O'Brien out, Leno back in?
- Thread starter Professor Zoom
- Start date
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'm sorry, but this drama seems about as ridiculous as that Paul Abdul thing on American Idol last year or whenever it was. Does being the king of Late Night really matter?
To most people? No, of course not.
But these guys are comedians. Of course it matters for these guys. Becoming the host of The Tonight Show, for a professional comedian, is like becoming President of the United States for a professional politician, or winning the World Series for a professional baseball player. It's the apex of professional success for these guys.
So, yeah, for them, of course it matters. It's their world.
It's seems like the overall take on this is that Leno is causing all this ruckus because he won't leave. This inability to leave with grace and humility is screwing with Conan, Jimmy Fallon and to a lesser degree Carson Daley. It also seems to me that most people have a personal likeing to Conan and less of a one for Jay Leno. So even if they aren't fans of Conan's show they seem to sympathize with Conan's situation.
In fact I think anyone can understand what Conan must be going through. All of us in some way shape or form have been burned when we didn't deserve it. I recently got screwed out of a job I deserved and was well qualified for. So the guy who got the job I should have turned out to have a parent on the board of directors.
So I really feel for Conan and not just because I think he's funny and a great guy but because I've been there. Albiet his situation is more public and that certainly isn't good stress wise. I really hope this gets settled soon because all I want to do is look forward to Conan and Craigferguson.
In fact I think anyone can understand what Conan must be going through. All of us in some way shape or form have been burned when we didn't deserve it. I recently got screwed out of a job I deserved and was well qualified for. So the guy who got the job I should have turned out to have a parent on the board of directors.
So I really feel for Conan and not just because I think he's funny and a great guy but because I've been there. Albiet his situation is more public and that certainly isn't good stress wise. I really hope this gets settled soon because all I want to do is look forward to Conan and Craigferguson.
The funny thing is, this is the second time Leno has screwed someone else over like this. Back in the early 90s, he got the Tonight Show gig over Letterman, even though Letterman had been the host of Late Night for a decade and was hand-picked by Johnny Carson himself to become his successor.
Basically, Jay Leno has now managed to steal The Tonight Show twice.
Not when FOX tells them "stop doing news at 11". FOX has pretty much total control over it's affiliates, more so than NBC I think so if FOX wants something on air, it'll get on air.
No idea if this report is accurate or not, but it certainly does touch upon many valid reasons why Conan would want out of NBC (relocating his family and staff to Los Angeles only to be treated like a red-headed stepchild is a kick in the balls from NBC, regardless of how much he's getting paid).
We'll see if sources other than the NY Post report it.
They very much do care whether Conan goes to FOX or elsewhere - the idea here, from their POV, is to hold on to both of these guys. If this maneuver costs them one, they've failed.
Uh, Conan is a redhead - no idea what his upbringing was like, though.
Meanwhile, I've noticed ads for TNT's Southland. Last season, NBC hyped it as the next great drama. This season, NBC disposed of it because they needed timeslots for their Leno experiment. Their official explanation, however, was that Southland was "too dark and gritty" for broadcast.
S
Stone_Cold_Sisko
Guest
I'd like to see FOX put Conan at 11PM, and let Conan get as zany as he wants, in a way he could at 12:30 but not on "The TOnight Show". It would be a rare chance for Conan to actually "start over" not 5 months after his slow Tonight Show gig.
It's interesting. I've read that Fox has liked Conan since his days on the Simpsons, and has offered him a late night slot several times in the past when his NBC contract for Late Night came up for renew.
I agree, people take this way too serious. It's a show. The same thing with the "messages" in Avatar, it's a movie. No one will remember the "hidden messages", it's the cool 3D work that will be remembered.
Plus Paula left on her own, this case NBC is fucking over Conan and that is what pisses me off.
MeanJoePhaser
Admiral
Having read message boards over the years, and I've spoken to many Tonight Show fans, and some of you have written... y'know... hundreds of post about late night television, I'd just like to say... GET A LIFE, will you, people? I mean, for crying out loud, it's just a TV show! I mean, look at you, look at the way you're acting! You've turned an enjoyable little show, created as a lark decades ago, into a COLOSSAL WASTE OF TIME!
You, you're almost 30...have you ever gone to bed before 10:30 on a weeknight?
I didn't think so! There's a whole world out there! When I was your age, I didn't watch late night television! I SLEPT! So... stop staying up till the wee hours of the morning! And get some sleep and GROW THE HELL UP! I mean, it's just a TV show dammit, IT'S JUST A TV SHOW!
Right. No one watches late night television. Insomniacs, late shift workers, swing shift workers, people with odd schedules, people on vacation, etc. etc. etc.
^And some people just watch it because they like it. My grandmother (now in her early 80s) watches Letterman religiously.
This whole thing had clusterfuck written all over it from the beginning. Now NBC has fucked over Conan, they've pissed off their affiliates, and they have five hours of scripted programming to magically pull out their asses after the Olympics. I can't believe Jeff Zucker hasn't been fired for this fuckery, much less that his new supreme overlords at Comcast are willing to keep him in his current position.
This whole thing had clusterfuck written all over it from the beginning. Now NBC has fucked over Conan, they've pissed off their affiliates, and they have five hours of scripted programming to magically pull out their asses after the Olympics. I can't believe Jeff Zucker hasn't been fired for this fuckery, much less that his new supreme overlords at Comcast are willing to keep him in his current position.