Conan O'Brien says he will not do "The Tonight Show" if it airs at 12:05 a.m. He released the following statement Tuesday afternoon:
People of Earth:
In the last few days, I've been getting a lot of sympathy calls, and I want to start by making it clear that no one should waste a second feeling sorry for me. For 17 years, I've been getting paid to do what I love most and, in a world with real problems, I've been absurdly lucky. That said, I've been suddenly put in a very public predicament and my bosses are demanding an immediate decision.
Six years ago, I signed a contract with NBC to take over The Tonight Show in June of 2009. Like a lot of us, I grew up watching Johnny Carson every night and the chance to one day sit in that chair has meant everything to me. I worked long and hard to get that opportunity, passed up far more lucrative offers, and since 2004 I have spent literally hundreds of hours thinking of ways to extend the franchise long into the future. It was my mistaken belief that, like my predecessor, I would have the benefit of some time and, just as important, some degree of ratings support from the prime-time schedule. Building a lasting audience at 11:30 is impossible without both.
But sadly, we were never given that chance. After only seven months, with my Tonight Show in its infancy, NBC has decided to react to their terrible difficulties in prime-time by making a change in their long-established late night schedule.
Last Thursday, NBC executives told me they intended to move the Tonight Show to 12:05 to accommodate the Jay Leno Show at 11:35. For 60 years the Tonight Show has aired immediately following the late local news. I sincerely believe that delaying the Tonight Show into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting. The Tonight Show at 12:05 simply isn't the Tonight Show. Also, if I accept this move I will be knocking the Late Night show, which I inherited from David Letterman and passed on to Jimmy Fallon, out of its long-held time slot. That would hurt the other NBC franchise that I love, and it would be unfair to Jimmy.
So it has come to this: I cannot express in words how much I enjoy hosting this program and what an enormous personal disappointment it is for me to consider losing it. My staff and I have worked unbelievably hard and we are very proud of our contribution to the legacy of The Tonight Show. But I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction. Some people will make the argument that with DVRs and the Internet a time slot doesn't matter. But with the Tonight Show, I believe nothing could matter more.
There has been speculation about my going to another network but, to set the record straight, I currently have no other offer and honestly have no idea what happens next. My hope is that NBC and I can resolve this quickly so that my staff, crew, and I can do a show we can be proud of, for a company that values our work.
Have a great day and, for the record, I am truly sorry about my hair; it's always been that way.
Yours,
Conan
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Conan and Dave Jump On Leno
Following yesterday's announcement that NBC had cancelled the Jay Leno Show at 10:00 --and moving him back into his old late night slot--the gloves came off. On last night's Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien and Late Show with David Letterman, large portions of the opening monologue were devoted to the news. Typically, you wouldn't hear so much inside baseball about networks and programming on these shows--that's why it was so great to hear the airing of network dirty laundry--at Leno's expense.
In a perfect world, NBC would love to re-install Jay Leno back into his old 11:35 slot and move the start of the Tonight Show back one half hour to 12:05. Good for Jay, bad for Conan. Late Night With Jimmy Fallon would also move back on the schedule.
Conan O'Brien greeted his audience with this quip: "Settle down, everyone. If you keep this up, you won't hear a joke until 12:05." O'Brien, whom everyone predicts will jump to his own show on FOX, was good at portraying the jilted lover. In a skit, O'Brien wondered if NBC will keep him, "If he adds 10 pounds of chin."
David Letterman, who hates Leno, also got into the act. Letterman, playing the role of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend," also devoted chunks of his opening monologue to the debacle over at NBC. Reacting to NBC's lineup changes, Letterman quipped: "Don't worry about Jay, he'll land on his chin." Dave even made his old employer the subject of last night's Top Ten, "Top 10 Signs Of Trouble At NBC"
Is it only me or does this Jay Leno/Conan O'Brien thing strike you as an episode of 30 Rock being played out in real life? Only Tina Fey's fictional executives seem smarter.
In a perfect world, NBC would love to re-install Jay Leno back into his old 11:35 slot and move the start of the Tonight Show back one half hour to 12:05. Good for Jay, bad for Conan. Late Night With Jimmy Fallon would also move back on the schedule.
Conan O'Brien greeted his audience with this quip: "Settle down, everyone. If you keep this up, you won't hear a joke until 12:05." O'Brien, whom everyone predicts will jump to his own show on FOX, was good at portraying the jilted lover. In a skit, O'Brien wondered if NBC will keep him, "If he adds 10 pounds of chin."
