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A message from Conan O'Brien (He's leaving!)


Jaimoe

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"People of Earth,

In the last few days, I’ve been getting a lot of sympathy calls, and I want to start by making it clear that no one should waste a second feeling sorry for me. For 17 years, I’ve been getting paid to do what I love most and, in a world with real problems, I’ve been absurdly lucky. That said, I’ve been suddenly put in a very public predicament and my bosses are demanding an immediate decision.

Six years ago, I signed a contract with NBC to take over The Tonight Show in June of 2009. Like a lot of us, I grew up watching Johnny Carson every night and the chance to one day sit in that chair has meant everything to me. I worked long and hard to get that opportunity, passed up far more lucrative offers, and since 2004 I have spent literally hundreds of hours thinking of ways to extend the franchise long into the future. It was my mistaken belief that, like my predecessor, I would have the benefit of some time and, just as important, some degree of ratings support from the prime-time schedule. Building a lasting audience at 11:30 is impossible without both.

But sadly, we were never given that chance. After only seven months, with my Tonight Show in its infancy, NBC has decided to react to their terrible difficulties in prime-time by making a change in their long-established late night schedule.

Last Thursday, NBC executives told me they intended to move The Tonight Show to 12:05 to accommodate The Jay Leno Show at 11:35. For 60 years The Tonight Show has aired immediately following the late local news. I sincerely believe that delaying The Tonight Show into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting. The Tonight Show at 12:05 simply isn’t The Tonight Show. Also, if I accept this move I will be knocking the Late Night show, which I inherited from David Letterman and passed on to Jimmy Fallon, out of its long-held timeslot. That would hurt the other NBC franchise that I love, and it would be unfair to Jimmy.

So it has come to this: I cannot express in words how much I enjoy hosting this program and what an enormous personal disappointment it is for me to consider losing it. My staff and I have worked unbelievably hard and we are very proud of our contribution to the legacy of The Tonight Show. But I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction. Some people will make the argument that with DVRs and the Internet a timeslot doesn’t matter. But with The Tonight Show, I believe nothing could matter more.

There has been speculation about my going to another network but, to set the record straight, I currently have no other offer and honestly have no idea what happens next. My hope is that NBC and I can resolve this quickly so that my staff, crew, and I can do a show we can be proud of, for a company that values our work.

Have a great day and, for the record, I am truly sorry about my hair; it’s always been that way.

Yours,

Conan

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Conan actually hasn't said he's leaving. He has forced NBC to make a decision, and good on him.

I mean, doesn't Leno have any pride? I mean, will he really slide back into that 11:35 Tonight Show chair after all of this, like nothing happened? Seems absurd. He needs to just go away.

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ok, Jai- I know you love conan and that's cool, I like him too.

but really who the fuck cares what happens on late night TV? Why in god's name is this considered "news"? Who fucking cares about Jay Leno and Conan O'Brian?

sorry if you do. I do not, which should be clear. But I can't understand why this is newsworthy. Don't TV shows, even really long running ones, get moved and canceled and tinkered with all the time? why is this so different?

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sorry if you do. I do not, which should be clear. But I can't understand why this is newsworthy. Don't TV shows, even really long running ones, get moved and canceled and tinkered with all the time? why is this so different?

You genuinely can't see the difference from this statement alone?

For 60 years The Tonight Show has aired immediately following the late local news.

You don't have to like it but this IS entertainment news.

Anyway, I just wanted to say that after reading that message, Conan is my new hero.

I'd love to hear what Howard Stern is saying about this. I don't think there's anyone he despises more than Jay Leno.

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sorry if you do. I do not, which should be clear. But I can't understand why this is newsworthy. Don't TV shows, even really long running ones, get moved and canceled and tinkered with all the time? why is this so different?

Just speaking for myself here, but there is something very soap opera-esque about the entire affair, and the sheer level of fuck-the-other-guy-over-atitude of it seems to speak to a bigger human story. My late night television viewing these days pretty much ends at Colbert, and even that is rare, but I love Conan from back in the old days and actually do find all of this pretty engaging.

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but really who the fuck cares what happens on late night TV? Why in god's name is this considered "news"? Who fucking cares about Jay Leno and Conan O'Brian?

lots. lots of people.

i think conan will come out ahead no matter what. It appears that the internet is rallying for Conan. Leno's audience doesn't know how to get on the internet so where's their voice?

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and then along comes Dave to comment

"It's all about money. And as nice a guy as Conan is, he's a smart fellow. And he knows that if he takes a hike, he's going to lose an enormous sum of money. So he just now says, 'Well, I'm not gonna follow Jay. You guys do something about it.' So now, NBC has to do something about it. And they have to do one of two things. They have to either pay him an enormous amount of money... this whole mistake over there at NBC has cost them hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of millions and millions of dollars. So now the last thing they wanna do--they just want Conan to quit and go away and for Conan to do a show in his basement. That's what they want. That's exactly what they want. But he's a smart kid. He's not gonna do that. He's in there for the cash. Or they waive his non-compete clause so he can go to Fox or come here and take my job. Wait a minute!"

