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Conan O’Brien To 60 MINUTES: I Wouldn’t Have Done To Jay Leno What Jay Leno Did To Me!!
I am – Hercules!!
“He went and took that show back and I think in a similar situation, if roles had been reversed, I know-- I know me, I wouldn't have done that,” Conan O’Brien tells Steve Kroft on “60 Minutes” this Sunday. “If I had surrendered The Tonight Show and handed it over to somebody publicly and wished them well-- and then…six months later. But that's me, you know. Everyone's got their own, you know, way of doing things."
Find all of the Hollywood Reporter’s story on the matter here.
7 p.m. Sunday. CBS.
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Wait, it's on too late for me to care. Yeah, I'm old.
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I hope so.
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..."we both got screwed," to which Dave replied "Yeah - Jay got what he deserved." Priceless.
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Apr 29, 2010 4:30:36 PM CDT
I heard Conan is contractually obligated not to criticize Leno &
by meta
for his $40 million settlement. So expect very little bashing on CoCo's part.
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Coughlin's Laws, you're needed in this talkback.
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I know it's fun to keep ripping on Leno but the fact that Conan going to a station like TBS after his departure from NBC still seems absurd!
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It only seems absurd because we're used to cable being the underdog in television programming. It no longer is the case. Conan's move to TBS makes perfect sense when you realize that: 1. TBS has a really young demographic, perfect for Conan's audience. 2. He will, just like Letterman, be in 100% ownership of his show. That means if, after his five-year contract is over, he decides to move on elsewhere, he can literally pick up everything and move to another network. That kind of power in showbiz is rare and pretty awesome. 3. Conan will not need massive ratings to be a success at TBS, which means he can cater to his audience and he can be much more edgy than he could ever be on network television (his current tour is evidence that he enjoys edgier humor). 4. He will have a network that can literally promote him like no other, as TBS has huge TV events like Major League Baseball and the NBA Playoffs. 5. He'll still be in Los Angeles (and on the WB lot, apparently), so he'll have access to the huge pool of guests. Since advertisers LOVE the 18-49 demographic that Conan pulls, he will have no problem booking people. I agree, by conventional wisdom that has lasted for decades, going to cable seems like a step back. But, in 2010, cable is more powerful than ever (see AMC, USA and TNT, who have massive hit shows that millions tune in to see every week).
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And the "In the Year 2000", and bring back Bob Dole Conan.
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Apr 29, 2010 5:38:15 PM CDT
"huge TV events like Major League Baseball and the NBA Playoffs.
by hercules
Are those huge TV events? Check out last Thursday's ratings (a couple posts below this one) and discover the NBA playoffs that night pulled a 1.0 and a 1.7. OK for cable to be sure (though cable's WWE Raw typically pulls bigger numbers every week) but demonstrative of why we don't see the NBA or MLB in a lot of primetime broadcasts. (Broadcasts defined here as material transmitted by over-the-air titans ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox & CW.)
Just judging from the ratings, it seems few Americans give a shit about professinal basketball, baseball or hockey. The only sport we really care about is NFL football, which routinely clobbers everything on Sundays and Mondays. -
...game. Seriously, I will flip back and forth obsessively between two channels to watch two games at once when the playoffs are on. I record all my regular shows to watch later during the NBA playoffs. However, I'm posting this to say that I only have one friend who does the same. And no co-workers, that I know of. I'm definitely a minority. However, I can talk football with nearly every person I know. The NBA, while pretty stable on TV, has been trying to get it's rating up for years. And when things like Milwaukee beating Atlanta (which just took place) or the OKC Thunder pushing the Lakers happens, the Commish gets mighty worried. There's basically 3 or 4 teams that bring ratings. The rest of them push people back to their regular programming.
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It's the first round. And a lot of the games are only on local stations at the moment (for example, game 5 of the cavs vs. the bulls was on Comcast) Are you telling me people won't watch the conference finals and no one will watch the baseball (America's past time, and more popular than it has ever been) playoffs? Pull your head out of Whedon's ass and watch some sports occasionally.
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.....as orchestrated by head Team CoCoNut usher, Herc.
I guess it was getting to be that time again to rip on Jay once again, and luckily we have a 60 minutes interview of Conan, complaining that Jay took back an opportunity given to him that was available as if he wouldn't take an opportunity when presented to him. Oh wait, he did - five years ago when he engineered an early retirement for Jay by threatening to walk out of NBC if he didn't get assurances that he'd get the Tonight show when Jay retired - and then have them stipulate that he would actually retire in 5 years.
I might have had more sympathy for the guy if he actually admitted that his brandof comedy was just a wrong fit for that demographic and that Time-slot and that he sure enough didn't bring in the numbers that were expected. But I bet you we won't hear that in the interview.
