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New, Funny Tuesday-Night Footage of David Letterman Puzzling Out The Craziness At NBC With Jay 'Big-Jaw' Leno!!
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Dave on Monday finally joined the rest of the world in doing impressions of his late-night nemesis, and continues to develop his "Leno" on Tuesday night's show.
All new hilarious stuff from tonight's Tuesday edition of "The Late Show With David Letterman":
11:30 p.m. Tuesday. CBS.
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I'm not a fan but I saw a clip somewhere and he had some great jokes about this last night.
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Conan's resignation letter, addressed to the "People of Earth": http://tinyurl.com/yzwzh88 It's a classy letter from a classy guy. I to everyone who said Conan would puss out and stay with NBC -- what now? Conan's got more balls than that. He's no chin-sucking company man. I can't wait to see what Conan, Andy, and Max do next, and on a network that respects them.
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Rumours are NBC is looking for a guest host...
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Classy. Should Jay refer to him as David 'toupee wearing, lecherous serial adulterer' Letterman?
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They start the taping in 5 minutes.
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Why would anybody pay for a toupee that ugly? Jays a douchebag BTW.
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Jan 12, 2010 7:23:21 PM CST
Maybe if Conan had hopped on the left wing dick sucking train
by supermarch
like Tina Fey or *insert SNL producer's name here* then NBC wouldn't have messed with him.
Here's NBC 10 years ago. And here's NBC today. Global warming. Give me money. -
The reason NBC is keeping Jay is because he's a right wing dick sucker!
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I think he's having as much fun (if not more) taking shots at Carson Daly as he is at Leno.
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So, adults having consensual sex is "lecherous serial adultery"? That's not accurate at all. Dave wasn't married when he did it. Is the perverted part sleeping with women he works with? Because that kind of happens all the time. And it's not really "perverted." Perverted is, like, fucking a cow. And I bet Dave would laugh if Leno called him "Toupee Letterman." He makes fun of himself like that all the time. You should probably stop cheerleading for Leno, and stop being so weird about single adults having sex.
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Patton Oswalt's on it: http://tinyurl.com/yd5hmko
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Isn't Rumspringa over yet? Time to go back to that Amish farm to avoid being exposed to 21st century fornication...
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I think the problem is that Conan, Tina Fey and the rest of those left-wing dick suckers have educations - it's tough to find enough obese ex-cable guys to write global warming denial jokes to make the few pinhead teabaggers who are awake chortle about how stupid and gullible us city folk are for believing in the science behind global warming and not that Obama is the foreign born head of a massive socialist conspiracy to rob Americans of their SUVs and 5000 calories a day diets (Ah, sweet irony). Most right-wingers are already in bed with their daughterwives by 11pm anyway, so really, NBC is smart by keeping late-night reality based.
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Though I didn't refer to anything as "perverted". Maybe you've got your own issues going on there.
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Do we know?
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He's from New England and interned for Rep. Barney Frank and has donated to Chris Dodd and Al Franken. Idiot.
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Wow, dicksucker is the word of the day here.
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Oliva and Kevin were both wearing Team Conan shirts and bashing Leno for the first five minutes of the show.
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Al Swearengen would agree with me if he were here
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yeah because we all know that the one thing Letterman is known for is A SENSE OF HUMOR ABOUT HIMSELF. How old are you? You ever watch Letterman? He's a misanthrope and can't bear any criticism. When they wrote that book about him and then the movie he was bitching about that for weeks and practically had a gun in his mouth. Letterman was the template for Krusty the Clown by ex-staffers who went on to write for the Simpsons... ie completely un-self aware douche who abuses everyone who works for him. BTW Conan's own monologue about the issue was pretty funny last night. agree jaysin420, Craig Ferguson had some nice digs as well
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Agree I fuckin' would.
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As someone who knows Dave, I can tell you he has a great self-deprecating sense of humor. In addition, Krusty the Clown was based on a clown Matt Groening knew as a child named Rusty the Clown. Get your facts straight before you post. Dave makes more fun of himself than anyone else.
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Seems as though its just repeating the same thing.
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I can't believe they're sticking Conan in this position. What a badass letter he sent though. There's a reason he's my favorite late night host.
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that's a classic. dave has too much class to include himself as one of the victims, even though he was leno's first. ok... maybe class isn't the right word for the guy who cheated with his interns, but you know what i mean.
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Short lived investment, I'm sure they'll find other uses for it of course.
