The NBC Shuffle [Archive]

BreakABone

01-10-2010, 01:42 PM

So NBC took a gamble at the start of the new season by moving Jay Leno from his late night slot into one of their primetime slots. At the time, it made sense as it would be cheaper to produce than another show or 5, and Leno had a built in audience.

Fast forward a few months, and it just hasn't worked out as well as intended. So NBC is in quite the situation with their line up.

They have decided to move Leno back to his 11:30 slot, but only for half an hour, Conan will be moved to midnight, but he may not stick around with the network.

So that's the late night stuff, but now they are left with 5 hours of television, and as far as I know, very little content to fill it with. So what does NBC do?

Gaspin: "Jay and Conan and Jimmy were incredibly gracious and professional. They all said they understood the difficult situation I was in."

Gaspin being much more candid than any NBC exec I can remember. He just doesn't have much he can tell us.

Gaspin: "There probably wasn't much they could do" to change Leno's show. "They were doing the show Jay is comfortable doing. "

Gaspin says Leno Show performance at 10 "was not an issue for the network, really," and entirely a problem for affiliate late local news.

"I'm not going to talk much beyond that (about Conan staying), because I have a fluid situation." -Gaspin

He has proposed Leno Show at 11:35, Conan's Tonight at 12:05, Late Night w/Fallon at 1:05, but "talks are still ongoing."

Gaspin: While Leno show "performed to our expectations, it did not meet our affiliates' needs."

Gaspin confirms that Jay Leno Show leaves primetime Feb. 12.

Bond

01-10-2010, 01:45 PM

I think it was quite evident this was going to happen. Conan simply does not appeal to the older generations. The only generation he appeals to is ours. I believe we talked about this exact problem when it was first announced.

Conan might leave NBC, but he's not going to get a better time slot at CBS or ABC.

Teuthida

01-10-2010, 01:47 PM

Move to cable. Put him on after Daily Show and Colbert. Perfect lineup.

BreakABone

01-10-2010, 01:54 PM

I'm more concerned with the primetime slot as NBC literally has nothing lined up, you just don't magically pull shows from thin air. And its only a month or so before this change takes place.

Teuthida

01-10-2010, 02:05 PM

Probably a reality show. Cheap but full of empty calories...and turns your poo green after excessive consumption.

I did like Conan's buddy cop idea with him and Leno: Coco and The Chin.

The Germanator

01-10-2010, 03:09 PM

I kind of wish Conan would just start writing movies or TV shows or something. I feel like he could succeed in that career. He was great as a writer for The Simpsons.

manasecret

01-11-2010, 05:39 AM

Anyone have the ratings for Conan? Did he keep the same ratings he had at Late Night, but just that they expect better ratings on the Tonight Show?

KillerGremlin

01-11-2010, 10:20 AM

Why the fuck does Jimmy Fallon still have a job?

Late night has all gone to shit with the exception of Craig Ferguson, the only funny guy at the moment. NBC ruined the quirky fun that Conan's show used to have. Leno has always been consistent, and I have nothing against him except that I wouldn't make time in my life to watch him. If he is on and nothing better is on I'll watch.

Teuthida

01-11-2010, 10:42 AM

manasecret

01-11-2010, 11:31 AM

He makes a good point about Conan that I was thinking myself.

As everyone knows, Conan's first year at Late Night was awkward, but NBC let him keep going and he then built it into something amazing. I watched a lot of Conan in his first few months on the Tonight Show, and I loved it and thought it was great if not better than his Late Night. I do however miss the masturbating bear, but I digress. Why won't NBC learn from its own success and let Conan build on his momentum and keep their hands off?

Typhoid

01-11-2010, 11:39 AM

Why the fuck does Jimmy Fallon still have a job?

I actually think he's doing a pretty good job.
I mean, you can't compare him to Conan of the past year or three, because he's been doing it for over a decade.

If anything, compare Fallon to the early Conan - where it was highly nonsensical, random jokes everywhere, and he just made a lot of jokes over the guests. Which he still does.

I think Fallon actually has better interviews than Conan, because Conan always de-rails the interview for a few cheap laughs, and Fallon really doesn't.

Plus Fallon has The Roots. Constantly.

Plus, nobody can be as bad as Chevy Chase was when they auditioned him a long time ago.

