Jay Leno returning to Tonight Show, Conan gets the boot.

[dennilfloss]

Leno not the bad guy opinion.

http://www.ottawasun.com/entertainment/tv/2010/01/15/12483926.html

Yes, O’Brien has had a show taken away from him by NBC.

But Leno has had two shows taken away from him by NBC.

 

[Triumph]

Ellen is not only one of the sharpest comediennes in decades, but a top-tier comedian. You'd be hard-pressed to find a top comedian that doesn't recognize her talent and skill. She's been doing it for 3 decades now. Hell, she's probably funnier than all of the talk show hosts.

you sound more and more like a humorless grumpy old man, completely out of touch with the world around you.

Um...right. When I think of stand up comedians, I think Pryor, Carlin, Rock, Cook...and Degeneres.

 

[Fizzorin]

Um...right. When I think of stand up comedians, I think Pryor, Carlin, Rock, Cook...and Degeneres.

Richard Pryor... check
George Carlin... check
Chris Rock... check
Dane Cook... WTF!?!

 

[Q]

OK, just to set the record straight, I don't think Leno is an ass at all. I think he's actually the nicest friendliest guy around. I read an article where he got a letter about a kid that promised his friends he would drive up in a Lamborginni to impress them because he wanted to be liked, and Jay drove one of his to the boys home town and drove him to school.

Also, when doing stand up gigs, he frequently stops his limo and talks to people on street corners that notice him and want an autograph/picture.

Does that sound like an ass to you? Me neither.

Now, what I DO think he is is gutless. Jay doesn't wish harm on anyone- it's not in his personality. BUT he can't say no---the NBC jerk Darth Zucker is telling him what to do to make up for his terrible mistakes. Instead of saying "You know...my show didn't work out, I don't want to kick someone else off the air, so I'll leave", he's doing exactly what he's told. Conan has the balls to say NO!, but Jay says "Yes sir."

I agree 100% with you. Also, I have heard about him driving the kid to school, as well as the limo.

 

[zinfamous]

Um...right. When I think of stand up comedians, I think Pryor, Carlin, Rock, Cook...and Degeneres.

Haha, you said Dane Cook. what a fucking tool.

 

[zinfamous]

We'll have to agree to disagree

You're breaking my heart, Ns1. Truly.

 

[NFS4]

Richard Pryor... check
George Carlin... check
Chris Rock... check
Dane Cook... WTF!?!

x3

 

[darkswordsman17]

I agree 100% with you. Also, I have heard about him driving the kid to school, as well as the limo.

That could be the case, although it sounds like he might put on a good face most of the time, but when it comes to business he's shrewd. The reason I'm iffy is that, if that was the case, why would he not leave NBC like he acted like he was going to do, and then sign a new contract to take over The Tonight Show? That is just plain a dick move. He has to know that NBC looks like the bad guy here, and so siding with them is going to make him look bad. Maybe he's still really pissed about the thing 5 years ago. Maybe he's showing loyalty for them fucking over Letterman before? That could easily be construed as evidence of him being a dick though. Of course, why would he show loyalty to them after they supposedly fucked him over before, and now again?

I used to like Jay, I didn't really find him funny, but he at least seemed like not an asshole. At the very least, he comes off looking like an idiot for letting NBC play him like that, and if he does take back over The Tonight Show, an asshole.

As for that article about Ebersol that NFS4 linked. Uh, has Ebersol not been watching the show? That was one of the knocks is that Conan was pandering to Jay's audience, and so the toned down show turned off quite a bit of Conan fans. It wasn't toned down enough for Leno's fans though, so it ended up alienating both groups. This past week's show have been a lot better, and how he should have been from the start.

 

[Ns1]

You're breaking my heart, Ns1. Truly.

Well, when stoned I give the edge to Conan.

When sober I give the edge to Leno.


Probably why I like them both? hahaha

 

[0roo0roo]

Leno not the bad guy opinion.

http://www.ottawasun.com/entertainment/tv/2010/01/15/12483926.html

what a joke.
conans moved his crew across the country, whats leno done besides hang around like a wet blanket.

imagine if carson had hung around leno like that, woulda made him miserable.

 

[Turin39789]

leno is going to move back, no one is going to watch him after this, and then who will NBC turn to after they let him have 2-3 years of horrible ratings?

 

[KeithTalent]

Well, when stoned I give the edge to Conan.

When sober I give the edge to Leno.


Probably why I like them both? hahaha

Now that is fair justification. :awe:

KT

 

[dennilfloss]

"I thought Letterman only took shots at interns...

