NBC's huge mistake....

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So, unless you've been under a rock, you've probably heard about how NBC is completely screwing itself over its late night talk shows.

If you haven't, GIYF...I'm to lazy/tired to find links right now.

Basically, Conan O'Brien got the "Tonight Show" when Jay Leno retired. Jimmy Fallon took over "Late Night".... Anyhoo, NBC decided to keep Leno, but stuck him in a new show right before NBC's local news. The show sucked, so NBC decided to move the show after the news...which would push Conan's show back past midnight (So technically, it wouldn't be "Tonight"...it would have to be "Today" or "This Morning" ). Conan said, "F*** that S***!!!" (Well, he didn't say that, but you know he was thinking it...)


That was a few weeks ago...now NBC is paying Conan $45 million to leave the "Tonight Show" so Leno can have it back.

So not only is NBC $45M short, but they're loosing one of their greatest hosts ever! F***ing idiots.


I love Conan, and watch his show as often as possible. When he took over the "Tonight Show" I was very excited because I could now watch him at work since I'm on break when his show is on.

Anyone else pissed that Conan is loosing his show because NBC exec's have their heads up their a**es?

 

The entire affair makes zero sense.

I think NBC sabotaged Conan's Tonight Show from the beginning. They promoted it poorly, they insisted (God knows why) on keeping Jay Leno - who hasn't been funny to anyone but little old ladies for years - on the air, giving him a new show that was essentially a carbon-copy of his old show. Then airing said show right before Conan, which in itself stole Conan's thunder and further weakened The Tonight Show brand by having a 'mini' version of its former self air before the actual one. Then when The Jay Leno show received several months of terrible ratings, instead of simply canceling the show like any network normally would (or every other show NBC puts on the air these days), they cannibalized one of the most popular and profitable intellectual properties in the history of television - The Tonight Show - in order to keep an unpopular show on the air featuring someone no one really wanted to see stay on the air in the first place. I don't recall, when Jay Leno signed off, legions of fans demanding he stay on the air. I think most people thought 17 years of Jay was plenty. 17 years.

Jay Leno is furthermore a douche for sabotaging his successor* at just about every opportunity. He could have at any time stepped up and said "I want to be back on the air, but I can't do this to Conan. I gave him my word, passed him the torch, and I want him to have the best Tonight Show ever." Instead, he ruined both shows, probably for good.

It may also mean the end of several of Conan's funniest bits - like Triumph and the Masturbating Bear. Both are intellectual property of NBC, not Conan or his writers. If Conan goes to another network, he won't be able to take them with him. He'll either go to Fox or Comedy Central, if he goes anywhere at all.

The whole thing is maddening. If you're a fan of Conan, that is. I'm sure nobody else gives a hot damn (nor should they).

*fixed; originally said predecessor.

 

One thing that I didn't get was that Conan's ratings also have tanked since taking over the Tonight show. At least, compared to Leno's ratings. Conan is a much bigger talent than Leno, IMO. At 1st, I didn't get the why, but then it dawned on me, what % of the younger crowd watches "The Tonight Show". Zero. Or almost Zero. Moving to the Tonight Show might of put extra cash in Conan's pocket, increasing his resume for future jobs, increasing his "prestige", but by doing so he also moved into a time slot that was not his fanbase. It was a losing situation from the start for him. Leno's fans did not carryover to Conan. Leno's show tanking was just the icing on the cake. Hopefully, Conan will move to a network like Fox or Comedy Central, that's where all the good comedy is coming from these days. Makes it easier for me to watch, now my lazy @$$ won't have to change the station.

 

I don't think he sabotaged Johnny Carson; Lettermen yes, but Carson no.

The Tonight Show's ratings dropped when Carson stepped down as well. A significant number of people have been tuning in to watch the host, when the host is changed there is always a drop. The new host always needs to build his own fan base. Leno's been a good host for the Tonight Show, almost as good as Johnny was (who was almost as good as Jack).

I have a feeling Conan got paid so much to keep him off TV for a while (maybe a year or two).

 

It's true that Conan's ratings weren't as high as Leno's at the end of his Tonight Show run. But then, neither were Leno's when he took over The Tonight Show. In fact, Leno's ratings were well behind David Letterman's Late Show for a good 5 years before he started to be competitive, and then eventually emerge as the ratings leader at 10:35. These shows take time to establish an audience, especially if audiences are used to a certain kind of show with a particular host for many years on end. NBC never, NEVER, gave Conan's Tonight Show that chance. They screwed him from day one.