BreakABone

01-12-2010, 01:58 AM

Fallon also had the Zach Morris homage, and a potential Saved by the Bell reunion.

Anyhow, give comedies sticks and they will make fire, and some of the shots have been awesome.

http://tv.gawker.com/5444253/conan-obrien-slams-nbc-mocks-jay-leno-on-the-tonight-show

Conan's opening shots from last Friday.

http://gawker.tv/5445914/jay-leno-talks-cancellation-possible-new-time-slot-on-tonights-show

Jay Leno's monologue from tonight.

http://gawker.tv/5445941/conan-obrien-continues-evisceration-of-nbc-jay-leno-with-tonights-monologue-updated

Everyone else's from tonight including Conan, Craig and David.

thatmariolover

01-12-2010, 11:15 AM

I've never liked Jay Leno. His humor is entirely centered on making other people look stupid. Conan, on the other hand, is comic genius. I am really disappointed that this didn't work out for him.

*Edited with response from Conan*

http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/12/conan-obrien-says-he-wont-do-tonight-show-following-leno/

Conan O’Brien says he will not host “The Tonight Show” if it is moved to 12:05 a.m.

In a statement Tuesday afternoon, Mr. O’Brien said he cannot participate “in what I honestly believe is its destruction.”

Mr. O’Brien’s comments come two days after NBC formally outlined a plan to move “The Jay Leno Show” to 11:35 p.m. in March, elbowing Mr. O’Brien’s “Tonight Show” back half an hour. Mr. Leno seems supportive of the plan; but in his statement, Mr. O’Brien rejects it outright.

The Germanator

01-12-2010, 09:12 PM

Good for Conan. He's getting messed around with and I'm glad he isn't standing for it. I'm still curious how this will all play out.

Teuthida

01-13-2010, 09:18 AM

http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/2662/teamconan.jpg

manasecret

01-13-2010, 11:06 AM

I'm with CoCo.

Teuthida

01-13-2010, 09:13 PM

manasecret

01-14-2010, 10:21 AM

:lol: "You must never tell him about SVU..."

The Germanator

01-14-2010, 09:41 PM

Looks like Leno is pretty much getting his show back. What will Conan do?

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3ia62d19a7acb838db6035b952fde09415

Bond

01-14-2010, 09:51 PM

Well, however this ends up working out, Conan is going to walk away with quite a lot of money.

Typhoid

01-14-2010, 11:56 PM

I feel exceptionally bad for Jimmy Fallon.
He'll no doubt be out of a job after all of this works out, if Conan doesn't actually switch networks.

The Germanator

01-15-2010, 12:34 AM

I feel exceptionally bad for Jimmy Fallon.
He'll no doubt be out of a job after all of this works out, if Conan doesn't actually switch networks.

Apparently Conan's last "Tonight show" will be Friday, Jan 22nd by the way. If anything this has been a ratings booster...I haven't watched these shows in a while, but I am now just to see the awkwardness.

I feel like Conan is leaving, if all the above is true...Prediction

NBC:

Leno: 11:35 PM

Fallon: 12:35 PM

Fox:

Conan: 11:00 PM

Just a hunch

Typhoid

01-15-2010, 03:58 AM

I watched Conan tonight, and it was actually pretty funny.
It just seems like he's having fun again, considering nothing matters - it reminds me of when his shows first started. Awkward comments aplenty.

Acebot44

01-16-2010, 12:22 AM

Jason1

01-16-2010, 09:16 PM

Leno should do the respectable thing and just back out. I will lose pretty much all respect for him if he takes back the Tonight Show.

Teuthida

01-16-2010, 10:38 PM

http://www.thrfeed.com/2010/01/nbc-to-keep-cocos-masturbating-bear.html

NBC is keeping the copyrighted and trademarked elements of O'Brien's shows as part of the deal. That means the bits and characters will likely never be seen after O'Brien's "Tonight" ends its run Jan 22.

http://www.tmz.com/2010/01/16/conan-obrien-nbc-settlement-tonight-show -jay-leno/

Conan O'Brien can get a whole lot of money from NBC as a parting gift, but there will be strings attached -- not the least of which ... Conan cannot trash the network.

