NBC Drops Prime Time Leno

[Guitar_Raph]

After 4 months, The Jay Leno Show will be no more after the Winter Olympics.

NBC plans to move the show to 10:35 (CST) and a 30 minute show, followed by Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien @ 11:05 (CST).

Looks like the NBC station in Boston had the right idea + last laugh! They didn't carry the prime time Leno in the first place (I told you so).

[Roseangelo]

Unless you can provide a link that says otherwise, all of this is still in the unconfirmed column. The most recent stuff I'm reading says that Fox is now making Conan an offer.

One thing that's certain: I absolutely hate Jay Leno more now than I already did.

[Guitar_Raph]

Unless you can provide a link that says otherwise, all of this is still in the unconfirmed column. The most recent stuff I'm reading says that Fox is now making Conan an offer.

One thing that's certain: I absolutely hate Jay Leno more now than I already did.


Saw this story on Inside Edition this afternoon.

[Roseangelo]

Saw this story on Inside Edition this afternoon.

Yeah, well, nothing is finalized at all. It's all still speculation on what could happen, and it seems that what does happen is in Conan's court ATM. Not that he has any good choices, but they're also not easy choices, so I think it'll be awhile before this is settled.

[The Stryker]

One thing that's certain: I absolutely hate Jay Leno more now than I already did.

Why? What did he do?

[Roseangelo]

Why? What did he do?

Didn't leave NBC when he was supposed to. Now that he's failing in prime-time, like everyone knew he would, instead of just saying, "Well, it was fun, time to find something new to try!" he's screwing Conan over (AND everyone who works for him). When it was announced Conan was getting The Tonight Show ages ago, he said he wanted to avoid all the crap that happened when he took over for Johnny Carson. Now he's gone and made it as big of a mess as ever.

And he's not funny. :dead:

[The Stryker]

Doesn't sound like it was his fault. He had a long contract and NBC forced him out of the Tonight Show because they were afraid of losing Conan to fox. Now both guys are sucking in the ratings and they want to move back to the status quo.

All of the mess really falls on NBC from what I can tell.

[Roseangelo]

Doesn't sound like it was his fault. He had a long contract and NBC forced him out of the Tonight Show because they were afraid of losing Conan to fox.

All of the mess really falls on NBC from what I can tell.

Leno agreed to give up The Tonight Show, but got whiny about it when the time came to actually go. NBC feared he'd go to another network, so they devised the prime-time thing. Yes, NBC themselves are very much to blame for the mess. But my dislike for Leno himself remains.

[PAAATE]

One thing that's certain: I absolutely hate Jay Leno more now than I already did.

So do I.

Whatever happens, I hope Conan gets a good a deal as possible.

[Raph's Girl]

Jay Leno show is now officially cancelled:

http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/watch_with_kristin/b161301_leno_show_confirmed_canceled_nbc.html

[XERO]

Hmm... that means Wayne Brady had a shot.

[Guitar_Raph]

Wayne Brady's doing OK doing Let's Make A Deal. The chemistry of him & announcer Johnathan Mangum is priceless. And all those ZONKS! they present.

Besides, he had a daytime talk show nearly a decade ago.

[Cure]

I'm content with Conan just being pushed back to 12:05. Glad he wasn't taken away completely. I wonder how he must feel about all this?

[ThirdMarioBro]

I'd imagine he's pretty fu*king pissed. He gave up his New York show to move himself, his family, his staff, and their families all the way to the smelliest town in the southwest to get the almighty Tonight Show only to have Jay-fu*king-Leno once again prove himself to be an attention whoring asshole and not only push Conan back to midnight, but to also completely destroy the once holy Tonight Show legacy (which is the main thing Conan wanted so badly) in the process. That slot has no future after Leno now. As soon as Jimmy Fallon gets canceled from the 1AM slot (nobody can survive that late), they'll just give Jay back the whole hour and push Conan back to 12:30am/11:30.

Eighteen years later, and David Letterman was proved right. Jay Leno is a backstabbing dick. At this point, I hope Conan and his crew pull a Letterman and ditch for Fox. I'm sick of NBC making him water down his comedy for the old crank crowd. I want my masturbating bear dammit! They gave Jay three whole years to find his niche when he took the show back in '93, and Conan only got six months. NBC is a terrible network run by terrible people who make terrible decisions.

The funny thing about this whole affair is that Jay Leno is damaged goods now. When they put him back in his old slot, Letterman is going to smear his ass. Jay will get what he deserves, but Conan shouldn't have to suffer for it. Go home Jay. Nobody likes you or your fat Mr. Potato face and your worse than average simpleton jokes about fat people and Michael Jackson.

[Bry]

NBC needs to drop Leno entirely. Is there anyone under the age of 65 that actually finds him funny anymore?

[Andrew NDB]

NBC needs to drop Leno entirely. Is there anyone under the age of 65 that actually finds him funny anymore?