You don't need a pact with the devil to beat the French."

^_^

 

[rockyct]

leno is going to move back, no one is going to watch him after this, and then who will NBC turn to after they let him have 2-3 years of horrible ratings?

It's the Tonight Show with Jiiiiiiiiiimmmmmmmmmmmyyyyyyyy Faaaaaallllloooooooonnnnnnn


It will be interesting to see what move NBC does next. Leno will probably get decent ratings at first if he moves back but I can't see him sustaining that.

 

[oogabooga]

This week has been bittersweet. Some of my the best late night I've seen, and yet it comes at a bitter bitter price.

leno is going to move back, no one is going to watch him after this, and then who will NBC turn to after they let him have 2-3 years of horrible ratings?

Honestly, what kills me is that his ratings probably won't be as terrible as I hoped. I will never watch anything Jay Leno does again and would only being willing to go to anything he does just to be a disturbance.

But it is shortsighted - I really don't get why NBC would go with someone whose audience is aging and literally not as relevant to advertisers as their current host. I know I'm one of the 18-35 males and I'll be following Conan. Leno still trying to play victim as though he's not guilty in any of this - is just downright wrong. Telling Conan "your welcome" for the rating boost last night? Comparing your situation with Conan's and saying you're both on "thin ice"? Fuck you Jay. I was a fan of yours but that's pretty damn low.

 

[Craig234]

I've never found the insulting dog to be funny. Maybe because I'm a cat person. In the year 200 wasn't bad.

Leno wa an ass about this, I haven't forgiven him.

When he had John Kerry on as a guest as a presedential candidate, he booked the dog at the same time, so Kerry was sitting there being insulted about poop jokes by a dog. No excuse fir that treatment.

On the other hand, Republican Arnold Schwarzeneggar announced his candidacy for governon on Leno's show and was treated like a hero.

 

[QueBert]

This week has been bittersweet. Some of my the best late night I've seen, and yet it comes at a bitter bitter price.



Honestly, what kills me is that his ratings probably won't be as terrible as I hoped. I will never watch anything Jay Leno does again and would only being willing to go to anything he does just to be a disturbance.

But it is shortsighted - I really don't get why NBC would go with someone whose audience is aging and literally not as relevant to advertisers as their current host. I know I'm one of the 18-35 males and I'll be following Conan. Leno still trying to play victim as though he's not guilty in any of this - is just downright wrong. Telling Conan "your welcome" for the rating boost last night? Comparing your situation with Conan's and saying you're both on "thin ice"? Fuck you Jay. I was a fan of yours but that's pretty damn low.

Why? NBC offered Conan a show, he can bitch and say whatever the fuck he wants. But NBC wanted to keep him, and have his show 30 minutes later. Conan made the choice to leave, and all Leno did was accept a show after the fact NBC told Conan to fuck off after he turned down their offer to have his show on at 12:05. Leno's still on thin ice, why? Because nobody knows how he will do returning to his old time slot. NBC isn't going to keep him around if his numbers are shitty like Conan, and I don't see them giving him longer than they gave Conan. Leno might very well be on a another network this time next year. Besides, Conan's getting $30 MILLION to leave and I'm sure another network will pay him stupidly well to come do a show for them.

Bottom line Conan is leaving because HE doesn't want to stay, NBC put an offer on the table and he passed on it.

leno is going to move back, no one is going to watch him after this, and then who will NBC turn to after they let him have 2-3 years of horrible ratings?

You mean no Conan fans? The ones who never watched Leno any ways. I will watch Leno again if the show goes back to how it was, if they change shit up fuck em. But if I can tune in Mondays for Headlines, see Jay Walking and the quality of the guests is consistent I'll be watching. I think most people will look at this when it's all over and realize NBC's is to blame and not Leno. I could care less about the behinds the scene shit, I don't listen to rumors. Leno is more funny to me than Conan so for that reason alone I'll watch his show.

 

[jhbball]

Huge fail, Kevin Eubanks Jay's band leader is funnier than Conan. Hell kick Jay the curb and let Kevin host the show. He admits to smoking weed, he admits to watching porn and has pretty good timing with his off the head comments. Conan is one of the least funny people I've ever seen. He's only a step above Elen in the hilarity factor. And Ellen isn't funny.

Better idea yet, shit can both of them and give the 11:35 slot to Aisha Tyler. She's more funny then either and is beautiful to boot.

Congratulations! You have a terrible sense of humor!

 

[QueBert]

Congratulations! You have a terrible sense of humor!