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that Jay did make fun of Letterman's sex scandal. I'd say since it's a late night talk show, which all constantly and mercilessly mock celebrities, making fun of either competing host is part of the territory.Now, I admit that I'm not a fan of Leno, but I'm more amazed by how badly NBC is handling this stuff.And while I wouldn't go so far as to calling Letterman a pervert, having a history of screwing your employees is rather questionable. And while maybe it's not our business, but considering how Dave referenced his current wife, he was likely doing at least some of these things while he was dating the woman, and cheating on her.
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It's a line in the sand. NBC hasn't done anything to him yet. Talk is just talk. A little over a week ago they were standing behind the 10PM slot, so it remains to be seen what they *actually* do. He's just giving them notice that if they do it, he'll walk. It's now in NBC's court. Until they make their move, I expect he will remain on and nothing will change.
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Conan was kind of boring on his run, but better than Leno. Whatever station he moves to I won't watch though because CBS has the real hype talk show guys. Ferguson is a great interviewer, and everything is funnier in a scottish accent. That's why "In the Loop" was infinitely better than any American comedy this decade (among many other reasons).
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Fuck you Jay, burn in hell.
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The Simpsons 20th anniversary special covered the Krusty/Rusty connection. Groening said that Krusty is based on Rusty in that they're both TV clowns, but the similarities basically stop there (as Rusty was supposedly a decent guy and Krusty is a trainwreck).
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Sweet.
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...that the drama about who is going to end up on TV and when is better than all these shows. Conan hasn't been any good since moving to California and 11:35pm. Letterman has sucked for years. And Leno's humor has always been for older people. Late night TV was terrible before all this happened and it'll be terrible when this is all sorted out. Who cares?
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.....HO!
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Are your friends. They are the best, most humble, giving people in the world providing an enormously needed oral release for the men of this country. We need to start paying them the respect they are due. So for all of the dicksuckers out there, I sincerely apologize for equating you great people with human toxic waste like Larry the Cable Guy. I am so sorry.
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should play Spiderman if they reboot it. Reminds me of the peter parker from the comics and the 90's FOX spiderman cartoon.
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... must be in the frozen food section.
Go DAVE! -
Dave basically paraphrased Conan's statement to NBC as "I ain't budging... whattaya going to do about it?" and then barked a laugh in pleasure at the balls of that move. He was clearly delighted, both at having a trainwreck that juicy to comment on, but also seeing someone make that kind of stand against NBC and Leno.
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I proud of Conan... He was promised the Tonight Show back in '04 (to keep from bailing to Fox for what seemed to be a generous deal). NBC has gone back on their deal with him in order to regain the number one spot in late night... the thing is that the damage is done... you can't put Humpty Dumpty back together again, and if Jay had any honor whatsoever, he would back down... walk... and let Conan keep the Tonight Show.
And guys, please keep the political talk out of these talkbacks... I get enough of that shit on a daily basis. The bottom line is this... both Conservatives and Liberals are hypocritical idiots... both just want power over other people's lives in one form or another, and they will use all sorts of scare tactics and lies to do so.
So please, shut the fuck up. -
I'm proud of Conan... He was promised the Tonight Show back in '04 (to keep from bailing to Fox for what seemed to be a generous deal). NBC has gone back on their deal with him in order to regain the number one spot in late night... the thing is that the damage is done... you can't put Humpty Dumpty back together again, and if Jay had any honor whatsoever, he would back down... walk... and let Conan keep the Tonight Show. And guys, please keep the political talk out of these talkbacks... I get enough of that shit on a daily basis. The bottom line is this... both Conservatives and Liberals are hypocritical idiots... both just want power over other people's lives in one form or another, and they will use all sorts of scare tactics and lies to do so. So please, shut the fuck up.
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Watch Jimmy Kimmel tonight. He is doing the entire freakin' show dressed as Jay Leno. It's a complete massacre, fucking surreal. He annihilates Jay and everything he does. WATCH IT.
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I love how seemingly everyone in the media and on other tv shows is taking Conan's side and completely mocking Leno in this situation. It's making Leno a complete joke and ruining his reputation. He'll never be the same after this if he gets the Tonight Show back. He's lost the respect of a LOT of people and made himself and NBC a huge embarassment.
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I agree: A touching statement from Conan. NBC = No Bloody Conscience.
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What years it was ago when the contract was sign to pass over the tonight show to Conan. Didn't Leno get the boot there? I don't really like watching Leno or anything, but they basically told him in 2009 you have to retire. 2009 came around and he didn't want to retire, and NBC didn't really want to get rid of him. I think they made Conan's contract in error. Trying to keep Conan, without thinking about the consequences. I don't blame Conan or Leno. I think NBC f'd them both over. NBC should never of signed that contract.
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and obviously not getting any younger. What's he going to do, screw Conan out of The Tonight Show after he moved out to LA and built that beautiful set, etc, to what--host 11:30 for another 5 years or so?!