No, not funny. And his voice makes me want to punch him in the face.

Howard Stern also has some great "Jay Leno's a backstabbing prick" stories.

[Roseangelo]

Here's Patton Oswalt's take on the situation:

ib5lVD8GBr8

[PAAATE]

NBC needs to drop Leno entirely. Is there anyone under the age of 65 that actually finds him funny anymore?

I have a friend who does, but she also thinks that every movie Hugh Grant has ever been in is a masterpiece :P

[Roseangelo]

Conan has issued an official statement:
http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=836092&catid=391

People of Earth:

In the last few days, I've been getting a lot of sympathy calls, and I want to start by making it clear that no one should waste a second feeling sorry for me. For 17 years, I've been getting paid to do what I love most and, in a world with real problems, I've been absurdly lucky. That said, I've been suddenly put in a very public predicament and my bosses are demanding an immediate decision.

Six years ago, I signed a contract with NBC to take over The Tonight Show in June of 2009. Like a lot of us, I grew up watching Johnny Carson every night and the chance to one day sit in that chair has meant everything to me. I worked long and hard to get that opportunity, passed up far more lucrative offers, and since 2004 I have spent literally hundreds of hours thinking of ways to extend the franchise long into the future. It was my mistaken belief that, like my predecessor, I would have the benefit of some time and, just as important, some degree of ratings support from the prime-time schedule. Building a lasting audience at 11:30 (ET) is impossible without both.

But sadly, we were never given that chance. After only seven months, with my Tonight Show in its infancy, NBC has decided to react to their terrible difficulties in prime-time by making a change in their long-established late night schedule.

Last Thursday, NBC executives told me they intended to move the Tonight Show to 12:05 (ET) to accommodate the Jay Leno Show at 11:35 (ET). For 60 years the Tonight Show has aired immediately following the late local news. I sincerely believe that delaying the Tonight Show into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting. The Tonight Show at 12:05 (ET) simply isn't the Tonight Show. Also, if I accept this move I will be knocking the Late Night show, which I inherited from David Letterman and passed on to Jimmy Fallon, out of its long-held time slot. That would hurt the other NBC franchise that I love, and it would be unfair to Jimmy.

So it has come to this: I cannot express in words how much I enjoy hosting this program and what an enormous personal disappointment it is for me to consider losing it. My staff and I have worked unbelievably hard and we are very proud of our contribution to the legacy of The Tonight Show. But I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction. Some people will make the argument that with DVRs and the Internet a time slot doesn't matter. But with the Tonight Show, I believe nothing could matter more.

There has been speculation about my going to another network but, to set the record straight, I currently have no other offer and honestly have no idea what happens next. My hope is that NBC and I can resolve this quickly so that my staff, crew, and I can do a show we can be proud of, for a company that values our work.

Have a great day and, for the record, I am truly sorry about my hair; it's always been that way.

Yours,

Conan

[PAAATE]

I'm so ****ing mad right now!

Conan's show and he himself has meant a lot to me through the years. I.. I.. I ****ing don't even know what to say. He's just been a constant source of entertainment to me for the last seven years, and he deserves ****ing better.

****! I'm sorry, but that's... I can't even... Bah, **** it... I dunno what to say... I'm too sad and angry.

[MrPliggins]

Man..this does stink..now the Tonight Show's going to go back to "same old...". Jay Leno has worn out his welcome, many times over.

[Shredder]

This really sucks...I've been a fan of Conan's for years and have really enjoyed him on the Tonight Show. Now it's looking more and more like he won't be on TV anywhere (at least for now). I don't really get this whole thing. Why did Leno leave the Tonight Show in the first place if he wasn't serious about retiring? Shouldn't Leno be the one who has to look for a new place to take his show since his show was the one canceled due to low ratings? I hope things somehow work out, but this isn't looking good...

[ThirdMarioBro]

NBC is a goddamn mad house run by arrogant mother****ers that are more ignorant than a mega-bank CEO. Conan O'Brien is the funniest guy on TV, bar NONE. He's been making me laugh for most of my good years, and a little bit before that. Jay Leno is a tired old sack of stale humor that just want to win. He doesn't care the cost. He just wants to win. Period. He's terrible in every way. He's a terrible comic, he's a terrible host, he's a terrible writer, and he's a terrible person.

Conan's humor at the end of the day has gotten me through some rough stuff when I needed it. The thought of not having him on TV because some arrogant bastard at NBC decided to do something crazy to compensate for his tiny penis is depressing as hell to me. That network deserves to burn in hell. Slowly. I consider myself a loyal person. If they're going to drive Conan out for Leno's retiree audience, I'll never watch that network again. Not even for 30 Rock. Ever. I know a lot of folks who share my sentiment. We grew up with Conan. They take away my Conan, and I unplug the TV from the cable box. He's about the last thing that the TV gets any use for that isn't a video game.

