Conan O'Brien releases a statement that he won't host a show that airs at 12:05 AM
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 time slot. 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 time slot 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
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 time slot. 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 time slot 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
We'll be sure to keep you posted as this story will surely develop even more throughout the following days and weeks.
Comments (36)
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Katja777
Call the Show "Mightnight Live" or "Live at Midnight" !! There are alot of people still stirring around at midnight! With our country's situation, some people rarely sleep! Life is what we make it! I can respect Conan's thoughts and hope things work out in a way fitting for him! If people truly desire to watch him, where there is a will there is a way!
2 years agoby @katja777Flag
slysnide
Makes sense XSSIV. I watched Conan last night and he and his crew are still raggin' on NBC, though he continues to avoid answering the issue which created this debacle, being his lower ratings than Jay's former 11:30pm timeslot. Granted Jay's 10pm timeslot is also dragging, they're both getting significantly lower ratings than how it was last May before the switch. In my opinion they're being nice by not trying to replace him, since while his ratings are still good, they're also lower than before, though not low enough to warrent firing him as the hosts are contractually required to keep a certain % of viewers to stay on the air. So this whole thing (while being a major hit to sentimentality) is warranted, though just not being recieved well. In short, I bet Conan & crew will still be raggin on them tonight for problems he's partly responsible for. After all, NBC did great with both Conan & Leno before the switch, and now both of them are dragging, so they should just fix the thing back to the way it was.
Their decision to sever ties with Conan if he refuses to cooperate is just stupid, since they can just shove him back to Late Night or another show similar, give Jay back his spot, and the rookie Jimmy has no seniority at Late Night, so they can put him in any timeslot they want.
2 years agoby @slysnideFlag
Err
maaaaan.
whathefuuuh.
2 years agoby @err2005Flag
CBF
I like how Conan is ripping on NBC every night now, but doesn't that mean that NBC will definitely kick him off the 11:35 spot if he is saying bad things about them? I mean of course Cone Bone is pissed because they could give a crap about him but it's like sealing his fate, right?
No Go For Co-Co???
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2 years agoby @comicbookfanFlag
CBF
Well XSSIV the recession didn't hit Leno hard. He has saved his Tonight Show earnings all these years, and solely lived off his money from stand-up. Well that is what he says. Sure, he probably used some for half his vehicle collection, but cmon, the guy is a baller. Rich bastard who never has to work another day in his life.
2 years agoby @comicbookfanFlag
T.Clark
I just watch the Daily Show and Colbert Report...couldn't give a sh*t about the other late night hosts.
2 years agoby @insertusernamehereFlag
Otaku4life1983
if you want to fix everything.......shove Jay after jimmy kimmle since i hate Jay.
2 years agoby @otaku4life1983Flag
XSSIV
@slysnide... they did it because they didn't want a repeat of the Letterman fiasco from the Carson era. They wanted to lock-in Conan so they had to have Jay give them a date-certain. He did... they tried to honor it (by giving Jay the same show, shorter format, earlier). Dumb move. Basically, he wasn't ready to retire... either that or the recession hit him hard and he still needed the money and didn't want to hit the road again for stand-up.
2 years agoby @xssivFlag
CBF
Another good question. I'm not sure but the contracts that O'Brien and Leno signed in 2004 doesn't make sense either.
2 years agoby @comicbookfanFlag
slysnide
True, but there doesn't seem to be any reason why they went ahead to kick Leno out either. I mean it's not like he retired. He started the same gig over again on an earlier slot, which begs the question: Why'd they wanna get rid of Jay as the Tonight Show host in the first place when he wasn't even ready to retire and had been carrying the show strong without major complaint for 17yrs?
2 years agoby @slysnideFlag
XSSIV
Guys... NBC is now, officially, the ass-hat network.
They got NOTHING. Screwing up late night is just the latest in their long list of screw-ups.
If they could let something play-out and get its legs (Life, Studio 60, MOWE, and now Conan), they could develop a schedule.
TV programmers USED TO HAVE BALLS. They used to put a show on... tweak it until it was running like a finely tuned machine (Seinfeld, Friends, Cheers)... But now, they throw the stuff out there, if it doesn't immediately rake a top 3 in the ratings, they sh*t-can it...