Seriously, how long will Leno really stay on NBC after all this shit settles?
I can't believe that NBC is once again making a debacle of The Tonight Show. After a decade-plus in Leno purgatory, Conan was finally restoring greatness to the franchise. I was looking forward to many years with Conan as my Tonight Show host, my generation's Johnny Carson.
Crazy how all this bullshit leads back to Leno, one way or another. Fucking Big Jaw indeed. -
But then what will NBC do? They sure as hell won't be able to get Conan back to take over, and there's nobody else in the wings preparing to be Leno's successor. Jimmy Fallon? Yeah right.
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Jan 13, 2010 1:26:51 AM CST
"So, adults having consensual sex is "lecherous serial adultery"
by eveelcapitalist
"That's not accurate at all. " Sure it is. He was in what was, at least for his girly, a committed relationship (cause he wasn't married for most of the time is meaningless in this day and age). And he was fucking around well after he got married. Letterman is, apparently, a serial adulterer. His wife was actually the other woman while he was in a relationship with his head writer at Late Night.
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Jan 13, 2010 1:35:50 AM CST
"us city folk are for believing in the science behind global war
by eveelcapitalist
You poor thing. Read the CRU emails and look at the shit those assholes pulled. They manipulated data, inserted it into shoddily programmed models and then crowded out dissenters so that only their point of view was heard. Whoops! But hey, you city folk lead busy lives and all, us dumb country hicks are just gonna have to take the time to actually, ya know, keep up with these things so ya'll can go about your business. We'll even have time leftover to drop our nuts in your mouth if'n ya like, what with your teabagging obsession and all. For the record, we went into a 30 year period of global cooling. Seems the climate has what they like to call, shit it was some big words too...multi-decadel oscillations? I sure do hope I spelled that right.
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NBC's wonderkin, Jerry Zucker will be asked to fall on the sword for this costly and embarassing fuck up. If I was Conan, I'd take the payoff money and sit on the beach and sip mai tais and Corona's for the next four years...It ain't like NBC has any choice but to pay Conan the reamainder of his contract or get sued for breach.
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NBC forced the guy into retirement. For the most part Leno is a nice guy who is doing what he loves. While on the Tonight Show he was in 1st place with 5 million viewers. With his primetime show...he has exactly that...5 million viewers. 5 million is clearly not good enough for primetime which is why they have this problem. But here's the thing. Conan only has 2.5 million viewers now. Viewership was halved. Conan can cry about not having an appropriate lead-in, but the blatant obvious truth is that the news comes on before Conan and people are very loyal with their news anchors. Heck, NBC Chicago's ratings have actually went up in the last year. Only 3 local news stations complained about the Jay Leno show and it was due to "small" decreases in ratings . These stations were scared. Bottom Line. I prefer Conan. But like it or not, most adults prefer Leno. Leno got twice the viewers. My parents are glad if Leno gets the Tonight Show Back.
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Then why did his ratings hugely drop in his new timeslot? Why didn't all these loyal viewers of his follow him to his new show? It's not like it was "too late past their bedtime".
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All you had to do was read my third and 4th sentence. I don't see where you are confused here. Leno's ratings technically didn't drop. The after news hour doesn't really bring in "Prime time" Caliber ratings. NBC was hoping that by having Leno at an earlier hour, that they would be able draw in larger numbers than what he drew in on the Tonight show. His ratings haven't changed because he had 5 million viewers while on the Tonight show and he has 5 million viewers on the Jay Leno show. When the show debuted it had more viewers because people thought the format might be different than the Tonight show. Clearly that wasn't the case, and he seems to have only maintained his old audience. Bottom line, Leno had 5 million viewers and Conan only has 2.5 million. Conan can't really complain about the Leno show not being a good lead in when the news is broadcast in between the two shows and the local news has very loyal viewers.
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when there's trouble a-brewin.' I love it when he's angry - he takes such delight in breaking the whole thing apart.
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just sounds bitter. I know their whole history but after all these years let it go man. And picking on Carson is like picking on the little retard
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Jan 13, 2010 2:07:28 AM CST
Jay Leno didn't say anything when they made this deal 6 years ag
by nopix
Jay Leno took a pay raise and they said, "hey, by the way, Conan is going to take over The Tonight Show in 6 years." And Leno didn't say shit! He could have complained and made a case for his show. But he didn't.
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‘Tonight Show’ host regrets animosity in wake of his hiring. --from an old AP article
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your parents are retards.
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leno never wanted to leave the tonight. Leno and his backers nbc stitched up o brien and now you are seeing the results. Unless conan takes the tonigh show back to new york.
