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Late Night Wars - Conan's last Tonight Show was TONIGHT a long time ago

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quadriplegicjon said:
Yes, that makes sense, but Rosie then asked if it were possible some time in the future.. assuming after he had established himself. He shot her down again. I think the major annoyance behind all that is that he does this shit while talking and pretending he is a nice guy and your very best friend.

Yeah, iirc her major point of contention wasn't so much being denied the gig but that Leno acted innocent in the whole thing.
 
Deal imminent:
http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/17/conan-deal-is-immiment-key-details-all-worked-out/
An announcement of a deal in the protracted negotiations between NBC and Conan O’Brien could come as early as later tonight, representatives of both sides said Sunday.

The basic elements of the deal are complete, both sides said, and all that remains are several legal issues, which are being discussed by lawyers for each side, and how some staff members of Mr. O’Brien’s “Tonight” show who do not have separate contracts will receive severance.

The issues could push the announcement off one more day, one representative said, though it is doubtful anything could derail the settlement at this point. Both sides are now eager to conclude the deal, each representative said,

The financial terms include a payment of about $40 million by NBC, though Mr. O’Brien will not personally receive all of that. A portion will also go to staff members who have contracts of their own, one representative said.

The agreement is also expected to allow Mr. O’Brien to work again in television by September, if not sooner. Though no talks have been held with any potential suitors, executives at the Fox network have publicly expressed interest in talking to Mr. O’Brien once he is legally free to do so.
 
Blader5489 said:
Yeah, iirc her major point of contention wasn't so much being denied the gig but that Leno acted innocent in the whole thing.

Things probably would have went very differently if Jay had the guts to tell Rosie herself and explain to her why he wasnt letting her do it. Doing stuff like this behind peoples backs is why Leno is considered a snake. Like Leno constantly asking Stern "Are we still gonna be friends?" Its seriously school yard shit.
 
CurseoftheGods said:
Conan going to Fox for an 11 PM show seems more likely everyday.
I'd love to see Conan on Fox. I think he'd be a great fit and could go back to performing Late Nite caliber comedy. NBC should give the rotting Tonight Show corpse to Leno. It'll only be a matter of time before Leno becomes more irrelevant than he already is.
 
CurseoftheGods said:
Just remembered this thread!

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=363309

FTWer was still doing damage control for Jay Leno. :lol

This makes me sad:

Tobor said:
So, so long. It took 17 years, but we are finally free from the chains of oppression!


Seriously though, Jay sucks, bring on Conan.

Tobor said:
Hopefully, years from now, Leno will a tiny forgotten footnote in the history of The Tonight Show, wedged between Carson and Conan. Like the George Lazenby of talk shows.

We just need a 30 year classic run out of Conan to wipe the foul taste from our mouths.

/sigh
 
Conan should just take the newly opened 10pm slot. Let's see how Jay likes that.

They should never have given Jay Leno a primetime show... what a mistake.
 
It just shows you that people are hardcore egomaniacs in this showbusiness. Ill stick to Conan and shit on Jay for ever...will never tune in anymore. I havent disliked him till now.
 
Chamber said:
Conan back on TV in September sounds good to me.
I know I'll be celebrating.
conan-dancing.gif
 
numble said:

The agreement is also expected to allow Mr. O’Brien to work again in television by September, if not sooner. Though no talks have been held with any potential suitors, executives at the Fox network have publicly expressed interest in talking to Mr. O’Brien once he is legally free to do so.

YES. And I'd rather have him on Fox instead of FX, as the earlier rumor indicated.
 
legend166 said:
Yeah I agree. Plus, in my mind chosing between Leno or Rosie is like chosing between having my left ball cut off or my right ball cut off.


Rosie is actually fantastic when she's in TV host mode. The problem with Rosie is that you don't know if you're going to get fun Rosie or sad Rosie or even combative Rosie.
 
perfectchaos007 said:
that's too long.

but yes I know there's a chance it could be a much much longer wait :(

i would say september is the fastest. if fox doesnt step up and its just talk it might be longer but maybe they have already had conversations with fox at this point.
 
Oh my God, he is walking into the trap of all traps. Why the fuck did he agree to this?

I mean, I am going to enjoy Colbert picking apart his carcass, but man, he publicly insulted a personal friend of Colbert. This is going to be brutal and awesome. Probably uncomfortable as well.