TV guys are screwed...and so are we, if we like TV.
Luckily, NBCU hasn't managed to totally screw USA (yet - and here's hoping that Comcast can keep them from bustin' there nut over that net, too). USA's got great programming and they WORK on shows to get them to the sweet-spot. There are SEVERAL shows over there that could be BIG net hits. Hell, Life could have made a big hit over there, if NBC didn't have the balls to see it through.
2 years agoby @xssivFlag
CBF
Agreed, Slysnide. But this will mean Last Call with Carson Daly will permanently be booted off the air, and regardless how we feel about his show sucking or not, it is unfair to Carson. Also I think Fallon will just be on later, which will hurt his ratings. This "Leno switch" is just going to hurt every other late night talk show ratings on after Leno's 30 minutes. WTF They must not care about their late night anymore because obviously they only care about their star Jay Leno. Conan took over the biggest show and needs to be treated better, of course that will never happen with NBC (stop saying NBC!), and if this is just all a ploy to get Leno back on Tonight because of Conan's sloppy ratings in the first 6 months, that is a low blow. They only did it then, because they know how much Conan hates riding backseat to Leno, aka Conan always = #2. With the Tonight Show, he was trying to be #1.
2 years agoby @comicbookfanFlag
slysnide
I liked Conan's format on Late night more than his Tonight Show routine. It felt different and wasn't so professional. In the sense that all sorts of crazy stuff happened on his Late Night versus him just giving a long monologue for roughly half hour before guests are interviewed and musical guests chew up airtime. The fact is that while NBC has had a hard time keeping ratings up against Letterman these past five years, it's taken a more significant drop since Conan took over.
Jay's current show is no different than his 17yrs on the Tonight Show. Same format, same stuff that he brought to Tonight. So given that it's not like the situation with Johnny Carson who permanently retired in '92, they've got a guy doing exaactly the same show on a different time slot who gets better ratings than his replacement. And Jay's said he would go back to the Tonight Show in a heartbeat if it was offered to him. So the fact remains that Leno holds a better audience against Letterman than Conan does, and since he's still around, they have the option of putting him back in his place.
As for NBC's decision, the argument against it is more based around sentimentality than the numbers which is what really matters here. Dick Cavett was on Larry King last night making that argument that to bump Tonight to 12:05 after 6 decades of 11:30 would be horrendous, though he didn't have any actual reason as to why. Lastly, it's in the contract that if you as a host are dragging down the ratings significantly (especially within your first 6 months) then the studio can replace you. And with the higher ratings predecessor still on the network doing the same routine he did for 17yrs, (though on 90 minutes earlier) then that's more reason to replace Conan. And it seems that's why they're making this change, because they know he won't take it. Though if one starts watching Letterman at 11:30 then they're not as prone to change to Tonight at 12:05, hence why Jay would go first at 11:30 since people watch him over Letterman, and therefore aren't gonna switch back to Letterman halfway through his show and at the start of the new Tonight at 12:05. Point being they're taking the frontrunner in ratings and having him do a short stint first to steal ratings from Letterman and then hand them off to the lesser Conan at midnight. That's the strategy, but truthfully, all would be well and good if Jay had never been replaced at all.
On top of that, Jimmy Fallon is a rookie to the talk show business, and Conan & Leno have seniority over him. So being associated with the same network gives them the right to bump him out of his timeslot. Plus his comedy isn't explicit enough to need be on at 12:30 or 1 so he'd probably do better at 10 when more would be awake to watch him since he's not as good as Conan, Leno, or Letterman in regards to talent and ratings. Although being not as good means he probably shouldn't precede the better comedians as he'd drive viewers away. So unless he picks up the pace then NBC will find a typical drama to take the ten o'clock slot. Granted a ten o'clock option isn't on the table for Jimmy, but if they make the change and haven't any dramas to immediately replace Jay, then Jimmy could be a candidate for the slot.
2 years agoby @slysnideFlag
XSSIV
Conan sucks... and so does NBC.
CBS is suddenly joining USA as the only network with decent programming.