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so...dont be suprised if the final twist in the tale here is that letterman will be offered the tonight show. giving the show to day for a five year term will not only bring the curtain down on the tonight show but will also serve as daves final hurrah before he hits the gold course.
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That's a crazy theory, emeraldboy
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Letterman decides to wrap it up and hands The Late Show to Conan.
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Those who saw it know!
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...until he became a bitter old man. Still, I'm sure he's gotta be loving all the drama going on at NBC...kinda fun to watch his reaction.
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stiff, former current affairs journo who ended up getting the biggest in irish broadcasting. did it for ten years. and handed it over last year to Ryan Tubridy. Jury is still out on tubbers. but he is a vast improvement of pat the plank kenny. dustin the turkey joked Pat kenny is so wooden that when he goes on holiday he uses cupernol for his suntan. go to youtube to check out pat kenny on the late late show. oh check out lego pat.
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Jimmy Kimmel as Jay Leno is funnier than anything Jay has done at 10 pm (or 11:35 pm, for that matter)!
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Has Mr. Leno agreed to return to the 11:35 slot? Does NBC have a plan if Mr. Leno turns the new job down and Mr. O'Brien still walks? Thanks.
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I can't believe how terrible 95% of the decision making is at NBC. It's no longer inconceivable that the entire network will belly up. The Leno/Conan ordeal really is one for the history books.
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There's no question that's how he's playing it, but it isn't remotely true. When his contract negotiations came around, NBC laid out that Conan was popular, felt like he had paid his dues as a following act, and was likely to bolt to another station. In order to keep him from becoming competition, they wanted to promise him the Tonight Show after Jay retired. (And, after all parties involved screwed Letterman last time, there was no way they were going to get away with a promise that wasn't backed up by hefty penalties if they didn't come through.) Jay said "Okay, you pay me X amount, and in 2009 that'll be enough for me." He released a statement about passing the torch and everyone was happy... including Jay, who didn't have to worry that his position as "#1 in Late Night" might be upset when a 2 man race became a 3 man one.
He was only "forced out" in that, after promises were made (that he benefited from), he changed his mind and wanted to back out. Had he said during those original negoiations "if you give Conan the Tonight Show, then I'll go to another station and compete against it", I can promise you that NBC would have let Conan pursue his other options instead. Instead, like a douche, he said that after Conan had waited all those years until it was nearly his turn, and so forced NBC to try to find ways to keep him... from a trainwreck of a 10pm show to (now) giving him back the Tonight slot. -
Only kidding, what a steaming turd that show is. Magic Hour-esque, in my opinion.
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I believe, that someone somewhere ultimatley screwed conan o brien. In uk and irish politics we know well the story of the incumbent and his annointed successor. who wants the job more than anything and throws it all away when the get it.
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5 years sounds long, but it come awfully fast. This seemed like a great idea in 2004, but no one knows how things will be in 1 year, let alone 5. Leno is an obsessed workaholic. The idea that he'd want to just give over his show was silly. And NBC in 2004 probably thought as Leno approached 60, he'd probably not be as popular as he was in 04'. It was too much time in the future to make a huge transition like that. That didn't happen with Carson. Everyone was decided in less than a year that Johnny would retire and who would replace him.
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Unless Leno calls it quits he will be viewed as an asshole if he takes over the Tonight Show again.
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His Jay was spot! I also loved his, "Always Bump Conan", bit.
And his headlines bit was also awesome! -
Rightly or wrongly he's become the villain pretty much by default. He should walk away with at least some semblance of his reputation and legacy intact before the sinking corpse of NBC drags him down with them. -
would have a certain poetic irony about it.
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Probably the most insightful perspective Ive read on the net yet. Well done sir.
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However, Craig is on after Dave, he would have to rescheduled to another time slot.
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When I get the Tonight Show back, they're going to have to extend my parking space for an extra 3" of chin! BWAHAHAHAHAHA I'm so corny and dated, and it seems like I've stolen most of my jokes from Laffy Taffy labels, but the mouth breathers of America enjoy it! - Jay Leno
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gave the vibe that he was really looking to avoid screwing anyone else over and bumping their show. That obviously rules out anything else at NBC given their packed lineup, and really it doesn't leave much else other than Fox (or post-Kimmel, like someone was saying). Haven't seen it mentioned too much, but it would be amazing to have Conan follow Colbert on Comedy or something like that. Get some of the really bizarre humour back. I guess financially that would be like Plan Z.
