Conan O'Brien Calls NBC's Bluff
As you've likely heard, Conan O'Brien told NBC to take a flying leap after they asked him to move the start time of the Tonight Show to accommodate Jay Leno.
Conan's days at NBC appear to be nearing an end, unless NBC changes course and fires Jay Leno - along with the idiot chief of programming Jeff Zucker who botched everything to start with. (update: that's not going to happen, NBC is negotiating with Conan to leave the network permanently - his final show could be any day, perhaps even tonight)
Conan is rumored to be heading to Fox, which I hope doesn't happen. Fox has a history of not supporting their own late night shows, and Fox is already learning their own affiliates aren't too sure about getting out of contracts of syndicated re-runs like Seinfeld in order to put Conan on the air. Another problem with Conan moving to Fox is he would compete for the same younger viewers who watch Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, going head-to-head with an 11 p.m. e/t start.
That leaves few other options, if Conan does leave NBC. ABC re-iterated tonight that they are not interested in him, "he's too similar to Letterman," one quote read. ABC did say they would be interested in Leno if he became available. Leno isn't similar to Letterman or Conan, because Leno isn't funny.
My hope would be Conan lands at Comedy Central. A trifecta of Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, followed by Conan O'Brien would be a powerful lineup, and Comedy Central has a history of supporting their stars and letting them get their legs under them. The only question's are, is Comedy Central interested? Can they afford Conan? And would Conan be willing to start at midnight e/t, which he's not willing to do on NBC?
1 comments:
Mr Dooley, news of Leno's downfall in ratings has been in the Australian news. The impact of the failed timeslot is causing a ripple, which may result in good programs like Conan O'Brien taking the fall. I agree, Jeff Zucker should be preparing his "please explain speech" and sadly it is the shows that many people enjoy, which are taking the bullet for him. At the moment emotions are probably high for those who face a threat, so it's not the best time for them to be signing up to other networks. There are almost no late night TV shows in Australia, we import the likes of Letterman for free-to-air viewers. Hopefully O'Brien will be scooped up by a grateful network, but it seems like a very competitive market in America, and finding the right spot for him could be difficult. I like your suggestion of Comedy Central.
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