions of dollars to do nothing now instead. Yea, I feel so bad. Send Kimmel a copy of those settlement numbers so he can read them to Jay next time he tries to pull that crap he did on the show. “Conan has kids, you don’t.” Yea, he has 40 MILLION DOLLARS to help raise his kids. And could have had even more if he continued the show. Selfish moron. And people have the nerve to rip on Jay constantly for saying ‘yes’ when asked to move. You people are backwards.
Jay – quit responding to the board!
That’s all you have to say. So clearly you have no rational or logical response to the facts. Go start some ‘CoCo’ chants with the rest of your cult.
LOL. Why not have switched Conan to 10pm and Jay to 11:30?
Hey genius… 12:00 is no longer “The Tonight Show”. To Conan, the legacy of “The Tonight Show” shouldn’t have been messed with.
Hey genius, perhaps if he was that concerned with the “legacy” of The Tonight Show, he should have tried negotiating privately with NBC for a different resolution rather than taking his righteous indignation public. Perhaps he should have thought about the legacy when he decided to rip Jay apart, someone who took great care of the legacy for 17 years. And to WRB, seriously, there are people who like Jay, or simply prefer to deal with the real facts of a situation. If everyone in the world actually agreed with all the Conan/Letterman ranters on here, then Conan would have had the ratings he was missing.
LOL at your novel. But anyway, Conan said no because it was a slap in the face. To have the guy that was supposed to retire and give up TTS cut ahead of you and move your show back after his show failed… Leno/NBC have some nerve. He also didn’t want to push back Jimmy’s show. If you can’t understand that then you fail at life and you should turn off the computer and sit in a corner somewhere.
Conan knew that if NBC was willing to change the Tonight Show to a different time (and thereby ruining much of its credibility) then who knows what else they would do. Plus, they would think he was a pushover and would still be willing to give Jay whatever he wanted, which could turn into a full-hour show called the New Tonight Show or some crap like that.
No, it’s “backward thinking” to think you can still have a “Tonight Show” at 12 freakin’ AM. I figure any human with a decent capacity for thought and concept of time would realize that a new 24-hour time period officially starts at 12AM.
The Tonight Show has started at the same time for approaching a half-century. Conan was standing by principle. All you Lenoheads seem to forget that Letterman slaughtered him the first 2 years in ratings, Hugh Grant helped Leno more than anyone. Conan never got those 2 years, he never got a fair shot. Leno is a fake and he strong-armed his way back into the time slot, and now he’s trying to do everything he can to save face. I hope Letterman beats him down this time. Tonight Show with Jay Leno on March 1st, Letterman should get Conan O’Brien as his guest on March 1st.
i LOVE that idea. Conan and Letterman on March 1st would destroy Leno’s comeback.
Wait, 12:00 is the next day? Since when?
By the time the guests come on, it’s after 12 anyway, so how different is it really? That’s nit-picking. It’s 30 minutes, it’s not a big deal.
The Tonight Show isn’t solely about the guests. 30 minutes later wouldn’t have been a big deal IF there wasn’t another show in front of The Tonight Show with the exact same format and a former Tonight Show host, just shorter! Conan’s Tonight Show suddenly becomes his Late Show again, which ruins the Tonight Show franchise and makes Leno the defacto Tonight Show host again, maybe not in name, but certainly by tradition.
Excuse me for asking what is perhaps a silly question, but I’ve read several different chatboards the last couple of weeks and I keep reading comments that use the ‘Hugh Grant’ argument to explain how Leno passed Letterman in the ratings. But how does one interview suddenly make Leno more watchable than Letterman? I’ve always been more of a Letterman fan over the years, and I remember that Hugh Grant interview and switched over to watch it…but then I switched back to the funnier host/show. Leno never really had any other exclusive interviews after that, so what made him so great that all these viewers stayed with him? I mean, folks could’ve just changed the channel back, right?
I’m sure there’s something in the severence that says Conan can’t appear on any late night talk shows for a while.
You guys are delusional – you keep bringing up the first 2 years like they matter at all. The world has changed since then – no show gets that long to attract viewers, #1. (Wasn’t there an earlier post in this thread that swore Conan’s fans were BEGGED to watch the show online? So I know you all know times have changed. lol) #2 – No way did one lousy interview cause Leno to beat Letterman for the next 15 straight years. Again, you are all delusional. People liked Jay better. People have the ability to change channels BACK to Dave – they didn’t.
He didn’t care about moving himself to a different time, he cared about moving the Tonight Show itself to 12:05. It’s no longer the tonight show if it airs tomorrow, genius. I think Conan showed more respect and class towards the show itself than Leno did by agreeing to go on at 11:30 and bump the show to after midnight.