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suffered for a couple of reasons. Of course a lot of people who are used to Leno would be put off by him and arent going to follow him. Second, having Leno lead into the local news with bad ratings, plus NBCs already low viewership is going to affect the local news, and by extension, Conan. Creating a change like changing a host people are comfortable with, PLUS bad primetime ratings, PLUS bad Leno ratings, PLUS better shows on other networks, means viewers are going to find themselves nesting in different channels. I know I rarely stop on NBC anymore. I spend most of my time on FOX ABC and CBS. The odds were stacked against Conan without Leno making it worse. He had little chance to improve his ratings. I guarantee you, unless NBC fixes this, AND starts creating shows the generate better ratings across the board, Zucker and Co are gunna get the boot Eisner-style. IMO the Tonight Show debacle is broken to hell, Leno will not make it through this without severely hurting his reputation, and this will go down in history as one of the lowest, most entertaining moments in television history.
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http://tiny.cc/fBoO4
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David Letterman still reigns. I wonder if HBO will do a sequel to "The Night Shift."
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I don't think there'll be ever a classier response to adversity from a TV personality than what you read yesterday. Jay's reputation, R.I.P. (as in *pieces*)
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If The Jay Leno show had been good, I think it could have worked for NBC, but it just was an ill-conceived mess. Maybe the biggest mistake they made was that 5 nights a week was too much. It should have been just 2 or 3 nights a week to make it more of an event. This was a prime-time show- it needed to have glitz and glamour. It needed musical guests each night- at half-time and at end of show like SNL does it. They needed their big-name guests to come out on stage- not skype it in from who knows where. That 10 @ 10 segment was uncomfortable to watch- Leno asking his guests embarrassing questions that he would never dare ask if he were face-to-face with them. The car racing course was such a huge WTF kind of thing too. They must have blown their entire budget with that idea and yet it wasn't funny or entertaining in any way. The egotistical opening with pictures of Jay Leno growing up was a big turn-off, and it illustrated that Leno didn't understand that the show wasn't about him but about creating something exciting that would entertain us. The horrible decision to put his comedy bits like Headlines and Jaywalking at the very end of the show must have left his fans feeling disoriented.
There was too much time given over to bad interviews which has always been Leno's Achilles heel. That time could have been handed over to other comedians. More comedy, more music, more excitement,more effort- that's what this show needed to succeed in prime-time, but Leno's enormous ego got in the way of this show being good. -
"... in less than a year that Johnny would retire and who would replace him."I believe it happened the other way around: NBC locked up Jay as Carson's replacement before Carson had made the decision to retire. Details of that secret deal were leaked (some say by Leno's people). Carson saw it as an insult, that NBC was already making plans for his retirement before he was. Carson decided the office politics and network bullshit were no longer worth putting up with, and announced he was retiring.
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...arrogant, elitist, MBA frat boys with no creativity and slime mold-level intellects are allowed to fuck up virtually everything they touch, then get massive bonuses for doing so.
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...fat-assed, high fructose corn syrup-sedated, mongoloid pigfuckers, we'd be out knee-capping these empty-headed corporate suits left and right.
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Ever gotten a promotion only to have the previous resident of your position not like their new situation return and take your job back from you? You've been "Lenoed"
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It is funny isnt it? And so true.
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He is THE EPITOME of the bitter, jealous asshole. I am no Leno fan and I don't like Conan either, but Dave is at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to class or talent. That was embarrassing. If Dave had a scintilla of self-respect, he'd just go away. After all, at this point he's completley irrelevant.
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That's the title.
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Ha!!! Whatever dude. Its a very lonely place you're in.
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I never watch Kimmel but I stumbled upon it just as it started. Highlights 1) Him shaking everyone's hand in the front row for three minutes. 2) The band playing music after each joke (to drown out the non-laughter on Jay's actual show). 3) The terrible banter with the band leader. 4) Awful Headlines material - where he laughs before showing the audience the actual headline. It was truly laugh-out-loud funny. If they release that one episode on DVD I will buy it. Go watch the full episode. Great stuff! Jay's a hack...
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Whether you like Leno or not, the fact remains...he signed a contrat saying he was going to retire in 2009 and Conan was taking over. Now Leno wants to go back on that contract and NBC is doing everything in their power to help him do so. And Conan is the one who is getting screwed over. He moved from New York to LA for this job. He walked away from his own show and can't go back. And worse yet, he trusted NBC would allow him the opportunity to get used to the Tonight Show and evolve it to fit his own style. Instead, Conan got NONE OF THAT as NBC has only been worried about Leno from day one. Leno wants to keep working. Fine, I can understand that, but the fact remains that he had a shot, failed (sort of) and now he is getting special treatment that nobody or no other show would get. Moving him to 11:30 is essentially giving him his old job back, even if he doesn't keep the tonight show name. It also tells Conan that Leno is more important than even the Legacy of the Tonight Show itself. As a result, Leno looks like the bad guy because Leno is the one who wants to renege on a contract he agreed to.
