O'Brien out, Leno back in?
- Thread starter Professor Zoom
- Start date
Leno will not leave. It would actually be better if Conan leaves, goes to Fox, and Leno takes back The Tonight Show. That way in a few years when Leno really does retire for good, for real, they have no one to take his place.
I thought NBC was trying to improve late-night, not cause it to collapse altogether.Coming up next, "The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon!"
I read that Fox is offering Conan 11pm to 12:30am as a slot for his show and the 12:30am to 1:30am slot for a follow up show to be produced by Conan's production company, similar to the Letterman deal at CBS.
I was originally hoping that O'Brien stayed with The Tonight Show but now I hope he leaves NBC.
If that deal is true then he would be an idiot to stay at NBC.
However a local Fox channel has news from 10-11:30 so he would get bumped a half hour.
What I hope comes out of all of this is that Conan decides to go to another network, but I have a feeling that won't happen. People tend to play it safe and stick with what they know. But really, this would be a great time for Conan to take a risk. I'd watch him over Leno or Letterman any day.
I like Conan and his humor but I know it's a not-for-everybody humor. I also am not a big fan of late night talk shows so I only occasionally tune in to his show. I'd be more willing to watch it if it was on another network though as I think NBC's really screwed the pooch with him and itself too many times.
To me the worst part of all of this is the tarnishing of the Tonight Show brand
Brace yourself for much more Biggest Loser and Dateline...
You're Conan O'Brien, a famous, successful comedian. And you've been playing second fiddle to Jay Leno for almost twenty years. Then, you're specifically told that you will be his heir apparent, that you will become the new host of The Tonight Show, the most legendary late-night talk show in history.
Then suddenly your day comes, and Jay Leno is just moved an hour before you.
Then, suddenly, it's taken from you. You're no longer the host of The Tonight Show.
Frankly, I'd walk, too.
Oh? Is it really The Tonight Show if it's playing second fiddle on late night to the previous host's new show? Or is it just another talk show with the same name?
I guess I just don't understand the prestige of the name... I guess money's not the issue, but staying on NBC must be better than going to Fox.
It's a fucking TV show. It has changed host numerous times, the show changes constantly, and has changed times and lengths in the past.
But for the majority of its history, it has been the most important, most prestigious late-night talk show on the air, the one by which all others were measured. The host of The Tonight Show became the de facto king of late night, and the host of Late Night was the de facto heir apparent.
That's the ultimate problem -- this isn't about hosting a late-night talk show, this is about who gets to be king. This is about the politics of late-night TV. And instead of letting Conan become the new king, NBC tried, in essence, to have Leno and Conan become co-kings. Except that doesn't work and it never will. It didn't work when NBC tried to keep Letterman after giving Leno The Tonight Show, and it won't work now.
Which is why, if I were Conan, I'd call up NBC and explain that they have two options: Conan or Leno. And if they chose Leno over me, I'd leave and go to Fox, where I'd get to be king of my own little hill instead of being, yet again, Leno's second fiddle. Dave Letterman did the same then when he went over to CBS to host The Late Show.
I am from Memphis also, and thought that one news broadcast was at 9 PM. Another station WREG 3 seems to have news broadcasts at odd hours.
That is what I would suggest, have the news on an hour early, at 10 PM Eastern/9PM Central and then put Leno's show after that. I think everyone's ratings would improve quite a bit after that.
Again, I'll ask, is everyone so braindead that the only thing offered on the major networks are the local news and then similiar late night TV shows? These shows are the same. Host comes out and does a monologue, interviews with Hollywood idiots, a musical number and possibly some comedic skit. The format hasn't changed since the 1950's. No wonder cable is doing so well.
My question is, who watches Conan or even Fallon? Conan's previous show came on at 11:30 Central/12:30 Eastern. I'm usually in bed by then. Who in the World watches TV after 1 AM besides people on speed? Most people I know at 1 AM are sleeping, working, or drunk/high. It just seems to me the rate of return is not worth the investment, but obviously it is.
^^ Yet you post this at Midnight?