I'll stop now because I could go on flaming all night at this point. NBC: Nothing But Crap. Burn in HELL you pieces of sh*t.

[XERO]

Damn, I haven't seen TMB like this since the Twilight Princess delay.

[Roseangelo]

Jimmy Kimmel last night:

OMgPPJZfsCM

If you click over to YouTube there are more clips. :tlol:

[Duke]

I completely understand Conan's position of not wanting to accept a time change for the Tonight Show. However, I actually think he's completely wrong in believing a time slot change will be the death of the Tonight Show. I actually think it would do wonders for his ratings. Right now he's competing against something that neither Letterman nor Leno really had to do. He's competing against the Colbert Report. Letterman and Leno weren't really trying to grab up the demographic of Colbert Nation but that's right up Conan's alley. By accepting a Timeslot change to 12:05 EST, he should be capable of grabbing the Stewart/Colbert demographic as both those shows are over. I don't really see loyal Conan followers suddenly switching to Letterman either. They might prefer the Letterman opening monolog to watching the Jay Leno show for 30 minutes but I’m pretty positive Team Conan will be just as likely to watch at 12:05 am as they are at 11:35 pm.

[Roseangelo]

However, I actually think he's completely wrong in believing a time slot change will be the death of the Tonight Show. I actually think it would do wonders for his ratings.

Except Conan isn't referring to ratings in his statement. He means the actual image of what The Tonight Show is. The Tonight Show is *the* staple late night talk show with a very deep and respected history. The Tonight Show is *not* a second string show that follows the wants and desires of another guy who refuses to see that his time has come and gone.

The only audience Leno is getting is the audience that hates change. Because Leno hasn't gone away, they haven't had to accept change. Take Leno away 100% and things will fall into place for Conan and The Tonight Show just fine.

[ThirdMarioBro]

Bingo. And the other thing people don't realize, is that this isn't the first time a situation like this has happened. Back in 1962, Jack Parr decided to leave the Tonight Show. He retired because of the five night a week workload. Then after Johnny took over, Parr changed his mind and NBC gave him a prime-time talk show. It eventually tanked, and NBC stuck with Johnny Carson.

Gee, I wonder how that turned out for them?

[Ginny]

Howard Stern also has some great "Jay Leno's a backstabbing prick" stories.

Howard Stern is THE MAN!!! LOVE HIM!!!

Leno sucks!!! He can't hold a candle to Conan. WTF is NBC thinking?

[ThirdMarioBro]

Damn, I haven't seen TMB like this since the Twilight Princess delay.

Yep. Its good to be back.

[Guitar_Raph]

Impersonating another talk show host on another network (CBS), I have my own Top 10!

ERRORS NBC HAS MADE

(Mikey plays snare drum roll)

10). Have Saturday Today replace Saturday morning cartoons.

9). The XFL.

8]. Losing the Belmont & Breeder's Cup to ABC (horse racing).

7). Losing the NFL to CBS back in 1998. If they had kept the AFC Sunday games, the Houston Texans would've blayed regularly on NBC. Now they're the only AFC team never to have played on NBC (along with San Francisco, Detroit & St. Louis for the NFC).

6). Baseball. Costas would love to have the national pasttime back not since 2000. Maybe the Blue Jays will play a network game since 1993 on CBS.

5). Having Days of Our Lives as the sole survivor of NBC Daytime.

4). Back in 2000, rumors Concentration would be back after the Sydney Olympics, but has 3rd hour of Today Show instead to stab game show fans in the back (and it would've been on my birthday).

3). Anne Robinson, you are the Weakest Link, good-bye!

2). Jay Leno getting his way.

(Mikey stops)

And the #1 answer is...

(Ex-Cel plays tympani drumroll)

SCREWING CONAN O'BRIEN!!!

(Ex-Cel stops)

[Ra]

...what? Just... what?

Granted, I don't follow NBC and what-not since it doesn't really affect anyone here in my rock of the world but just... what?!

Okay. I have to get this off my chest: I absoultely hate Leno. Can't stand him ever since the first time I heard his 'jokes'. Didn't laugh. Didn't smile. You could smell the jerk-ward callone of his through the TV. That look of his? That smug smile he gets like "oh yeah beetches I'm the best"? The one that he wears all the time? Yeah. Rubs me the wrong way a lot.

Conan (heck, no one for that matter) should have to suffer because some old fart with the humour of a bent teaspoon just wants to have a temper tantrum every time he is told to get off stage. Nothing should be moved for this f***tard.

[Duke]

Except Conan isn't referring to ratings in his statement. He means the actual image of what The Tonight Show is. The Tonight Show is *the* staple late night talk show with a very deep and respected history. The Tonight Show is *not* a second string show that follows the wants and desires of another guy who refuses to see that his time has come and gone.