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Leno down 14% *Nelson laugh*
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When NBC and Leno screwed him out of the job he had worked his entire career to get, he left "Late Night" a valuable property at the network, which they gave to Conan O'Brian. NBC then hounded Dave when he moved to CBS, saying he couldn't do the comedy bits he had originated on "Late Night" because they were NBC's "intellectual property". Fans of "Late Night" were pissed at this treatment... So what did David "no class" Letterman do? He went and appeared as a guest on Conan's version of the show and wished him luck carrying it forward (Conan hadn't done him any wrong, after all), something Conan credited for helping fans accept him as the new host.
Letterman may be a cranky bastard, and he'll skewer people in the public eye mercilessly, but he's got class. He only was passed by Leno in the ratings when he refused for months on end to make the O.J. trial a main part of his monologue, arguing that "double homicide just shouldn't be funny". The public disagreed, and Jay and his Dancing Ito's passed him. I know that Sarah Palin's fans absolutely despise the man, but a lack of "class" clearly isn't Dave's problem. -
... is moot. With everything but his dignity to lose, he stood up to a bunch of asshole suits at a giant corporation and said "fuck you!" Sure he's a millionaire, but he's one of the rare ones in this country, who made his millions honestly, and he's risking it all to stick it to a giant corporation in an era of anti-corporate sentiment. I wouldn't doubt some of this new Conan love is coming from middle and working class viewers who have new respect for him.
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will be seeing Conan as a guest on Dave's show.
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That was LMFAO funny. If you check the Late Night TV Page website (google it), Daly's showing nothing but reruns for the entire month, almost. It's as if he isn't even still with NBC.
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... that hid in a closet like a little boy to listen in on the executives discussing Carson's heir? Leno has always been a douche.
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rimshot > jay leno.
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TOO DUH DOOO!!!
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I can't understand why even the idiot suits at NBC keep tossing Jay's talentless salad. I'm beginning to think he has hidden photos of Jeff Zucker with a tranny, an underage Hayden Panettiere and a chicken or something.
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Can I just say that while in this instance Conan seems the big loser and gets quite a bit of sympathy, few people recall how he was complicit in needlessly (from a ratings/money standpoint) forcing Jay into early retirement, thereby precipitating the current fiasco. Conan's hardly the innocent little bunny rabbit people seem to be painting him, and I say this as a Conan fan who started watching in the hot, sweaty summer of 1994.
I mean, my interpretation of the situation is that in 2004 (or whenever the initial announcement was made) they were forcing Leno off the air prematurely and it was only after he threatened a move to another network that this 10 PM consolation prize shit ever came up. I am not aware that that had ever originally been the plan. So if you figure that Conan must have been gleefully going along with what amounted to the firing of Jay Leno (and no, I am by no means a Leno fan, but who am I to argue with the millions who obviously are?), why should we be acting like he's the nicest guy in the world?
On the other hand, it could be argued that they were going to kick Leno off anyway, so Conan's only bet was to play along. Fair enough. It's just that if we're going to get all excited about the whole thing, best to get some perspective on Conan's role. -
Jan 13, 2010 3:30:16 PM CST
That's a pretty good summation of the Leno spin, Mike
by margot_tenenbaum
Thanks for the contribution.
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Well, listen, I tried to qualify it. I'm just saying, Conan isn't some rube off the street here. At the same time, NBC did have him, his family, and everyone else involved with the old show (and their families...) schlep all the way to LA, so he certainly deserves a lot more consideration. But to read the board, you'd think he was Jesus himself.
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But at the same time he had to look out for his own career and if he wasn't going to be able to move up in a reasonable amount of time he had to consider other options.
I don't think arranging to replace someone in 5 years time is really on par with pulling the rug out from under Conan in a matter of weeks through a bullshit loophole in his contract.
Maybe it'd be the same if Conan's move back in '04 had been to say he needs the Tonight show next month, not at the turn of the decade. -
On further thought, a lot of my argument hinges on assumed details about the agreement in 2004. Whether X willingly went along with the plan, how seriously anyone anticipated and planned for a breakdown of the arrangement, etc. I guess at the end of the day I'da done the same thing as Conan, so I can hardly fault him for it.
Whatever, whatever. So long as Andy makes the jump to Fox as well, I'll live. Like I say, it's a soap opera with 17 years of history behind it.
Now to track down this Jimmy Kimmel everyone is going on about... -
I don't think it was a Machiavellian move on Conan's part in 2004. He had been doing the show for over 10 years at that part and wanted some assurance upward mobility or he would move on. NBC is at fault for trying to appease both of them, but Jay should have been willing to step aside or not signed on the dotted line.
