Cool News
Official (But Not Surprising)!! Leno Retakes THE TONIGHT SHOW, NBC Settles With Conan & His Staff!!
Merrick here...
This is more or less confirming what we've already suspected/conjectured for the last week or so, but since it's now official, I thought this was probably worth a mention.
NBC will pay Conan O'Brien $45 million in fuck off money. Reuters says that $32.5 million will go to O'Brien and about $12 million to his staff (some of whom relocated from New York to L.A. when Conan initially took over THE TONIGHT SHOW).
NBC says Conan will be...
"free to pursue other opportunities after September 1."
Word on the street says that, as part of this agreement, Conan would have to remain in suspended animation for a few months - i.e. not take on new shows, or talk about the matter for a while. Presumably, the reference to Conan being "free" after September 1 means this stipulation is in effect.
Leno will return to THE TONIGHT SHOW on March 1 (post Olympics). Conan's last TONIGHT SHOW will be Friday. Reruns of the show will begin Monday & continue until Leno re-assumes control.
This per Reuters, Wall Street Journal, and TMZ.
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how did the intellectual property thing work out? Will Conan still be able to use Triumph and the rest, or are they going to be put on an NBC shelf never to be seen again?
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Beep boop
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First time in my life Conan wont be on television. Even as a weird little 12 year old Id stay up to watch him in Houston where his show came on at 1:30am for some reason. A fuckin travesty.
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I've never had firsties before. I was so excited! Now my dreams are dashed. Vodka will kill the pain...
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...I hope the handcuffs they've put on him don't apply to the last two shows.
Or is he off the air immediately? Like, do we get two final shows?! -
Everyone bow to the King!!!
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...I want more multi-million dollar comedy bits!
How could he top the Bugatti mouse? Hmm . . . -
I'm sure it'll be Fox though.
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Its right in the article.
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going to make more money this year for doing NOTHING for 9 months than Leno is going to make for actually doing a show. Congratulations!!! Now Conan is free to take his Harvard-eduated, high-brow Masturbating Bear to other networks!!!
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Great job, Leno fans. You actually admit to your lameness. He has progressed the world of comedy about 0% since the early 90s, whereas Conan has been and will continue to be seen as a pioneer.
Don't forget, "Friends" was one of the most popular shows of all time, but it was some of the most brutally awful comedy this country has ever seen. -
Don't watch the fuckin' Tonight Show. It's still a shame that so many people who are currently condemning Zucker and Co. will tune in on March 1st, forgetting how incredibly corrupt and half-assed the network has become.
If you want Leno to fail, don't watch the show.
Team CoCo. -
You spend a whole lot of time posting in these Tonight show talkbacks. I refuse to believe anyone cares that much about a hack like Leno, so I figure you must be a troll.
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He's a spine-less twit.
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Can you please smother the fucker with a pillow? An anti-intellectual conservative with bad taste in everything. Christ is there a lesser form of sentient life on Earth? Then again it is fun condescending and looking down on him. After all, it's the little things in life....
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Jan 21, 2010 1:38:33 PM CST
Word is that conan already has a handshake agreement with CBS
by jettl93
word is that David Letterman (who was ready to retire anyways) will step down at the end of the summer and Conan will take his place as host of the late show. Worldwide pants and CBS apparently already have a temporary deal in place but they cannot make it official untill sept 1stI'm getting word that Letterman will have conana on as a guest on march 1st, and thats when letterman will announce his retirment and confirm that O'brien has the job as soon as his agreement with NBC is up (on sept 1st)So it looks like conana is going to be going head to head with Leno
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I hope they get booed out of the building on a nightly basis. Keep holding rallies in boycott of them. I could say I lot of nasty shit over this, but it's not worth the effort.