The only audience Leno is getting is the audience that hates change. Because Leno hasn't gone away, they haven't had to accept change. Take Leno away 100% and things will fall into place for Conan and The Tonight Show just fine.

I completely agree it's the staple of late night talk shows but I don't see how a 30 minute time slot changes that. I love Conan and don't find Leno funny. The only two things I really laugh at that Jay does are Headlines and Jay Walking and neither of those really have anything to do with Leno’s humor. I'd be completely fine with Leno disappearing from television altogether. But I don't necessarily think NBC is screwing Conan on this. It is a business after all. When Leno left the Tonight Show it had the best ratings of any late night show. Since Conan took over that’s not the case. Do I think they should give Conan more time to transition and build up his base? Yes. Do I think putting Jay back at 11:35 will suddenly mean the Jay Leno Show will have huge ratings and compete with David Letterman again? No. But NBC is a failing network and it has the right to make decisions that it thinks are in the best interest of the network as a whole. I may not agree with them, you may not agree with them, heck even Conan may not agree with them but it doesn’t necessarily mean NBC is doing anything wrong. All they ever promised Conan in his contract was the Tonight Show and that's what he has. Nowhere in his contract does it state he gets the 11:35 EST time slot. It says he gets to be the host of the Tonight Show and they aren’t trying to take that away from him. Plus even if he quits the tonight show, his contract wouldn’t even allow him to move his show to Fox right away. NBC has all the power in this situation and they know it. Is it fair? Probably not, but it’s the way things work.

[Bry]

I completely agree it's the staple of late night talk shows but I don't see how a 30 minute time slot changes that.

Because, as David Letterman and many others have noted, after midnight it's not "The Tonight Show" anymore - it's "The Tomorrow Morning Show". The show has directly followed affiliate news since its inception, and the idea of messing with that institution just to appease Leno's ego is unthinkable to a lot of people - especially Conan, who seems to be the only person at NBC who actually cares about the show.

[Roseangelo]

I went to The Tonight Show site last night to look at ticket info and requested a ticket for the only date they had still open before the Feb. 12 Winter Olympics deadline, which was Feb. 10. Today I got an e-mail confirming the ticket, so if he hangs on that long I'm there. :)

However, I've been reading that next week may be his last week if things keep going the way they seem to be. :cry: It looks like they had a planned week off for Jan. 25-29, so that might play into it. Arg.

[Newton Gimmick]

VIVA LA CONEBONE!

Join the Revolution and fight the chin...

Badges, we don't need no stinkin' badges!

Yes you do!

Infinite Hollywood: Join the Revolution - Team Coco Badges (http://www.infinitehollywood.com/2010/01/join-revolution-team-coco-badges.html)

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4063/4275041910_3d81533862_o.png

[Duke]

Well if this is true, then I now officially think Conan got screwed. Although, I do think his unwillingness to accept the time slot shift played into this. (http://www.tmz.com/2010/01/14/jay-leno-conan-obrien-nbc-the-tonight-show/)

[ThirdMarioBro]

Then NBC can officially rot in hell. However many more days Conan sticks it out will the be last days I ever watch NBC. Burn in hell Jeff Zucker you *****u*ker.

[The Stryker]

Overreact much?

[愛]

Overreact much?

You don't really know TMB, do you?

[Newton Gimmick]

NBC is denying that report for the record. This saga is far from over. TMZ reported the same thing days ago.

[The Stryker]

You don't really know TMB, do you?

I try to avoid him, Honestly.

[XERO]

That's like trying to avoid Lil' Wayne.

[Machias Banshee]

Man, this is so sad... I've always liked Conan. I haven't been able to see him since the new job. :( I never even knew he'd upgraded to the Year 3000....

[traf]

Conan's been firing on all cylinders this week. The show's been really good. I think that if Conan is able to move to Fox, his drive to take down Leno and NBC will help improve his ratings. Letterman has proved that you can be successful by jumping to a network without a pre-existing Late-Night lineup. Unfortunately, Letterman hasn't been able to regularly beat Leno in the ratings since 1994. I hope that Leno's ratings are low when he returns to "The Tonight Show", but I think it's unlikely. The funny thing is, this whole time the media's been talking about how horrible "The Jay Leno Show" is, but it's not really any different than Leno's "Tonight Show". People need to wise up and realize that Jay's not funny.

Edit: Conan's trying to get Howard Stern on his show next week. That would be awesome.

[Roseangelo]

Jimmy Kimmel pwnd Leno on his own show:

axwO6BkCtIo

Apparently Patton Oswalt is on Monday, who has already made it very clear that he's with Coco.

[Mr. Snackpants]

This whole situation sucks but Conan's monologues have been great this week. I've always liked him poking fun at the network in the past and now he's stabbing it. Awesome. Conan gets this look in his eyes when he's joking about this whole situation, like an internal rage he's hold back that he wants to unleash on the C*ck Zucker at NBC.