By the time the guests come on, it’s after 12 anyway, so what’s the difference? That’s a stupid reason to refuse, if “technically” it’s already “tomorrow.” It’s 30 freakin’ minutes. The show doesn’t end until the ‘next day’ anyway. Let’s keep arguing little technicalities. Did the decade end with ’09 or are we still going until the end of ’10??? Oooooo!!!! What about the millenium!? TECHNICALLY we should have celebrated when we started 2001, not 2000. But seriously, WHO CARES? ‘Technically” it’s the next day… stupid excuse.
Mike,
Have you ever cared about any traditions in your life? If not imagine this. Let’s say your family has always opened Christmas gifts at midnight on Christmas day ever since you were born. When you grow up, you and your wife/husband and kids continue the same tradition until you’re 60. Now imagine that every day is Christmas and you’ve been doing this for 365 days a year for over 60 years. Then a senile aunt enters the picture and tells you, you can’t open the gifts until the next morning because crazy uncle Jay wants to be the only one that opens his presents at midnight from now on. Would you accept those terms? I would think of a better example, if I had more time, but this is probably similar to what Conan was thinking.
Oh lordy, Joe. Seriously. Families change Christmas traditions ALL the time because families are constantly changing – new people, with their OWN traditions which need to be meshed with yours. I wish you had thought of a better example – because you used this one just so you could call Jay crazy and NBC senile…again.
I personally dont care for Leno so I just dont watch and wont be watching. But I Agree with Mike’s comments wholeheartedly. Conan did not say no to the move, to protect the legacy of The Tonight Show or on principle. Give me a break. Oh and btw, Conan already had years on his show to establish an audience. It doesnt take years for them to “adjust” to him moving to The Tonight Show. He could have had the Tonight Show at midnight, but Instead he gets $40 Million!?!! Hmm easy choice there, Im sure his Kids Will Be Alright, Jimmy.
Exactly. We all know the real reason Conan the Disturbed was holding out. All of that Moola will make him a happy man, he doesn’t really care about any supposed “legacy”. Now, let’s see who will be dumb enough to put him on another network. Only his same “loyal” audience of 10 will be viewing it and they’ll be stuck with him. Oh Well, so goes the world.
And he gets to leave as a martyred hero to his fans – who couldn’t bother to watch him in the first place. Jesdc – great point about him already having an audience – I think we all tend to forget that. Was his audience all busy an hour earlier? Or did they not particularly care for his show at 11:30? Too busy with Colbert? Or perhaps they used to watch Letterman and switch over to Conan – and weren’t willing to give up Letterman for him. Maybe they were Leno fans who just didn’t change the channel at 12:30, but had no reason to stay while Jay was off the air. Who knows? The only true fact is as you say: they didn’t follow him, that’s for sure.
I doubt Conan was holding out for money. If he did he sure lucked out on NBC moving his show around; we may not care about the show’s legacy but he does. There’s no point in him playing hardball abt the time slot, except for principle, as much as I disagree with him about the principle (I’m with Mike also). He moves out to LA to work on the show that he’s repeatedly stated is his professional and creative dream and suddenly he just wants the money? The network was not able or willing to let Leno go (I’m thinking they were more unable). in lieu of that, Conan made the best deal that he could. If they had canceled Leno’s show, and also did not give him back the “Tonight Show” how much money do you think NBC would be shilling out now? As exorbitant as Conan’s payout is, Jay’s would’ve been much much higher, trust. Doesn’t mean either of them are greedy people necessarily, but that’s what salaries are in tv, and if the network reneges on your contract they pay you millions.
Beautiful, Mike. Some common sense, finally. If Conan loved the Tonight Show that much, he would have stuck and fought by it’s side. If he cared about his staff so much, he would have taken into account how they all had to move to follow his ass. Whatev. There’s many ways to look at it, unfortunately.
The “big deal” is that NBC reneged on their contract. Conan’s “selfish” behavior was anything but. He wasn’t just protecting his own integrity, but he was standing up for his staff. And anyone who watched his show in these grim weeks would know that they were all behind him 100 percent.
So Conan was standing up for his staff when he basically quit. And Jay – he isn’t allowed to be concerned for his own staff, right? Because he’s Jay and Conan’s Conan. I get it – the Coco fans are the biggest group of head-in-the-sand people I have ever read on these boards. Conan could have tried to negotiate with NBC to see if there were other solutions – but he drew a line in the sand publicly and blew it.