Re: NBC: let's see how low we can go (Conan thread, part 2)
 

Your analogy is incorrect. If a salesman gets reassigned to a new district and if after 7 months his sales are down 49%, the employer is not going to be happy.....at all. It wouldn't be unusual for the company to either reassign him to a less lucrative district or fire him. In this case, NBC chose to reassign and Conan wouldn't go along with it. Now, the company is bringing back the old salesman (Leno) to try and recoup some of the 49% of sales that were lost by the new salesman (Conan).

Look, I'm with you guys on the talent issue. Conan is better. He's funnier, more versatile, more genuine.......I could go on and on. But most of the country disagrees with me. As long as he returns on another network or syndicator, it really doesn't matter to me that much. I'd rather him not be away for the next 7 months, but once he comes back it will be business as usual. I will be watching Conan, so I could care less if everyone else is watching Leno. I just hope he stays in LA, as I think the show is much better than it was in NY.

I just don't get why some of you are getting so bent out of shape? Jay was the king at 11:30 and you can't blame the affiliates for wanting him back. 7 months from now, none of this will matter. The way some of you are trying to spin the ratings to try and portray Conan's numbers as anything other than a failure is wrong. Losing 49% of the audience is a failure, no matter how you try to spin it. Personally, I don't think any of this is Jay's fault. I have no negative feelings about the guy. I just don't care for his show.

Everyone needs to relax and realize that when Labor Day gets here, Coco & Company will be back at either 11 or 11:30.

Re: NBC: let's see how low we can go (Conan thread, part 2)
 

I watched some clips tonight around 7...

Re: NBC: let's see how low we can go (Conan thread, part 2)
 

http://www.tonightshowwithconanobrie...7/p/1/?sort=az

Everything's there...for now. Not sure about what was on Hulu, though.

Re: NBC: let's see how low we can go (Conan thread, part 2)
 

I can only speak for myself, but here's why:

I like Conan O'Brien. I think his show is funny. When I watch his show, I sometimes think something is so funny that I laugh out loud.
The other night when Norm MacDonald was on, I laughed so hard, I started to cry.

I want this show that I like, hosted by this person that I like, to be on TV, so I can watch it every night and laugh.

I don't think Jay Leno is funny. "Headlines" is funny. That's 10 minutes out of 5 hours a week.

I like David Letterman, but he is not as funny as Conan. I mostly like Letterman's show for the interviews.

Without Conan, there will be one less thing on TV that I can enjoy watching, and one less place for me to find dependable humor.

It's all well and good that Conan is much richer than he was before, and that the people who worked for him are getting a generous severance..

And I guess I should be happy for the five million morons who like the crappy Jay Leno Tonight Show that the show they want to watch is coming back.

But I am not happy. I am bent out of shape because the show I like to watch, the show that makes me smile and laugh and feel happy isn't on TV anymore.

Does that explanation satisfy you?

Re: NBC: let's see how low we can go (Conan thread, part 2)
 

RoyalTea was asking about Late Night clips, not Tonight Show clips.

Re: NBC: let's see how low we can go (Conan thread, part 2)
 

Exaclty Dooku, I just don't understand how someone can be the
the way wm lopez is, jeez Lopez what is wrong with you?

Re: NBC: let's see how low we can go (Conan thread, part 2)
 

If I did a search for that phrase on DVD Talk, I can't imagine how many hits I'd get. :lol:

Re: NBC: let's see how low we can go (Conan thread, part 2)
 

Re: NBC: let's see how low we can go (Conan thread, part 2)
 

thanks for the virus link!

Re: NBC: let's see how low we can go (Conan thread, part 2)
 

But he'll back on by Labor Day. This whole thing may actually work out in his favor. If NBC had cancelled Jay and he retired, Conan's numbers probably wouldn't have changed much. This whole drama has gotten a lot of people to check out the show who otherwise wouldn't have.

Re: NBC: let's see how low we can go (Conan thread, part 2)
 

Do you think Leno will have a backlash?
I certainly hope so.

Re: NBC: let's see how low we can go (Conan thread, part 2)
 

For Julia, I think that is more a pro-Dave than an anti-Jay thing. In some ways she's in love with Dave. I know she did seriously ask him out once in the 90s.

As for other actors "boycotting" the Tonight Show...I agree that most will end up going back b/c of contractual obligations or after the dust has settled. The Tonight Show remains an institution (though a little more tarnished now), and Big Jaw is still a suck up. I could see someone like Tom Hanks never doing it again. He's is on record in the past as a "Dave" supporter, and Conan appears to be a long time acquaintance of his from the SNL days. Maybe an Adam Sandler or a Will Ferrell...but who knows for sure really.

I've always personally liked Conan, but I've never really watched his show all that much. He had a really good week. Tonight was the last night I'll ever watch any second of NBC late night as long as Big Jaw is on the air. Not really a sacrifice on my part though...I'm an old school Letterman fan, and I think Ferguson is the best thing on late night right now. (And I like and watch Kimmell from time to time as well).