Huffington Post

I really hope Jay never gets his viewers back.

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Watched some Conan last night, first time in quite a long time actually. Not always my favourite host, but he is pretty funny at times though. It's a shame all this shit is happening and I give credit to Conan for standing his ground. I hope he gets what he wants.

What made me stop to watch was seeing Tom Brokaw was on. I must say that guy is probably one of my favourite late night guests. Just an all around interesting guy.

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Was Conan new last night? I'm unclear as to the current status of The Tonight Show. Had it already gone on hiatus?

He was live last night and I'm assuming for the rest of the week. He ain't holding back his thoughts regarding NBC. Youtube his last two opening monologues from the week. Funny.

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One thing that is likely to come out of this is that the ratings for the Tonight Show will go way up as a result of the controversy. I'd almost like to think that it was very clever scheming by all parties, but I think they may have just gotten lucky and managed to fall into a pile of success by a happy accident of clumsiness.

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As a serious TV addict and particularly late night TV, I'm fascinated by comedy writing, the nuances of conversation, set up and delivery, I'm honestly thinking that this debacle with Conan may cause me to simply do the unthinkable: turn off the TV (at least after 11:30).

I understand people saying how is this news (the entire island of Haiti was demolished yesterday and likely hundreds of thousands are dead) and agree that it is at very least entertainment news. As someone mentioned the human element is what I think is really engaging people. I rarely watch Letterman but switched back and forth last night to see what kind of mileage he was getting out of this. Quoting Martin Mull and encapsulating this entire scenario he said 'show business is high school plus money'. He was literally in a state of glee, because as I mentioned in an earlier post, this is exactly what happened to him at the hands of NBC. I should say a truly, truly heartbreaking episode in his own life.

Here's the rub folks. People like David Letterman and Conan O'Brien realized at a very early age (for Letterman it was 10 yrs. old) that they wanted to be the host of The Tonight Show. Perhaps Conan came to that realization a bit later in life but think about the work that he put into that life goal. He hosted 2,725 episodes of Late Night after inheriting it from Letterman, that's just an unbelievable amount of the daily drudgery that goes into producing a telecast of that standard and nature. And as he's made clear for the last 6 years he's had it contractually in place that he was in fact going to inherit The Tonight Show (I'm fairly certain he actually took the helm later than was initially negotiated as well).

The situation is analogous to the recent revelations made in the book Game Change that Hilary Clinton was so certain she would win the democratic nomination and presidency she had actually begun planning her transition. Except Conan didn't have a Democratic Convention and general election to contend with- the job was his. Referencing another presidential election Paul Shaffer quipped last night that as with Al Gore's recount 'The Tonight Show has no president'.

So what makes this so heartbreaking, and I'm not really embarassed to say I'm actually choked as I write this, is that this incredibly likeable, intelligent, diligent man finally realized his life's goal and then the rug was pulled out from underneath him. Having been through the exact same struggle and having rightfully earned The Tonight Show desk people are asking themselves how can this man who's already had his moment in the sun steal this opportunity back from such a worthwhile successor. Everyone is asking as the unnamed former longtime network programmer quoted in todays NYTimes (O'Brien Rejects NBC Shift: Set To Say Goodnight)) whether “you have to wonder if Jay is damaged goods after all this".

Taking the political analogy a step further the RNC and DNC respectively start planning potential candidates and transition strategies as soon as the last election cycle has ended (only elections happen every four years, The Tonight Show's 'election' cycles are much longer). In this respect NBC is being entirely disingenuous when they try to put Conan's early ratings to blame for this imbroglio. They have been grooming him for this job for at least a decade only to brutally handicap him at the last moment in a misguided effort to hold onto (what has proved to be a failing commodity) Jay Leno.

Letterman's remarks today are illustrative that "this whole mistake over there at NBC has cost them hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of millions and millions of dollars". This issue has gone well beyond Conan's potential settlement to the point that it affects NBC's entire financial picture and the only thing NBC does well (at least financially) late night television.

Letterman has sagely and correctly interpreted Conan's last salvo: "they just want Conan to quit and go away and for Conan to do a show in his basement. That's what they want. That's exactly what they want. But he's a smart kid. He's not gonna do that. He's in there for the cash."

What David leaves out is that as much as this is about money, money is just the means of compensating individuals with incredible life gifts and work ethics who would likely work for free at their life's aspiration. At bottom this is about the hopes and dreams of young men named Jay, David and Conan tirelessly working towards their dreams against the shifting currents of fiscal treachery and feckless bureaucracy.

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