The Tonight Show Showdown: Leno vs. Conan

[ZeldaGirl]

...also known as, "I'm with Coco," or "Jay Leno is a douchebag."


Discuss.

[Fairlight Excalibur]

^Safe to assume that you are not fond of Leno?

[Valigarmander]

She's a Conan fangirl. Every taping of the show, she's out in front of the building with her giant red wig.

lol but srsly while I can understand where the NBC execs are coming from (i.e. MONEYYYYYY), I think it's kind of douchebaggy to push this.

[Metal Mario]

Neither Conan nor Leno are to blame for this fiasco. It's the extreme short-sightedness and jackassery of NBC; the same short-sightedness and jackassery that's kept that network on the ladder's bottom rung for a decade now.

[Kargath]

I don't understand the appeal of either show. So much dead time, and every so often half a joke. :/

[Metal Mario]

Originally Posted by Kargath

I don't understand the appeal of either show.

You're not supposed to. You're under 60.

[ZeldaGirl]

Originally Posted by Metal Mario

Neither Conan nor Leno are to blame for this fiasco. It's the extreme short-sightedness and jackassery of NBC; the same short-sightedness and jackassery that's kept that network on the ladder's bottom rung for a decade now.

Oh, there's no doubt that NBC has the largest portion of blame here, but Conan is outclassing everyone else by being willing to sacrifice his job to preserve the show - and Leno has absolutely no compunctions about taking it back. It's a really dick move.

I don't understand the appeal of either show. So much dead time, and every so often half a joke. :/

Jay isn't funny, but I personally find Conan hilarious. Not surprised you don't though, seeing as you and I have completely different senses of humor (and taste in everything else as well), as evidenced by the fact that seemingly you cannot go into a topic in which I express support for something without immediately undermining my opinion.

[Ace Mercury]

I think Conan's pretty funny. Some of on-location segments are great, like his trip to Finland and the apple picking with Mr. T. Some of it's pretty hit-and-miss, though =\

[ZeldaGirl]

^I agree, not everything works. But Conan takes risks, whereas Leno is just...there. Leno doesn't have the wit or speed to really be super interesting.

[Metal Mario]

That's why NBC needs him back on The Tonight Show. Old people watch it, and old people want somebody boring and flabby.

[Glux]

Originally Posted by ZeldaGirl

Discuss.

:O NO WAY! You want use to "discuss" something on a FORUM?? BLASPHEMY!


I usually don't watch either of their shows, in fact I'm still not entirely sure on what all is happening between the two shows.

[Lurch1982]

Old people die off, hence the need to flush out a bitter unfunny hack that can't hang.

I actually agree with Howard Stern's take on it: Leno/NBC basically set Conan up to fail by ruining his leadin. Leno's 10pm show was awful (public access bad), so the news tanked, and the tonight show ratings dipped. They also overshadowed the transition.

The best part on this is basically everyone going open season on Jay Leno. Letterman clearly still harbors a grudge (understandable), Kimmel absolutely destroyed Leno on ABC, then went on LENOS OWN SHOW AND DESTROYED HIM TO HIS FACE. Conan's been brutally good. The last show is a week from today. I don't think he'll make it that far.

[Jere]

i like both, jay may not have speed but i think he have his moments

Conan is a straw sharper though

[Joker]

I'm a big conan fan and I think he speaks more to our Generation (80's-90's) than Leno does. Also, I freaking loved Jimmy Kimmels answers to Leno on The Jay Leno Show last night. If you didn't catch it you have to see it, he goes off in typical Kimmel style and pretty much breaks Leno apart for being the Duche that he is.

"YOU HAVE LIKE 800 Million DOLLARS ALREADY, LET ME AND CONAN HAVE A BREAK! WHAT DO YOU STILL NEED A TV SHOW FOR??"

[Glux]

Originally Posted by Joker

I'm a big conan fan and I think he speaks more to our Generation (80's-90's) than Leno does. Also, I freaking loved Jimmy Kimmels answers to Leno on The Jay Leno Show last night. If you didn't catch it you have to see it, he goes off in typical Kimmel style and pretty much breaks Leno apart for being the Duche that he is.

"YOU HAVE LIKE 800 Million DOLLARS ALREADY, LET ME AND CONAN HAVE A BREAK! WHAT DO YOU STILL NEED A TV SHOW FOR??"

Haha yeah, I saw that.

[ZeldaGirl]

Kimmel is amazing. I had always liked him, but after seeing that...wow.

And the thing with Conan now is, now that he doesn't have to cater to NBC and water down his Late Night Act for Jay's old(er) viewers, and that he has nothing to lose, he's throwing everything and the kitchen sink at them. He doesn't care, so he's doing his show. I just want them to bring back the Masturbating Bear before the last show, that would just take the cake.