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The only thing he's King of is mediocre, bland comedy for octogenarians. The comedic torch was passed from Carson to Letterman to Conan. In the world of late night talk show hosts, they're legends. They have countless classic moments. Jay Leno isn't a legend. What are his classic moments? The Hugh Grant interview, and random clips from Headlines and Jaywalking, because they're all the same lukewarm crap. How many Emmy's has Jay won - or even been nominated for? How many celebrities showed up for his "final" Tonight Show? How many people in the comedic community are sticking up for him? The guy is a spineless corporate shill, a scheming passive-aggressive douche, and a once-great stand-up comedian who appealed to the lowest common denominator to get ratings. If that makes you the King, I'd rather be the Jester.
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Leno gonna end his shows by "stick around for Jimmy Fallon after your local news"
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...I wish that March 1 Conan appearance was true. Oh God it would be amazing. Leno's premiere ratings would be in the fucking toilet ("turlet," if you're one of his fans). Otherwise I fear that even a few Coco fans will tune in out of morbid curiosity.
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several sites have picked up on it and are running it. CBS jumped at conan knowing it would be huge ratings
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Jett if you're going to post like you are someone who knows something perhaps you should check your spelling and grammar. Just saying you might come off as someone over the age of 12.
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Dave wants 30 years like Johnny had. Conans going to Fox.
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The only reason that Zucker has a job is because he's good at coming up with profitable programming. That's not necessarily good or highly rated programming, but stuff that's really cheap to produce and gets a decent amount of advertising dollars thrown at it so it's a good "bang for the buck" on the ledger.
The thing is, Zucker's preferences in programming (game shows, reality shows) aren't as attractive now that DVDs and digital downloads are becoming bigger revenue streams and NBC still has no clue how to make shows that people actually want to DVR (these are things FX, Comedy Central, AMC, and premium cable have all picked up on). The Daily Show and Colbert Report get a fraction of the viewers that Leno got even at his lowest, but people will DVR them and talk about them to build buzz for the rest of the network. They are also, I might add, much cheaper to make because of Leno's bloated salary.
Now, with NBC WAY down in the ratings across the board, Conan getting $45 million thrown at him to go home and not be on TV, $200 million expected to evaporate with the Olympics, AND all the negative press on Zucker for ruining the network, does anyone think this might be the last straw for him? -
Leno's career is done. He's not been funny in decades, but the one thing he had going for him was a bland, likeable persona that played well to people who thought Letterman was "too weird." Now that Leno's been exposed as the first rate selfish douchebag that he is on all the major news channels, who will even want to tune back in? It's like giving the Tonight Show to OJ Simpson!
It's not like NBC can just press the Reset button and the numbers will go back to what they used to be. -
it's up this summer, he's 62 years old and was planning on stepping down anyways, thats why he's been joking about conana taking his job, CBS and WWP knew all along they would snatch up conana to take daves spot
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Which talkback will win?
Hercules fucked over El Cosmico who was the clear choice of Glen Oliver to carry the legacy forward. -
I read somewhere Letterman re-signed but I could be wrong. If Dave does leave, Conan taking over would be awesome.
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Jan 21, 2010 2:21:09 PM CST
Who will watch Leno? The same 5 to 6 million that watch
by coughlins laws
him every night, and are still watching him now, even after this story broke. You guys really do live in Fantasy Land. Leno's not going anywhere. He's the most popular Late Night Host and will stay that way. The people all pissed off about this weren't watching him anyway...
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If even half of the people who are currently on "team conan" tuned in and WATCHED him when he was up against Letterman, there might have been a different outcome here. I could care less, I don't watch either of them. lol
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After being exposed as a egocentric douchebag instead of the "Nice Guy," Leno will lose some viewers at 11:35 p.m. after the initial curiosity wears off following his first couple of episodes back. He may get them back eventually (provided he's entertaining and some of his viewers don't jump to Letterman, Kimmel or Colbert), but the damage to his rep has been done. My 70-year-old parents, who used to love Leno, now despise him with a passion.
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Old comedy dies. New comedy lives. Have fun with Leno.
