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Re: The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien
Conan's team's response sums it up nicely:
NBC Exec: Conan’s ‘Astounding Failure’ Caused Late Night Mess
by Matt Webb Mitovich
Amid talk that Jay Leno is thisclose to inking a deal to reclaim the reins of ‘The Tonight Show,’ one veteran NBC exec has laid the blame for the late-night shuffle and kafuffle at the feet of Conan O’Brien.
“What this is really all about is an astounding failure by Conan,” NBC Universal Sports chairman Dick Ebersol told the New York Times.
Ebersol, who during his long tenure with NBC helped create ‘Saturday Night Live’ and frequently consults on the network’s late-night strategy, deems O’Brien’s monologue disses of Leno “chicken-hearted and gutless.” He says ‘The Tonight Show’ is now losing to CBS’ ‘Late Show with David Letterman’ not because ‘The Jay Leno Show’ offers a weak lead-in, but because O’Brien ignored Ebersol’s advice to tweak his shtick to better suit an 11:35 audience.
“I like Conan enormously personally,” Ebersol said. “He was just stubborn about not being willing to broaden the appeal of his show.”
UPDATE: A member of O’Brien’s camp responded to Ebersol’s comments, telling TheWrap.com, “This is the essence of NBC’s problems – Conan O’Brien is losing his job because he didn’t take the comedy notes of a 62-year-old sports producer.”
Aside from longtime friend and NBC CEO Jeff Zucker, Ebersol is pretty lonely on Team Jay, as O’Brien enjoys the support of peers such as Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel and Rosie O’Donnell.
As a guest on Thursday’s ‘Leno Show,’ ABC’s Kimmel left his host visibly flustered with repeated barbs about Leno’s late-night land grab. “Listen, Jay, Conan and I have children—all you have to take care of is cars,” Kimmel said. “For God’s sake, leave our shows alone.”
O’Donnell, appearing at the Television Critics Association winter tour, likened the hosting of ‘The Tonight Show’ to the driving of a bus. She urged Leno to “pass the keys to the new guy with red hair, and not try to flatten his tires before he even gets going.”
Outlets such as The Washington Post and TV Guide Magazine hear that a deal is being hammered out to reinstall Leno as host of ‘The Tonight Show’ while paying O’Brien (very generously) to quietly walk away. But until that transition happens, the guy with the red hair continues to get in his digs.
“No matter what happens,” O’Brien said during his Thursday monologue, “it’s been a real honor to sit in the same chair as Steve Allen, Jack Paar, Johnny Carson, Jay Leno… and Jay Leno.”
Conan's team's response sums it up nicely:
NBC Exec: Conan’s ‘Astounding Failure’ Caused Late Night Mess
by Matt Webb Mitovich
Amid talk that Jay Leno is thisclose to inking a deal to reclaim the reins of ‘The Tonight Show,’ one veteran NBC exec has laid the blame for the late-night shuffle and kafuffle at the feet of Conan O’Brien.
“What this is really all about is an astounding failure by Conan,” NBC Universal Sports chairman Dick Ebersol told the New York Times.
Ebersol, who during his long tenure with NBC helped create ‘Saturday Night Live’ and frequently consults on the network’s late-night strategy, deems O’Brien’s monologue disses of Leno “chicken-hearted and gutless.” He says ‘The Tonight Show’ is now losing to CBS’ ‘Late Show with David Letterman’ not because ‘The Jay Leno Show’ offers a weak lead-in, but because O’Brien ignored Ebersol’s advice to tweak his shtick to better suit an 11:35 audience.
“I like Conan enormously personally,” Ebersol said. “He was just stubborn about not being willing to broaden the appeal of his show.”
UPDATE: A member of O’Brien’s camp responded to Ebersol’s comments, telling TheWrap.com, “This is the essence of NBC’s problems – Conan O’Brien is losing his job because he didn’t take the comedy notes of a 62-year-old sports producer.”
Aside from longtime friend and NBC CEO Jeff Zucker, Ebersol is pretty lonely on Team Jay, as O’Brien enjoys the support of peers such as Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel and Rosie O’Donnell.
As a guest on Thursday’s ‘Leno Show,’ ABC’s Kimmel left his host visibly flustered with repeated barbs about Leno’s late-night land grab. “Listen, Jay, Conan and I have children—all you have to take care of is cars,” Kimmel said. “For God’s sake, leave our shows alone.”
O’Donnell, appearing at the Television Critics Association winter tour, likened the hosting of ‘The Tonight Show’ to the driving of a bus. She urged Leno to “pass the keys to the new guy with red hair, and not try to flatten his tires before he even gets going.”
Outlets such as The Washington Post and TV Guide Magazine hear that a deal is being hammered out to reinstall Leno as host of ‘The Tonight Show’ while paying O’Brien (very generously) to quietly walk away. But until that transition happens, the guy with the red hair continues to get in his digs.
“No matter what happens,” O’Brien said during his Thursday monologue, “it’s been a real honor to sit in the same chair as Steve Allen, Jack Paar, Johnny Carson, Jay Leno… and Jay Leno.”
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