Tagged: Conan O’Brien

Fox pressuring O and Os on Conan time slot

At the moment, the official word is that Conan O’Brien and Fox are in talks, but no deal has been made; despite that, the network is already pressuring their O and Os to keep the post-news, pre-midnight timeslot open for a presumptive late night talk show featuring O’Brien, which would go head-to-head with Leno and Letterman, beginning as early as next fall.

Some affiliates are balking at the heavy hand Fox is employing, considering no deal in finalized yet and that affiliates would make more with reruns of The Office and other proven syndicated hit shows. Even the best joint supplements won’t ease the limb-pulling going on, but in the end, you just know that it’s going to happen; Fox is the biggest network without a signature late night talk show, and O’Brien’s profile has never been higher.

Fox’s Reilly hush-hush about Conan opp

Fox’s Kevin Reilly isn’t saying much, but has admitted that should Conan O’Brien become “available,” his network might just jump back into the late night game. Fox has been without a serious competitive late night show since axing, what was it… Chevy Chase?

While the whole NBC blow-up is enough to make anyone need the best cholesterol medication available, in the end I think O’Brien is the funniest of the three. Best of luck, Conan!

Conan offers NBC ultimatum

Conan O’Brien offered NBC an ultimatum this week: move the Tonight Show later than it has aired for 60 years, and I’m walking away. While he hopes NBC will choose to keep The Tonight Show in its traditional spot with him as host, O’Brien’s ultimatum is viewed by some network execs as his resignation papers. This means NBC will effectively have given Conan only seven months on the Tonight Show after a 16-year partnership.

If NBC boots Conan, Jay Leno would be free to return to the Tonight Show, but as damaged goods; he’s already the butt of national jokes that paint him as the reason NBC is now viewed as a “minor-league” network on par with The CW and MyNetworkTV. NBC trashed five hours of scripted programming last spring to launch The Jay Leno Show, simply to hang on to a relationship with the aging comic; now, they could be trashing the future of The Tonight Show by losing out on its natural successor in O’Brien.

Sure, O’Brien is joking about selling the best weightloss products in a matter of weeks, but the truth is that he will immediately become the focus of a bidding war for his services, with Fox being the most natural suitor.

NBC muffed the Carson-to-Letterman transition, opting for Leno about 16 years ago; now they’ve muffed the Leno-to-O’Brien transition. Nitwits.

Other late night talkers returning, sans writers

Hollywood writers no esta aqui!

Even a simple sentence like that may be difficult to manage when late night hosts from Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien to Jimmy Kimmel all return to the airwaves early next year, some perhaps as soon as later this week. Unlike David Letterman and Craig Ferguson, however, they won’t be returning to the air with the benefit of writers.

Which means Leno fans won’t really notice a difference, though fans of Kimmel and O’Brien may.

Kimmel and O’Brien have shows that feature actual, scripted sketches; the type of humor that requires writers. Leno, even with benefit of writers, usually puts on skits that involved him standing on a street corner handing out promotional pens.

And since Leno’s monologues all sound like unfinished Jerry Seinfeld jokes, writers probably won’t matter much on The Tonight Show one way or another.

LENO:
So! Did you hear about that thing at the White House today? That had to be pretty weird, huh?

(Yes, that joke is finished now. Thanks, Jay, for all the years of those imponderable, unfinished thoughts.)

On second thought, maybe Leno’s show never should have left the air; it clearly hasn’t been using writers during his reign.

All I can say is, the switch to The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien can’t arrive soon enough! Hopefully he can bring Triumph with him if the show uproots him from Manhatten and plops him down in LA.

Reality Ryan entertains Emmy gig

Reality show host Ryan Seacrest will get his shot at hosting the Emmy Awards this year. His gig comes in the wake of Conan O’Brien’s hosting job, which was expected to be brilliant but fizzled miserably.

Known as the master of the timely commercial break, Seacrest emerged into national consciousness when he became the host of American Idol, the Simon Cowell-created music talent competition. Seacrest bloomed in the limelight created by the runaway reality TV hit largely because he was already an experience radio broadcaster familiar with the music business.

It’s impossible to say whether Seacrest can come across as well as Billy Crystal does at the Oscars, but if he does, it could open up yet another broadcasting gig for the effusive workaholic. Look for him in front of the crystal sets and tablecloth sea. He’ll be the one wearing the most genuine smile in the room.