Conan O'Brien -- Free at Last

Kimmel bashing Leno
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Originally Posted by Jiggaman414

Originally Posted by Falcon4567

This may sound weird but I really wish Dave Chappelle would've stopped by, they seem to have similar spirits about their work and always have had great chemistry together.
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is Dave Chappelle even alive? I havent heard of the dude since he was on Oprah that one time
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i remember chappelle doing the late show with conan when they had a week of shows in chicago...he was making fun of himself for taking the 50 mill...but they didnt touch on the subject that much
 
Kimmel is really stepping it up.....

dude might be up there.

The skits have gotten better as time passes...... has that weed funny (if that makes sence)
 
kimmel is the truth, I hate when hosts try to dodge a situation, kimmel gets straight to the point everytime lmao
 
anyone that hasnt seen the og HBO film... "Late Shift" ... its pretty dope. i remember watching it when i was in middle school. it basically chronicles what went on behind the scenes, in the original tonight show rift with leno/letterman/conan. based of the book w/ the same title.

dope flick. im in the process of finding a copy to refresh my memeory.
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I don't think this has been posted yet...


Conan O'Brien to guest host a WWE RAW episode?

WWE is in "serious" negotiations with Conan O'Brien to host either the Raw the day after Wrestlemania, or the week after that - which is planned to be this year's draft episode. O'Brien is a big WWE fan and is interested in appearing, but is trying to stay out of the spotlight for a little while due to the messy divorce between him and NBC.
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[h2]For those that missed the commercial
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How the Letterman-Oprah-Leno Super Bowl Ad Came TogetherBy BILL CARTER
Jay and Dave together? Could it be true?

It is, and there they were, Jay Leno and David Letterman sitting on a couch – with Oprah Winfrey between them - upstairs at the Ed Sullivan Theater, where Mr. Letterman tapes his show.

The spot was shot last Tuesday afternoon, under the strictest of secrecy which involved both Mr. Leno and Ms. Winfrey flying in surreptitiously to New York, and arriving incognito at the theater, while Mr. Letterman was in the midst of taping his show for that night. It also involved Jay wearing a disguise: hooded sweatshirt, glasses and faux mustache. If you happened to be on Broadway between 53rd and 54th street last Tuesday about 4:15, you might have seen a man fitting that description slip into the theater by a small entrance under the marquee.

According to staff members of the “Late Show with David Letterman†who were on the scene that day - including the executive producer Rob Burnett – it all happened because Mr. Letterman had an idea he thought would be truly funny: a Super Bowl ad that featured the two longest-running adversaries in late night, sitting with Ms. Winfrey as though at a Super Bowl party.

What gave the idea extra spin, of course, was that the relationship between Mr. Letterman and Mr. Leno has been especially fractious of late in the wake of NBC’s moves that led to the departure of Conan O’Brien from the “Tonight†show and Mr. Leno’s impending return to the show, where he will once again go head to head with Mr. Letterman.

In the weeks since the decision was announced, Mr. Letterman had been notably acerbic in his on-air jokes about Mr. Leno, suggesting he was a schemer in some way in the moves that led to the changes in late night, and Mr. Leno had responded with jokes about Mr. Letterman’s well-covered romantic entanglements.

That added to the surprise viewers encountered when the ad came up and there the two comics were, flanking Ms. Winfrey, in essence for a promotion for Mr. Letterman’s show.

As Mr. Burnett described it, Mr. Letterman had the idea to invite Mr. Leno to participate, playing off a similar ad he put together with Ms. Winfrey the last time CBS had the Super Bowl in 2007. “Dave wrote the bit himself,†Mr. Burnett said. “He just thought: it’s the Super Bowl, you’re supposed to entertain people.â€

Steps were taken to contact Ms. Winfrey, who agreed immediately, Mr. Burnett said, and then Mr. Leno. Mr. Burnett said he spoke with Mr. Leno’s executive producer, Debbie Vickers. “She asked if this was for real and then she laughed for about 10 minutes,†Mr. Burnett said.

Mr. Leno quickly agreed, but the idea had to be passed by the top NBC executives, including the chief executive, Jeff Zucker. Permission was granted.

Mr. Leno was able to get Tuesday free – NBC had rearranged its schedule to pre-empt his 10 p.m. show that night - and took the NBC corporate jet, Mr. Burnett said. There seemed little chance though that Mr. Leno could sneak into Mr. Letterman’s theater unseen, so the idea was hatched to try to sneak him in during a live taping - in disguise.

Both guests turned up while Mr. Letterman was on stage doing his show. They were kept in a secret green room until the show was over and the theater was cleared. Then Mr. Leno and Ms. Winfrey went up to the theater balcony where a living room set was fashioned with a faux TV and a couch.