Sources tell us NBC wants a liquidated damages clause if Conan says anything disparaging about the network once he leaves. Essentially that means there is a clause in the contract that says Conan will automatically pay a predetermined amount of money if he says bad things about NBC.

And, as we have previously reported, NBC will demand that Conan not take another hosting job for a certain period of time.

Sources say NBC will be paying Conan a hefty sum, but that will be offset by any amount Conan makes for his next hosting gig. So if Conan makes a deal with FOX, NBC can reduce the amount it pays Conan by the amount FOX forks over.

We've learned Conan's existing contract already has an offset clause in the event he leaves NBC and takes another job.

:(

The Germanator

01-16-2010, 11:00 PM

http://www.thrfeed.com/2010/01/nbc-to-keep-cocos-masturbating-bear.html

http://www.tmz.com/2010/01/16/conan-obrien-nbc-settlement-tonight-show -jay-leno/

:(

Sounds lame. I'd love to think that Conan would just say "BS" to all these stipulations no matter what the contract says and just hammer NBC, but I understand he's worked hard not to lose that money. It's such a shitty position for him if that's how the contract really puts it. Either way, I'm sure he'll be fine and making plenty of money.

Teuthida

01-17-2010, 12:49 PM

Fox 6

01-19-2010, 12:31 PM

Conan is been very funny as of late, he's also bad mouthing NBC non stop.

<iframe src="http://videos.mediaite.com/embed/player/?content=GH8XF8120ZLD46HG&widget_type_cid=svp" width="420" height="451" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" allowtransparency="true"></iframe>

Teuthida

01-19-2010, 02:23 PM

http://i50.tinypic.com/15ebfkl.jpg

Asian Conan Vs. Asian Leno Street Fight, Masturbating Bear, and more
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Teuthida

01-19-2010, 11:15 PM

manasecret

01-20-2010, 11:04 AM

Keep 'em coming. I'm watching all your videos, good stuff. I can't believe the interviews Conan is getting this (last) week. He had Scorsese, and he's getting Tom Hanks and Will Farrell, and I think some other big names. I hope NBC gets its head out of its ass and keeps Conan on. Why can't Leno come on after Conan, besides his ego being too big?

Thespis721

01-20-2010, 12:28 PM

Bond

01-20-2010, 08:22 PM

Leno should probably just back out. But like NBC said, they don't want to give up Leno either so they won't let him out of his contract. Leno was perfectly fine with going to another network and doing a show but NBC won't have it.
Exactly. I think the anger toward Jay Leno is rather miss-directed. This is more of a strategic error by the management at NBC, which in turn impacts both Leno and Conan.

Neo

01-21-2010, 11:33 AM

NBC wanted to have their cake and eat it too. They were so afraid of Conan leaving that they gave him The Tonight Show, but at the same time they didn't want to lose Leno so they gave him a show too. The result was a disaster because it confused viewers.

Essentially what happened was that the real tonight show was renamed the jay leno show, and late night with conan o'brien became the tonight show. I mean they're both doing the same stuff they did before, so who cares what the shows are actually called?

In any case, they never really gave Conan a chance. Leno sucked for his first 18 months and they never tried to get rid of him. I think Conan would have been fine if he accepted the new time slot, but I can understand him not wanting to screw over Jimmy Fallon.

But yea, fuck NBC.

Fox 6

01-21-2010, 12:12 PM

Conan has been extremely funny since this whole debacle started. He's got great guests coming on to support him.

Vampyr

01-21-2010, 01:15 PM

Not only didn't they give Conan enough time, but he hasn't had any prime time line up support which is pretty critical to carrying viewers over into his show.

manasecret

01-21-2010, 02:17 PM

I have to agree that NBC and their horrendous decisions are to blame for all of this, which begs the question, why isn't Zucker being fired instead of Conan?

Leno, on the other hand -- while I think the honorable thing for him would be to honor his retirement plan and to step aside instead of trying to take his position back -- is mostly just stuck in the cross-fire of Zucker's bad decisions.

I just wish Leno and Conan actually teamed up to get the best deal out of Zucker for both of them. Leno could have asked for a huge payoff to get him out of his contract, since he did have a contract but really his time in a late-night show career is not long for the world. Then he could move to another network or go to stand-up or whatever, and Conan, who has a couple decades of time left in his career, would be able to keep the Tonight Show as promised.