Yeah I do, I mean how the hell can I not find a man in a bear suit pretending to masturbate funny?! Conan is obviously the funniest host of a late night show since Pat Sayjack & Byron Allen. You claim I have a terrible sense of humor but I laughed at Craig Killborn, I laughed at Richard Pryor, I laugh at a lot of people actually. I guess masturbating bears and random Texas Walker clips are just too high brow a level of humor for me to truly understand. It must be awesome to be you and get Conans super advanced "comedy"

Another potentially awesome replacement for lame ass Conan - John C. Riley. dunno if he has interview skills, but he's definitely funnier than O'Brian.

 

[seemingly random]

Max Weinberg is, by far, the most talented band leader of all the late night bands. It's ridiculous to think otherwise.

that, and he's funnier, willing to do just about anything on the show.

I hate his stupid grin - it makes him seem the least genuine of all the band people. Fallon's band is the most interesting. If only Fallon was much better.

Craig Ferguson and Fallon's band would be the ticket. But then Ferguson might get blasé if he gets more produced. Seems that host quality suffers when management (bean counters) get involved.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Sorry I want a *funny* person to host a show that should be hosted by a *funny* person. If it makes you feel any better I'll mention some white people who are also funnier than Conan and could replace either him or Jay. Lisa Lamponelli, Patton Oswald & Jeffery Ross. There are you happy? Now what fucking excuse are you going to come up with to color yourself shocked?

The only white comedians you can name just happen to all be on the roast of Flavor Flav? What a shocking development...

 

[darkswordsman17]

Yeah I do, I mean how the hell can I not find a man in a bear suit pretending to masturbate funny?! Conan is obviously the funniest host of a late night show since Pat Sayjack & Byron Allen. You claim I have a terrible sense of humor but I laughed at Craig Killborn, I laughed at Richard Pryor, I laugh at a lot of people actually. I guess masturbating bears and random Texas Walker clips are just too high brow a level of humor for me to truly understand. It must be awesome to be you and get Conans super advanced "comedy"

Another potentially awesome replacement for lame ass Conan - John C. Riley. dunno if he has interview skills, but he's definitely funnier than O'Brian.

What I think is funny is you talk about people like Pryor and Carlin, and these other people, and then talk like Jay fits in with them. His version of The Tonight Show doesn't. At all. Comics hate him because he does really tame, toned down comedy, which they fucking hate. Conan is much more in line with the people you keep talking about being funny. You mentioned Patton Oswalt earlier. Go listen to what he had to say about Leno.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ei4rgiDveY

 

[aircooled]

TMZ says the departure deal is done, just waiting for the lawyers to finish going through it: http://www.tmz.com/2010/01/16/conan-obrien-jay-leno-the-tonight-show-nbc-announcement-settlement/

 

[NFS4]

Jeff Zucker vs. Conan O'Brien: A Rivalry 30 Years in the Making

But this isn't the first time O'Brien and Zucker have rattled sabers. The rivalry dates back to the 1980s when both were enrolled at Harvard. In an eerie parallel, Zucker edited the Crimson daily newspaper while O'Brien ran Lampoon, a humor magazine. As Fortune's Patricia Sellers explains, Zucker was once so furious with O'Brien he had him arrested by Cambridge police:

Back in the day, the staffs of the two publications often pulled pranks on each other. And in that vein, early one morning, O'Brien and his pals broke into the Crimson offices to steal that day's run of papers.

O'Brien riffed about this stunt -- proudly, in fact -- when I talked with him for a 2007 Fortune profile of Zucker, "Life imitates TV": "Jeff went nuclear right away," O'Brien recalled. "He called the police. Not the campus police, which were the kind and gentle police. He called the Cambridge police."

O'Brien soon found himself spread-eagled, cuffed, and listening to his Miranda rights -- in the hands of a Cambridge cop.

"I remember thinking that Jeff is a different species than I am," O'Brien said, of course milking the story for comic effect. "That species could easily rip my throat open."

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/opin...-OBrien-A-Rivalry-30-Years-in-the-Making-2189

 

[Deeko]

Sorry I want a *funny* person to host a show that should be hosted by a *funny* person. If it makes you feel any better I'll mention some white people who are also funnier than Conan and could replace either him or Jay. Lisa Lamponelli, Patton Oswald & Jeffery Ross. There are you happy? Now what fucking excuse are you going to come up with to color yourself shocked?

We all know your blatent...ahem...."race preferences" and you already displayed it with your first choices. That's ok though. At least you're fitting the stereotype you've built for yourself.