[oldmanwinters]

Jimmy Kimmel pwnd Leno on his own show:


That's classic stuff!

[ThirdMarioBro]

Yeah, I saw the Kimmel stuff. I'm not typically a fan of his, but that was pretty ballsy.

Conan's problem all this time is that he's been holding back. Leno set the comedy bar so low that Conan's humor has been flying over the standard middle-American schmuck's head. That first week was brilliant, then NBC put the leash on him. NBC wanted him to lower his comedy to meet dumb people's expectations. Triumph has suffered most of all in all of this. His routine is so tame compared to the stuff he used to do on Late Night where Conan actually wound up having to apologize to Quebec because of all the offensive (and hysterical) stuff Triumph did in that one classic remote with the sign changing.

Reports finally came out that Dick Ebersol recently talked with Conan about dumbing his show down even further to "broaden appeal", and Conan refused. Than the affiliates blew up over Leno's terrible prime-time ratings, so NBC pulled the trigger on this whole mess.

If/When Conan switches to Fox, he's going to be frigging brilliant. Fox wants the youth demographic. Clearly Conan is taking that audience with him wherever he goes.

[PAAATE]

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

Seems like the settlement is almost done, if you can trust that site. I'm happy he has the freedom to go where he wants. And I hope Leno's "new" Tonight Show fails miserably. But I guess that's not likely.

[ThirdMarioBro]

Jay will do alright with the bitter old bastards who don't like change, but that's about it. Jay will loose loose everybody under the age of 30 and basically transform The Tonight Show into a dead-end street. They're all going to head off to Fox with Conan where the laughs will be uncensored.

[PAAATE]

What I'm most worried about now is.. Where will his staff be?

Can they come to a possible new show, too; or are they contractually obligated to stay at NBC? :ohwell:

[MrPliggins]

It seems like a quick fix. IMO, Jay's appeal won't last much longer. I for one never cared for his humor, and won't watch now. I think Conan would grow on people and has more lasting power for this generation. Plus, once Letterman retires in '12, those viewers would probably switch over to Conan anyway, since he'll be more "familiar" at that time slot. I think when it gets down to it, people hate change, although I don't really understand why. Now more than ever, Jay just seems like a prick who puts on a fake face. All said, Conan's show this week was hilarious.

[Roseangelo]

What I'm most worried about now is.. Where will his staff be?

Can they come to a possible new show, too; or are they contractually obligated to stay at NBC? :ohwell:

With the possible exceptions of Andy and Max, and perhaps the rest of the band, I doubt anyone else is under a contract. They would all be "at will" employees like most of the population. However, whether or not they follow Conan would depend on how long they can afford to be unemployed. :ohwell:

I do have faith that Conan won't leave his staff hanging, though.

[Cure]

What happened when Letterman switched networks back in the day? Did he take his whole staff with him?

[The Stryker]

There's a protest going on in front of Universal Studios Hollywood.

Seriously? Aren't there more important things to worry about?

[PAAATE]

Seriously? Aren't there more important things to worry about?

No? It's Conan!

[The Stryker]

A guy that'll get paid millions most likely anyway.

Pardon me if I'm not crying over him.

[PAAATE]

A guy that'll get paid millions most likely anyway.

Pardon me if I'm not crying over him.

I'm not crying over him, I'm crying over me who don't get to watch him!

Also, I'm actually crying over him :)

[The Stryker]

You're hilarious. With that kind of comedy, you'll be able to drive away half of the viewing audience!

:)

[Brodie]

This protest is one of the stupidest things I've seen. Only following the antics of TMB and those Dawn of the Ninja guys.

[The Stryker]

I gotta ask.

Where the hell was all this support when Conan was getting crap ratings?

[Bry]

I gotta ask.

Where the hell was all this support when Conan was getting crap ratings?

Do you have to crap on everything? ;)

Answer: He had a strong start in June, but Leno's current show debuted in September and proved to be a terrible lead-in (affiliate news at 11 were suffering greatly because of Leno, which is what caused his show to be canceled and the whole shakeup to occur in the first place), and late-night shows as a rule tend to depend on a decent lead-in. Leno's "Tonight Show" had much more popular 10pm dramas (like ER, Law & Order, etc) as a lead-in, something Conan never had the luxury of.

As well, it tends to take a while for late-night shows to build an audience. This was the case when Leno took over "Tonight" as well - he was regularly beat by Letterman for two years, until he lucked out with Hugh Grant as a guest right in the midst of his "caught with a prostitute" scandal.

[Sword Slicin' Leo]

I'm with COCO

[The Stryker]

But if all of these people are huge conan fans, why didn't they just watch Conan? Everyone is coming out in support of Conan now when it's already too late. The lead-in thing works for people who aren't devoted Coneheads but what about the legion of fans that are raging right now? Where the hell were they?