Mr. Letterman arrived a short time later. The two late-night rivals greeted each other warmly, Mr. Burnett said. “It was very friendly, very professional, totally cordial,†he said. “You could tell these were two guys who have known each other for a long time.â€

The idea Mr. Letterman came up with was for him to be first seen alone, complaining about being at the worst Super Bowl party ever - then to be seen in a two-shot with Ms. Winfrey as he had been in 2007, with her telling him to be nice. And then Mr. Leno would be revealed at the other end of the couch saying that Mr. Letterman was only complaining because he was there.

Mr. Letterman followed doing a mock-Jay voice. The entire spot was shot quickly and efficiently, Mr. Burnett said. “I’d say it took no more that 20 or 30 minutes,†he said.

“I think everybody wanted to do it just because they all knew it would get attention and they all just wanted to do something funny.â€

After the taping was completed, Mr. Letterman thanked his guests and they said a cordial goodbye, Mr. Burnett said. The two stars slipped back out into the Manhattan night, Mr. Leno back in his faux mustache.

“This wasn’t done to help Dave or to help Jay,†Mr. Burnett said, “though I think it does help both of them. It was just done because Dave thought it would be funny and would entertain people. Nothing went beyond that.â€


I was surprised like everybody else when I saw them together on the commercial.  I thought it had to be some kind of CGI but apparently it was real. Makes me like Leno a little more for him doing that, but it also proves that he's desperate to repair his image. This just proves what a genius Letterman is for coming up with the entire idea himself.
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^ I was at a bar to watch the game and when the commercial came on and they showed Leno, everyone started to boo.
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I
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when it came on. When that was the best commercial of the night, you know it was a very bad SB for the Ad people.
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[h1]Fox and Conan: We've Got the Prenup[/h1]
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After weeks of flirting, Fox and Conan O'Brien are about to take their relationship to the next level.

Nobodyfrom the network or Team Coco will talk about it openly, but it's clearboth camps have begun doing their respective due diligence as they tryto figure out how a deal might be hammered out to bring O'Brien to Fox.Given the desire to get a show launched by January at the latest,industry insiders believe it's now a matter of days or weeks (notmonths) before formal conversations begin.
To make Conan on Fox a reality, however, everyone involved will haveto eschew the dynamics of past network deals for late-night talent.This dance won't be about a big star demanding monster amounts of moneyfor his services (CBS-Letterman), nor will it be a case of a networkrolling the dice on a largely unproven figure in the hope that theinvestment will eventually pay off (ABC-Kimmel).
Instead, ifCoco is to find a home on Fox, both parties need to act as if they'relaunching a business together -- with shared risk and mutual reward.That means managing expectations, committing to a long-term plan andfiguring out a way to ensure nobody gets soaked if the whole venturesimply doesn't click with viewers.

It will also require agreenlight from News Corp. chief Rupert Murdoch, who last week made itclear that he's very open to the idea.

"Certainly if the programpeople can show us that we could do it, and be fairly confident ofmaking a profit on it, we'd do it in a flash," Murdoch said during aearnings conference call. "We're giving it a lot of thought and a lotof examination."

Beyond generalities, both sides are starting to clam up about thematter. Even in off the record conversations, people from both Fox andthe O'Brien camp are suddently hesitant to talk about what's next orpossible game plans.

That's a good sign. The NBC-Conan divorcewas a messy spectacle because both parties lost faith in each other anddecided there was little to lose by lobbing grenades at each other viathe media.

If Fox and Conan are going to get together, allparties need to agree to not posture in the press -- or in private --and instead focus on whether a mutually beneficial deal can be struck.

Otherground rules for a successful marriage, based on conversations withnumerous people familiar with the late-night landscape:

-- Everyone needs to realize The Coco Show will start out more like a syndicated series than a network show.That's because some affiliates simply aren't going to want to give uptheir current profits to take a chance on running O'Brien at 11, aftertheir 10 p.m. newcasts. And Fox probably isn't in the mood to startmaking too many concessions to affiliates in order to get them on board.

Asa result, it's quite possible that O'Brien on Fox would launch with farless than full national clearance at 11 p.m. Some stations will delayit until 11:30 p.m. or midnight, if they carry it all.

That means....

-- Fox and Conan must be partners, both sharing the same long-term vision.Any deal needs to be structured with maximum flexibility, ensuring thatif things don't go as well as hoped -- clearances lag, ratings don'timmediately spark -- Fox doesn't take a bath.

NBC insiders havesaid the network was paying in the neighborhood of $1.5 million perweek, all-in, for O'Brien's "Tonight Show." Fox and Coco will need toget creative in order to figure out how to reduce that sum to accountfor the lower ad revenues a new show would generate at the start.