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That's the way the basic story went... but at the same time, clearly they just said to Leno "how much money do you want over 5 years to retire?" and he came up with a figure that he was comfortable with. Do you honestly think that if, 5 years ago, when Leno was winning in the ratings, if he said "I'm not retiring in 5 years", they wouldn't have let Conan go, or done something else to keep him at 12:30?
Leno got a deal 5 years ago that he was happy with, but then decided that 5 years wasnt enough after the fact. -
If Conan forced Leno into retirement that's exactly what Leno did with Carson. In the early 90s Carson was so disgusted with all the backroom politics, and wheeling and dealing from Jay while he was still on the air, that he just said fuck it and retired.
How do you know if Conan forced Jay Leno's retirement? What does that even mean? Around 2003/4 he was probably thinking about his future wanting to progress and all, considering his options. The network didn't want to lose him so they promised him the Tonight Show. And 5 years notice is hardly forcing retirement, that's a long time for Leno to sort out his options.
What is happening now, is that the network was not happy with their original decision so now their reneging their deal, and they want things to go back to the way they used to, and they're treating the Tonight Show brand and legacy as if it's some sort of pawn. The Tonight Show is 11:35 pm. The only thing NBC and Leno want is for Jay Leno to precede Conan, no matter if it's the Tonight Show or not. To them, the Tonight Show legacy means nothing. And the fact that NBC is using a loophole in Conan's contract, which states that they can bump the Tonight Show to 12:05 pm due to broadcast pre-emptions from sporting events/awards telecasts, shows their lack of integrity.
And as much as Conan loves the Tonight Show (and to those who say he's being disingenuous, I watched him for 15 years, and he's always been respectful and humble towards his predecessors. Conan knows his fucking broadcast history.), turn back the clock 5 years knowing what he knows now, he would have just moved to ABC or Fox. Instead he was basically conned into doing Latenight for another 5 years, putting his career and life on hold.
The fact that Leno would even consider doing a 30 min show before the Tonight Show, shows just how much he cares about the Tonight Show. And the fact that he's going to get it back disgusts me. And the first monologue back he's going to direct the blame onto anyone but himself. He'll say Conan walked away, he'll say NBC mishandled the situation, but won't admit to sneaking back in to take it back. I really hope Leno suffers, that people boycott, celebrity guest boycott, that his ratings suffer. The Tonight Show has no future; Leno has killed it. I'm just glad that Carson & McMahon aren't around to see this despicable turn of events. -
if you think differently, then so are you. However, the real fuckups here are the NBC execs. How does a single one of those tampon strings have a job ?
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First off, Mike, it is impossible to argue that if Jay wanted to stay 5 years ago, Conan would have forced him out. We can only argue reality here, and the reality is Leno agreed to step down, for a large sum of money, and signed a contract. Then at some point Leno decided he didn't want to step down regardless of what he originally agreed to and made legally binding. Too bad for him. NBC, on the other hand, is complicit and doing everything they can to HELP Leno break that contract by essentially allowing Leno to pre-empt the Tonight Show. This hurts Conan no matter how you look at it. Either Leno was a success and therefore took all the attention and bookings from Conan, or he failed and dragged Conan's ratings down with him. Moving Leno back to 11:30 is essentially giving him his old show back except in name only and telling Conan that Leno is more important than the legacy of the TOnight Show.
Avatar - I'd take it one step further. Leno won't be sneaking back into anything, he will have gone back on his word and essentially weaseled his way out of a contract and agreement he signed. -
That Jay Leno episode was pure genius!
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Jan 13, 2010 7:49:39 PM CST
Everybody blaming Conan for forcing out Leno need to stop
by colt19801980
He never forced out Leno...when both their contracts came up years before the switch, Conan made it known he wanted the Tonight Show at some point in the future. NBC told him fine, but he'd have to wait for Jay to give the ok and be patient...Conan said fine. Leno looked his contract over and agreed to let Conan have the show at some point later. That time has come. LENO ALWAYS KNEW IT WAS COMING AND AGREED TO IT...NO ONE FORCED HIM TO DO ANYTHING. So people stop saying its Conan's fault, it's not...and you would have done the same thing if it was contract time. These things take time.
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great post...the bottom line is Leno is a backstabbing piece of shit that was never forced to do anything. He's a grown man who can make his own decisions. He decided to fuck Conan however these simpletons want to spin it.
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Included himself as one of Leno's "Victims". He did not.