Edit: Do you have to act like a whiny child all the time?

[Bry]

But if all of these people are huge conan fans, why didn't they just watch Conan? Everyone is coming out in support of Conan now when it's already too late.
This past week has shown his ratings surge dramatically, anyway. Conan has a lot of fans, but not everyone is able to watch a late-night show every weeknight. I'm sure a lot of his "Late Night" fanbase was there, but he was going from 12:35 to 11:35, so he had to build on that, and as I covered, he was given a piss-poor lead-in, and that was far from an ideal situation to build on his audience. The casual viewers (which make up a lot of ratings numbers in late-night) were all on other channels, since NBC didn't have any 10pm dramas to follow - and the later the night gets, the less viewers there are. It was a domino effect.

Edit: Do you have to act like a whiny child all the time?
Easy, tiger. :P

[ThirdMarioBro]

Conan's ratings were actually higher than his Late Night ratings. he had his fanbase in tow, and clearly they are stronger than ever. Problem is that he didn't get any of that mainstream "Mom & Pop leaving the TV on after the news" audience because Jay stole his lead-in. NBC is run by people with little patience and a short-term goal mindset. That's why this all went down. They'll pay in the end.

This protest is one of the stupidest things I've seen. Only following the antics of TMB and those Dawn of the Ninja guys.

Its only stupid if you don't put the important things in live in their proper perspective.

[Roseangelo]

But if all of these people are huge conan fans, why didn't they just watch Conan? Everyone is coming out in support of Conan now when it's already too late.

I don't think you can assume the people who are supporting Conan weren't watching. I've watched the show virtually every night, save for times when I haven't been home or fell asleep early. Now people who hadn't been watching are, and if only he were given more time, those people could stick around for the long haul and this could be Conan's Hugh Grant moment. But it seems likely that we'll never know now.

Even ignoring the Conan factor, it's naive to think that slipping Leno back into the Tonight Show would return it to what it was before he left. It's damaged property now, and you can never go back.

[ThirdMarioBro]

this could be Conan's Hugh Grant moment. But it seems likely that we'll never know now.

Honestly, this probably still is Conan's Hugh Grant moment. Dave left TV in 1993, then came back that fall. He's still on. 'The Tonight Show' brand is a sinking ship now. NBC blew a massive gaping hole in the hull. Jay can sink with the ship if that's what he wants. Conan's moving to greener pastures.

This protest is one of the stupidest things I've seen. Only following the antics of TMB and those Dawn of the Ninja guys.

If I lived within a couple hundred miles of that rally, I'd be in it.

[The Stryker]

We'll see.

I really think Leno will be just fine. Everyone is angry now but Leno will come back and most likely get great ratings just from the curiosity factor.

[ThirdMarioBro]

That's probably true since most of Leno's audience was made up of people who wouldn't care how he got back, but I figure Conan will receive a similar boost wherever he lands.

[The Stryker]

Most likely, for the first week or so.

If it's a three way race between him, Letterman and Leno...Conan is ending up 3rd. Sad to say.

[Bry]

Most likely, for the first week or so.

If it's a three way race between him, Letterman and Leno...Conan is ending up 3rd. Sad to say.

It's really impossible to say this with any authority right now. Conan's having a major upswing and has received an absolute ton of support, while Leno and NBC have turned off a lot of people in all this. I'm not going to predict that Conan will end up with a bigger audience than Dave or Leno, but I'd hardly count him out, especially now. His popularity is probably higher than ever right now, and I'm sure many of the curious public tuning into his last two weeks on "The Tonight Show" are becoming new fans.

[Mr. Snackpants]

I gotta ask.

Where the hell was all this support when Conan was getting crap ratings?
Why would people go rally if a seven month old show isn't getting the killer ratings one would hope? It's not a pilot, it's The Tonight Show. Conan never had the luxury of a lead in like Leno had and he definitely wasn't given the same amount of time to build up an audience. I don't think anyone thought poor ratings would threaten the show this early on or I'm sure there would've been more supportive rallies long before now.

[traf]

Let's not forget that many people apparently watch Conan's show (or clips from his show) online. Conan's audience is younger than Leno's and many prefer to watch his show through alternative methods which are not counted in the Nielsen ratings.

[ThirdMarioBro]

Yeah, and Fox has proven in the past that they're more comfortable with that than NBC. Otherwise Family Guy wouldn't still be here.

Speaking of which, Fox just registered a new website: www.conanonfox.com

It redirects to Twitter, but its official. Registered by: 20thCenturyFox.

Score.

[Raph's Girl]

The Japanese interpretation of the whole mess. :lol:

lJ9m1an-pQ8

[Roseangelo]

The Japanese interpretation of the whole mess. :lol:

Chinese. But yeah, pretty awesome.