It'sworth noting that O'Brien never shied away from helping NBC turn aprofit, agreeing to shill for the likes of Intel and other Peacocksponsors in order to generate additional revenue streams. So maybe "TheConan O'Brien Hour" will originate live from the Facebook Theater, orMax Weinberg will head up the iPad Orchestra. We're also pretty sureAndy Richter would be willing to have a sponsor's name tattooed on himif need be.

It also goes without saying, then, that...

--  It can't be about a big paycheck for Coco.Nobody expects O'Brien to work for free, but he'll almost certainlyhave to take a pay cut in order to make a Fox deal work. The mega-coinoffered to other one-named talents -- Dave, Katie, Simon, Seth --simply isn't going to be on the table, at least not in the front-end ofany agreement.

This shouldn't be a problem. Forget about the $30million or so O'Brien just got from NBC. "This has never been aboutmoney for Conan," one Coco insider said weeks ago when O'Brien's repswere deciding how to extract him from his Peacock deal.

Indeed,just as Jay Leno makes a point of not even spending his NBC coin,O'Brien long ago stopped worrying about cash flow and started focusingon what his TV legacy would be. He needs to make sure his reps, WME andGavin Polone, check their natural blood-from-stone instincts.

And yet...

-- In return for flexibility, Fox will likely need to ensure some upside for O'Brien in success.

TeamCoco is represented by some of the shrewdest sharks in the agency andmanagement world, and they're not going to make a sucker deal for atalent who's proven in recent weeks to be a man with a loyal core offans who'd follow him to any number of cable networks.

Whetherthis means a bigger payday the longer the show survives, or aLetterman-like package where O'Brien owns his own show is unclear.

But however it's structured, Fox can't be seen trying to takeadvantage of its biggest bit of leverage -- namely, that it's the onlybroadcast network apparently available to make a deal with O'Brien.

Finally, the biggest requirement for a deal between Fox and O'Brien will be....

-- Managing expectations across the board.

Here'sthe reality: Coco on Fox isn't going to beat Dave and Jay out of thegate, particularly if the show isn't cleared in pattern by all Foxstations and affiliates. Fox knows that, but it needs to make sureO'Brien knows it knows that.

Having suffered thehumiliation of being ousted by the network that raised him, O'Brien isunlikely to jump into any new deal that doesn't give him some guaranteeof at least one or two years to make his mark, no matter what the earlyratings.

The network also needs to figure out how to school both affiliates and the media about what success means for Conan on Fox.

NBCdid a masterful job setting a low bar for "The Jay Leno Show,"telegraphing months ahead of time that it expected ratings for theseries to be tiny relative to scripted fare. But it said that would beOK, given the money it would save.

What NBC never anticipated --at least not publicly -- was how bad Jay ratings would hurt affiliates.Or how the 10 p.m. strategy made it harder for the network to developmuch-needed new scripted hits since it had fewer primetime at-bats.

Foxought to be transparent about its ratings expectations, the cost ofproduction for the Conan show and how it plans to make a profit. Thatway, if the numbers aren't so hot in the beginning, there won't be adrumbeat of stories declaring the series a disappointment (or worse).

Somemedia observers last week seized on Murdoch's mention of "profit" asthe critical word in his comments about O'Brien, noting the very realobstacles in the way of a quick and easy transition from NBC to Fox.

Andindeed, there are voices inside Fox who don't quite get why the networkwould want to take the plunge into late night, a daypart that'sdelivered it little but pain over 20 years (think Joan Rivers and ChevyChase). Fox-owned stations already make a tidy profit airing repeats ofNews Corp. -owned properties such as "The Simpsons," and some Foxaffiliates aren't keen on the idea of handing over more ad revenue tothe network.

What's more, Fox would be entering the late-nightgame at a time when many viewers seemed to have moved on from the ideaof going to bed with the likes of Jay and Dave and Coco. Many folkshave opted against after-hours monogamy, playing around with whatever'sleft on their DVRs or checking out the myriad of options on cable.

All valid points, of course.

Butthe Ben Silverman - Jeff Zucker theory of retreating from bold moves inorder to "manage for margins" had a cold logic to it as well -- andlook how well that turned out for NBC.
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The commercial was funny, I credit Dave for coming up with it, he knew people would enjoy it. Leno agreed because he knew it would be a positive moment for him when he's been crushed in recent weeks, but if I were him I would have agreed as well.

Good info on Conan and Fox.

All I care about is Conan being on network tv and for him to further his comedy and legacy. I don't expect him to beat out Letterman or Leno, I just want him to put on the best show possible.
 