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His numbers are virtually unchanged. I think it's just wishful thinking on your part...
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that still watch tv instead of being on the internet, all his fans will die in 3 years and Conan will be king.
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Conan Does, Triumph, Horny Manatee. NBC MADE A HUGE MISTAKE.
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Conan is the year 3000
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By throwing your support behind Leno.
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Jan 21, 2010 2:49:26 PM CST
Conan got a huge ratings boost out of this and Leno's remained t
by margot_tenenbaum
He may not have lost fans, but he sure didn't gain any. CL, please prove that his former audience will come back at 11:35.
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Jan 21, 2010 2:50:06 PM CST
Who cares if a Leno clip goes Viral? You see, that's the
by coughlins laws
problem. If all you do is watch clips of what happens on Conan but don't actually watch his show, NBC makes no money. Therefore, because of you STEALING the show, you're costing Conan a job. It's kind of like downloading music. You're screwing the very artists you purport to support out of money...
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Jan 21, 2010 2:51:29 PM CST
It would have been so much easier if Father Coughlins...
by mr. nice gaius
...had admitted to being a Leno fan in the first place. That way we would have immediately understood why he loves sucking Leno's cock in these TBs.If you ever wonder why Leno appeals to the uptight conservative masses, look no further than ol' CL.
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If you think the viral videos on NBC.com or Hulu qualify as "stealing". Get off your high horse.
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What sites are running the March 1st appearance? Please give us links.
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Poo off, Merrick. Late night is Hercules' beat.
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Because I made that bastard a pretty good offer! :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4q8A3uLRDwQ
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You guys keep ignoring me so I had to go drastic. I like Jay, I don't like Conan, I like Coke, I don't like Pepsi, I like Iron Man, I don't like TDK. I'm not comparing one thing to the other just pointing out that you can like whatever you want to like.
I keep hearing all this Conan is so great, he is brilliant, he has inspired so many, he is the future of comedy. I weep for comedy. We have seen the future and it's name is SNL. Comedy pretty much sucks right now. The future is bleak.
For the record I am a Agnostic Anarchist. I just don't like Conan's brand of humor and I do like Jay's. Kill me now, I'm such an evil person. -
That is all.
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It's been boring, hack comedy.I haven't watched late night in YEARS, but back then, if you gave me a choice between Leno and Conan, Leno would take it easy.People hail Conan as this comic genius but honestly, he has his own shtick too. Yeah Leno is bland and 'appealing' (more now than before) but Conan uses 'geek mannerisms' as his crutch. He was the 'i'm a geek doing late night' persona, which I never cared for.Long story short, fuck late night TV. Could care less about any of these guys, including Leno.
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when he returns, sadly.Most people go for the bland, and Jay appeals to the lowest common denominator.He's the Muzak of comedy.
Pleasant, non threatening, boring but not so painful that you want to turn off the tv.
And Leno's no fool, his humor and his show have been designed that way.
I'm a Conan fan, and Friday will mark the last time I ever watch The Tonight Show, but let's be honest.The American People are mostly a bunch of fucking mouth breathing idiots, and they will follow Jay.
Who cares? I'll just continue to watch The Daily Show at 11 and go back to watching Letterman/Ferguson ( or TIVO'ing). -
Both Iron Man & Dark Knight? While I prefer Conan over Leno and Letterman, given a choice of only 1 I'll take Craig Ferguson.
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I'm still waiting.
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The man wrote The Simpsons "Marge Vs The Monorail" episode. That alone trumps Leno in the comedy department. Leno is a talented stand up in the traditional "set up-punchline" style. But I don't get the sense he has a funny mind. He can deliver a joke, or pun, or play on words, but Conan THINKS funny. I think thats the major difference between the two.
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is Ferguson's 1000th (I think) all puppet episode.