[Krang]

Speaking of which, Fox just registered a new website: www.conanonfox.com

It redirects to Twitter, but its official. Registered by: 20thCenturyFox.

Score.
Unfortunately, that turned out to be a hoax. The details were changed to a private registration. Plus, if it were really Fox, they would have used MarkMonitor instead of GoDaddy.

[Newton Gimmick]

We'll see.

I really think Leno will be just fine. Everyone is angry now but Leno will come back and most likely get great ratings just from the curiosity factor.

I suspect Leno will bomb pretty hard actually. He's lost most of his audience to Nightline and Letterman. He'll get absolutely 0% of the Conan fans and he's become the butt of jokes and ill will across the nation. He might get decent numbers at first, but once people actually watch his show for a few minutes... Well, that'll be the end of that.

That's the whole reason Leno failed at prime time to begin with. His numbers at 10 are looking worse than his numbers at Tonight now, which seems to indicate his crowd won't follow him. With the stink all over him and the Tonight brand now, I'd be surprised if he can recoup.

[Mr. Snackpants]

A Conan 'revenge movie' directed by Tarantino would be amazing. This has to be made, hahaaha.

[Guitar_Raph]

It's official! After 17 years, Conan leaves NBC. He started the same year the Power Rangers dabut.

Now for a Carnack sketch (Johnny Carson).

CARSON: Conan O' Brian, John Chancellor as Today Show host, Ed McMahon hosting Concentration & William Henry Harrison (9th US President).

(Carson opens the envelope, blows it & reads this statement.)

CARSON: What are famous people who had short lived jobs?

*********************

The last Jay Leno prime time will be on February 11 & tomorrow will be Conan's last Tonight Show on NBC. Will he have an eulogy of his 17 years with the peacock?

[oldmanwinters]

$45 million severance package with about 12 million of that going towards his 200-strong staff [Conan gets 33 mil and the staff gets the rest]. Awesome job, Conan.
http://tv.yahoo.com/the-tonight-show-with-conan-o-39-brien/show/44070/news/tv-news.en.ap.org/tv-news.en.ap.org-20100121-us_tv_leno_o_brien

[ThirdMarioBro]

Good. Now get off NBC so I can start my boycott and get to FOX asap.

It was sooooo good to see the Masturbating Bear last night -- against NBC's wishes to ban him from 10:35c.

[Roseangelo]

I'm just so sad about this whole mess. :cry:

[PAAATE]

I hope he accepts the Sons of Anarchy-role. That would be so cool :P

[Bry]

I'm just so sad about this whole mess. :cry:

I'm upset about it all too, but so long as Conan lands on his feet and gets a show elsewhere (and preferably keeping the bulk of his staff), then I think everything will work out fine. And if he winds up somewhere that'll leave him alone and let him do his own thing more than NBC did, all the better.

[Ra]

I'm sure Conan will be fine. I just feel sad for him. When he took over The Tonight Show you could pretty much see his eyes sparkle, happy to be there. The seat meant a lot to him. I just hope he is picked up by another network soon. Staff included.

Including that Bugatti Veyron Mouse Car.

http://i45.tinypic.com/2ai08dz.jpg

[Mr. Snackpants]

There was about a 3 month break between Late Night and The Tonight Show and that was rough. Now word is he couldn't do another show until September, which is 6 months away. :(

[PAAATE]

There was about a 3 month break between Late Night and The Tonight Show and that was rough. Now word is he couldn't do another show until September, which is 6 months away. :(

I know... It's frightening how attached you get to something like this, but being without Conan for 8 months (count again :P) is rough

[Mr. Snackpants]

I know... It's frightening how attached you get to something like this, but being without Conan for 8 months (count again :P) is rough

Yeah 8 months, ooops. God damnit.

[ThirdMarioBro]

Yeah, that pretty much means my TV is off for most of this year.

[Wish Bone]

Conan >>>>

[The Stryker]

http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2010/03/02/jay-leno-beats-david-letterman-by-wide-margin-in-overnights/


As expected, viewers definitely tuned in to see Jay Leno’s return to The Tonight Show last night: the comedian led the time period over Late Show with David Letterman and ABC’s combination of Nightline and Jimmy Kimmel Live by 80 percent, according to NBC. Leno scored a 5.4 rating/14 share in 56 metered markets last night while Letterman earned a 3.0/8, Nightline, a 3.4/8 and Live, a 1.8/6. In the 25 markets with People Meters, Leno was No. 1 in the time period.

At 12:35 a.m, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon also beat CBS’s Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson by a margin of 40 percent. NBC is expected to release early national ratings later today.

UPDATE: NBC released fast national ratings from Monday, which revealed that Leno attracted 6.6 million viewers on his first night back, while Letterman lured 3.8 million. Leno earned a 1.6 rating in the 18-49 demo, versus a 1.1 rating for Letterman. For more on Leno’s return:

Jay Leno: It’s Good to Be Home


Ouch.

