Image Credit: Chris Haston/NBC; Mitchell Haaseth/NBCWhen Conan O’Brien took over The Tonight Show, NBC spent a reported $50 million to transform the former sound stage of the Jack Benny show and the original Knight Rider TV series into a lavish talk show set for its late-night star. Located on the Universal lot near Burbank, Calif., the stage was custom-made to accommodate comedy skits, a band, and a healthy studio audience. It is also near huge parking garages and major city thoroughfares, which made it that much more crowd-friendly.
Now that TBS has announced that O’Brien will star in his own talk show for the cable network come November, the big question is whether he might actually consider returning to his fancy old sound stage. He’s already indicated that he’ll stay in Los Angeles and keep longtime associates around like executive producer Jeff Ross, but he’s yet to announce where he’ll tape his Monday through Thursday program that will air at 11 p.m. It’s not inconceivable to think he’d consider going back to his old digs. The Universal sound stage has largely remained dark since his final Tonight Show taping, save for a few minor productions here and there. And it’s not like the broadcast networks are dead set against renting valuable sound stage space to the competition; the CBS-owned lot at the corner of Fairfax Avenue and Beverly Boulevard in Los Angeles, for example, is home to American Idol and Dancing with the Stars, two of the highest rated shows on TV. The lot also has enough space to accommodate The Wanda Sykes Show, Fox’s late-night talk show that airs on Saturdays, and CBS’ own The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.
Since O’Brien will own his show, start-up costs will certainly be an issue: It can run anywhere from $750,000 to $1 million to retrofit a sound stage, experts say, to say nothing of the additional dollars it will require to rent the 16,000 square feet-or-so in space he’ll likely need to do a talk show. With that it mind, it could make sense for O’Brien to return to his old Tonight Show digs, especially considering the sweet irony that would result from his headlining a hit show for TBS on NBC-owned property (a source in the O’Brien camp says it’s not out of the realm of possibility that he’d go back there, and an NBC insider concurs). But even with the knowledge that he’d never have to deal with the same execs who wanted him out — facility management, after all, runs separately than network operations — it seems unlikely that O’Brien would have the stomach to drive onto his old lot. “The bad blood is probably too much to overcome,” opines one executive at a competing network. Maybe. Stay tuned.
I thought they tore it down? What a waste of money if that’s the case.
why would they tear it down after spending 50 million?
they did tear down the set. there were pictures posted of it being gutted. very depressing.
They didn’t “tear it down” in the sense that the structure is gone. They just removed the set itself and all the studio dressings. But it’s still there and re-furbishable.
I think it would be pretty cool if his new studio ended up next to Craig Ferguson. Conan and the “Scotish Conan guy” side by side.
I’m with Coco!
Craig Ferguson is the best late night show host in the business…
CoCo, in our opinion, is overrated…
Letterman and Leno have their solid loyal fan base…
This time there’s no excuse…if the ratings do not meet expectations…it will be very clear…
this really doesn’t make sense, if you’re arguing ratings, conan always beat Ferguson head to head, if you’re talking about quality then I agree Ferguson is better (slightly), but you don’t mention leno or letterman’s quality, just their fanbase..very confusing “argument”
WHAT, Conan is underrated and still the best.he has a crowd yes but jay leno 1 even bigger and is the most overrated.
To Needles, etc.: It is quite easy to explain. According to statistics 40% of Americans prefer beer. Even the best beer is still beer. Connoisseurs prefer the fine, fine products of Scotland.
Conan isn’t overrated. That’s Jay Leno.
@Dawn: and Scottish beer is still…just beer.
whatevs wrote >>I thought they tore it down? What a waste of money if that’s the case.>>> Obviously, you are WAY out of touch. Even NBC isn’t stupid enough to tear down a NEWLY REMODELED $50 million sound stage. It WILL be used in the future, whether it’s Conan or somebody else. (How do stupid comments like whatevs get in here?)
what*
Even if they do reuse it for something else, it’s still a waste of money because they probably are going to have to gut it to accomodate whatever else they want to use it for.
Actually I think that stage was part of the problem. It was way too big and fancy for Conan’s style of comedy. He needs something small and intimate like what he USED to have, or what Ferguson currently has.
I hope he gets a new stage. His Tonight Show stage was much too big and made the show seem less intimate and fun. I like Conan but that stage was a big mistake.