It should be fun watching Team CoCoNuts trying to justify his ratings at TBS when he goes head-to-head with Stewart-Colbert and gets hammered there on cable as well on a nightly basis. You can be sure that he's not going to be in consideration ratings-wise compared to Leno and Letterman with those Cable versus Network numbers, so a fair comparison will be to Stewart-Colbert who are not only also on cable but also go for the same demographic and arguably the same comedic style.
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...for Leno
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Apr 29, 2010 6:28:25 PM CDT
Still think HBO,FOX,CC,or AMC would've been a smarter move tho..
by redjester
Alas, wasn't to be... And as someone already pointed out, this is only a five year contract so if things go well than he could always go to a more deserving channel after that.
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Apr 29, 2010 6:40:22 PM CDT
Herc: OK, maybe not HUGE TV events like the Super Bowl...
by bob loblaw law blog
but I think it's notable. A lot of people watch the NBA Playoffs and MLB. So... maybe "decently big" TV events?!? They sure aren't reruns of "Little House on the Prairie," is all I'm saying.
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seriously as much as i love football and enjoy hockey, i gotta say Major League Baseball is the greatest sporting league out there, the game of baseball is just perfect, it's a shame todays youth are more interested in x-sports and other fag things. The game of baseball is amazing, i wish it had the mass effect it had on america like it did in the 50's and 60'sConana will do fine at TBS, i think it's just a stepping stone for him though since i've heard he has a handshake deal with Dave and CBS to take the late show spot in 2015
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baseball has 10X as many games in a season as football. baseball is on virtually every night, football... well, now it's on almost every night, at least if you have the NFL network and they're doing those Thu and Sat night games. but for the most part, football is sunday only. even during the playoffs, there are a lot more baseball playoff games than football playoff games. so the ratings get a bit diluted. baseball ratings are more regional, the people who watch baseball watch the games on local stations or cable, rather than NFL games which focus more on a national audience. so the two really aren't comparable ratings-wise.
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Hold NBC at gunpoint and tell them I'll bolt unless you give me the Tonight show. " but jay's still there. " "so?"
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Apr 29, 2010 7:25:45 PM CDT
"Why are Jeff and Brita making fun of those handicapped kids?"
by bumlove
Community is pretty good tonight.
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There may be the makings of a musical about Jay Leno and Steve Jobs if Jon Stewart is right-
http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/04/29/jon-stewart-to-steve-jobs-chill-baby/?hpt=C2 -
Leno does need another billion sq ft garage
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than he will when his show comes back.
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...at eleven thirty, he owns my eyes
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Who really gives a fuck about any of these guys! They whine like fucking babies when they have been on tv for 20 years and are multi-multi millionaires! Are you serious? Really? Fuck them! Cry yourself a river for these guy when you go to your multi-thousand dollar menial jobs...They can all suck the pipe!
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He believes so passionately and strongly in the Tonight Show brand. But broadcast TV & NBC won't exist in 50 years. Entertainment will be streamed on the internet/wifi whatever it's gonna be called in the future. The legacy ended with Johnny Carson, Leno was just a company man who willingly added nothing to comedy. There is no succession strategy after Leno. The Tonight show is dead. But the money men don't care and never will.
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I can't believe people watch them. They are the most fucking predictable series ever. There's no upsets. Try watching the NHL playoffs. The #8 seed last night eliminated the team with the best record this season last night.
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Do exactly what his employers asked him to do? He had the top rated late night show for 15 years and then NBC asked him to take a powder so Conan wouldn't bolt to another network. Jay said fine, Let me out of my contract. They said no, go on at 10. Jay said that it was a stupid idea. They said it will be fine. Six months later NBC said "We are canceling you at 10. Would you go back to 11:35 for a half hour so we can keep both you and Conan?" Jay said, "Let me out of my contract." NBC said no. Jay said "OK. If it's OK with Conan." They asked Conan to back his show up by a half hour. Conan got pissy and said,"This is Leno's idea, isn't it? Let me tell you this. This is MY show now and I'm going to do things the way I WANT TO!! And if you don't like it, PAY ME!!" NBC said "Please, no, stay. We can work this out." Conan said, "I'll walk away for $25 million." NBC said, "We can't afford that. And we want you to stay" Conan said, "Fine, $35 million." NBC said, "What!! You're negotiating the wrong way! Plus we want you to stay." Conan said, "Fine, $45 million." NBC said, "OK, OK, just stop. $45 million it is. We still want you to stay. Couldn't you just reconsid-" "$55 mill.." "OK, OK, $45 million. Jeez." NBC then asked Jay to take back the Tonight Show. Jay asked NBC, "What about Conan?" NBC said, "Er, uh, Conan who?" Jay is not the culprit here and neither is Conan. It is NBC. Anyone who can't see that isn't paying attention.
