Conan O'Brien fights for an earlier time slot
At present, nobody knows if O'Brien will accept the NBC proposal. He took on hosting duties for Tonight Show in June.
"It's radically unfair what happened to him," stated one source. "He turned down a massive offer six years ago with the promise of eventually getting the Tonight Show. And then he never really got the Tonight Show."
The new plan being bandied about is a half-hour Jay Leno Show at 11:35, Tonight Show at 12:05 and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon at 1:05.
"The Tonight Show is not the Tonight Show at 12:05," an insider said. "By definition, 12:05 is tomorrow."
It looks like talks with O'Brien's team will resume on Monday.
"I think Conan's motivation will become more clear as time goes on, but what was important to me is that I gave Conan something that was very important to him, which was Tonight Show," said NBC Universal TV Entertainment's Jeff Gaspin.
Things could get really interesting if Fox plays "the role of spoiler in NBC's attempts to keep Conan O'Brien." The network is said to be very interested in putting together a late-night franchise around the comedian.
"We've always been interested in late night and we're always looking to bring great new talent to Fox," a Fox source stated. "While Conan would be a great fit for Fox, he's still under contract with NBC, so we'll just see how all of this plays out."
Comments (18)
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CBF
They are firing Conan... moving Leno to 11:35 was a cop-out. They just wanted Leno to come back and be the host again. They wanted Conan out.
2 years agoby @comicbookfanFlag
Rufio
move conan and Carson there and let Carson be his Fallon. Carson is underrated and i think deserves a shot too. he's not funny, though, so he needs to stay away from bbbbaaaaaadddddd opening monologues.
2 years agoby @rufioFlag
Rufio
anybody see conan's monologue last night about the "shakeup"? C-L-A-S-S-I-C!!!!! you can absolutely tell he is not happy and completely jaded by this whole thing. when he came out the audience went nuts (standing O - more than usual) and even the band was in on it. fantastic television!
as much as i can't stand Fox, i think i'm w/ justincase... i think conan should take his show there and demolish the competition. move him back to NY and let him do the show his way and let NBC bury themselves.
2 years agoby @rufioFlag
Johnnyblaze09
Surely NBC wants to 'retain' the viewers even after midnight and believes the hosting talent of the comedian that's why they put him in between, crossing the definition of tonight.
2 years agoby @johnnyblaze09Flag
Cripple
haha good one Err. And I too have come to appreciate Fallon. But Conan is the best, whatever he thinks will be best for him, he should do it. I will always watch him.
2 years agoby @crippleFlag
Cripple
F*ck NBC. Conan is the best, they should never have brought back Leno when Conan clearly deserves the spotlight.
2 years agoby @crippleFlag
TamOClannie
nbc are a bunch of bastards for pulling this on conan. what a joke. conan has more talent in his pompadour than leno and fallon could scrape together in a thousand years. bastards.
2 years agoby @tamoclannieFlag
CBF
I agree with ed_wood - Conan does deserve better. WTF NBC
2 years agoby @comicbookfanFlag
Err
eh, i've come to appreciate the falon show, personally id like to see leno take a hike. enough is enough already.
2 years agoby @err2005Flag
Josh
Personally, I'd love to see the unwatchable Jimmy Fallon get taken off the air before Leno or Conan.
2 years agoby @shuabertFlag
Err
nbc stand for "nothing but c*nts".
2 years agoby @err2005Flag
justincase
Conan and Fox are perfect for eachother.
Personally, I've always preferred Letterman and Ferguson. CBS ha a much better late night.
2 years agoby @justincaseFlag
IamBATMAN
of course this would happen... you really expect them to put talent on at the right time?
2 years agoby @iambatmanFlag
ed_wood
Conan deserves much better than this.
2 years agoby @ed-woodFlag
Rufio
NBC has no clue what it's doing anymore. once friends ended its run they've come unglued. they lose Scrubs. lose Chuck. force leno into retirement, then don't really make him do it and toast conan by putting leno in front of him. now they want to push conan back? too much.
if they are really that worried about losing Jay, why not give him a morning show (since that's the audience that usually clings to him anyway)? get rid of ahoda (spelling?) and KL Gifford and let Leno take the morning with a show like LIVE (with Regis and Kelly). i bet he'd KILL in that sort of format and time slot!
2 years agoby @rufioFlag
CBF
I can't believe they are screwing Conan...after all the hype and marketing they put into him being the new Tonight host. It hasn't even been a year and they're already giving Leno the red carpet treatment and still treating Cone Bone like he's still just #2.
2 years agoby @comicbookfanFlag
AnnoyingFilmCritic
Yeah, NBC is really screwing Conan over during this years in the making change of the guard. So, now, it seems like NBC will have to write bigger checks to lubricate the slot change while Fox throws in the kitchen sink to build their own latenight brand...which I think will happen - Fox will woo Conan with the time slot he wants/deserves. Since Conan use to write for Fox's Simpsons show years back, its like his second home anyway. He has to be pissed at NBC, watching his Tonight Show gig crumble...fodder for his new monolgues on his new Fox show!!
2 years agoby @annoyingfilmcriticFlag
Josh
And rightfully so! Conan deserves better than NBC anyway. The network has been steadily and surely shooting themselves in the foot over the past year, starting with cancelling Southland.
I love that Fox is trying to bury NBC by airing new episodes of 24 opposite the new episodes of Chuck. There's really nothing I want to watch on NBC anymore, except Heroes, and that won't last beyond this season anyway.
2 years agoby @shuabertFlag