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NBC Universal CEO Zucker: Conan Gets TONIGHT In 2009!!
I am – Hercules!!
“Conan O’Brien will take over ‘The Tonight Show’ in 2009,” NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker told the New Yorker’s Ken Auletta Monday morning.
Under a deal made three years ago, NBC would have to pay O’Brien, 44, a penalty north of $40 million if it kept Jay Leno hosting the late night franchise beyond 2009, but many have speculated that it was a penalty NBC might be willing to pay given Leno’s continued strong ratings.
Comedian and “Saturday Night Live” vet Jimmy Fallon, 33, who has a development deal with NBC, is “at the top of [NBC’s] short list” to replace O’Brien at “Late Night,” according to comments made this summer by NBC late-night chief Rick Ludwin. (“30 Rock” mastermind Tina Fey, who used to anchor "Weekend Update" with Fallon, thinks Fallon is funny, and so do I.)
Leno is said to be interested in remaining in television. There is speculation that once his current NBC contract lapses in 2009, the then-59-year-old comedian may migrate to Fox or ABC, or stay with NBC in another capacity.
Read all of TV Week’s story on the matter here.
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also two firsts in one day? If so I think i should play the lottery
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Conan's hilarious, but I also read he's going to "water down" the humor to appeal to the blue hairs. Does THAT suck!
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He'll tell one joke at the top, then laugh at it for the next 7 minutes.
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they announced this over a year ago....why are they annoucing it again? was it not "official" before? i mean even conan himself had mentioned on his show he was replacing jay...so..yeah..weird..lol
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I don't think he is as bad as everyone makes him out to be. Weekend Update was best with him and Fey.
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Epitone,you are so right. I am happy someone on the talkbacks sees this.
Jimmy Fallon would only be worse though. Please keep him far away from late night. There is a reason why his movies suck and he is never around anymore. -
Let me guess, you started watching SNL when they were doing weekend update? That can only explain your last sentence. Because yes, compared with what followed, you are right. But weekend update has been done much better by many others before they did it.
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I love Tina Fey but I might have to disagree with the whole Fallon being funny bit.
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Oct 29, 2007 6:57:49 PM CDT
What are you laughing at? If you say Jimmy Fallon I'll know you'
by tallboy66
Weak.
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Damn new talkback software.
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LEt's face it, Andy Richter needs to come back. That's all there is to it. No one has had that dynamic that was perfectly done by Carson/McMahon since these guys have. Sure Conan has Max Weinberg but it's just not the same as him and Richter. I hope he comes back when Conan gets the Tonight show.
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Seen the dramatization, Late Shift? Skepticism is in order. If they screw Conan I'm going to get into a kayak and ride it off the edge of a snowy cliff face. "Conan didn't get the Tonight Show? There's no reason to live! There's no reason to live!" (Boy did they wear that bit out.)
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PULL YOUR STRINGS, MIGHTY GIANT!
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"iTunes ruined the music industry and it will ruin the video business." Well screw you, moron!
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Oct 29, 2007 7:33:17 PM CDT
"There's no reason to live! There's no reason to live!"
by 'cholera's ghost
Thanks for bringing that back and giving me a laugh BandLoyalist. Yeah it got played, but now--it's funny again!
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I heard Fallon on Stern not too long ago and the guy was a riot.
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You know who should get Conan's spot? Eddie Izzard. Nuff said....
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...anticlimatic event in TV history.
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the guy just isn't funny.
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NBC gets lamer by the moment.
SNL = Poop
Heroes S2 = Meh
BionicWoman = Shit
More Conan = Who cares -
If Leno goes to ABC then he will kill Conan in the ratings, because chase the younger, hipper demographic all you want, the fact is, they don't watch network TV at 11:30... Conan will do OK at the start, then end up behind Leno and Letterman... It is nothing to do with who is funniest or best, it is who will appeal to the people watching network TV at that time of night... That said NBC will probably pay Leno silly money to stay at NBC to avoid that, and give him some shitty primetime specials...
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Right on, my brother!
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Since Sandler left, SNL has followed up with would-be clones in Fallon Samberg. Both of them being incredibly annoying and unfunny. Hell, bring back Magic Johnson to host the show.
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...will take one more step towards oblivion.
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Oct 29, 2007 8:45:50 PM CDT
SNL might redeem itself sometime in the future...
by buckys_kick_ass_arm
But I don't think that'll be for awhile. Changes need to be made to the writing staff.
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Was the only useful thing Fallon or Timberlake have ever done in their entire life.
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the show has become quite lame with moments of greatness far and few. just recycled bits and everyone seems tired. Honestly the show has been declining in quality for years and a jump to 11:30 would most likely mean it will lose even more of it's better qualities in an effort to cater to an even more mainstream audience.
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Jimmy Fallon is NOT funny.
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Pretty fucking hilariously ironic when you consider Leno's own backdoor deal with NBC was what fucked over their relationship with Dave.