David Letterman, who hates Leno, also got into the act. Letterman, playing the role of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend," also devoted chunks of his opening monologue to the debacle over at NBC. Reacting to NBC's lineup changes, Letterman quipped: "Don't worry about Jay, he'll land on his chin." Dave even made his old employer the subject of last night's Top Ten, "Top 10 Signs Of Trouble At NBC"
Is it only me or does this Jay Leno/Conan O'Brien thing strike you as an episode of 30 Rock being played out in real life? Only Tina Fey's fictional executives seem smarter.
Friday, January 8, 2010
NBC 's Late Night Fiasco...
Jay Leno's low ratings are causing NBC big trouble. And finally, it seems that the network is bowing to serious pressure from station affiliates. NBC says its retooling its late-night lineup, Leno's show is going on hiatus until after NBC's coverage of the Olympics.
Another scenario under discussion is to give the 10 p.m. hour back to the stations for news while shifting the rest of the late-night lineup. NBC affiliates could have the 10 o’clock hour, followed by Leno at 11 p.m. and "The Tonight Show" host Conan O’Brien at midnight.
Yet another option would be to cut Leno’s show to a half-hour so that the affiliates could run their news at 10 p.m. and Leno could air from 11 p.m. to 11:30pm -- the rest of the lineup would remain unchanged.
NBC maintains that Leno’s show, which has appeared each weeknight at 10 p.m. since last fall, is generating ratings that are in line with what it guaranteed advertisers. But the show has proven to be a dismal lead-in for the late local news .
NBC affiliate stations have become more vocal in expressing their displeasure, especially after the November sweeps came back and showed huge declines for a number of stations at the 11 p.m. hour.
By trying to keep all of its late-night stars happy, NBC has made none happy. Conan O'Brien has to be upset here. There's no easy solution for NBC. Does it cut ties with Jay and admits it made a huge mistake? Or does it tinker with its flagship Tonight Show, moving it to midnight? Very strange.
As Leno (and Letterman and Conan) have stated previously: NBC stands for "Never Believe Your Contract."
What a mess.
Another scenario under discussion is to give the 10 p.m. hour back to the stations for news while shifting the rest of the late-night lineup. NBC affiliates could have the 10 o’clock hour, followed by Leno at 11 p.m. and "The Tonight Show" host Conan O’Brien at midnight.
Yet another option would be to cut Leno’s show to a half-hour so that the affiliates could run their news at 10 p.m. and Leno could air from 11 p.m. to 11:30pm -- the rest of the lineup would remain unchanged.
NBC maintains that Leno’s show, which has appeared each weeknight at 10 p.m. since last fall, is generating ratings that are in line with what it guaranteed advertisers. But the show has proven to be a dismal lead-in for the late local news .
NBC affiliate stations have become more vocal in expressing their displeasure, especially after the November sweeps came back and showed huge declines for a number of stations at the 11 p.m. hour.
By trying to keep all of its late-night stars happy, NBC has made none happy. Conan O'Brien has to be upset here. There's no easy solution for NBC. Does it cut ties with Jay and admits it made a huge mistake? Or does it tinker with its flagship Tonight Show, moving it to midnight? Very strange.
As Leno (and Letterman and Conan) have stated previously: NBC stands for "Never Believe Your Contract."
What a mess.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
The Big Unit Retires...
His nickname is the Big Unit, but a more apt name for Randy Johnson could have been Freak of Nature. A lefty, Johnson stood 6 feet 10 inches tall. Yankee fans will not soon forget how the Unit twice came out of the bullpen in 1995 (for Seattle) and 2001(for Arizona) to slam the door shut on the Yankees. A few years later, an aging Randy Johnson eventually came to the Yankees winning 34 games in two seasons. However, as his 5.00 ERA shows, the Unit was more the beneficiary of a good offense than a shut down, strikeout artist the team wanted.
Johnson is a legitimate Hall-of-Famer and probably one of the last to win 300 games in our generation. He not only authored a perfect game at age 40, he helped Seattle reach the playoffs in 1995 by going an amazing 18 and 2.
I like Johnson not because of his baseball ability but because he's one of the few people to have worse acne than former Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega. Is it only me or does anyone else get the feeling that if the Unit were not pitching he'd be starring in a Cops episode from Seattle.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
I'm back in 2010
So 2010 is here. With apologies to SI's Peter King, here are some things I think I think.
For starters, some people have chastised me for not updating the blog on a more regular basis. I have one rule: I rule the blog, the blog doesn't rule me. The blogosphere doesn't need one more voice railing about Tiger. Although I raised more than eyebrow when I saw the comments of golfer Jesper Parnevik, the guy who introduced Elin to Tiger. "We thought Tiger was a better guy...The next time she should hit him with a 3-Iron."
