The latest on Conan, Leno and NBC (1 Viewer)

[Brent M]

Originally Posted by mattCR




The problem with doing Top Gear (as much as I love it) is that Jay is NOT Jeremy Clarkson. More then that, the other issue is that part of what makes Top Gear great are that they will issue bad reviews, and generally, with GE being a big provider of parts to all major car manufacturers, there isn't a lot of interest in openly bagging someone's product in primetime as a comedy format. Real disasters? Sure. Take it to Dateline or 60 Minutes but you can't make fun of the product like they do on Top Gear.

Exactly. Top Gear works because of the hosts and I don't think there are any 3 guys in America(Leno included) that could duplicate the perfection of Clarkson, Hammond and May.

 

[Ted Todorov]

Originally Posted by Chris Lockwood
On a related note, why did I really like him at 11:35 but never bother watching at 10?

It's not the time slot- it's a different show, a lame watered-down show. It's hard to describe why I don't like it now. It's just kind of blah. They should have kept everything the same except the title.

Another network had a poll on what NBC should do, and some people said rerun the Carson show at 11:30. I like that idea. I wish someone would run those shows.

Or better, why don't they release Carson seasons uncut on iTunes or DVD? Probably, yet again, music rights...

You are right that the 10PM Leno sucks compared to the 11:30 Leno -- I don't want to watch an hour long comedy show with one interview thrown in. Whether I DVR ANY of the late night shows, ENTIRELY depends on who the guests are. At best I watch some of the monolog and then skip over to the guest(s) I'm interested in. With Leno essentially going from three guests to one there is way less chance I'm going to look at the show. Plus I like his interviews even less now that the desk is gone. If the same guest is appearing on one of the other shows, I DVR one of them and skip Leno.

I probably watch Ferguson the least after Leno, because even though I find him very funny (as exemplified by the monolog Dave posted in this thread) Ferguson has the lamest guest line-up after Leno.

 

[Hanson]

If NBC were smart, they'd dump Leno and keep Conan since that will cause the least damage at this point. If Leno leaves to ABC, Conan would probably retain most of viewers as they're in a younger demo and Leno and Letterman would be fighting it out over a grayer demo. But a bolting Conan could take his younger viewers to Fox, and that would hurt NBC more in the long and short run. Leno at 11:35 and Conan at 12:05 is a "neither fish nor fowl" solution.

 

[Jeff Adkins]

As far as Carson goes, don't forget that when Jay was guest-hosting for Johnny, he was getting higher ratings than the nights that Johnny hosted. Everybody loved Carson, but the fact is that more people were watching Jay.

 

[JimKr]

Jay tried, he failed. Let him move on. Playing musical chairs with the late night shows does the audience no favors.

 

[LynxFX]

I agree that Top Gear is great because of the hosts, their chemistry and the unabashed willingness to trash vehicles when they deserve it. I'm not suggesting Jay try to duplicate that because it will fail. Top Gear America never got off the ground and we've already seen the half-assed star in a green car challenge.

That doesn't mean he couldn't come up with an entertaining car show of his own format. His videos on jaylenosgarage.com showcase that. They just need a full budget and some polish. Perhaps bringing in a co-host/commentator to play off of, do challenges and the like.

 

[EricSchulz]

Originally Posted by Hanson Yoo

If NBC were smart....

Well, that throws THAT idea right out the window!

Side note: Can't wait for Wednesday morning to discuss AI!!!!

 

[Brandon Conway]

Originally Posted by Mike Frezon

Talk Show 101. Higher chairs put the host in a position of power over the guest.

Yup. They ALL do it. And usually a bold guest will point it out every so often.

Conan's is far less extreme since he is already so tall.

 

[Brandon Conway]

Originally Posted by Adam Lenhardt

or the sloppy second half of Conan.

Say what? I love Conan's guest interviews. He easily makes his guests the most comfortable more times than not, and you can tell many guests enjoy his company. Sure, he has a stinker here and there, but that's gonna happen. He's always very gracious to them as well after the interview. He does have a tendency to ham it up more than the other hosts, but more often than not the guest is right there laughing along with the audience. Definitely my favorite interviewing atmosphere, with Ferguson a close second.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Originally Posted by Brandon Conway

Say what? I love Conan's guest interviews. He easily makes his guests the most comfortable more times than not, and you can tell many guests enjoy his company. Sure, he has a stinker here and there, but that's gonna happen. He's always very gracious to them as well after the interview. He does have a tendency to ham it up more than the other hosts, but more often than not the guest is right there laughing along with the audience. Definitely my favorite interviewing atmosphere, with Ferguson a close second.

Don't miss understand me, I like the Conan's interviews too. I was talking from a ratings standpoint: the second half of the hour always gets much lower ratings than the first half.

The thing that kind of excites me about Leno at 11:30 followed by Conan at 12 is that it would leverage the strengths of both; Leno is far more comfortable with the stand-up format that the monologue requires; when he did the Tonight Show it even had a comedy club audience setup. No matter how bad or tired his material, he knows how to play off the audience in a way that Conan doesn't. Conan got around this on "Late Night" by basically subverting the whole idea of a monologue. For whatever reason, he's felt the need to hew more closely to the standard format with his run of the Tonight Show. Maybe having Leno doing that directly before will give him the breathing room to find his own groove and refocus on what he does well: especially the interviews.