[Panfan]

Conan is easily one of the wittiest people in showbiz (along with his late night hosting he's done some of the funniest Simpsons episodes ever) and Jay Leno has moments but really bores me. Plus Conan usually has the best musical guests because he's awful.

I think it might be a good move for Conan at HBO. He'd be allowed to do his own thing there.

[Ace Mercury]

Okay, Conan has totally won in my book. I can't see Leno doing something for lulz like this:

Originally Posted by craigslist

4 SALE: BARELY-USED LATE NIGHT TALK SHOW – MAKE ME AN OFFER!!! (Universal Studios)

This is a chance of a lifetime to own your very own late night talk show- guaranteed to last for up to seven months!! Really must see to appreciate.

Information for potential buyers:
-Measures 100′ x 100′ x 32′ – plenty of room for a futon!
-Designed for 11:35 but can be easily moved
-Band can be sold separately
-Buyer must honor Barry Manilow booking next Thursday

MAKE ME YOUR BEST OFFER!!!!!! (Also willing to trade for Coldplay tickets)

Conan puts show for sale on Craigslist - thestar.com
Conan Win - FAIL Blog: Epic Fail Pictures and Videos of Owned, Pwnd and Fail Moments

[Lurch1982]

Last night Conan was going through the offers he got. Someone's grandparents, a shed, a really fat cat, etc.

I really don't think he's going to make it to the last show before they yank him. Also, over/under wednesday for the masturbating bear?

[Valigarmander]

Report: NBC to pay Conan $30 million - MSN TV News

NBC has its way out of the Conan Crisis.

The network has agreed to pay O'Brien $30 million to vacate the 11:35 p.m. "Tonight Show," individuals involved in the negotiations have told TheWrap.

The deal, which still has to be formally signed, could be announced as early as Friday.

Individuals in O'Brien's camp declined to comment.

NBCU President and CEO Jeff Zucker, NBCU Television Entertainment Chairman Jeff Gaspin and Co-Chairman NBC Entertainment and NBC Television Studio Marc Graboff were involved in the final all-night negotiations. The deal was brokered by Universal COO Ron Meyer, who was brought in on Tuesday, after talks had reached an impasse.

Key terms to the agreement were worked out between Meyer and Rick Rosen, Conan's agent at WME.

The deal came following a battle between the two camps over whether O'Brien's contract specifically guaranteed that "The Tonight Show" must air at 11:35 p.m.

As TheWrap previously reported, Team Conan was insisting that NBC has breached O'Brien's contract because, it argued, the deal had a timeslot guarantee.

NBC's response: No, there is no such guarantee of a specific timeslot for "Tonight." So as long as we keep something called "The Tonight Show" on the air, there is no breach.

If NBC had been in breach, it would have owed Conan around $40 million (and as much as $50 million, according to some reports, as a penalty.

People close to NBC insisted the network would not yield on this point-- it wouldn't admit it had breached O'Brien's deal.

One solution that had been on the table Friday, according to TheWrap's Josef Adalian: Agreeing to disagree over the timeslot issue and instead settling on a pay or play fee.

Under this proposal, the sooner O'Brien starts a new gig -- if he starts one -- the less money it would have to pay. So if Conan managed to land a new job at Fox within a year, the Peacock might shell out less than the full $30 million.

It's unlear if that's how the two sides settled out.

As TheWrap first reported, NBC had also been looking to enforce some sort of non-compete period in which Conan couldn't work for anyone else, period. The parties had been looking at a time as early as September or as late as next January for O'Brien to be free.

With talks entering the final stages, positioning over what led to this crisis started heating up.

Team NBC started the assault by putting sports czar Dick Ebersol on the phone with the New York Times, who tore into O'Brien in a Friday interview. Then, Conan's camp made it clear Friday that it was "absolutely untrue" that O'Brien's deal didn't have timeslot protection.

NBC responded by questioning the abilities of O'Brien's legal teams in the same sort of language Ebersol had used to slam O'Brien's hosting skills.

"All the chatter is just his reps covering up for their massive f--- up," an NBC insider said. "Leno had timeslot protection in his deal, Letterman has it in his. But Team Coco never negotiated for it."

O'Brien's lawyer, Leigh Brecheen at Bloom Hergott, could be quite embarrassed if it turns out there was no timeslot guarantee.

But O'Brien's camp believes NBC was just trying to change the subject from its own massive mishandling of the late-night mess.

In any case, that's now all for historians to figure out.

Conan should take the cash and go to a rival network. He can create a new show. With blackjack! And hookers!