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[ToxicAdam]

Seems like Conan is just angling for some kind of contract buyout. I'm sure there are clauses in there that keep him from competing with another network and he can leverage the money he is owed into removing that language.

 

[Y2Kev]

Yeah, he gone.

 

[Deleted member 22576]

CoCo..... :'(
What am I going to watch now?

 

[MThanded]

Conan should go to Comedy Central.

was just about to post this

 

[Woodsy]

Conan must go to FOX. His audience will follow him.

Conan goes to Fox, his audience goes with him. He steals some of Dave's audience. Conan>Leno, Dave

It would be epic, but I know that Conan's humor doesn't play to everybody.

 

[Chamber]

This sucks. I was hoping he'd just wait out Leno who I'm sure wouldn't have been happy with a 30 minute show.

 

[PantherLotus]

I'm still holding out hope for an Arsenio comeback at 10:30 and the Later Show w/Conan at 11:30, both on FOX.

 

[otake]

Isn't Leno damaged goods at this point? what did we learn from his experiment, other than he is weak at 10:00 pm? The whole thing just seems like he isn't what he once was. There's no guarantee audiences will follow him back to the tonight show anymore.

 

[Calcaneus]

Wow Leno is proving to act more and more like the weasel he sounds and looks like. At least Conan cares about his work and respects something other than his ego.

I haven't been paying too much attention to this, is Leno the one pushing for the time slot change?

 

[infinityBCRT]

Normal people did not find Jay funny enough to watch at ten :lol :lol gtfowitalldatolebullshit

His ratings are exactly what NBC expected and close to what he was getting at the Tonight Show timeslot. However they are bad for primetime, and because of that news from affiliates was getting low ratings and the affiliates started to rebel because of that.

 

[templeusox]

It makes much more sense for Conan to go to HBO than Comedy Central. It's a moot point though, since CC can't pay him.

 

[GoutPatrol]

Conan showing he is the bigger man here.

 

[MThanded]

Leno has a hilarious chin.

 

[MNC]

exactly. he's not quitting, he's telling NBC to either say 'fuck you leno' or 'fuck you conan'. NBC can't have it's cake and eat it too. the ball is in NBC's court now.

But having Conan IS having the cake and eating it... Leno is like brusselsprouts :|

 

[Wes]

I'll do a trade for Jonathan Ross.

 

[gdt]

Isn't Leno damaged goods at this point? what did we learn from his experiment, other than he is weak at 10:00 pm? The whole thing just seems like he isn't what he once was. There's no guarantee audiences will follow him back to the tonight show anymore.

I don't know if he's all that damaged, really. He could put up a better fight against Letterman than Conan did.

At least, thats what NBC is thinking.

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

Isn't Leno damaged goods at this point? what did we learn from his experiment, other than he is weak at 10:00 pm? The whole thing just seems like he isn't what he once was. There's no guarantee audiences will follow him back to the tonight show anymore.

That's what makes NBC look so stupid in this whole thing. Leno is on earlier in the night and is doing worse and exposed himself as not being that great of a draw, and NBC is fighting to keep him and screw the new guy. A logical company would just let Leno go.

The new guy has "the new guy" excuse and can blame Leno's lead-in for his lower ratings. Leno has no excuse for how badly he is doing, but he gets rewarded and coddled in all of this.

 

[captive]

Conan must go to FOX. His audience will follow him.

the same audience that didn't follow him to an earlier time slot on the same channel?

 

[SaskBoy]

Good move on his part. Hopefully he gets a show on another network.

 

[otake]

Leno has a hilarious chin.

Conan has great hair.

 

[SolidSquirrel]

It's sad considering Conan has wanted this for so long, but maybe he just isn't cut out for the tonight show. I watched him much more consistently on Late Night. Maybe switching networks will allow him to refresh his format and put out a better show, despite almost definitely having worse ratings.

 

[dave is ok]

Leno really is a piece of trash for laying back, being complicit in all of this and then acting like "It's not up to me! NBC will do what it wants!"

Just retire you hack.

 

[KHarvey16]

the same audience that didn't follow him to an earlier time slot on the same channel?

His ratings at 11:30 are worse than his ratings at 12:30?

 

[Captain Blood]

Leno doesn't worry about such things.

Truth. Although I am sure Fallon is far from the reason for this stand.

 

[Souldriver]

I have to ask though. Is Conan really that much better than Leno, Letterman, Ferguson, ...?