 

[Brandon Conway]

http://tv.gawker.com/5445941/

 

[Patrick_S]

Full disclosure, I’m one of those individuals who likes all of the players in mess. I simply don’t understand the “if you like one you can’t like the other” crowd. In fact I like all of the late night hosts on NBC and CBS and DVR them so I can listen to their monologues and then continue watching if I like the guests they have on. I never got into Kimble but to be fair I have caught some of his video skits and found them funny.
So here is my take on this whole situation.
The first mistake NBC made was acquiescing to Conan's demands back in 2004 and telling Leno that he was "retiring" in 2009. Considering how poorly Conan has done in retaining The Tonight Shows' position of number one it looks like it was the wrong decision. I know that many in this forum think that Leno's show at 10pm is the reason but that is just grasping at straws for an excuse. Conan has had plenty of A list guests but the reality is even his toned downed shtick is simply not gaining traction with the 11:30 audience.
The second mistake they made was creating the 10pm show for Leno. As painful as it was to see him leave they should have let him go once they committed to Conan. I’m certain that people at NBC started to realize far too late that if Leno went to Fox or ABC that they would soon be finding themselves in third place behind Leno and Letterman and that put them into a panic so they created this crazy situation with Leno at 10pm.
So now NBC is on the raggedy edge of a maelstrom that can only result in a messy end. So what are they to do?
Well it looks as if no one at NBC has the personal fortitude to make the tough decisions so they have floated this crazy new line up idea hoping one of them leaves of their own accord. My money is on Conan and my guess is that behind closed doors at NBC they are hoping he walks. After all, he was given a chance and he failed to maintain the networks position as number one at 11:30. They probably reason that if he goes to another network it’s no big deal since his new show will probably be looking up at Leno and Letterman in the rating for years to come.

 

[Nelson Au]

Letterman had a fun time last night with this again. I usually watch him over Leno and Conan.

Not sure what the right thing to do is. But I don't think the idea of Leno for half an hour makes sense to me. It feels like Leno is being short changed if they give him his 11:35 slot back, but if it only goes for 1/2 hour, what's the point? And it's not fair to Conan either. It does seem one has to go to make it work right. And it seems to me, Leno should stay and Conan would proably do better at Fox. Inspite of his dream to take over The Tonight Show. From what I read, the media watchers think he's a better fit there. But I don't know, I never watched him when he did his 12:35 show much unless I couldn't sleep.

 

[Joe_H]

Originally Posted by Patrick_S

My money is on Conan and my guess is that behind closed doors at NBC they are hoping he walks. After all, he was given a chance and he failed to maintain the networks position as number one at 11:30. They probably reason that if he goes to another network it’s no big deal since his new show will probably be looking up at Leno and Letterman in the rating for years to come.

If they do that, they're probably helping in the short term, but really screwing themselves over in the long run, since Conan's audience skews much younger than the rest from what I understand.

 

[EricSchulz]

Simple solution: keep the NBC late night line-up as it is, let Leno take Oprah's job.

 

[Mikah Cerucco]

I've no horse in the race since I don't regularly watch any of them, but I can say that as an old stand up comedy fan, Leno (himself, not his show) is the only one I'd watch for stand-up comedy, as he's the only one I find genuinely funny (as opposed to silly). Even when NBC gave Leno the Tonight Show over Letterman, I liked the decision from an entertainment standpoint because guests and stupid pet tricks aside, I simply enjoy Jay's comedy more. When he has on Bill Maher or Aresnio, I enjoy it because they are all people who were really good at their craft back in the day.
thought NBC was crazy to let Jay go until I read places like here to see there are many who prefer Conan. All the hosts have their fans. So, I just sit back and watch the drama play out. Still, there's a party of me that wants Jay Leno on TV, because of all the talk show hosts currently on, he's the one I enjoy a laugh with (even though I rarely watch).

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Originally Posted by Nelson Au

Not sure what the right thing to do is. But I don't think the idea of Leno for half an hour makes sense to me. It feels like Leno is being short changed if they give him his 11:35 slot back, but if it only goes for 1/2 hour, what's the point? And it's not fair to Conan either. It does seem one has to go to make it work right.

I've heard that Conan has some sort of out clause in his contract that forces NBC to pay him a huge fee (potentially 8 figures) if he doesn't get at least half of the 11:30-12:30 time slot.

Can't confirm or deny that, though!

 

[Joe_H]

Conan just released a statement that he will not continue with the show at 12:05 if that's what they choose.

 

[Greg.K]

Conan nixes the 12:05 idea.

mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/12/conan-obrien-says-he-wont-do-tonight-show-following-leno/

Good for him.

 

[Jeff Adkins]

Conan just released a statement. Looks like he's leaving.

http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/01/12/conan-on-conan-at-1205a-do-not-want/38604

The more I think about this, the more I think Conan is going to Fox. ABC doesn't want him since Nightline is doing so well. The only real problem with him going to Fox is that the Fox affiliates don't seem to want him either.

http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/01/11/fox-affiliates-lukewarm-on-conan/38459

I feel bad for the guy. I'm not a fan of his comedy, but you can't help but not like the guy on a personal level.

But the bottom line is the bottom line and if putting Leno back on at 11:30 means millions of dollars for NBC, they'd be crazy not to do it.