Darknite39

Sweet Coco vs Leno CGI video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJ9m1an-pQ8

siddd5

I have to say that bumping Conan after 7 months is a bit rash, but lets not cry for CoCo.

The guy is getting a 40 million dollar buyout, which I'm sure he wont be sharing with his staff. I also wonder why he's getting such a payout when contractually, NBC had the right to bump him to 12:05 anyway, and if he says no and leaves, he's in breach of contract.

But, such is life in TV land and talent. The little guy gets burned, but the talent gets a 40 million dollar payoff.

sauce07

If he is negotiating with FOX, he will pay the staff out of his own pocket inbetween.

Artman

That's what I've been thinking. They could've gotten 10-15 yrs from Conan, I'd be surprised to see Jay go more than five at this point...

Darknite39

The staff will likely get a severance from NBC, which will hold them over between gigs.

I just hope that everyone comes along for the ride to FOX or wherever. I'd bet that they would, but you never know!

boogieman03

Last report I read was that HE IS negotiating a severance for his workers.

RoyalTea

why are you sure?

Darknite39

Sigh. via TVMojo:

Fox rep: @conanonfox and ConanonFox.com weren't registered by anyone at Fox network or studio. Likely an overeager fan?

And the relevant account on twitter has been suspended.

Mad Dawg

Pretty much any story on Conan's possible buyout covers his desire to see his staff taken care of. Don't cry for him if you don't want, but even at however many millions, Conan still isn't getting what he wanted out of this deal. Same story as Letterman. Just because he is getting paid (as he would have at NBC) doesn't mean he isn't getting screwed.

gryffinmaster

chuckd21

The talent had a contract, which is being bought out. The staff is getting severance. Are you saying the little guys should expect massive payouts? Shows end all the time.

I worked for a television station that went out of business. The news talent had their contracts bought out and the staff got severance. No one on staff once thought "Those fucking news anchors and their higher payouts..."

Conan probably gets a couple hundred thousand in his paycheck every week. Camera dude gets less in his every week. Why should camera dude suddenly think he's going to retire wealthy because he works in a shitty industry?

kefrank

Apparently you haven't read any of the reports about the supposed 40 million dollar total, a portion of which is millions of dollars covering severance for his staff.

JasonF

Hopefully, this will make everything clearer:

Hokeyboy

Can you imagine a world where everybody jumps to erroneous conclusions like siddd5? Oh wait, we call it "The Internet".

Deftones

I mentioned that a while ago. Years ago it was clear that Conan was the best successor to Jay for the Tonight Show. Now who do they have? Certainly not Fallon. They will have to go outside the network, likely.

Goldberg74

see Post #76.

dhmac

Sheesh! Don't the Chinese know Hulk Conan doesn't turn green but only turns paler!?

.

brayzie

Well he originally was "putting his crew out on the street" by agreeing to retire.

But he agreed to that. If you want to look it as Jay Leno just being loyal to his crew, then why did he agree to leave the Tonight Show?

The thing is, sometimes shows get cancelled fairly quickly and sometimes they are given more time. Seinfeld, The Tonight Show with JAY LENO, and Cheers to name a few had bad ratings for years.

Unlike the Conan/Leno situation, NBC didn't have a sure thing to replace these shows with, so they were able to cultivate a bigger audience which paid off in the end.

Had Jay Leno retired like he agreed to, there would have been no JAY LENO SHOW, no problems with the affiliates and the 10:00/news situation, and his former viewership may have given Conan chance.

BUT he decided that he still wanted to do a similar show but at 10:00 which I'm sure hurt Conan because he gets alot of lucrative guests on his show, but earlier, and he retains a portion of his old audience.

Darknite39

Another thing--if I say I'm going to do something important, regardless of whether or not I later change my mind, I stand by my word. Leno's behavior seems a little out of character for a guy who supposedly just relies on handshake deals--the type of which would not exist if not for a person standing by his or her word.

aintnosin

I certainly wouldn't cry too much for O'Brien's staff. The Tonight Show (with or without) probably looks pretty good on a resume (and show business people are used to changing jobs). And his band is made up of some highly sought-after musicians, so they'll do all right.

Darknite39

Finalized guest listing?

http://www.third-beat.com/?p=1119

Tuesday: Quentin Tarantino, Paul Bettany, Spoon
Wednesday: Adam Sandler, Joel McHale, Joss Stone
Thursday: Robin Williams, Barry Manilow
Friday: Tom Hanks, Will Ferrell

dx23

Howard Stern is probably going to be this week too.

Gizmo

Is that Will fare-well?

emachine12

Conan O'Brien was the ONLY late night talent on NBC who was willing to pay his staff a salary after being laid off by NBC during the writer's strike of 2007.

So if he does get a buyout, he will more than likely share it with his staff.

Deftones

No, he's not. He announced it today on his show. He said he was going to show up with Rosie O'Donnell for a bitch-fest about Jay, but he decided against it.