Re: NBC: let's see how low we can go (Conan thread, part 2)
 

And none of those things are going to keep me entertained in March... and April... and May... and June... and July... and August.

Re: NBC: let's see how low we can go (Conan thread, part 2)
 

My point was that if Julia Roberts could keep her career going for all those years without sitting down with Big Jaw, then other stars could do it as well.

Re: NBC: let's see how low we can go (Conan thread, part 2)
 

While I wish it wasn't true, I don't think most of them care enough about what's going on to avoid the Tonight Show. Big Jaw isn't exactly a tough or challenging interview.

Not everyone has the enduring popularity of a Julia Roberts. She probably didn't have to do a late night show at all.

Re: NBC: let's see how low we can go (Conan thread, part 2)
 

Damn, what a way to end it.

You stay classy, Conan O'Brien.

--THX

Re: NBC: let's see how low we can go (Conan thread, part 2)
 

A tremendous farewell to NBC. I followed it up with waving so long to NBC on my television by deleting it off the channel list.

Re: NBC: let's see how low we can go (Conan thread, part 2)
 

Can't feel too bad for Conan. He got $45 million dollars after all.

Re: NBC: let's see how low we can go (Conan thread, part 2)
 

Classy, amazing way to end things by Conan. Great TV. Just made Leno and NBC look even worse (as if that was possible) by comparison.

And Questlove from the Roots tweeted that Tom Hanks' walk on music cost NBC $500,000 for the rights. Awesome.

Re: NBC: let's see how low we can go (Conan thread, part 2)
 

Great speech and great ending. I'll miss CoCo's Tonight Show. What a fun 2 weeks of Late Night this has been.

Re: NBC: let's see how low we can go (Conan thread, part 2)
 

I'm going to miss Conan. Great classy goodbye speech.

Re: NBC: let's see how low we can go (Conan thread, part 2)
 

Leno was a failure on the Tonight Show for almost 2 years. And he didn't have Johnny Carson stealing his thunder and ruining his lead-in. But they gave him time, supported him with the best prime-time in recent memory, and even his milquetoast show was able to get good ratings.

NBC made a deal with Conan. Conan honored that by putting in more years that he could have gone elsewhere for more money and a better time slot. Leno pretended to agree and promised to move on to other things, but he instead grabbed NBC by the balls and found a way to get his old job back [i.e. he has better lawyers than both Conan and NBC]. His words at the time('04) were honorable and right. But, as Letterman put it, that is classic Jay. He'll say all the right things, but in the background will engage in all sorts of unbelievable behavior. Putting Leno on before Conan was literally sabotaging it. Leno knew it, even set it all up for it in his final Tonight Show by saying "This show was number 1 when I took over and number 1 when I left." That was a major "fuck you" to Conan and the network. He is a passive-aggressive, stunted human being. The worst kind of animal that showbusiness breeds (and there are plenty of others).

Anyway, Letterman summed it up beautifully a few nights ago in his little talk about how Jay said "don't blame Conan." Letterman has known Leno for decades, and when he says this whole fiasco is "Classic Jay", you can take that to the bank. Can't wait for "The Late Shift 2".

Re: NBC: let's see how low we can go (Conan thread, part 2)
 

Leno's audience is also more likely to fall asleep with the television on.

Re: NBC: let's see how low we can go (Conan thread, part 2)
 

you watched clips from The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien, or the Late Show with Conan O'Brien?

Because I was asking about the Late Show with Conan O'Brien.

Re: NBC: let's see how low we can go (Conan thread, part 2)
 

we're going round in circles, circles.
we're going round in circles, circles.


THIS HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH CONAN'S RATINGS. NONE. NOTHING. ZERO. ZIPPO. NADA.

Jay Leno wasn't performing. The decision to put a late night show into primetime five nights a week was a failure.

If NBC fired Leno, they'd be on the hook for a $150 million buyout (which again begs the question, why does a guy who brags about not having an agent or manager, who brags about doing deals with a simple handshake, who said that Prime Time "will never work" feel the need to hammer out an airtight contract with an insane buyout for something that he feels is destined to fail anyway).

NBC knew that there wasn't enough time in late night anymore for both of them. If they kept Conan, they'd have to pay Leno $150 million; if they kept Leno, they'd have to pay Conan SUBSTANTIALLY less.

Again, if Jay Leno was kicking ass and taking names at 10:00, or if he retired and never took the job at 10, would Conan's job be anything less than completely and totally secure?

Is it 100% Jay's fault? No. Is Jay completely blameless? Hell no.

The decision in 2004 for Leno to retire and pass the torch on were clearly not made by Leno. But he went along with it. He had five years to say "I'm not ready to leave." He clearly wasn't ready to stop doing a late night talk show. His options were: find another network, or accept a job offer with NBC to do his show at 10. Even though he said that doing his show in prime time "will never work," he chose to stay with NBC. Do people really think that had everything to do with Jay being loyal to the network that forced him into early retirement against his will and nothing to do with Jay wanting to do whatever possible to steal Conan's job?