I watched all segments from each of these shows on the whole NBC debacle, and they all seemed to be as good (or mediocre) as each other. One guy addressing the audience and making a few jokes, a sidekick validating the host, and perhaps a "top 10 list of..." to end with. I know it's probably not fair to make a judgement based on just a few minutes of each of these shows, but they all look pretty much the same at first glance.


Which brings me to another question: why is the whole night talk show format so rigid? They all have the same pattern: monologue, some funny lists, a guest on the couch while the host sits behind his desk, a band that does the *padum-pish* after every joke, a sidekick than validates the jokes from the host, a set that resembles a city skyline, ... Why can't they mix it up a little?

 

[Fuzzy]

What was the name of that movie about Leno/Letterman and who would take over the Tonight Show? It needs a sequel.

 

[ConfusingJazz]

Which brings me to another question: why is the whole night talk show format so rigid? They all have the same pattern: monologue, some funny lists, a guest on the couch while the host sits behind his desk, a band that does the *padum-pish* after every joke, a sidekick than validates the jokes from the host, a set that resembles a city skyline, ... Why can't they mix it up a little?

Johnny Carson.

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

Which brings me to another question: why is the whole night talk show format so rigid? They all have the same pattern: monologue, some funny lists, a guest on the couch while the host sits behind his desk, a band that does the *padum-pish* after every joke, a sidekick than validates the jokes from the host, a set that resembles a city skyline, ... Why can't they mix it up a little?

Because people are looking for the comforts of familiarity while they fall asleep.

I can only really fall asleep to old Simpsons or nothing at all.

 

[gdt]

What was the name of that movie about Leno/Letterman and who would take over the Tonight Show? It needs a sequel.

I'd think there will be a new book, at the very least.

 

[otake]

That's what makes NBC look so stupid in this whole thing. Leno is on earlier in the night and is doing worse and exposed himself as not being that great of a draw, and NBC is fighting to keep him and screw the new guy. A logical company would just let Leno go.

The new guy has "the new guy" excuse and can blame Leno's lead-in for his lower ratings. Leno has no excuse for how badly he is doing, but he gets rewarded and coddled in all of this.

I agree. When a performer fails to draw an audience, producers don't usually make excuses for him. I've just never seen someone in hollywood get rewarded for poor performance.

 

[jamesinclair]

The funny part will be when Leno at 11:35 does even worse than he was doing at 10 (and worse than conan).

I can see fans of Conan boycotting leno pretty easily.


Shame all this hurts fallon and daly as well.

 

[BorkBork]

Conan should go to Comedy Central.

Daily Show/Colbert/Conan.

That would be nice.

 

[Kano on the Phone]

Conan goes to Fox, his audience goes with him. He steals some of Dave's audience. Conan>Leno, Dave

It would be epic, but I know that Conan's humor doesn't play to everybody.

I'd like to hear your logic, given that he can't even steal Letterman's audience now.

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

I agree. When a performer fails to draw an audience, produces don't usually make excuses for him. I've just never seen someone in hollywood get rewarded for poor performance.

Even Leno sort of made a joke about this last week, when he mentioned that he heard he was getting canceled, and he said "but I'm not worried, usually NBC only cancels things when they're in first place."

 

[gdt]

I think Fallon is coming out pretty good.

When Leno (in less than 10 years) retires, who do you think is taking The Tonight Show? Fallon.



They burned the fuck out of Conan.

 

[RiskyChris]

Shame all this hurts fallon and daly as well.

The only thing that saves them is no Leno at all. Jimmy's show is really fun, and I hope it makes it through this alright.

 

[gdt]

Daily Show/Colbert/Conan.

That would be nice.

But that would either movie the Daily Show to 10, or Conan to 12.

Neither of those is nice.

 

[Barrett2]

Goddamn I love Conan. A man of principle.

FUCK YOU JAY LENO

 

[Lonestar]

The Tonight Show iswas a staple of television, and shouldn't be just about 1 guy. The Tonight show "should" have been able to survie Leno leaving. It would have.

But now...NBC's basically destroyed the show in the name of a single piece of the show, that had no worth to it before he showed up for the job, and won't have alot of worth for it, after he leaves (whenever that is).

 

[otake]

I have to ask though. Is Conan really that much better than Leno, Letterman, Ferguson, ...?