Edit @ T2 - Typo, I meant "successor," not predecessor. Fixed above.

 

I have a hard time agreeing with the notion that someone who was given a $45,000,000 payout for doing nothing was screwed.

 

I agree (oops, not with T2, with DR). NBC has consistently been sticking their fingers up their own asses for the last decade. This is it for me; when Conan leaves tomorrow, so do I. They have canceled all of their good shows and are now destroying what they have left of late night shows - Conan is very funny, and it is a shame they are canning him.

T2, he may be getting well compensated (if he stays out of late night for a while... I've heard he won't get the full 25, or 45, or whatever million if he goes to another network within the year), but that doesn't mean that he isn't getting screwed - it has been his dream to host the Tonight Show, and now that he has, they are not only taking it away from him, but they are doing it very dishonestly. He was financially set for life anyways - wasn't his Tonight Show contract worth 90 million?

 

T2, the payout was NBC buying him out of his contract. Because they screwed him. And they know they screwed him. Considering the $45m I have a hard time feeling sorry for him, but not seeing him as being treated unfairly by NBC. Especially when you consider the prestige value and sentimental attachment people like Conan have to the Tonight Show. For people in comedy, it's the pinnacle. I'm sure Conan would rather have the gig than the $47m buyout. He waited several years for his shot at his dream job, the Tonight Show, and it was effectively taken away from him.

It should also be noted that on several occasions over the years, FOX and ABC both made overtures to Conan for his own late-night gigs on their networks to compete with The Tonight Show. Tempting as it was, as Conan was tired of being a 'second-tier' late-night host, Conan instead chose to stay loyal to NBC all in the hopes of inheriting The Tonight Show from Jay Leno, which he was promised by both Jay Leno and NBC. Though they did indeed give him The Tonight Show as promised, both NBC and Jay Leno handicapped Conan's chances of making a success, quite severely. It shows, to me, an enormous lack of class by both parties.

 

Oh, I agree with the lack of class, but then I've never expected class from the entertainment industry.

 

In most cases, I agree. But The Tonight Show is one of the last bastions of the golden age of television, and arguably the most prestigious show on TV. You'd think it would at least be treated with more reverence by the parties involved.

You'd think.

 

Not if you ask a Republican.

 

So true.

However, on topic, did you see this Conan bit.

 

Funny thing is, that isn't on the NBC website. It cuts to commercials right before they do that skit. So I guess NBC is trying to censor him/not pay the Rolling Stones a bunch of money.

 

I have considered that NBC, Conan and Leno sat down together and manufactured this whole affair, to generate all the ratings that they have gotten and will have from it. Nah, that could NEVER happen.

 

I really don't give a rat's behind about Leno or Conan, or NBC for that matter.

However, if anything, rather than screwing Conan, I think that NBC screwed all of their affiliates by trying to push that 5 day a week Leno show at 10pm (ET) because they were too cheap to develop some decent drama shows for the 10pm time slots. Some affiliates opening complained about this before the Leno show even started, claiming that it would kill their local news broadcasts at 11pm. Some even threatened to not pick up the Leno show. And what did NBC do? They threatened to yank the affiliation of any local station that wouldn't broadcast Leno.

This entire thing was a major cluster f*** from the start. Honestly, I feel a little sorry for both Leno and Conan. Not really because I've ever watched either of their shows cuz I haven't... but they're both being caught in the backwash of NBC's horrible decision making. And frankly, whatever NBC programming exec made the decision to put Leno on at 10pm 5 days/week should be fired.

 

Conan rules. That one sketch should get him more fans than anything else.

 

NBC has received great ratings from all this; they even got their own thread on SP.

What is it they say in the media? There is no such thing as bad publicity?

 

Conan O'Brien's final monologue's was really good. I used to watch his Late Night show when I could but unfortunately lately it's been rather difficult. That's probably due to the fact that I live in Europe and don't own a satellite dish or even a TV...

 

He choked up! That's the closest to seeing him cry we will ever get (seeing as Adam Sandler's song didn't do it ). I am going to watch the last episode in full and then bawl.