NBC ending Leno's nightly prime-time show

[jjenny]

Leno could take the high road, like Conan, and end on a high note, jjenny. He had his run, time to turn it over to new blood. He is tarnished, IMO. It doesn't help my opinion of him, anyway. I don't think I'm the only one.

The nbc wouldn't be trying to replace Conan with Leno if Conan was getting good ratings. And I have no idea as to what would be the "high road." Conan didn't want to move his time and Leno did.
So what exactly would be "the high road" for him if nbc wanted him moved?

 

[Tizzle]

NO JOKE: Jeff Zucker Had Conan Arrested

It's just been brought to my attention that, while they were Harvard undergraduates, Jeff Zucker '86 called the cops on Conan O'Brien '85. (I never saw previous reports about this.) According to articles in both the Harvard Crimson and Yale Daily News, Zucker, then president of the university's HarvardCrimson daily newspaper, dispatched the police to the Harvard Lampoon office after O'Brien, who was president of the campus humor magazine, organized a prank on his college rival -- stealing an entire print run of the Crimson before it could be distributed. "He only forgave me when I gave him The Tonight Show," Zucker told a Yale gathering back in 2005. The Harvard Crimson described the incident this way in a 2004 article about Conan landing The Tonight Show courtesy of Zucker: "O’Brien cut his teeth in comedy as president of The Harvard Lampoon, a semi-secret Sorrento Square social organization that used to occasionally publish a so-called humor magazine. In fact, O’Brien first met Zucker, his current boss, one day when O’Brien and the Lampoon editors stole all the copies of that morning’s Crimson. Zucker, then Crimson President, called the police and met O’Brien face to face while he was being arrested." In 2001, Conan told The New Yorker this about the incident: "College pranks are supposed to be clever, but our rivalry with the Crimson had degenerated into us stealing something, Jeff calling the police, and the police making us haul it back," said O'Brien. (Other Lampoon pranks on Zucker included "a fake phone-sex ad with Zucker’s dorm-room phone number. Zucker did not find any of this particularly hilarious.") So what's to glean from this Harvard history lesson? Yes, Jeff Zucker was a thin-skinned pr**k who didn't understand comedy or know how to handle creatives even back then.

http://www.deadline.com/hollywood/no-joke-jeff-zucker-had-conan-arrested/

 

[Tizzle]

The nbc wouldn't be trying to replace Conan with Leno if Conan was getting good ratings. And I have no idea as to what would be the "high road." Conan didn't want to move his time and Leno did.
So what exactly would be "the high road" for him if nbc wanted him moved?

Because Conan wasn't willing to change a line-up that has been in place for half a century because he knew the damage it would do, like I said in my earlier post. Did you miss it? Leno's ratings tanked, as well. I haven't heard of a spike in his ratings since news of this broke like I have about Conan's. Have you?

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Over the years, Jay Leno has had hugely successful 10:00 pm shows to lead him in. Dateline, Law & Order, etc. What did Conan have? Leno...and the news. It's no wonder the ratings have lowered.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

NO JOKE: Jeff Zucker Had Conan Arrested

It's just been brought to my attention that, while they were Harvard undergraduates, Jeff Zucker '86 called the cops on Conan O'Brien '85. (I never saw previous reports about this.) According to articles in both the Harvard Crimson and Yale Daily News, Zucker, then president of the university's HarvardCrimson daily newspaper, dispatched the police to the Harvard Lampoon office after O'Brien, who was president of the campus humor magazine, organized a prank on his college rival -- stealing an entire print run of the Crimson before it could be distributed. "He only forgave me when I gave him The Tonight Show," Zucker told a Yale gathering back in 2005. The Harvard Crimson described the incident this way in a 2004 article about Conan landing The Tonight Show courtesy of Zucker: "O’Brien cut his teeth in comedy as president of The Harvard Lampoon, a semi-secret Sorrento Square social organization that used to occasionally publish a so-called humor magazine. In fact, O’Brien first met Zucker, his current boss, one day when O’Brien and the Lampoon editors stole all the copies of that morning’s Crimson. Zucker, then Crimson President, called the police and met O’Brien face to face while he was being arrested." In 2001, Conan told The New Yorker this about the incident: "College pranks are supposed to be clever, but our rivalry with the Crimson had degenerated into us stealing something, Jeff calling the police, and the police making us haul it back," said O'Brien. (Other Lampoon pranks on Zucker included "a fake phone-sex ad with Zucker’s dorm-room phone number. Zucker did not find any of this particularly hilarious.") So what's to glean from this Harvard history lesson? Yes, Jeff Zucker was a thin-skinned pr**k who didn't understand comedy or know how to handle creatives even back then.

http://www.deadline.com/hollywood/no-joke-jeff-zucker-had-conan-arrested/

Yep. Zucker, and NBC, have always hated Conan.

 

[jjenny]

Yep. Zucker, and NBC, have always hated Conan.

Then why did they sign a contract with him?

 

[Tizzle]

over the years, jay leno has had hugely successful 10:00 pm shows to lead him in. Dateline, law & order, etc. What did conan have? Leno...and the news. It's no wonder the ratings have lowered.

And ER...

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Then why did they sign a contract with him?

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

 

[jjenny]

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

What does that mean? They are paying him, he isn't paying them.
What are you trying to say?

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

And because Conan is a great host, hillarious guy, and would bring in money to the network. They signed him to benefit their network.

NBC (and any other network) obviously benefits by having great hosts. If you think that Zucker and the big people at NBC make no money off of them you're only kidding yourself.

 

[Tizzle]

And because Conan is a great host, hillarious guy, and would bring in money to the network. They signed him to benefit their network.