The only thing better would be Jon Stewart. The slow, excruciating crucifiction would be divine.

NinjaCodah said:
Conan should just take the newly opened 10pm slot. Let's see how Jay likes that.

They should never have given Jay Leno a primetime show... what a mistake.

That would require them to use their heads for something other than butt plugs, and from the last two weeks, that has been proven a dim chance.

he's the worst part of the show.

Come closer so that I may smack you.
 
God, I wish Conan could just start on Fox next week. After the shit he's had to go through, I just want him to get on TV and fucking burn NBC's late night to the ground.
 
SatelliteOfLove said:
Oh my God, he is walking into the trap of all traps. Why the fuck did he agree to this?

I mean, I am going to enjoy Colbert picking apart his carcass, but man, he publicly insulted a personal friend of Colbert. This is going to be brutal and awesome. Probably uncomfortable as well.

The only thing better would be Jon Stewart. The slow, excruciating crucifiction would be divine.
Wait.......what is this about?
 
Anyone think the hyperbole in this thread is going a bit too far? I understand that we all have enjoyed having Conan on our TVs, but I don't know if we should be feeling that bad for the guy. The funny thing is that I think Conan would agree with me. He's getting $30 mil, which will hold him down just fine until he gets another deal, which shouldn't take TOO long.

I guess I'm just trying to get people to relax. It's a TV show, nothing more, and he'll be back soon (hopefully).
 
SoulPlaya said:
Anyone think the hyperbole in this thread is going a bit too far? I understand that we all have enjoyed having Conan on our TVs, but I don't know if we should be feeling that bad for the guy. The funny thing is that I think Conan would agree with me. He's getting $30 mil, which will hold him down just fine until he gets another deal, which shouldn't take TOO long.

I guess I'm just trying to get people to relax. It's a TV show, nothing more, and he'll be back soon (hopefully).

We all know he'll be fine, but it's the fact that he was screwed so badly that has people up in arms. Not only did NBC give him no time after promising the show to him, they fucked up the lead in with Leno's show, and Leno's hand in all this makes an easy target. Beyond that he's either a great manipulator or he seriously was honored and proud to work on The Tonight Show, so having it yanked from him is made even more painful.

Plus Leno's back. If that's not a reason to be wildly passionate and offended I don't know what is.
 
SoulPlaya said:
Anyone think the hyperbole in this thread is going a bit too far? I understand that we all have enjoyed having Conan on our TVs, but I don't know if we should be feeling that bad for the guy. The funny thing is that I think Conan would agree with me. He's getting $30 mil, which will hold him down just fine until he gets another deal, which shouldn't take TOO long.

I guess I'm just trying to get people to relax. It's a TV show, nothing more, and he'll be back soon (hopefully).

I'm personally more up in arms about NBC's habit of dumping quality for mediocrity. I want to work in television one day, and this trend does not bode well for me at all.
 
What are the chances of him being able to do a new show, at fill-in-the-blank network, right out of LA eliminating the need for him and his staff to move?
 
TheDoppelganger said:
newest word is 40 million and he can compete immediately.
What's the point? They should go for more money and 6 months no compete. There's no way he can get a show up and running before that anyway.
 
http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2010/01/late-night-.html

The Late Night Distemper of Our Times

HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF: A brilliantly researched and captivating article detailing the progress of The Tonight Show under Steve Allen, how affiliates wanted to drop a retooled Tonight Show much like Jay's retooled primetime program, Jack Paar's televised quitting of The Tonight Show, how Johnny Carson getting the job was almost sabotaged in a Leno-like fashion, and how Jerry Lewis' own 2-hour late night show bombed.

THIS IS A MUST READ

Audio of Jack Paar condemning NBC execs and quitting The Tonight Show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45TLOCFbPsQ
 
snesfreak said:
Fuck I hope that's true.

http://www.deadline.com/hollywood/jeff-zucker-threatens-to-ice-conan-ill-keep-you-off-the-air-for-3-12-years/

SUNDAY 8:50 AM: Below is Saturday Night Live's cold opening about the festering late night debacle about to end -- now possibly Tuesday after the MLK long weekend -- with NBC's $40 million "don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out" payment to Conan O'Brien that also frees him to compete against Jay Leno immediately.
 