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Apr 29, 2010 9:50:04 PM CDT
Fuck conan,NBC should stuck him at 12 and made live out his cont
by j2talk
Leno is middle of the road ,but tolerable, Letterman is pale shadow of his old self, Conan has NEVER been funny for more than @2min...Ferguson is the only one worth watching....
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Apr 29, 2010 9:50:07 PM CDT
Fuck conan,NBC should stuck him at 12 and made live out his cont
by j2talk
Leno is middle of the road ,but tolerable, Letterman is pale shadow of his old self, Conan has NEVER been funny for more than @2min...Ferguson is the only one worth watching....
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Anybody who saw the Frank TV ads on TBS during the MLB playoffs a few years ago know what I'm talking about.
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If you really think that NBC had Jay Leno (a multi-millionaire) over a barrel such that he couldn't have said, "Look, I gave this show to Conan... I'm not taking it back. I'll walk out of here and do something new elsewhere," then you aren't paying attention. When Johnny Carson handed over The Tonight Show, he did it with grace and class... and he retired from TV. Leno, clearly, is no Carson and completely lacks the integrity to leave NBC with grace.
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nuff said
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Total fake. Crap show. Even Kevin has had enough with the shit. I'll bet a million that he has lost total respect for Leno and can't stand the fucker. Having to laugh at all his retarded shit.
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...again and again. Leno sucks balls, and Conan is the balls!
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I've never gotten a charge out of late night television. Dumb jokes, dumb people promoting their books, t.v. show, music or movie. I'd rather read or sleep or hang out with friends. Who cares about Leno, O'Brien or Letterman??? I sure don't...
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I don't think Conan is thinking about 50 years ahead. He probably won't even be alive.
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taking the show back the way he did - w/NBC's help - BUT that's what Conan gets for pushing Leno out in the 1st place 5 years ago. Karma's a bitch CoCo. But don't cry for him Argentina, TBS will be a much better fit where he can do a show much closer to his old one...definitely better than the shitfest that was his Tonight Show for sure.
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seriously, Dave is funny still on occasion, Ferguson is funny, Kimmel is funny, Fallon has his moments, but Conan is the best. Leno can go fuck himself for the simple pleasure that someone under the age of 80 still enjoys him.
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Conan did kind of force Leno out of the Tonight Show by making NBC honor the contract they gave him. Was it stupid of NBC to do that? Of course, but no one is really innocent in this whole thing.
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Conan didn't push Jay out. His contract was up in 2004 and NBC didn't want to lose him to another network. So they came up with the plan to give him The Tonight Show in five years (as Conan mentioned in his "manifesto," he gave up far more lucrative offers to wait five years to host The Tonight Show). Karma has nothing to do with the situation. Conan was offered The Tonight Show so he would stay at NBC and he agreed. It's NBC's fault for offering him something that essentially meant Jay Leno would need to leave the network. When Conan took over, NBC panicked, gave Leno his craptastic 10 p.m. show, and the rest is history.BUT... I do agree with you. TBS will be a great fit for him. I actually really enjoyed Conan's version of The Tonight Show (I even got to attend a taping last October) and wish he would have had more time to make it even better. Hopefully the TBS show can be edgy, hilarious and amazing.
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...There's the douchebag way (Leno) and the non-douchebag way (most other people).
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is impressive. A few more and you can get Senate represenation.
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The situations are completely different.
Conan said up front "I want the tonight show or I am leaving." If he did not get it Conan would have left. NBC had a choice. They could have let him go, but thought Conan was the better long-term bet.
Jay absolutely should have been pissed when NBC told him he would be done in 5 years and if he had any balls at all, he would have said "Fuck You" to NBC and gone to another network who would have taken him in a second.
However, Jay handled the situation like a passive-aggressive pussy and that's why everyone loathes him as a person. -
Conan probably said something along the lines the he was being offered earlier timeslots and lucrative paydays at other networks/channels. Getting the Tonight Show was probably the only thing that got him to take the last 5 year deal.
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Abject hypocrisy
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I am just wondering because amount of bias present is fucking ridiculous
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end of story
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I am just wondering......
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Can't wait!
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There is a very good reason that it isn't anymore. It's slow, boring and with the strike back in the 90's and all the steroids scandals it's hard to care about that sport anymore. I haven't watched a game in years.
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Conan is a narcissist that tries to hide it with self deprecating jokes. Ha ha ha you're really pale, I heard you the 347th time you said it.
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True, BUT Baseball attendance has been up A LOT in the last few years.