[Samhain]

Damn! I hate him. Lets hope when Conan comes back he blows Leno out the water.

[The Stryker]

I wouldn't hold my breath.

[Roseangelo]

Leno got horrible reviews pretty much across the board. And while last night "Jay Leno" was for a short time a trending topic on Twitter, 99% of all the comments were negative. "#imwithcoco" was also trending for a time. His numbers will drop, and the people left watching won't be the lucrative 18-49 year-old group. Of course, no matter how good or bad he does, NBC is stuck with Leno pretty much indefinitely since there is no longer a backup.

And now that Conan's on Twitter, where he's been giving us one tweet a day, he's still telling more funny jokes than Leno. 8)

[The Stryker]

We'll see if he does drop. Again, I'm not really counting on it.

[Roseangelo]

We'll see if he does drop. Again, I'm not really counting on it.

The numbers are definitely going to drop. No one gets first night numbers every single night. The question is by how much they drop.

[The Stryker]

Well yeah but I doubt they're going to drop so low that Conan would "blow him out of the water".

[MrPliggins]

It seems Jay just has some kind of magical spell over viewers. He comes across as a "nice guy" while the others kinda come off as d**ks. Many people get offended by comedy way too easily, and Jay's comedy isn't offensive. It seemed Jay's image was tarnished for awhile, but apparently not enough.

[Krang]

http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2010/03/02/jay-leno-beats-david-letterman-by-wide-margin-in-overnights/

Ouch.
Not bad, but Leno's 5.4/14 is still rather low compared to Conan's first Tonight Show, which got a 7.1/17. "Ouch" indeed.

[PAAATE]

Not bad, but Leno's 5.4/14 is still rather low compared to Conan's first Tonight Show, which got a 7.1/17. "Ouch" indeed.

I have to ask what these numbers mean. Seriously, they're telling me nothing. We have a different ratings system here :)

[The Stryker]

Not bad, but Leno's 5.4/14 is still rather low compared to Conan's first Tonight Show, which got a 7.1/17. "Ouch" indeed.

Conan's ratings also dropped 30% on the second night, Leno's only dropped 15.

Like I said earlier in this thread. I love O'Brien but If Conan shows up later this year and it's a three way race between him, Leno and Letterman....Conan is ending up in third.

[Duke]

I love O'Brien but If Conan shows up later this year and it's a three way race between him, Leno and Letterman....Conan is ending up in third.I agree completely. Conan is by far my favorite of the 3 but in a three way race he'd definitely finish last.

[Krang]

I have to ask what these numbers mean. Seriously, they're telling me nothing. We have a different ratings system here :)
I don't blame you, since they're rather unclear to us, too. Here's (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nielsen_ratings#Measuring_ratings) a general idea of how they work and what they represent.

Conan's ratings also dropped 30% on the second night, Leno's only dropped 15.
True, but Conan deserves some credit since his second night still scored higher.

Like I said earlier in this thread. I love O'Brien but If Conan shows up later this year and it's a three way race between him, Leno and Letterman....Conan is ending up in third.
You're probably right, but that's mostly because Leno and Letterman have had over 16 years to build up regular audiences for their timeslots and channels. Conan only had 7 months, and if he gets a new show, he'll have to start all over again.

[PAAATE]

I don't blame you, since they're rather unclear to us, too. Here's (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nielsen_ratings#Measuring_ratings) a general idea of how they work and what they represent.

Oh, ok. Thanks :)

Conan only had 7 months, and if he gets a new show, he'll have to start all over again.

Not all over. There's still somewhat of a momentum for him online. But on the other hand, I doubt that will last until September. But then again, maybe it will build up again, when he gets a new show. Eh, whatever...

[Roseangelo]

Leno's Winning Streak Over: Dave Back on Top

http://www.thewrap.com/ind-column/lenos-winning-streak-over-dave-back-top-15103

[Duke]

Leno's Winning Streak Over: Dave Back on Top

http://www.thewrap.com/ind-column/lenos-winning-streak-over-dave-back-top-15103That title is a little misleading. If you read the article, Leno still beat Dave in overall audience. Dave just beat Leno in the key demographics that advertisers go crazy over.

[BubblyShell22]

This whole thing sucks for Conan, but I hope he'll go to Fox. I just think it's stupid that NBC screwed him over when he really wanted to do The Tonight Show. It was his dream, and NBC has crushed it. But hopefully, Fox will take him. Or, he could always go to Comedy Central.

[The Stryker]

Comedy Central would make no sense. There's no way that CC would move the Daily Show and Colbert for him and they shouldn't.

If he goes on after them, then he's just in the same slot he would've been at if he stayed at NBC.

[BubblyShell22]

Yeah, that's true. I do hope he goes to Fox since they don't have anything with late night. I was just suggesting CC in case Fox doesn't take him.