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I think Leno will jump to Fox or ABC. What can NBC offer him? To make him the new Bob Hope, hosting prime-time variety specials till he drops? The only way he'll go for that is if he thinks no one can win a 3-way race. How much audience is there for THREE Johnny Carson spin-offs at 11:30? Leno will lose audience with shitty clearances on Fox affiliates with no news lead-in, and Fox itself doesn't have 10PM shows to promote 11:30. Leno would do better in syndication than Fox.
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Daughter hit enter
Anyways
Remember when everyone said Leno sucked when he started? -
Oct 29, 2007 9:23:17 PM CDT
Tina Fey, who used to anchor "Weekend Update" with Fallon, think
by slder78
Herc, your such a homer for SNL, you'd give Horatio Sanz a late night talk show. And I'm with BetaRayBill07 Eddie Izzard makes Fallon, Leno, Letterman, and O'Brien look like rejects from MadTV.
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Jeff Zucker is seeming more and more like the Mickey Drexler/Michael Eisner of NBC than ever (read: chief executives who long overstay their welcomes and continue on despite lackluster results).
In fact, unlike former Gap CEO Drexler and Disney chief Eisner, who both had long periods of spectacular success, Zucker has never even had that to coast on.
Zucker has ethics and I admire that. He told Conan he'd get the Tonight Show and that's what he's going to do. But that's partially Zucker's problem - he's not doing what's best for NBC, he's doing what is best for Jeff Zucker.
Dump Jeff, dump Conan. Keep Jay.
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NBC late nite tv already sucked, and so it only sucks slightly more with the addition of MugFace Fallon.Thank the gods that Conan is not set up for CBS, and there is still a chance that someone even better than Letterman will get a shot.
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Leno's won the timeslot for the past decade. His audience is loyal. He'll only be 59 in '09. Why would he leave?
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Okay. He was funny as a featured player for one year on SNL, when he did a couple great impressions in small doses. After that, it was all giggling and hackiness and idiotic songs and movies that look awful and did you see him fill in for Letterman that one time? Egads. It was a magical combination of stuttering and audience silence. Conan was an unlikely choice for a host, yeah, except had hilarious work on his resume. Can't say the same for Fallon. He's like a poor man's Adam Sandler thrown in a blender with Dane Cook and Jonathan Taylor Thomas. Give him a TV show, fine, but he doesn't deserve Late Night. -- oh, wait...Herc AND Tina Fey like him? That changes everything...
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If you have to pick some one from SNL, I say NORM!
A few years back the Late Late show was looking for a host. I still hope they give a slot to the either of the 2 runners up to Amy Sedaris or Michael Ian Black. Amy might be able to get a slot just due to Daves love for her style of humor.
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I'd be a completely faithful Late Night watcher if that happened.
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I too would pick Macdonald. Tina Fey might as well.
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Carson Daly? Thought he was next in the line of succession. Bahahaha
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postalpez gets my vote as best contributor to AICN during the interval from 09:56:34 to 09:56:26 PM
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30 Rock is still on due to it being funny. I don't think she had time to sleep with the emmy voters and make 30 rock/Baby Mama.
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...they cut to a full frame shot of Conan DURING a guest interview, and also whenever he takes a guests comment and twists into a story about himself.Stock up, cuz you will be drunk about 100 time faster than if you played the "whenever Jack F. Bauer says dammit" game...
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...once, to watch a card trick sleight of hand dude.In an oh-so-childlike way, right in the middle of a trick, she asked him: "Do you have a lot of cards at your house?I love her, I really do! She sparkles and shines whenever she is on Letterman, and he loves her, too, you can just tell.
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is because hes on earlier AND he gets better guests because of that
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lol fag look at the fcukin way he talks fuckin fag it
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Oct 29, 2007 11:33:38 PM CDT
of coures i spell something wrong and look like a dumbass
by aicndoesntwantmorecowbell
but look bacci some critical acclaim for denzel! "Denzel Washington looms like a colossus as notorious drug lord Frank Lucas, and in the still, watchful center of his volcanic performance you'll find the measure of a dangerous man." and theres plenty more where that comes from bitch
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NORM FOR LATE NIGHT!!! Sure, he'd probably only last a year or so before pissing some network executive off, but what a year it could be.
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I'm drunk and going to bed.
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i crack up during his SWEET ASS AWESOME Headlines! even conan steals that shit.
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Nice guy, self deprecating, easy going/agreeable, generally non-offensive/combative. But a talk show host requires special talents that most people in show biz lack. The ability to listen, to show genuine interest, to pull the guest out of their shell (or conversely, to contain and control the guest), to ask pertinent questions in the flow of the show instead of methodically/robotically from pre-chosen questions, to be bold when necessary, to have the command and charisma to go from first fiddle ot second fiddle and back as necessary, to be the source of energy yet serve as a calming influence for those getting ready to go to bed etc. That's what Carson had. Most comedians tend to be too consumed with themselves rather than being focused on their guests and giving them the spotlight. I'd say give the guy 12-18 months to get accustomed to the role and evaluate his performance then (that might seem like a long time but that's the minimum for anyone to understand and fill the role of talkshow host.... though of course there are situations where you immediately know the guy isn't going to cut it like Magic or Chevy). Norm is a funny guy but I think would be a real bad choice for late night talk show host on NBC. Maybe a weekly HBO show and only for a season or two. He's not the kind of guy you want to see night after night for 10 years.
