F THIS
01.07.10
Wow. I’d heard rumors, but… just wow. Although NBC is denying it, TMZ says:
Jay Leno is going back to his 11:30 PM time slot, and it’s looking like Conan O’Brien is the odd man out … sources tell TMZ.
We’ve learned Jay’s 10:00 PM show will go on hiatus February 1. After the Olympics, Jay will take back his 11:30 PM time slot. What has not been decided — whether Jay’s show will be a half hour, followed by Conan, or whether Jay’s show will be an hour and NBC says sayonara to Mr. O’Brien.
We’re told Jay and Conan have both been told of the changes.
Just to recap: NBC promised “The Tonight Show” to Conan in 2004, and Leno agreed to step down when the time came. Except when the time came, Leno said he wanted to stay on the air, hence “The Jay Leno Show” at 10 o’clock, which quickly became one of the greatest programming f*ck-ups in network history. As Leno’s unwatched show was torpedoing viewership of NBC local news and the new “Tonight Show,” he openly lobbied to get his 11:30 slot back.
Gosh, what an awesome guy. If he’s not too busy during the Olympics, maybe he’d like to come over and get my sister pregnant, wait six months, then punch her in the stomach until she miscarries.
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One problem with the current Tonight Show’s ratings is the lead in starting at 10pm and continuing throughout the local news. Whatever NBC put at 10 has killed both the news and Conan. Oh. Never mind then.
Nice to see Conan roast the morons who run NBC programming. He must be on fire, moving himself, his family, his staff and their families across the country to essentially be told he’s going back to his old job.
Saw Leno at a local casino about a year and a half back (wife wanted to see him for some reason). He was still telling jokes about flashing clocks on VCR’s, so yes, the average Jay Leno fan is 87 years old.
Jay Leno = Dane Cook = Not Funny = Annoying as FUCK
Why does everyone keep bringing up Conan’s ratings? Leno’s ratings were nothing compared to Carson’s (and Dave’s) at first.
No, not Carson Daly. Actually, him too.
and yet no one pays any attention to Kevin Eubanks..the mastermind behind this whole thing.
WE DIDN’T LISTEN!
Shit, they should just make the local affiliates move their news to 10:00 to compete with FOX, then give Leno 10:30-11:30 and leave Conan where he is. Most of Leno’s audience probably has a hard time staying awake past midnight anyway. I also bet the local news will be a stronger lead-in for Leno than he ever was for them.
Another update, which will surely be out of date by Friday morning: Fuck Leno In The Goat Ass
Tim Was Tim is right in that Leno did get unnecessarily dicked around — truth is his unfunny ass never should have left/been replaced in the first place — but Conan is getting royally screwed here. I could be wrong, but I think the $40+ mil fee to Conan was for if they rescinded the Tonight Show offer over the five year waiting period, not for if they replaced him. Either way, this is yet another victory for middle-aged rubes everywhere. Here’s hoping for a move to FOX and a return of the Masturbating Bear.
And why does Leno back on the Tonight Show automatically make the ratings go up? Do 50 year olds watch more Jay at 11:30 than 10:00? I know things are funnier when you’re half asleep, but moving Conan behind Jay just seems like NBC submarining Conan’s ratings again. Even if they do move Jay, NBC now has to find 5 more hours of programming a week that they gave him to in order to keep him and keep costs down (opposed to a scripted drama or comedy). This just seems like Jay needs to be let go. If he can’t get ratings on NBC why would he get ratings anywhere else? ABC’s Wednesday Night programming specifically will make Jay’s comedy look like monkey poo throwing hour. And you’d think after 7-8 years of Kimmel that ABC is somewhat committed. Either way NBC is boned and has to make changes. If it weren’t for Community, 30 Rock and Office I’d never watch their original programs anyway.
/\ Starting Conan at 12:05 might help him snag some of Letterman’s audience that already tuned out due to a shitty guest.
http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/07/update-nbc-plans-leno-at-1130-conan-at-12/
Enrico +1
Jaction! +1 because his icon is Stains.
Yay. I win again!
@Logic Yes, but “Christ on a pogo stick” always works. Because they didn’t even have pogo sticks back then!
/pats self on the back
//stabs himself 9 times on the front
///too soon?
I believe Conan walks away with $43 million.
His contract negotiations forced NBC’s hand. He made them promise him the Tonight Show job or pay a penalty. NBC feared losing their young demo (Conan routinely did better numbers than Dave), so they gave him the job and forced Leno into retirement. Realizing their mistake and afraid of losing Leno’s audience to ABC, they scrambled and came up with the 10:00 idea just to keep him on their network.
Leno, who sucks, got dicked around and I wouldn’t doubt for a minute that he tanked on purpose. I only watched the first show, but seeing that 5-minute Dan Band piece made it obvious that even with months off to prepare, they weren’t even trying.