10.) Now that Copenhagen has come and gone, I wonder: Are we passed the point of no-return for climate change? Scientists a lot smarter than I say that at the current rate, Minnesota will have the climate of Texas sooner than we think.
9.) From the 'legend is always better' file: The return of Bret Hart to the WWE last night revealed the years have not been kind to the Excellence of Execution. It's doubtful Hart could even be a mid-carder now.
8.) The Dallas Cowboys, although playing at home playoff game against Philly Saturday night, look to be in trouble. It's 2007 all over again. Remember? Dallas beat the Giants twice during the regular season but lost as the Giants began their Super Bowl run.
7.) Not that I watched all the coverage but thankfully I missed perennial camera hog Dick Clark on New Year's Eve...Just because he owns the show, doesn't give Clark the right to creep people out. It's New Year's Eve for God's sake, no one wants to see him warble out one more missive to keep some dopey streak alive. Hopefully someone close to Clark has spelled it out for him.
6.) Me in my element: Grand Central Station on 1/2/10...I did about 60 seconds of improv comedy and made about 20 women laugh while waiting in line for the toilet. As my friend Tommy would say, "the fire still burns."
5.) The baseball network is the best thing to happen to television since the founding of ESPN in 1979.
4.) Don't look now, but among other things, your credit card company is looking to charge you an inactivity fee if you don't use your plastic often enough. Priceless. Where's the outrage from Sens. Chris Dodd and Charles Schumer? Exactly.
3.) Not that I'm counting but it seems the BHO Administration is on a Bush-like slump...Between the embarrasing gaffes, security leaks and misintelligence, you wonder who's pulling the strings over there. Time for the Messiah to step up. Campaign's over dude. Quit the interviews and speeches. Time to govern.
2.) Does it make me a bad person to chalk up the death of Bengals wide receiver/All-Pro thug Chris Henry as thinning of the herd? The Man Upstairs has a way of evening the teams, doesn't he? Besides being an arch criminal, Henry was an unreliable fantasy player....
1.) Between the Winter Classic and the Olympics, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has all the momentum to market the NHL...What makes me think he'll bungle it like Fredo Corleone?
Lastly...Let's cut the shit: It's pronounced 'Twenty-Ten'. Can we get on with it now?
For starters, some people have chastised me for not updating the blog on a more regular basis. I have one rule: I rule the blog, the blog doesn't rule me. The blogosphere doesn't need one more voice railing about Tiger. Although I raised more than eyebrow when I saw the comments of golfer Jesper Parnevik, the guy who introduced Elin to Tiger. "We thought Tiger was a better guy...The next time she should hit him with a 3-Iron."
10.) Now that Copenhagen has come and gone, I wonder: Are we passed the point of no-return for climate change? Scientists a lot smarter than I say that at the current rate, Minnesota will have the climate of Texas sooner than we think.
9.) From the 'legend is always better' file: The return of Bret Hart to the WWE last night revealed the years have not been kind to the Excellence of Execution. It's doubtful Hart could even be a mid-carder now.
8.) The Dallas Cowboys, although playing at home playoff game against Philly Saturday night, look to be in trouble. It's 2007 all over again. Remember? Dallas beat the Giants twice during the regular season but lost as the Giants began their Super Bowl run.
7.) Not that I watched all the coverage but thankfully I missed perennial camera hog Dick Clark on New Year's Eve...Just because he owns the show, doesn't give Clark the right to creep people out. It's New Year's Eve for God's sake, no one wants to see him warble out one more missive to keep some dopey streak alive. Hopefully someone close to Clark has spelled it out for him.
6.) Me in my element: Grand Central Station on 1/2/10...I did about 60 seconds of improv comedy and made about 20 women laugh while waiting in line for the toilet. As my friend Tommy would say, "the fire still burns."
5.) The baseball network is the best thing to happen to television since the founding of ESPN in 1979.
4.) Don't look now, but among other things, your credit card company is looking to charge you an inactivity fee if you don't use your plastic often enough. Priceless. Where's the outrage from Sens. Chris Dodd and Charles Schumer? Exactly.
3.) Not that I'm counting but it seems the BHO Administration is on a Bush-like slump...Between the embarrasing gaffes, security leaks and misintelligence, you wonder who's pulling the strings over there. Time for the Messiah to step up. Campaign's over dude. Quit the interviews and speeches. Time to govern.
2.) Does it make me a bad person to chalk up the death of Bengals wide receiver/All-Pro thug Chris Henry as thinning of the herd? The Man Upstairs has a way of evening the teams, doesn't he? Besides being an arch criminal, Henry was an unreliable fantasy player....