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THEN we'd see some motherfuckin' TV. Fuck yeah.
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Sven binding. Don't ask.
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Seriously, with TIVO, the migration to the net of all tv shows, and increased bandwith, why even have the show at night if people can watch it on demand in 10 years? Late night talk shows will fade with the passing on the boomers generation.
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yea but conan makes his headlines fake though-not gonna lie though i do like lenos headlines but thats about it. he has good guest but he sucks fuckin dick
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Really outside of SNL what has he done.
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from The Soup.
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by dumbing-down Today, earning him a position he clearly doesn't deserve.Now he accuses iTunes of ruining a business that the record companies were too stupid to build themselves, and has the audacity to demand a cut of the ipod business. So, Jeff, when are you going to hit up Sony, Panasonic, etc. for a cut of TV sales? They'll rightly go tell you to pound sand, just like Apple did.
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BEST FUCKIN IDEA EVER! JOEL MCHALE FOR LATE NIGHT!
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What's up with the Tina Fey comment? Is that an inside joke? If it is, ha ha. But at least could you figure out that "independently" has never ever been spelled with an "a" in it. You ever see the movie INDEPENDENCE DAY? It ain't spelled INDEPENDANCE DEY. Jeebus. And I'm supposed to think you have anything worthwhile to say when you still haven't mastered your mother tongue.
That's assuming you were born in an English-speaking country. How would we know, though, when you hide behind a fake identity. And don't say shit about "Bronx Cheer" not being my name. My father Tempa named me after his great-grandfather.
Fallon would be a terrible choice for a late night host. Conan's my fave of the three, and Leno will beat him in a head-to-head. Amy Poehler thinks so. -
that skit was always good for a chuckle. I'd love to see Norm MacDonald with a talk show, but no network in the world has the balls to do that. And Tina Fey is hot. Very, very hot.
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...if Jimmy Fallon gets the gig. Oh, and Chris Parnell should have co-anchored Weekend Update with Fey. That is all.
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SNL has been one of my favorite shows througout all of my formative years. But I didn't start watching the live show until 5th grade, but by then I had already seen countless episodes and new of the Blues Brother, "Don't Look Back in Anger", The Nerds, Coneheads, King Tut, Gumby, Synchronized Swimming, Wayne's World and the best the show had to offer up to that point. I used to think Horatio Sanz and Jimmy Fallon were funny on the show and still are talented guys. In their last seasons they just got too comfortable and loose for my taste. I would only watch Late Night with Jimmy Fallon if Horation Sanz was his sidekick, that might be funny. Also, O'Brian and Fallon would be NBC's Late Night programming, they could call it the late night Irish comedy time or Must Drink T.V.
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Oct 30, 2007 11:30:51 AM CDT
(Dental care professional, Andrew Worthing thinks Fallon is funn
by crayon
and so do I.)
Hahaha oh wow. "Justification By Tina Fey" is a Herc Move I don't recall seeing recently, if ever. -
whew. That's better.
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Oct 30, 2007 12:18:22 PM CDT
QVC will get better ratings than Conan hosting TONIGHT SHOW
by darth bauer
Big mistake NBC.
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at least once. I can hear letterman now. "We're cleaning house!!" while leno will actually clean the house that Sullivan built with a toothbrush no less (courtesy of les.)
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Fallon can't be any worse than Spike on FOX right now...egads...a wonderful writer doing a crappy talk show.
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Oct 30, 2007 3:26:15 PM CDT
Speaking of which... Jimmy Fallon is proof that a hummer can sti
by bumpasses dawg
NOT a happy ending for the audience.
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I thought they said Conan O'Brien was getting the Tonight show. why did they change it?The first month of Conan was the best TV show ever - he was so nervous, insecute, self loathing, like he expected the hook to come out and drag him off stage at any moment. Having his first musical guest ever be Radiohead singing "Creep" was genius! (remember when all the bands played in fromt of a green-screen with footage of a bowling alley?)Jimmy Fallon and Carson Everyday should team up on a show called "Men Being Tortured Slowly", with guests Horation Sanz, Spike Feresten, Adam Sandler, that what-is-name Quinn guy from Weekend Update, that guy who played the stripper nd the monkey,... How soon they (I) forget...Norm McDonald should have a sit-com set in a prison where he gets anally raped by crack whores every week. That would be comedy gold... he thinks!
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Conan's new late night show will be dominated in the ratings by a NEW talk show hosted by Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan called "Slut And Whore Night"
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at least I assume they do.
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I hope he doesn't change his edge for the 11:30 crowd. That's what killed Letterman. Joel McHale would be a good choice for Late Night.
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Leno starts at 10:30 and Conan starts at 11:30. Fucks like us in the MST can't win the world series, but we don't have to wait until 8:00pm for network shows to start. O'Doyle RULES.
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