I watched all segments from each of these shows on the whole NBC debacle, and they all seemed to be as good (or mediocre) as each other. One guy addressing the audience and making a few jokes, a sidekick validating the host, and perhaps a "top 10 list of..." to end with. I know it's probably not fair to make a judgement based on just a few minutes of each of these shows, but they all look pretty much the same at first glance.

The stile, themes, etc. of the jokes are different. The celebrity interviews are very different as well. When you watch Conan do an interview, you laugh at him and his jokes which often seem spontaneous. If you watch Leno interview, its very obvious there is a script, the jokes are small little quibs and such.

It's the little things that make all the difference. By the way, I find Mr. Letterman the most funny.

 

[captive]

His ratings at 11:30 are worse than his ratings at 12:30?

idunno i dont follow ratings.


Anyway Conan (anecdotal) seems to not appeal to people over the age of 35.

 

[Nabs]

well.. he didnt really quit just yet. we'll see what happens next.

 

[red shoe paul]

Conan is fucking dumb, and I'm not sure why alot of people like him. I hate all late night shows actually, but he just makes no sense.

 

[morningbus]

I'd like to hear your logic, given that he can't even steal Letterman's audience now.

You'd have to buy into the entire Fox promise: 11:00 time slot, with lead-ins from 24 and American Idol (they'd lose some of the audience from local news, but still).

Even just starting a half-hour earlier would probably do some damage to the other talk shows.

 

[StoOgE]

If that's the case why do affiliates even bother running anything the network provides?

Because they need the lead in of Fox's shows to get their ratings up.

A local affiliate that only shows it's own programming and/or sindicated programming will fail or fall into a niche market.

Where Fox has it's strengths is

1) It has no daytime programming so the affiliates can buy up syndicated talk shows for cheap that do well and keep all the daytime profits to themselves.

2) Fox programming goes off at 10:00. This means the local affiliates get a strong Fox lead in for 2 hours of programming and then can run either syndicated show at 9:00, local news, or some sort of rerun. In all of these cases the affiliate gets to sell the ad-space.

The ratings will be lower on a Fox channel at 10:00 than a CBS or NBC affiliate, but because the ad-space belongs to the affiliate alone they typically make more money.

This is why you saw a bunch of affiliates of non-Fox networks jump ship to Fox in the early to mid-90s. More profit for the affiliate.

Fox might be able to put together a package for the local affiliates that makes a 11:30 late night show a good deal for them. However, without also programming the 10:00 time slot, the lead in for Conan will be terrible. So, if Fox signs Conan do they also try and move into the 10:00 time slot?

Edited for EST

 

[fisheyes]

I think Fallon is coming out pretty good.

When Leno (in less than 10 years) retires, who do you think is taking The Tonight Show? Fallon.



They burned the fuck out of Conan.

I don't know. If Leno ends up quitting too soon, I could see Fallon being viewed as not experienced enough, and wouldn't have much bargaining power either. I could definitely see NBC trying to bring in some sort of 'big' name to take over the Tonight Show, leaving Fallon with even longer to wait for the spot.

 

[Anerythristic]

Wow, it really amazes me the almost two decade hold Jay Leno has had over the executives of NBC...he has mastered them.

 

[SolidSquirrel]

It's pretty classy of him to bring Fallon into this. It seems like nobodys been considering him in this whole ordeal. Not that I'm a huge fan, but he's done a good job continuing Late Night with a fun show.

 

[gdt]

I don't know. If Leno ends up quitting too soon, I could see Fallon being viewed as not experienced enough, and wouldn't have much bargaining power either. I could definitely see NBC trying to bring in some sort of 'big' name to take over the Tonight Show, leaving Fallon with even longer to wait for the spot.

This is another possibility of course.



Just depends on how many people have forgotten about The Chevy Chase show...

 

[Lonestar]

The stile, themes, etc. of the jokes are different. The celebrity interviews are very different as well. When you watch Conan do an interview, you laugh at him and his jokes which often seem spontaneous. If you watch Leno interview, its very obvious there is a script, the jokes are small little quibs and such.

It's the little things that make all the difference. By the way, I find Mr. Letterman the most funny.

Yep. Leno just seems like a PR agent up there, it's all going by script. Conan seems spontanious and light. Letterman is either strange in his spontaneity (Oprah---Uma), funny, but more than any of the other hosts, can break down those certain guests, that need it (often the political guests, like McCain, or O'Reilly)