Letterman seems to think it's all part of a pattern with Jay:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-8LGTVF3_I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-8LGTVF3_I
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Jay Leno is kicking Conan O'Brien out of NBC
- Thread starter iOrlando
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Very good.
I thought of the same things as Dave pointed out when I originally saw the Leno clip he's referring to.
The bear returns.
Conan is really going for it now.
Thanks for the heads-up.... PST FTW.
This will help Conan long term. He would never have been able to get away with the stuff he is doing now. His ratings are up and this will only help him when he goes to Fox.
Conan's expensive comedy bit. A bugatti veyron dressed as a mouse with the Rolling Stones "Satisfaction" playing in the background.
It also looks like they've reached a deal.
Thats quite a severance package. I wonder if he'll move back to New York.
It also looks like they've reached a deal.
AP said:
Thats quite a severance package. I wonder if he'll move back to New York.
I know this whole mess is mostly NBC's fault, but I don't get why they are having to pay Conan one cent, since he is the one asking to get out of the contract. Although I never liked him I feel sorry for him the way he has been treated in this whole thing. However, the Tonight Show is still on, he had a chance to go with the show a half hour later, but he is the one that said no. If anything he should be paying to break his contract.
The contract might've specified the times, if it said he is to host the show at 11:35, then NBC is breaking it and they owe him.
Yeah. I'm pretty sure NBC (and their team of lawyers) haven't agreed to pay him $44 million just because they feel bad about how things turned out. There is clearly some aspect of his contract that they are violating with this change.
Yes- $32 mil to him, $12 mil to his staff.
And I agree: NBC isn't throwing him and his staff all that cash because they feel bad. They are legally bound to pay him.
Conan is great because he writes his own jokes?
Wait, that's about 20% of the job, isn't it?
What about ratings and advertising dollars?
And you mean "most" of his jokes, right? Nobody can write that much material
night after night. He'd be spending every waking moment working on jokes.
And so, guys that don't write their own jokes must be hacks, right?
Guys like Jack Par, Johnny Carson, Bob Hope, George Burns, and Dean Martin.
Even guys like Steve Martin and Robin Williams use writers, but not COCO?
Ol' Johnny had a pretty good run as a late night host. I'm guessing that Jay, after 17 years of holding his own, can probably keep the tradition going for a few more years. In fact Jay goes every weekend to a comedy club, where he works out his routine for the week in front of a live audience, and he's done so for 17 years. There's also another guy named Letterman that has 99% of his jokes written by staff, but hey.... All these guys are hacks compared to COCO, right?
If Conan loses his job [and it's looking that way] nobody will hire him as a writer these days, so he better hope FOX is willing to put up or shut up. Either that or he'll be working the 12:30 shift at some local affiliate in South Texas or Alaska. My guess is he lives off of his NBC bounty and never works late night again, complaining all the way to the bank. Let's see what happens...
Wait, that's about 20% of the job, isn't it?
What about ratings and advertising dollars?
And you mean "most" of his jokes, right? Nobody can write that much material
night after night. He'd be spending every waking moment working on jokes.
And so, guys that don't write their own jokes must be hacks, right?
Guys like Jack Par, Johnny Carson, Bob Hope, George Burns, and Dean Martin.
Even guys like Steve Martin and Robin Williams use writers, but not COCO?
Ol' Johnny had a pretty good run as a late night host. I'm guessing that Jay, after 17 years of holding his own, can probably keep the tradition going for a few more years. In fact Jay goes every weekend to a comedy club, where he works out his routine for the week in front of a live audience, and he's done so for 17 years. There's also another guy named Letterman that has 99% of his jokes written by staff, but hey.... All these guys are hacks compared to COCO, right?
If Conan loses his job [and it's looking that way] nobody will hire him as a writer these days, so he better hope FOX is willing to put up or shut up. Either that or he'll be working the 12:30 shift at some local affiliate in South Texas or Alaska. My guess is he lives off of his NBC bounty and never works late night again, complaining all the way to the bank. Let's see what happens...
lol..... yeah, Conan is going to work at a local affiliate in South Texas or Alaska. That's classic.
Dude, what are you talking about?
Yeah, really.
I think he's just ranting to the world in general.
It's all a matter of time...
First, I can't imagine NBC specified specific show times in a contract. It just doesn't make sense to lock anything into a specific time slot, for either party.
Second, I'm guessing that NBC could put him on at 4am every day if they felt like it, but they would still have to pay him every penny of his original long term deal and get no ratings in return. This deal is a much, much, much lower overall number for NBC, it allows Conan out of the original contract with a very nice incentive, and it allows NBC to move forward.
Conan is no fool, he should jump on the compromise. Plus, I'm guessing that Conan will have very little to say about anything, once the ink is dry.
Finally, If you think FOX is really going to invest hundreds of millions into a host who's just spent the last month bad mouthing his network [the network that made him] you are probably kidding yourself. These network guys all talk to each other, and they watch the news. It's one thing for the exec at Fox to say he supports Conan, it's another for him to hire him.
First, I can't imagine NBC specified specific show times in a contract. It just doesn't make sense to lock anything into a specific time slot, for either party.
Second, I'm guessing that NBC could put him on at 4am every day if they felt like it, but they would still have to pay him every penny of his original long term deal and get no ratings in return. This deal is a much, much, much lower overall number for NBC, it allows Conan out of the original contract with a very nice incentive, and it allows NBC to move forward.
Conan is no fool, he should jump on the compromise. Plus, I'm guessing that Conan will have very little to say about anything, once the ink is dry.
Finally, If you think FOX is really going to invest hundreds of millions into a host who's just spent the last month bad mouthing his network [the network that made him] you are probably kidding yourself. These network guys all talk to each other, and they watch the news. It's one thing for the exec at Fox to say he supports Conan, it's another for him to hire him.
Hold on there sparky. First of all The Tonight Show has aired at 11:30 for 60 years. Why would Conan think they would move his show to 4am and ruin the brand. Conan has every right to be pissed and NBC's incompetence. Second, you could say that it was Fox that made Conan as his writing on the Simpsons is what got him recognized.
First, there is no Conan brand. If you don't believe me watch what happens after he takes the money.
Second, the Tonight Show aired at 11:30 for 60 years but the exact timeslot was not in the contract. They could have moved that show anywhere they wanted, at any time. Networks traditionally do not specify timeslots in contracts with talent, and I'm guessing they never will.
Third, of course Conan has the right to be upset about them moving his slot I never said he didn't have that right. I'd be upset too and he has a point, but that's not the issue.
Major networks [including Cable networks] have the power to move any show, at any time, to any timeslot they wish. Networks have been moving shows at will for the past 30 years.
Not only could NBC move Conan to 4am they could flat out cancel him, but either way they would have to pay him. When there is a contract involved [like Conan's] they have to fulfill it or work out a compromise. Simple as that...
Finally writing for a scripted show like the Simpsons, and writing daily standup bits for late night is comparing Apples to Oranges.