Not since NBC decided to stick it to the new guy because they made a colossal blunder that they can't admit to. That's what NBC head honcho Jeff Zucker is doing by forcing out Conan O'Brien from The Tonight Show.
I've read conflicting stories about the situation, but in either case Zucker shoulders the lion's share of the blame.Scenario one: Leno is ready to retire but NBC can't let him go as he is one of only a few shows where NBC beats out the competition so they beg him to stay, offer him an obscenely large contract, and move him to Prime Time. The Jay Leno Show tanks and The Tonight Show under Conan's leadership falters so they try to get Leno back to 11:35.
Scenario two: Leno declares he'll be retiring in five years. NBC announces that Conan is the heir apparent to The Tonight Show throne. The late night scepter is set to be passed and Leno decides he's not ready to be done. NBC sees the possibilities and fears that Leno may sign with another network. So they offer him a Prime Time gig along with an obscene amount of money. The Jay Leno Show tanks and Leno starts to complain that he wants his old job back. Zucker tries to move Conan and The Tonight Show back to 12:05 to make room for a 1/2 hour Leno show.
In either scenario Conan says that the integrity of The Tonight Show is too great to change it's time slot. Zucker agrees and tells Conan to take a hike.
All of this hinges on the fact that the final decision is Zucker's call. In "scenario one" he made a major mess of NBC. The Prime Time show was his idea. Rather than cancel Leno's prime time failure and eat the obscene amount of money they signed him to, he'd rather give Conan the boot and move Leno back to 11:35.In "scenario two" Zucker was afraid that Leno would sign with another network, so he creates a new show in prime time for Leno. After it tanks and Jay "the bully" Leno says he wants his old job back Zucker acquiesces and sends Conan packing rather than telling Leno that if he wants to take his ball and go home, that's up to him, but Zucker isn't going to move him to another team.
The dirtiest part about all of this is that under Conan's contract, anything that he's developed while with NBC is not his own intellectual property. So when he goes to FOX he can't take "In the Year 3000," "The Celebrity Survey," or "The Sears Tower wearing Sears Clothing" with him. They belong to NBC.
I was once one of Leno's most loyal viewers. Not anymore. I'll wait for Conan to sign with another network. Until then, it will be rare that my rabbit-eared TV will be tuned to 30-1 and I can guarantee that it won't be set to that channel past 11PM on weeknights.
3 comments:
Yeah, I've been disappointed with the whole thing. It seems like NBC has made the wrong choices at every turn. I don't blame Leno, though - it really does fall on the higher-ups. And I predict that they've shot themselves in the foot: Tonight Show with Leno won't have the ratings it once did because of the bad taste left by all this. Meanwhile, Conan became an underdog story that everyone loves! I'm like you, waiting to see where Conan lands!
I have never been a loyal Conan watcher, but I've always liked the guy. I got to attend a taping of the Late Show with Conan back in the year 2000 (literally). It was so fun. My fave part was his audience rapport building session before the show even began. Stinkin' hilarious, off the cuff stuff. Anyway, I'm with you (uh, with CoCo, that is), except that I was never a Leno fan to begin with.
So here is the correct story, well at least what Leno said about it on the air 5 years ago and repeated this week on his show. Conan was at a contract renewal and another network wanted him. NBC did not want to lose him, so they offered him The Tonight Show, in 5 years. Then they go to Leno, who is also up for contract and tell him that they love that he is number 1, but that they do not feel that he can sustain that, so they will only re-new his contract for the next 5 years and then after that the show goes to Conan. Jay, not wanting to leave yet, agrees. 5 years later, Jay hands over the Tonight Show (Still number 1) Conan. Jay asks to be released from contract to pursue other things. They tell him NO. They tell him that they have this great no fail idea to move him to prime time. He is doubtful but goes along. 8 months later this is where we are. Now this is just Leno's side of the story, but NBC has not denied it and it has not changed in 5 years time.
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