Are you with Coco?

[Nique]

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif., Jan. 12 /PRNewswire/ --
Conan O'Brien released the following statement.

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.

Conan O'Brien

The latest

Conan would leave NBC only seven months after taking over "The Tonight Show," at a cost to NBC of close to $30 million, according to published reports.

...

Although NBC is willing to let Conan leave the network and take his talents elsewhere, the network has also tried to kick him as he walks out the door. In an interview with the New York Times, NBC Universal Sports chairman Dick Ebersol said Conan was being replaced on "Tonight" because of "an astounding failure by Conan," ratings-wise. In that interview, Ebersol also called jokes about the controversy that were made this week by Conan and CBS's David Letterman "chicken-hearted" and "gutless."

Conan certainly has a strong fanbase. Although NBC certainly has some rights to be concerned with the ratings of their late night programming, they don't seem to think that matters.

Paul Reiser weighs in to remind folks that Jay Leno is not evil.

[Solid Snake]

Originally Posted by Nique

Paul Reiser weighs in to remind folks that Jay Leno is not evil.

Sorry. Jay Leno is not nearly as innocent as he's portrayed by Paul here. I mean I understand Paul considers Jay a very good friend, but that friendship clearly leads to a biased interpretation. I think Jay's probably a pretty decent guy in person, but like most decent human beings, he's also a bit self-centered and in the business world, his egotism has led him to screw over others, whether intentionally or not. He basically gunned Letterman down, and overturned the wishes of Johnny Carson in regards to the Tonight Show in the '90s, and a decade or so later he's treating Conan O'Brien in the same way. Conan's staffers sacrificed so much seven months ago to move out to Los Angeles, only to get screwed over, and Leno clearly doesn't give a shit about wrecking any other show, he only cares about his own career prospects.

I don't know if we should expect anything more -- it's all a business, ethical or compassionate behavior isn't the norm in the industry -- but I just keep imagining to myself the following hypothetical: if Letterman had stayed on NBC with the Tonight Show and the circumstances were exactly the same, with O'Brien replacing Letterman instead of Leno as Tonight Show host in '09, what would have happened? And I just can't imagine Letterman behaving in the same way -- I don't think he'd have taken the 10:00pm slot, I don't think he'd betray the history of the Tonight Show by screwing up the timetables, I don't think he'd stab Conan in the back with the same carelessness that Leno's displayed here.

(What irritates me about Leno is really that I hate him as a comedian, so I can't understand why most the country seems to love him and he gets all his preferential treatment. It's comparable to how I'd feel if Dreamworks animated movies were repeatedly more popular than, and more critically beloved, than Pixar's offerings. I just can't understand it. Craig Ferguson is my favorite of the Late Night crew -- watch his show, it's absolutely hysterical -- followed by O'Brien, with Letterman a ways behind. But all of them, and really even Jimmy Kimmel, are leagues ahead of Leno in my book.)

But as for "What team I'm on?" Consider me on Team Haiti. It's fun to discuss these Late Night shenanigans because in the end, no one's really getting hurt -- even O'Brien will make millions of dollars and find another network for him and his staff. But what's going on in Haiti is what more Americans should be talking about, as opposed to these late night antics or "Pants on the Ground" or the NFL playoffs or Avatar or Simon Cowell leaving American Idol. Good luck convincing the majority of the American public that, though. We're truly spoiled citizens living in a privileged country that's effectively using entertainment to deceive ourselves and isolate us from everything that's really happening in the world.

[Nique]

In Leno's defense, he has been very flexible with what the network wants, apparently for a long time, and in certain situations this can be a good trait and he has most certainly benefited from an affable relationship with his bosses. Dick Ebersol , though being pretty unfair to Conan in balming the ratings on him when in reality the entire network isn't doing well, is willing to take the heat for the decision.

Originally Posted by Dick

“Jeff (Zucker) and I are big boys,” Ebersol said. “When we do something big in the public forum and it doesn’t succeed, we know we’ll be the butt of criticism. But you don’t personally attack someone who hasn’t done anything.”

But would it be good for Leno to defend Conan and not be willing to benefit from his loss? Yes but I don't think he HAS to do that. It is ultimately a buisness deal and the instigation starts with heartless execs. There are certainly people more worthy of our ire at this time than Jay Leno, even if it seems he could be a little more compassionate.

EDIT: Actually, according to this, Jay may be simply trying to keep his head above water while still expressing a certain level of contempt for the network.

Originally Posted by Rachel Sklar

He certainly seems unhappy with it, based on the three shows he’s done since the news broke. Right at the top, in his show on Jan. 7th, he made it clear that this was not his choice and he was not happy (and he was the first one to invoke Fox with “I hear Fox is beautiful this time of year”). As the story unfolded, Leno refused to accept the spin that it was a “move” rather than a cancellation — and refused to accept the role of the person benefiting from it all (“To be fair, NBC is working on a solution they say in which all parties would be screwed equally”). Last night, he made his contempt for NBC even more clear, and again cast his lot in with the underdogs (“Supposedly we’re moving to 11:30, but even this is not sure. See, my people are upset, Conan’s people are upset. Hey, NBC said they wanted drama at 10—now they got it!”).

[Sky Warrior Bob]

Well Snake, there is this pro-Coco benefit for Haiti going on. Found out about it while I was trying to track down this .

From this pro-Conan site.

Personally, I'm not a fan of either Jay or Conan, as I don't follow late night. Still, it doesn't take a genius to see that NBC has botched the handling of this.

SWB

[Magus]

I've always enjoyed Conan a lot more than Leno. I never watch Leno, and I can't believe NBC didn't think that the Jay Leno show would get horrible ratings in comparison to shows on other networks that are on in the same time slot, at 10:00. I never thought it was going to compete with the latest Without a Trace or You Think You Can Dance or whatever crap is on FOX and CBS. Why did the people at NBC, who are supposed to be far more knowledgeable about ratings? It's simply common sense that it wouldn't beat those other shows out of viewers who enjoy regular TV shows far more than late night comedy, and would lose viewers during that time period to other fare in lieu of having a strong Law and Order show on at that time.

It's sad that Conan AND Leno are put in this position for what was basically a really bad idea from some network execs, though I don't know why Leno didn't think that his show would garner bad ratings as well. Hubris or arrogance, maybe?

Also, what's up with the Jay Leno show's proposed half-hour time slot, is it going to compete with the Colbert Report? I doubt it. He'll barely have time for a monologue and maybe a ten minute chat with a guest with only half an hour.

[Mike McC]

Originally Posted by Magus

I've always enjoyed Conan a lot more than Leno. I never watch Leno, and I can't believe NBC didn't think that the Jay Leno show would get horrible ratings in comparison to shows on other networks that are on in the same time slot, at 10:00.

Actually, The Jay Leno Show was preforming exactly how they had predicted. The problem is that it had an unexpected effect, in that it was lowering the ratings of the local news and any later programs on the network.

[Magus]

So some people were actually staying up that late just to watch Jay Leno when he was on the Tonight Show? Please, people, just get a good night's rest, it'll benefit you way more than watching late night TV just for the sake of watching late night TV.

[Mike McC]

Jay Leno's comedy is safe and inoffensive, palatable (if not all that interesting) to a wide demographic.

He is homogenized talk show host for the masses.

[bluestarultor]

I personally like Leno because he's clean. I like him better than Letterman because he's also friendly. He's the guy with the chin and he's got a bounding charisma that I feel other late night people lack, although I won't put him above Ferguson. The two are both good on their own merits.

[Mike McC]

Like I said, safe and inoffensive.