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That's kind of the point. Just because you like one or the other or both or neither doesn't matter. You like what you like. It doesn't mean you agree with everything the person or group does it just means that in that particular thing, the show, you like that. Is Jay a ruthless business man on par with Microsoft and Walmart and will crush anything in the way of his happiness? Perhaps he is. It doesn't mean that everyone who likes his show is a sub-par human or less than human for watching his show. Not saying you've said that but it's been said.
I like Craig too. -
I've never once watched an episode of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on my own accord or on my own TV. I've rarely even ever seen bits and pieces while my father used to watch it many years ago.
And I'm really proud of that fact. -
His first 2-3 years were bad and he was on the verge of cancelation then, but NBC stuck it out with him and let him grow into a great Late Night host. Andy Richter left after a few years and Conan stumbled to find his footing, but eventually it led to him developing a stronger comedic voice.
If you watched during the Writer's Strike a couple of years ago when Conan was just pulling out whatever he could to cobble a show together, it was great. He really rose to the occasion. Now that he's being forced out, Conan's put on his best shows ever. -
And agree to a salary of $1 so NBC still has to pay the difference in their contract.
Rewatching the stuff Conan's done over the past week, it's AMAZING that standards and practices have let so much of Conan's material on the air. -
...try taking Leno's dick out of your mouth before you start talking. *SLURP SLURP* What??
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c'mon how awesome would that be
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At least for me.
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Thanks for telling us! We will be sure that whenever we turn our backs on you Jay supporters, we shouldn't be surprised if we get stabbed. I've already come clean on my allegences; I've watched Jay, Conan, Dave, etc. I even watched Jay after he fucked David Letterman, but by god, I'll never watch that weasle again. Go right ahead and watch him if you want, I really don't care. I overheard some FOX talking heads comparing Conan's settlement to those ASSFUCKERS on Wall Street. There are so many things insanely retarded about that stance, but I won't bother to go into it. I'm sure someone will come on here to parrot the party line and try to sling that bullshit with a straight face soon enough. R.I.P. Tonight Show. Burn in corporate HELL, NBC.
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aka imo the people with the most backwards opinions on just about every aspect of the world we live in, also tend to like really, really shitty entertainment. I'll bet $1,000 that Coughlin's Laws also likes that fucking puppet comedian on Comedy Central. Maybe these guys' political leanings and opinions aren't really their fault. Maybe there is just some baseline genetic flaw (most likely associated with creativity) that influences both their tastes, ideas and morality.
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Can you draw? Or play an instrument? Just curious.
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It literally makes my physically angry when you come on here spewing you mental bullshit. Letterman signed a contract extension and produces both Late Night and Craig Ferguson's show. He's not going anywhere. Douche!! I can't believe they don't ban your retarded ass, either. You KNOW that people read made up bullshit and repeat it like it's fact. You're contributing to a world of dumb and it just pisses me off. Grrr.
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Artists have made pennies off of their physical album sales (unless they are self releasing or on a very small indie label) since the dawn of recorded music. They make their money on live performance and merchandising. Have you seen any of the polls about how many artists are against downloading music? A majority are not. Their labels very much are. Most artists are happy people want their music and are willing to pay to see them live (an experience that can't be downloaded).
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Is like saying you like rape or Hitler. It’s just not funny. Anytime I hear someone say they like Jay I look at them like there a retard. I hope Coco comes back in Sep and make NBC pay(more)
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I understand you're an "artiste"! and all that. But dude, pay your taxes, invest the rest and enjoy your life. A lot of us would voluntarily loose a limb to get fired with a $35 severance package (severance package... lost limb... get it! Hah).
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Take the time to enjoy your wife and children, and fuckin take a break, you deserve it.
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with Jeff Zucker a close second. Fuck NBC!
Dave, Kimmel, and Ferguson will be on my TV from now on! -
at a future Leno taping, and they do it in a way that can't be edited out. Somebody in LA, get on it!