I think it was a gorgeous set that looked great (especially in HD), one that really paid great homage to the set that Carson used.
With that in mind, it was perfect for the kind of Tonight Show that CoCo was aiming for. It was versatile and could handle a plethora of variety acts and shows. There was a lot that they did that wouldn’t have been possible with a smaller stage.
Have they announced that he is planning to stay in California? I always thought New York was a better fit for Conan.
I agree! I just can’t wait to have my Coco back. I’ve watched him on Late Night for years, and I liked him on the Tonight Show too. He stayed true to his styles and material, but Conan’s style isn’t for everyone. I think he’s an extremely talented host. Hilarious, good at improv, and great stage presence. Can’t wait, I miss the Late Night days!
It was stated in the article when he announced he was going to TBS. He said he didn’t want to move his kids across the country again.
Yeah, I thought part of his financial settlement with NBC was so his staff could stay in CA and not have to move again.
No matter who’s side anyone is on, you gotta feel bad they all packed up and moved across the country just to get canceled a few months later.
I’d like to see Conan use it again. It’s such a nice studio, even though it is a bit too large.
I miss my favorite, Irish, red headed, late night talk show host. What a shame to pull the rug out from under him. Please come back. Your fans need you in these too serious and troubled times.
This was a stupid article and waste of time.
This was a stupid comment and waste of time.
Why are you reading articles you don’t care about?
How are you supposed to know if an article’s stupid before you’ve had a chance to read it? … He was right.
I’m glad you used your precious time to comment!
I agree. Why is this headline?? It’s not news!!
This is entertainment news you idiot.
You’re stupid and a waste of time Chris. I feel bad for your parents.
TBS is part of the Time Warner
family. Conan will likely do
the show from the Warner Brothers
studios in Burbank right across from the NBC Burbank studios where
Leno does the Tonight Show. Lopez
does his show from the Warner Bothers studios as well.
Yeah, the Warner lot is pretty large.
“24″ films there and since it’s coming to an end maybe Conan will use some of that space.
Conan’s biggest problem was Andy. Any fan of him from day 1 could see that Andy made his show worse. Whereas Conan had to improvise after his jokes failed, Andy just laughed to make Conan feel good. He was so fake. He is just a butt-kisser hanger-on. I don’t even know if he is really a friend of Conan’s.
His show will continue to spiral down if Andy stays.
BTW, if he thought his budget for Late Night was bad, he hasn’t seen anything yet!
I disagree- I thought when Andy left ‘Late Night’ is when the show lost it’s spark.
Conan alone is so much less than the sum of Conan+Andy. Classic duo. I was glad he came back for “Tonight”, granted he wasn’t doing anything else
Justin, no one wants to hear unfounded declarations regarding things you couldn’t possibly know about.
Who cares
Shut up.
Okay
Aaaaaaand, scene.
Whatever Coco does, he’ll have to keep his costs down. He owns the show and will have to figure out how to pay the salaries of his staff out of his own pocket with a $10-$15MM annual salary from The Bunny.
If by “The Bunny” you mean, TBS, I’m pretty sure I read that he was getting a budget for his new show that is “comparable to his Tonight Show budget.” That’s one of the reasons he took the deal. I’m also pretty sure the NBC budget was $50 to $90 million per year.
george lopez (who will be on immediately after conan on tbs) stated to cnn’s larry king last night that, while he does not know where conan’s studio will be, he hopes it will be on warner bros. lot next to him so they can do some joint or overlapping skits. also, apparently time warner is wasting no time promoting conan, by already putting lopez on one of it’s stations (cnn) to promote conan on tbs since conan is prohibited from being on t.v. until may 1 in any capacity (or september 1 as a host).
Now that would be awesome. Kudos for being positive in this negative world of commentators
Did you see Lopez’s mash-up of Conan running across the country footage with George running across the studio lot? Pretty funny.
Lopez has been using “I’m with Coco and I’m with Loco”
yeh, I saw a replay of that running footage. pretty hysterical…lopez gets conan! I wished I had taped that original conan episode or when it replayed once, as nbc has banished it to who knows where. but, somehow lopez got a tape of it, and apparently got around the copyright issue by adding himself to the clip. it was pretty funny stuff.
I like you, Martin.