1.) Between the Winter Classic and the Olympics, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has all the momentum to market the NHL...What makes me think he'll bungle it like Fredo Corleone?
Lastly...Let's cut the shit: It's pronounced 'Twenty-Ten'. Can we get on with it now?
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Random Media Thoughts
10.) Lou Dobbs leaves CNN. A suprise to no one, Dobbs seemed to go off the rails promulgating the Obama birthers story long-after his own network dropped it.
9.) Normally straight-down-the middle Brian Williams really made me cringe by closing his broadcast with a softball interview with Jon Bon Jovi as someone who made a difference. Please. So the singer gives of his time and money to the unfortunates. Know what that makes him? It makes him sleep better at night.
8.) David Spade must really need the money. Why else would he appear on a DirecTV ad with the image of the late Chris Farley? When Farley died, Spade was supposedly so distraught he skipped Farley's wake and funeral. No problems there but don't appear on a TV commercial with him.
7.) That the NY Post had everything, and I mean everything, from the Steve Phillips affair, was certainly chilling and should be required reading for cheaters everywhere.
6.) MTV News puported to have landed a sit-down with Chris Brown, the singer/thug/Ike Turner wannabe who beat up his girlfriend, the pop star Rihanna. Only Brown wouldn't discuss details of the night in question. Disgusting. MTV gave Brown a forum for image rehabilitation. Where's Kurt Loder when you need him? Does Tabitha Soren still work for MTV?
5.) The more you hear regarding the Letterman case, sounds like ol' Dave isn't as innocent as once believed.
4.) That Leno is struggling at 10:00 really saddens me. HAHAHAHA!
3.) I've said it before, for as much as Fox's Joe Buck is on the air, he's as solid
as they come.
2.) Glad to see Bob Costas make Bud Selig squirm a bit on MLB's Baseball Network--too bad only six people saw it. Costas is great especially if you're able to overlook his self-appointed Lord of Baseball attitude.
1.) Suzyn Waldman's performance during the Yankee parade made for great morning radio fodder. Was she drinking? And what's with that voice? Not since Maddog Russo has someone gotten so far with less-than-stellar pipes.
9.) Normally straight-down-the middle Brian Williams really made me cringe by closing his broadcast with a softball interview with Jon Bon Jovi as someone who made a difference. Please. So the singer gives of his time and money to the unfortunates. Know what that makes him? It makes him sleep better at night.
8.) David Spade must really need the money. Why else would he appear on a DirecTV ad with the image of the late Chris Farley? When Farley died, Spade was supposedly so distraught he skipped Farley's wake and funeral. No problems there but don't appear on a TV commercial with him.
7.) That the NY Post had everything, and I mean everything, from the Steve Phillips affair, was certainly chilling and should be required reading for cheaters everywhere.
6.) MTV News puported to have landed a sit-down with Chris Brown, the singer/thug/Ike Turner wannabe who beat up his girlfriend, the pop star Rihanna. Only Brown wouldn't discuss details of the night in question. Disgusting. MTV gave Brown a forum for image rehabilitation. Where's Kurt Loder when you need him? Does Tabitha Soren still work for MTV?
5.) The more you hear regarding the Letterman case, sounds like ol' Dave isn't as innocent as once believed.
4.) That Leno is struggling at 10:00 really saddens me. HAHAHAHA!
3.) I've said it before, for as much as Fox's Joe Buck is on the air, he's as solid
as they come.
2.) Glad to see Bob Costas make Bud Selig squirm a bit on MLB's Baseball Network--too bad only six people saw it. Costas is great especially if you're able to overlook his self-appointed Lord of Baseball attitude.
1.) Suzyn Waldman's performance during the Yankee parade made for great morning radio fodder. Was she drinking? And what's with that voice? Not since Maddog Russo has someone gotten so far with less-than-stellar pipes.
Time to get off my Snackwells ass and start writing. I went up to the attic and rediscovered my baseball card collection. I have more common cards than any one person should be allowed. And I have tens of thousands. I can remember buying a Topps wax pack for $0.27 cents in 1979. I've never thrown them out nor has my mother (thanks Mom). Much of what I've collected, however, is worthless. Perhaps worthless is too strong. I have some nice cards from the 50s, 60s and early 70s. It's just that Mickey Mantles, Ted Williams' and Honus Wagners have eluded me. Perhaps it's worthy deeper self-analysis to why I'm so emotional invested to collect the cardboard of journeyman pitchers such as Joe Coleman.
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