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...anymore? I don't think they are. No matter how big the disruption they could just show a re-run that night. However, the disruption, or even a protest with some creative picket signs, would definitely make the news. So, yeah, get on that LA people!
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Do nothing past Friday that will bring him attention. It will just let him play victim in the press. Leno should be shunned into ratings non-existance.
What people should do is, over the next 8 months, fill YouTube with homemade Masturbating Bear, Pimpbot, Year 3000, Preparation H Raymond etc. videos as a show of support for Conan. Counterprogram the Tonight Show with Jay Leno! -
I have no idea how anyone could defend Leno's actions. Leno's show was a failure...so Conan loses his job. Conan wasn't fired because he was performing poorly; Conan is being fired because Leno won't bow out gracefully (like he promised). It's really quite simple. You have to have a child's intellect not to grasp it.
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And he had some funny jokes. All of his funny jokes were about this situation, though. All his other jokes were stale and terribly lame. But I also see the average tonight show viewer under Leno was 55.7, which makes even me feel young. If that's what people want.... I don't understand it, though.
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The only thing I really like about Leno is his headlines, but his most famous moments are our now-hated Governator announcing his candidacy and the Hugh Grant debacle. Both actually weak, insipid, pandering moments.
Conan, honestly, had his best bits back in the 90's as well: Triumph, those faces with only mouths moving, especially of Bill Clinton, in the year 2000, and more. Conan's best is definitely better, but people really do seem to eat up Leno's shtick. It's so sad, really. But I know people who honest to God claim McDonald's as their favorite "restaurant," so there you go. -
Jan 21, 2010 6:00:48 PM CST
I want a heckler in Jay's audience everyday, until he cracks!!
by onin solstice
Jay won the battle, but the war is far from over. If he thinks we're just going to forget how he backed NBC as they prison raped Conan, then he's sadly mistaken. There will be a backlash for years to come. Jay is synonomous with sellout.
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..and re-shoot. Disrupting of the actual show would never work. But there are other ways. The viral stuff, picketing, etc. THAT might make him crack, or just give up, eventually. Also, send lots and LOTS of emails and snail mail to NBC execs.
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Jan 21, 2010 6:56:37 PM CST
Fuck Leno. Fuck NBC. Boycotting them starting after the Olympic
by dogmatic
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Fuck Leno. Fuck NBC. Boycotting them starting after the Olympics then recording The Office from then on to not allow those bastards my ratings. Fuck NBC again. That is all.
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Then he should be dethroned, for good!
Viva La Conan! -
...you're just a knuckle-dragging moron with an underdeveloped brain not unlike that of a mentally handicapped person.
Either that, or you're about as intelligent as a lobotomized chimpanzee. Of course, that's being cruel to the lobotomized chimpanzee community...
I'M WITH COCO! -
Conan would still have been the host of the "Tonight Show" for the history books. SHould have at least done it for one season. And JAY would have been the host of a LAME 1/2 hour show between the news and the tonight show. What would JAY do with 30 minutes? It would have been hilarious. WORSE than his 10 PM show. Then they would have had no one to blame but leno.
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Put Conan at 10:PM ... he'd be more willing to do something different. Jay failed because he didnt create a "new" program like he said they would. Conan came up writting from SNL ... he could do something at ten that really was different.
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I don't really feel like watching Leno anymore. I used to like Mon. headlines but I see him in a different light now. I don't want to watch him anymore. I can't speak for everyone but I think NBC just made a huge mistake. I'll still watch Conan ( where ever he is and I hope he still has Andy ).
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Then it would be the Tomorrow Show with Conan O'Brien. Leno would have looked stupid foe his half hour, but Conan would have been looking just as bad ratings wise going along with it. Conan is free to go to Fox this fall, and Leno is stuck with the burnt remains of The Tonight Show in March.