P.S. Dear Uproxx, whatever you did to that Gilbert Arenas picture below this is awesome. His teammates look like circus freaks.
Pump the breaks there, Kevin. Adding “tap-dancing” to Jesus’ name doesn’t make your comment funny. Just because ethics isn’t often in television business doesn’t make it right. It still is a douchey thing that NBC did. And really, that douchey thing needs to be pointed at and called a douche once in a while.
The ethics of the TV industry? That’s what you want to act like a whiney bitch about? Jesus tap dancing Christ.
Nuh-uh. No taksey-backsies!
They should get rid of Jimmy Fallon and let Conan have that slot back.
Go listen to the Bill Hicks routine on Leno. It’s cathartic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWB-kd09GXY
Would love to see Conan take the gloves off and start destroying Leno on air. Sick Triumph on him. It would be good for ratings.
I also wonder if HBO would consider Conan for a late night show?
Thanks for the denial links; post updated.
We’ll see how this plays out, but for those arguing for NBC/Leno, you’re making economic points in an argument about ethics. I don’t have a problem with the business decision per se; it’s the spinelessness of NBC and Leno’s weaselly undercutting that (supposedly) led to it that bother me.
Leno’s main talent seems to be convincing NBC execs that he’s talented. Which isn’t a bad talent to have, necessarily, but it doesn’t make me want to watch him on TV.
A friend of mine who was moving out to California once wrote to Jay Leno. Knowing that Leno was a big car guy, he thought he might know some decent auto repair shops that my friend could talk to for work. Leno personally called my friend to give him advice on where to look for work. Ever since then, I’ve been convinced that he’s a fundamentally decent guy.
MBC = Monkey Biting Cock
kinky stuff
Now he’s making Tiger Woods jokes. What a country.
more like what a cunt-try… HI-OHHHHHHHHHHHHH
For the love of God, won’t somebody tell me what MBC is?
I was hoping all along that CBS would kick Letterman to the curb after it came out that he was giving his Employees Cream Pies.
Now he’s making Tiger Woods jokes. What a country.
What the fuck is MBC?
“Except going back on his promise and openly lobbying for his successor’s job. Maybe we have different definitions of “wrong.””
Wah.
I love Conan but it’s not like he was setting the world on fire. I kinda thought his new show wasn’t that good. NBC thinks going back to the old formula is going to bring back the viewers. It’s a dumb idea but it’s what they are doing. The MBC execs are the villains here, not Leno.
This link might be more trustworthy
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34753802/ns/entertainment-television
No mention of a Cone Bone.
WTF? Leno is worthless.
I can’t wait to see him at a local car show and kick him in the FUCKING VAG.
Here’s a better link:
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/07/nbc-denies-rumor-of-leno-cancellation/
NBC is apparently denying it now:
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/zontv/2010/01/jay_leno_latenight_tmz_rumor_c.html
Hey David, get fucked, you cuntfart.
So as long as they’re gonna fuck someone, why not make it Jimmy Fallon and put Conan back at 12:30?
You really should realize that Jay isn’t doing anything wrong here.
Except going back on his promise and openly lobbying for his successor’s job. Maybe we have different definitions of “wrong.”
I hope one of the other networks picks up Conan and gives him a show at 11:30 with a format like his 12:30 show and he creams Jay.
Let Conan go?? The host who’s ACTUALLY funny? Yeah, great idea NBC. Jay Leno had his chance.
You really should realize that Jay isn’t doing anything wrong here. He didnt ask for any of this. He was asked to give up 11:30 and he did, but he was WAY TOO SUCCESSFUL for them to just take him off tv forever. Now that Conan’s numbers arent even close to his old numbers, they want to go back. Sounds like simple business to me. Ratings and revenues are all that matter here, so don’t make it seem like Leno’s going around stabbing people in the back. BTW, I am a HUGE Conan fan. Leno, not so much.
Unbelievable. First NBC fucks Letterman, now Conan. Conan should just go to Fox and not look back. I don’t know if their is honor among comedians, but if there is, they should boycott Jay’s show for life. No one put’s baby in the corner.
“Jay Leno is one of the most compelling entertainers in the world today”?
Jeff Dunham, Carrot Top and William Hung better be on that list as well.
Does that offer involving your sister still stand? Y’know, for anyone other than Jay?
What the fuck. I don’t even have anything worthwhile to add, I’m just pissed off.
“Jay Leno is one of the most compelling entertainers in the world today”? NBC execs can lick my balls.
As far as I’m concerned, give him the full hour and let Conan go. Let him be free of the shackles that have been placed around his hands.
I don’t get this. Jay’s show is tanking … so why does he get the new time slot? Shouldn’t he be the one sent out to pasture? Fuck NBC.
Does anyone even watch NBC anymore, except for SNF?