NBC (and any other network) obviously benefits by having great hosts. If you think that Zucker and the big people at NBC make no money off of them you're only kidding yourself.

Exactly. :clap: :clap: :clap: Otherwise, what's the purpose?

 

[jjenny]

And because Conan is a great host, hillarious guy, and would bring in money to the network. They signed him to benefit their network.

NBC (and any other network) obviously benefits by having great hosts. If you think that Zucker and the big people at NBC make no money off of them you're only kidding yourself.

Yea well they wouldn't be trying to get rid of him now if he brought a lot of money to the network, would they?

 

[Tizzle]

What we're saying, jjenny, is they didn't even give him a chance. 7 months is barely long enough to build rapport with the non-existant audience thanks to the 10pm Jay fiasco. You think Jay did so great at the beginning of his run as Tonight Show host following Carson's run? Doubtful. People don't like change, it takes time to get them used to it. They didn't give Conan a chance to make them money and to build his audience, IMO.

 

[jjenny]

What we're saying, jjenny, is they didn't even give him a chance. 7 months is barely long enough to build rapport with the non-existant audience thanks to the 10pm Jay fiasco. You think Jay did so great at the beginning of his run as Tonight Show host following Carson's run? Doubtful. People don't like change, it takes time to get them used to it. They didn't give Conan a chance to make them money and to build his audience, IMO.

That's hardly Leno's fault.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Not entirely Leno's fault, no. I blame NBC, Zucker, and the other execs just as much, if not more.

HOWEVER...the ball is in Leno's court now. He has known for 5 years that Conan was going to get the Tonight Show in 2009. He gracefully accepted that and even *embraced* it from 2004 until 2007, then started whining. He now has the power to step up and be a man, take the responsibility for his failed 10pm show, and bow out gracefully.

 

[Bobbisangel]

Personally I enjoyed Leno's show when I watched it. I'd rather watch him any day then Conan. I don't think Conan is funny or anything else. I guess it's just what a person likes and I like Leno and his show.

Seems to me the network should have just left well enough alone and left everyone in the spot in which we are used to seeing them. Now they have this big mess on their hands along with angry people.

 

[Tizzle]

It was in Conan's contract for five years that he would take over The Tonight Show in June of 2009. Leno knew this and NBC knew this and both had plenty of time to plan and prepare for it. Conan has only been in his new spot for 7 months and has not been given ample time to build a steady audience base and it doesn't help that he has had Jay's show as a lead in. If Conan had shows like ER, Southland, Medium, etc. as lead ins, his ratings would be doing just fine. If people were actually watching NBC at the time of night anymore, Conan would eventually grow on the folks that don't really care for him now, just like Leno did after Carson retired. NBC is cheap and going broke, Zucker is not good at management or letting bygones be bygones and is the major reason that NBC is failing miserabely, Leno needs to stop white knuckling his television career and move on. JMO

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

I respect anyone's opinion that they like Leno. I didn't have a problem with him before now, and watched his show occasionally, but have always preferred Conan. That's the beauty of so many late-night hosts. To each their own.

But this whole fiasco has just pushed me over the edge. In 2004, Jay announced that he would be leaving the show in 2009. Here are a few quotes from that announcement. BBM. Video can be found on YouTube. It seems like Jay needs to review the statements he made. (Sorry if they aren't 100% word-for-word. I typed them from the video.)

"Conan is a gentleman, funny, the hottest late night guy out there. Excellent!" and "I don't think there's a better choice."

"When I took this show over, there was a lot of animosity between me and Dave, and who's gonna get it. And quite frankly, a lot of good friendships were permanently damaged. And I don't want to have to see anybody ever go through that again."

"This show is like a dynasty. You hold it, then you hand it off to the next person. And I don't want to see all the fighting and all the who's better and nasty things back and forth in the press. So right now, here it is: Conan, it's yours! See you in 5 years, buddy!"

 

[Steely Dan]

What we're saying, jjenny, is they didn't even give him a chance. 7 months is barely long enough to build rapport with the non-existant audience thanks to the 10pm Jay fiasco. You think Jay did so great at the beginning of his run as Tonight Show host following Carson's run? Doubtful. People don't like change, it takes time to get them used to it. They didn't give Conan a chance to make them money and to build his audience, IMO.

Leno's ratings weren't better than Letterman's until Hugh Grant appeared after his Divine Brown fiasco. Every new host needs time to get into a groove. This is just very dumb and I used to think a lot more of Leno before all of this happened.

 

[thefragile7393]

The nbc wouldn't be trying to replace Conan with Leno if Conan was getting good ratings. And I have no idea as to what would be the "high road." Conan didn't want to move his time and Leno did.
So what exactly would be "the high road" for him if nbc wanted him moved?

For one thing, it took Leno decades to get the same following that he used to have....yet oddly Conan isn't given the same privilege to build up the fan base again. Is it all Jay's fault? Hardly, it's NBC's and their executives, however Leno has the chance to take the high road, be gracious, and realize that this was not supposed to happen. Yet he's not stepping aside at all. I think Idaho4Groenes said it best..."He now has the power to step up and be a man, take the responsibility for his failed 10pm show, and bow out gracefully."

And what he said 5 years ago sure seems very different then the song he's singing now. FWIW, I have no beef with any of them....I think they are all funny in their own ways and I don't have a preference, I like Conan, Jay, Dave, both Jimmys, and Craig Ferguson. However, this isn't looking good for Jay to overcome the reputation he's gotten for back-stabbing. Conan has been gracious enough to not take too many jabs at him (because really, like I said, it's the execs) but Jay sure isn't trying to stop any of this madness. It may not work but he could at least try.