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Agreed ... Leno would have looked stupid and they would have moved TONIGHT back to 11:35 by april. Then they would have had more time to rethink what LENO should really bedoing or it would be LENO going to FOX. Conan would have stayed with the Tonight Show Legacy ... which is not worth 33 million ... it's priceless! Plus ... his crew would still be working. Let LENO goto FOX where they like to cancel good shows before they hit a stride. (Thinking Firefly and Sarah Connor)Conan would be stupid to goto FOX. Their kneejerk reactions are worse than NBCs.
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Two years ago Heath Ledger passed away, now it's Conan's last night on his Tonight Show :'(
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The reason LENO failed at 10 was because it sucked. They could have re-created the show into something new and original, put either LENO or Conan there and it might have worked. Instead they tried to put it all back the way it was. It aint going to be the way it was.
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The way Conan keeps slammin j and nbc, even kimmel got a lot of shots in when he was on.....makes me thinq and *hope* this is all just a ploy....especially the "1.5 million dollar joke" last night, where they had that bugatti (spl?) dressed up like a mouse and they had satisfaqtion by the Rolling Stones playing, Conan said they had that expensive car dressed up like a mouse and the expensive Rolling Stones song just so they could stiq it to nbc....I kinda find it hard to believe nbc would grab their ankles like that for a guy they're *supposedly* dumping, but I guess that's just me in denial.
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Read on: http://tinyurl.com/yfrpguc
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First, Conan had a contract and NBC broke it. That's why they're paying him and his staff $45 million on the way out. Second, JAY could have just said no and left. It's that's simple. Jay is ridiculously wealthy and makes gobs of money doing stand up gigs. All he had to do was say no. He has the power with NBC and the advertisers. He could have stood up, given the press and the advertisers kind words about Conan and just said no. He chose not to do any of those things. Jay is NOT the good guy here. Not at all.
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NBC wanted Leno to stay because they know he'd beat Conan if he went head to head. Leno wants to stay with NBC and NBC prefers Leno to Conan.
Why would Leno leave NBC and start over at a new network? He doesn't owe Conan anything. And they obviously aren't friends.
I'll never watch Leno, but Conan pretty much sucked whenever I watched him on the Tonight show. He's great for a clip a week or so that I can catch online. -
His contract was for the Tonight show, which he wouldn't lose if they moved it to midnight. NBC simply didn't want to go through a huge lawsuit or arbitration over it. So they settled with him and are keeping him off the market and shutting him up in the near term.
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Conan's contract also had the timeslot as part of the deal, not just the "Tonight Show" in name only. Were it not for his contract stipulating when his show would air, he would be bound by his contract to go on at 12:05, or walk away without getting a cent from NBC. By putting Jay on at 11;35, Conan had a pretty good notion that he would not get his contract renewed with NBC if he did play along with the 12:05 show. Refusing the 12:05 slo, taking the money and finding a new network could be Conan's best bet in the long run.
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taxes and all.
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Conan's people just never thought NBC would move the shows time
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...that NBC would EVER pay ANYBODY 45 million dollars if they didn't have to. As I understand that's LESS than what was left on the contract, too. Somewhere in all this mess there was absolutely a breach of contract or that money would not be payed out. That's the budget of an entire season of another show, more in some cases.
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Jay is just a douche. Jay has a history of shitting on people to get what he wants. Jay could have easily changed the way this whole thing went down and Jay did nothing in that regard. Period. End of story.
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#1) you'll be screwing NBC #2) You'll actually get to watch *the Olympics*
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When Jay started out, he had 3 people give important help to him becoming a tv star: Carson, Letterman, and his agent, Helen Kushnick. He screwed them all over when they got in his way. What’s going on now is being judged against that, and no matter what he says or does, he can’t get away from his past.
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When Jay started out, he had 3 people give important help to him becoming a tv star: Carson, Letterman, and his agent, Helen Kushnick. He screwed them all over when they got in his way. What’s going on now is being judged against that, and no matter what he says or does, he can’t get away from his past.
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