OMG get me Helen Kushnick on the phone! Jay Leno, America’s biggest hack, is getting his 11:30 show back, reports TMZ!! (How come no one ever calls ME with these scoops?)
What happens to Conan remains to be seen, but it can’t be good. Whatever Mr. O’Brien’s fate, I think this proves beyond a shadow of a doubt (if it wasn’t proven years ago!) that Jay Leno is the dirtiest asshole in a dirty asshole business. (I won’t belabor the point by mentioning how unfunny Jay is, because, you know, duh.)
The silver lining here is that this means we’ll be getting actual television at 10pm again– that is, if NBC can prevail upon itself to produce anything that’s actually worth watching.
Jay Leno is not funny and hasn’t ever been, Conan is a great comedy writer and Late night host when conan leaves i believe he’ll take many of leno and nbc’s viewers with him. I know I will be done with nbc until Leno is off the air, probably in the next year or so.
NBC just gave Conan the oppertunity to prove once and for all what we`ve all known all along- like Letterman, he`s just not funny. All that silly crap he does may be funny if you`re a stoned college burnout but the rest of us can see right thru it. And if Leno is an asshole, we should all want to be that kind of asshole-he`s successful, rich as hell, and very respected in his field. Not a bad thing to be. Not once has he ever said anything negative about Conan.
While I’m not a fan of Leno I’m also not a distractor. He was forced out of the Tonight Show by NBC in order to lower the demographic with Conan (who I don’t find funny in the least). However, once the decision was made NBC realized that Leno still had an audience and was quite marketable so they didn’t want him jumping ship (so to speak) with a late show on ABC or FOX even though they (NBC) were the ones who pushed him out of late night.
The 10 PM slot was what NBC finally decided was the best (only?) way to keep Jay from competing with the Tonight Show so they tossed him a bone (quite a pricey bone I might add). I said from the day of the announcement of the 10PM show that it wouldn’t work and, unless Jay had a iron clad contract (unlikely), he’d be lucky to make it to January – unless NBC development failed to have any product in the pipeline (which we’ll now find out based on the schedule shuffle that will take place.)
If NBC wanted to get rid of Leno then had every right to do so but they should have done one of two things – let him go out on his own and accept whatever offer was best suited for his talent or give him a 90 minute block on either Friday or Saturday night prime time (both dead as far as numbers go anyway) and not tied up 5 hours of prime time by slotting him nightly.
Regardless, Leno gets paid for the next two years and can’t even talk to the competitors during that time – if the new change works then he’ll likely stay at NBC but if it doesn’t then I would expect him to show up at either ABC or FOX late night once his obligation to NBC is completed. As it looks now nobody is the winner in this mess but nobody is a clear cut loser – beating on Jay however, I think is totally unfair as he’s simply taken the deal that was offered him, showed up for work and done a respectable job based on the product and hasn’t yet badmouthed his employer (NBC) which might actually be justified.
eh I stopped watching both Jay and Conan.
Craig is funnier and his gay jokes are of the “i’m sexually ambiguous!” variety and not the “laugh at the homos!” variety which gets old to me.
Speaking of gayer late night. When does Wanda’s show come on. I always forget about it…
i would like to add, that many of the “suits” scrambling here weren’t even AT NBC when this stupidity took place. Just like with the President hey inherited a big bushy mess to deal with. Let’s face it, O’Brien, and Jay are more than set financially, they both have juicy contracts that NBC can’t get out of easily. It’s gonna cost them one way or the other. Then do they just try to save face?
I haven’t understood the vitriol toward Jay all season. He is the least offensive person on TV, yet some want his head on a pitchfork. Jesus people, aim you anger at people that are really screwing things up, politicians and Fox news.
Yeah, I know I’m looking forward to hearing millions more of Jay’s unfunny jokes about gay people, in which being gay or outdated stereotypes are simply the butt of the joke. Hopefully Kev has a huge stash of marijuana, because that’s what he’s going to need to have to laugh at that shit.
I like Conan’s quirky humor but it doesn’t translate well to mass audiences, and I preferred his late night show to the Tonight Show. Regarding the comment about getting back “actual” TV programming if the 10pm slot by Jay Leno changes, I could 1) Care less about the extra hour and 2) think it is funny that the thought of inserting a scripted “reality” show (which is what is most likely to fill the time) would be either of interest or categorized as actual tv.
IF this turns out to be true, it sucks and is a stupid decision. I’m not so quick to blame Jay, though. NBC botched the transition by forcing Jay out – hence why they backtracked and gave him the 10pm slot just in case. The ratings have been undeniably off since Conan took over. A bad move overall that just gets worse.
Jay Leno was “thrown under the bus” twice by NBC. Jay has never screwed Conan. NBC forced Jay out to Keep Conan and his “young demos” from going to another network.
Jay is not an ass. He took the job offered him in prime time and tried to make it work. Plus he will get paid for next year with his contract in place whether he appears on TV or not. It was a 2 year deal.
NBC mucked this deal up from the get go and I think both Jay AND Conan were screwed by ignorant money hungry suits.
Which ever will make them the most money is who will be giving the best slot or a show at all.