Late night is now the exclusive territory of Letterman and Ferguson.
Leno's for blue-hairs and Conan's a twit. NBC is better going to Friends reruns and dropping them both.
2 years agoby @xssivFlag
Josh
NBC = Never Been Crazier (than they have been over the past year)
2 years agoby @shuabertFlag
Paolo Sardinas
Conan is great. By far the best host right now on late night. I could even go as far as to say that he's the best host on television in general. Leno needs to retire. His time is done its time for Conan to step in.
2 years agoby @sardinasFlag
Masta_Chiefed
Big Balls Cone Bone
2 years agoby @masta-chiefedFlag
ed_wood
Conan is the man, Leno is so overrated.
2 years agoby @ed-woodFlag
Brian
Good for Conan. Screw Leno!
2 years agoby @brianFlag
The Narrator: The Better Man
Lol this is one of the first articles in a while where everyone is on the same page. Agreed guys.
2 years agoby @narratorFlag
Lycan
I say Conan should go to fox, he the funniest out of all the late night hosts and for them to still treat him like sh*t after all these years...... NBC just doesnt know what its doing anymore
2 years agoby @grand-makwaFlag
CBF
This will really suck if they go through with it and force Conan to leave The Tonight Show. *ssholes.
2 years agoby @comicbookfanFlag
CBF
What about the Horny Manatee? LOL. I liked Late Night with Conan O'Brien the best and wish it was on DVD. All his best stuff is on there. But this is such a cop out by NBC. Bring Leno BACK to late night?? WTF didn't he just retire from late night I mean come on! He's like 90 years old and instead of pampering what should be their biggest star, Conan O'Brien - inherited host of the 60+ year Tonight Show, they deal with Leno (who by the way has his own internet show about cars, isn't that enough, just put that on daytime TV) still counting on his star, while "rising personality" Conan gets the shaft. He was treated like sh*t on Late Night, now he's being treated like sh*t on Tonight, when he just moved his whole family and staff out there to live accounting for the new position. Conan IS the only star you should be worrying about, NBC. Jay's on his way out! Bring Leno BACK to late night, pfff.
2 years agoby @comicbookfanFlag
Bane5000
lets not forget racoon with a jetback, air purifier dressed as slash from guns n roses and evil puppy :-P
screw nbc, conan rules
2 years agoby @bane5000Flag
AnnoyingFilmCritic
I have been a fan of Conan since he started years back & suffered through 1 year at a time contracts from NBC & his unorthodox comedy taking a while for the mainstream to embrace...through that turmoil & now this, he remains as funny and classy as ever. NBC doesn't deserve him at this point, they clearly fear Jay jumping ship to another network more. Conan needs to leave them for Fox if they can't let him have the Tonight Show as he so deserves to inherit. I think alot of Conan fans are pissed & will rally behind him...including his classic characters: The Masterbating Bear...Robot on a Toilet...and an AnnoyingFilmCritic!
2 years agoby @annoyingfilmcriticFlag
Brian
Jesus. Leno sucks. Conan rules...
2 years agoby @brianFlag
-comrade-
Leno isn't worth this bullsh*t.
2 years agoby @taberjohnson18Flag
Mad_Max
Conan is a gentleman for stepping down and not dipping into Jimmy's Kool-Aid (even though Fallon REALLY, COMPLETELY sucks). I figure Jay would be the one to retire. I mean...the guy has a warehouse full of cars. It goes to show that Conan, is the real man here. NBC has a bad habit of screwing people over.
2 years agoby @mad-max-67878820Flag
Bane5000
conan is the man and ive always loved watching his show. i liked it more before the big move when he was on a smaller stage and all his funny characters and he had and his more interaction with the audience, i hope he can go back to that, no matter what network he may be with after this.were all rooting for u conan, best of luck...
...oh i miss the masturbating bear lol
2 years agoby @bane5000Flag
Gothchef
Who remembers what NBC did to Letterman when Carson retired? You'd think they would have learned from that! They've been railroading good entertainers in favor of Leno since 1992. Why not move Leno to 12:35? There are a lot of whys and wtfs about this.
2 years agoby @gothchefFlag