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[h1]Is the New 'Tonight Show' Already in Trouble?[/h1][h2]By Lindsay Robertson | Wednesday, February 17, 2010, 12:05 PM[/h2]
Could Jay Leno's takeover of the NBC mainstay "The Tonight Show" be in trouble before it even resumes? After rumors swirled yesterday, NBC has confirmed that band leader Kevin Eubanks will be leaving the show sometime after its March 1 premiere. Eubanks told the network he "wants to try other things" like tour and record. Many details surrounding Eubanks' impending departure remain unclear: Namely, exactly when he'll sign off the show, and whether the "Tonight Show" band will follow him on to other projects and performances. (The network has dismissed rumors that Hootie and the Blowfish frontman Darius Rucker will be replacing Eubanks.)

Also complicating matters is another staff change from Jay Leno's long-running version of "The Tonight Show." John Melendez, who was the announcer on Jay's "Tonight Show," will stay behind-the-scenes on the new version of the show. Melendez did not occupy the announcer's chair at "The Jay Leno Show," he served as a writer on the short-lived program. It's unclear whether "The Tonight Show" will hire another celebrity announcer or go with a generic one, as they did with "The Jay Leno Show."

While bloggers have led much of the chatter around the late-night staff changes (particularly that of Eubanks), speculating that the band leader is jumping off a sinking ship, there are already some more concrete changes afoot.

NBC has premiered a completely a new logo for the "Tonight Show" yesterday, which could signal that the network is trying to totally revamp the show. It's a visual signal that the producers are not planning to completely duplicate the show's previous incarnation or ignore the dramatic events that led to its revamping.
One thing is certain: Leno is going to have his work cut out for him if he wants to re-establish himself as the king of late-night. His old rival David Letterman has gained ratings traction in the time that Leno's been gone from their competing time slot. Letterman consistently beat Conan O'Brien in the ratings (at least until the late-night wars upped Conan's ratings in his last week). But since Conan left -- at least until March 1st -- Letterman is the only game in town. Much like tooth-brushing and alarm-setting, "The Late Show" may have become an enduring staple of viewers' nighttime routines that are resistant to change.
This is a mess for Jay already. Kevin Eubanks really sets the tone for the show cause the guy laughs at EVERY joke Jay tells.
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Originally Posted by Fundamental21Ticket

[h1][/h1]
[h1]Is the New 'Tonight Show' Already in Trouble?[/h1][h2]By Lindsay Robertson | Wednesday, February 17, 2010, 12:05 PM[/h2]
Could Jay Leno's takeover of the NBC mainstay "The Tonight Show" be in trouble before it even resumes? After rumors swirled yesterday, NBC has confirmed that band leader Kevin Eubanks will be leaving the show sometime after its March 1 premiere. Eubanks told the network he "wants to try other things" like tour and record. Many details surrounding Eubanks' impending departure remain unclear: Namely, exactly when he'll sign off the show, and whether the "Tonight Show" band will follow him on to other projects and performances. (The network has dismissed rumors that Hootie and the Blowfish frontman Darius Rucker will be replacing Eubanks.)

Also complicating matters is another staff change from Jay Leno's long-running version of "The Tonight Show." John Melendez, who was the announcer on Jay's "Tonight Show," will stay behind-the-scenes on the new version of the show. Melendez did not occupy the announcer's chair at "The Jay Leno Show," he served as a writer on the short-lived program. It's unclear whether "The Tonight Show" will hire another celebrity announcer or go with a generic one, as they did with "The Jay Leno Show."

While bloggers have led much of the chatter around the late-night staff changes (particularly that of Eubanks), speculating that the band leader is jumping off a sinking ship, there are already some more concrete changes afoot.

NBC has premiered a completely a new logo for the "Tonight Show" yesterday, which could signal that the network is trying to totally revamp the show. It's a visual signal that the producers are not planning to completely duplicate the show's previous incarnation or ignore the dramatic events that led to its revamping.
One thing is certain: Leno is going to have his work cut out for him if he wants to re-establish himself as the king of late-night. His old rival David Letterman has gained ratings traction in the time that Leno's been gone from their competing time slot. Letterman consistently beat Conan O'Brien in the ratings (at least until the late-night wars upped Conan's ratings in his last week). But since Conan left -- at least until March 1st -- Letterman is the only game in town. Much like tooth-brushing and alarm-setting, "The Late Show" may have become an enduring staple of viewers' nighttime routines that are resistant to change.
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This is a mess for Jay already. Kevin Eubanks really sets the tone for the show cause the guy laughs at EVERY joke Jay tells.

word, dudes laugh is the funniest thing jay has on the show.
 
I hope Jay Leno's return to the tonight show is a complete failure and that he plummits

TEAM CONAN!
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I don't like those options for Conan on Fox. 11 pm is way too early anyway, and for parts of the country, Fox has local news at that time too. I think midnight eastern time is the best slot for him. He goes against Kimmel directly and doesn't have to go up against Leno and Letterman. And even in some parts of the country, Kimmel comes on at different times. He comes on at 12 eastern for most of the country but in here in Dallas for example, he comes on an hour later at 12 central time.
 
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