I really hope that FOX indeed offers Conan a job, and that there isn't much hesitation about it so that not only Conan but his whole crew can directly move on.

I know FOX has been mentioned in an article above, but outside of that one article there hasn't been anything that suggests he's going to that network, except for all the fans hoping for it.
 
Jeff Zucker had Conan arrested back in their Harvard days!

http://www.deadline.com/hollywood/no-joke-jeff-zucker-had-conan-arrested/
It's just been brought to my attention that, while they were Harvard undergraduates, Jeff Zucker '86 called the cops on Conan O'Brien '85. (I never saw previous reports about this.) According to articles in both the Harvard Crimson and Yale Daily News, Zucker, then president of the university's Harvard Crimson daily newspaper, dispatched the police to the Harvard Lampoon office after O'Brien, who was president of the campus humor magazine, organized a prank on his college rival -- stealing an entire print run of the Crimson before it could be distributed. "He only forgave me when I gave him The Tonight Show," Zucker told a Yale gathering back in 2005. The Harvard Crimson described the incident this way in a 2004 article about Conan landing The Tonight Show courtesy of Zucker: "O’Brien cut his teeth in comedy as president of The Harvard Lampoon, a semi-secret Sorrento Square social organization that used to occasionally publish a so-called humor magazine. In fact, O’Brien first met Zucker, his current boss, one day when O’Brien and the Lampoon editors stole all the copies of that morning’s Crimson. Zucker, then Crimson President, called the police and met O’Brien face to face while he was being arrested." In 2001, Conan told The New Yorker this about the incident: "College pranks are supposed to be clever, but our rivalry with the Crimson had degenerated into us stealing something, Jeff calling the police, and the police making us haul it back," said O'Brien. (Other Lampoon pranks on Zucker included "a fake phone-sex ad with Zucker’s dorm-room phone number. Zucker did not find any of this particularly hilarious.") So what's to glean from this Harvard history lesson? Yes, Jeff Zucker was a thin-skinned prick who didn't understand comedy or know how to handle creatives even back then.
 
Souldriver said:
I really hope that FOX indeed offers Conan a job, and that there isn't much hesitation about it so that not only Conan but his whole crew can directly move on.

I know FOX has been mentioned in an article above, but outside of that one article there hasn't been anything that suggests he's going to that network, except for all the fans hoping for it.

Kevin Reilly, the president of FOX, said he wants Conan. =P
 
If Fox gives Conan a job with more comedic freedom, things may turn out better long term. Conan has been much funnier the past week as he isn't afraid to cross lines, and I suspect some of the jokes were written by him because they remind of the humor in the Simpsons in the early 90s. Way better than that twitter tracker stuff.
 
I'm four pages LTTP on this, but...


...what the fuck? The irony dripping from this (to quote Patton Oswalt) is so rich and thick, you could drizzle it over pancakes. Maybe if only Jay had said "...knock on wood" at the end of his little speech, this wouldn't have to go down as one of the biggest jinxes in the history of American TV. Man, talk about Murphy's Law in full effect, nearly every bad thing Jay said he didn't want to happen in the switch-over, happened. Amazing.
 
Blader5489 said:
Kevin Reilly, the president of FOX, said he wants Conan. =P

Also, FOX already has a provision in their contracts with their affiliates that they can put in a late night show at any time and the affiliates will all carry it. The only hangup there is that FOX doesn't want to just dictate such a decision, even though they legally can. They want the affiliates behind the move. Right now, the affiliates make good ratings and ad buys on their syndicated reruns of Seinfeld ect. that run in that slot that some affiliates are concerned.
 
NomarTyme said:
Fox has Conan already. Probably in the building stages of the set already.

You know what I think would be a really smart idea? If he can get started soon, Conan should take his show on the road while his permanent set is being built. Take the show to cities and college campuses around the country, where Conan is truly loved. It would also be a good way to build support with all the local affiliates in the markets which Conan visits, dropping in on their local news broadcasts and raising hell, filming bits of him touring the cities/campuses with the mayor, a local celebrity, or even just fans, ect. The few road shows Conan has done in the past have been tremendous.

Of course Conan and his crew would have to be extremely motivated to take on such an undertaking, but it would be worth it. It wouldn't be easy. If Conan really wants to stick the dagger in though, and really crush NBC and become the most talked-about guy in late night, that's one way he could do it.
 
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