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the irish broadcaster Gerry Ryan has died at the age of 53. anybody who lived in 1980's and 1990s would have grown up with gerry ryan. I know I did. His radio show was essential listening. he brought a colour to Irish morning radio which will be forever bereft. He was intelligent, witty, smart, controversial, colourful, provocative, he loved life, women, his ex wife, his children, money,travelling. His best work was with John Farrell. Informative, intelligent radio, you always learnt something listening to farrells broadcasts. ryans death has blown a hole in 2 fm breakfast. he loved new york and loved howard stern. I hadnt listen to his show in quite a while. but I am telling you all he will be much missed.
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...who lays it all out like an asshole and doesn't care who hates him. Like Leno.
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If he were in Leno's position, he would have done the same thing. Give me a break.
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Didn't Conan force Jay to vacate the Tonight Show?
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NBC did.
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why didnt jay take the tonight show to another network. like say fox or threaten to anyway. force thier hand.
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Leno has no rights to it.
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....really. There's a lot of Shakespeare to this drama. Hire back the original actors for Letterman for Leno, and bring in Tilda Swindon to portay Conan.
Oh....and Corky from "Life Goes On" is a deal ringer for Kimmel. -
...is already talking about another book. So hopefully we'll get another movie, and yes, John Michael Higgins MUST return. Roebuck, though, I could recast.
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but why give back something to someone if that person has no right to it. it doesnt make much sense.
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I think Conan probably did ultimatum NBC in offering him "The Tonight Show" back when the five-year-deal, but let's be honest here. Our generation is more likely to watch a Conan O'Brien type brand of comedy than a Jay Leno brand of comedy. NBC needed to make a choice.
My issue with NBC is not that they made a particular choice. It was that they didn't stick with it. They should have said, "Screw you, Conan. Jay Leno is #1 in late night. Go find another network, and establish your long-term audience," or they should have given him "The Tonight Show" and dealt with the "transition period" (i.e. inevitable few years of kind of shitty ratings just like Jay had when he started out).
But they didn't. NBC wanted to have their cake and eat it, too. NBC essentially got greedy, and now they have to deal with the consequences. Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien are both just trying to look out for their own best interests. NBC is the party that really messed up here. -
Apr 30, 2010 3:22:52 PM CDT
"Tonight on 60 Minutes: Conan goes 'WAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!'"
by mrmysteryguest
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Jay Leno is NOT funny. And I'm in the over 55 group.
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This would have happened MONTHS ago if NBC hadn't signed Conan to that "Don't You Dare Talk To the Press About Any of this Ever!" contract. If you were a major news network, and the "Shut up!' contract was running out, wouldn't YOU want to interview Conan?!
And speaking of Conan..."Hey, Conan. We're 60 Minutes. We're willing to give you ANOTHER CHECK to receive more sympathy / PR for your new show from the public. How does that sound?"
But I'm sure no one on THIS TalkBack would have said yes to that. Wah. -
Where EVERYBODY'S a deuchebag. You should have stayed in NYC.
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I'd like some pronouns. I'm not sure who you're talking about in each part of your post. I'd love to explain, but I'm not sure what you're getting at.
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some sports once. All I got was 2 hours of time I'll never get back and a head that smelled like someone's asshole.
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for 17 years. the rights of the show as someone pointed out dont belong to him. Leno did his own thing and it didnt work out, O'brien was given the tonight show and it didnt work. Jay got the tonight show back. Whats odd to me is, It was leno's show. he left, O'brien took over and it didnt work. so leno got his gig back. It was not his gig to take back. that is my point.
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Old people all get to a certain point where all they care about is things not changing. Everyone who has elderly relatives knows this. They can eat the same bland tv dinner crap a home shoves down their throat night after night and be content, then you try to fix them a *good* meal and they fuss about it because it's not what they're used to. Ever try moving furniture (or anything) around in an old person's house, they go batshit. They become immediately and noticably unnerved when you try to change anything in their routine once they hit a certain age.
And this is what Jay Leno is. Comfort. They don't care if he's entertaining, as long as he's what they're used to that's all they care about. The problem is that generation is dying out fast, Conan will never come back, so what are they left with? The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon? Christ. -
Leno should have taken the money and then retired. The show wasnt his it belonged to the network. NBC could have given him a massive pay out for his retirement. then given the show to conan. but o'brien should have demanded a clause in his contract to stay in NYC. drop the name late night. but keep the formula. that would have kept everyone happy.
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but that will never happen. In ireland we are all devastated over his sudden death. HIs ryan show confidential interview with Ronnie Drew was simply the best he ever did and that final bit with the cancer stricken drew singing the auld triangle made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck.
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