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First you wanted the Lenovo, then the O’Brienvo, and now back to the Lenovo.
more at
http://www.woot.com/ -
who makes fun of politician's 14 year old daughters getting raped in front of 60,000 people? Is that class? Is it also classy to fuck your interns in a room above the stage while your wife/gf of 20 years is at home? Is that classy? He's an angry, bitter old man. Jay Leno didn't do anything to him, besides whip his ass in the ratings for 15 years...
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Letterman has been including himself as a Leno victim ever since he ended up at CBS. He had a right to. Unfortunately, that doesn't excuse him from having a horrible show most of the past ten years. Anyways, last night was more proof that this whole debacle has been the most entertaining thing to happen to late night TV since Conan's show got really good in the 90's.
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Really, bringing up Palin's nonsense? It's incredibly obvious to anyone who isn't a complete moron/republican that he was referring to Bristol, not one of her other future failures.
I won't defend anything else he did, other than to say that his private life has nothing to do with anything. His charm has always been that he's a sarcastic asshole, and he's always been better than Leno.
The backlash from this will make sure that Letterman never again will be second place to Leno. And he'll be doing it long after Palin stops being brought up by you. Seems to me that she quit about a month after trying to push Dave out? Guess who won that battle?
Moron. -
... one shred of class, he would remove himself from the equation.
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Wow, that Kimmel thing is truly a sight to behold. The lisp, the Kevin Eubanks laughing and note-perfect incessant guitar riffs after every single fucking joke... this is just phenomenal.
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...is that the Jay/Conan stuff has totally overshadowed her debut on Fox News. Expect her to stand on her roof crying "Look at me! Look at me!" soon.
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I really doubt Sarah Palin gives a shit about these three millionaire crybabies and their terrible late night shows.
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is herself.
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You say that like it's a bad thing.
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sometime this fall! Nobody has ever been better than Letterman on the Late Show!! So many classic bits. Letterman is still the best, forget everything else. Except ELVIS ON TOUR! On Blu ray!
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to the baseball game. Letterman was talking about Palin and her daughter at the game. How, all of a sudden was he talking about the other daughter who was 5,000 miles away in the next sentence. He said, "Did you see Sarah Palin and her daughter at the baseball game the other day? She got knocked up by A-Rod in the 7th Inning." He DIDN'T say, "Did you see SArah Palin with her 14 yr old daughter at the baseball game the other day? Well, A-Rod knocked up the 18 yr old, who was in Alaska and not even there, in the 7th Inning." If you laughed at this, you really are kind of sick. She was there with her 14 yr old. Why would anyone assume he was talking about someone who wasn't there?
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Jan 14, 2010 7:18:28 AM CST
And BTW, more people watched her on the O'Reilly Factor
by coughlins laws
than people who watch any of the Late Night shows...
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First of all, when I heard the joke I assumed he was talking about Bristol. Why? Because like MOST of the country, I had no actual idea that Palin was at the ball game with the younger kid. It was a premarital-sex-resulting-in-pregnancy joke and Bristol was the one who had premarital sex resulting in a baby. So it is logical for anyone who isn't obsessed with the idiot Palin to assume Letterman was talking about Bristol. Second, you sure go on a long time ranting about assumptions and letter, etc, but you started this debate saying Letterman was joking about Rape. THAT is just a lie. Even assuming Letterman knew (hell, assuming everyone knew) that Palin was at the game with the younger daughter, to distort this into a joke about her being raped in front of thousands of people is absolute bullshite. The shot was at Palin's so-called values and how her kids tend to get knocked up. To stretch that into Letterman wanting the kid to be raped in front of the crowd is insane hysteria.
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...was on Red Eye (the funniest late-night show on TV by far), where it was cogently pointed out that at the end of the day, we're talking about multi-millionaires here. The only thing that's getting wounded in this situation is a bunch of overinflated egos. Given that, it's entertaining enough in a schadenfreude way to see NBC screw itself over in this way. It's also amusing to see Leno getting a little fucked over as well, considering how he ousted Johnny before he was ready to leave. If I had to pick a team, I guess I'd be Team Conan, since he's the one who's really getting nailed, and damn good for him in deciding not to bend over and take one for Leno! /p
Ultimately, though, a pox on ALL their houses. The last good late-night talk show which actually focused on, y'know, TALK, was Tom Snyder's Late Late Show. The only show that's close to that tradition is Shatner's Raw Nerve, though that's an edited, not live-to-tape, affair, but it's light-years better than the wankfests that go on the Big Three weeknights after the late local news. -
But it affects people other than the hosts as well, like the hundred plus staff members who moved across the country to work on a show that they thought was going to be a steady job. Despite the fact that, for now, NBC just wanted to push the show back a half-hour, they've made it clear that they had every intention to get Leno back on the Tonight Show eventually. That fucks over a lot of people, and not just the millionaire hosts.
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