As NBC takes a huge dive-bomb in their ratings, it’s come to the time where everyone begins assigning blame. Who shall take the blame for the boneheaded idea of cancelling out all 10 p.m. scheduling in favor of Jay Leno’s inane show? Who will take the blame for putting Conan O’Brien’s “not mainstream enough, yet not quirky enough” humor on The Tonight Show? Who will get the blame for millions of advertising dollars fleeing NBC like rats from a sinking ship? Who will get the blame for NBC not having any of the top twenty shows, week after week after week?
Well, it looks like the f-cking geniuses at NBC programming have decided to blame the talent. And I’m using that word “talent” loosely, of course. PopEater’s gossip guy is reporting that there are some rumors and theories being tossed around that Conan O’Brien is going to get the ax. Not just dumped… but replaced with NBC’s dream candidate, Jerry Seinfeld. Jesus… NBC is run and operated by the biggest idiots in the world:
With Conan O’Brien ratings slipping faster than Tiger Woods’ endorsement appeal, TV executives are telling me that informal discussions have started to occur within 30 Rock as to who would be the home-run replacement for the hysterical but sagging redhead. The name on everyone’s wish list? Jerry Seinfeld.
“NBC just can’t carry on like this. ‘The Tonight Show’ has lost 52 percent of its viewership in just one year. The November ratings will be the show’s lowest in 15 years. They would be idiots to not be having the replacement conversation,” a source tells me.
However, getting Seinfeld — who had a long, successful relationship with NBC in the ’90s and who, ironically, agreed to be the first guest when NBC moved Leno to 10 p.m. — is a long shot and Conan’s people are denying it entirely. NBC spokesperson Drew Shane responded: “Completely false. There are no conversations happening. Conan is the host of the ‘Tonight Show.'”
Way to stand by your man! We love Conan and want him to succeed no matter what timeslot he’s on.
[From PopEater]
I think there might be something to the theory that some higher-ups at NBC want Conan gone, or shuffled back to late-late night. But I honestly think that if they made that douchey move (and it a douchey move, even if Conan does suck on the Tonight Show), they would offer the Tonight Show back to Jay Leno first. And Leno has already said he would take it back, if offered. I sincerely hope everyone at NBC realizes what a magnificent clusterf-ck they’ve gotten themselves into. They deserve my scorn. I will never get used to watching Law & Order at 8 p.m. on a Friday!
Nooooooooooooo!Say it ain’t so; I love my Conesy!
Sadly, the truth is that his new show just isn’t as funny as his old one (I don’t think he’s allowed that creative leeway anymore by NBC), but I’d still watch him over Jerry any day.
Nooo I love Conan! Why did Leno leave in the first place if he wants his old show back?!
I hope this isn’t true. I just felt a couple of weeks ago that Conan finally has gotten used to the new show and is back to his old “conesy” ways.
Conan rocks. He’s sweet.
The only person that will get screwed in all of this is Conan, I am starting to wonder if NBC truly had confidence in Jimmy Fallon. That man has truly hit is stride with better guests, skits and
I am pretty sure his fan base is expanding as well, I know I am one. I think that NBC saw that if Fallon had fail, then they could have given O’Brien a big payout and move him back to New York and everything would be rosy. Here is a suggestion, Leno once a week(its not like he needs the cash, I know Jay is a workaholic but damn) and give O’Brien Carson Daly’s spot. I don’t know how that man has had a show on this long. Or, stop being greedy NBC, realize you were wrong and let Conan out of his contract so he can go to ABC and be the lead in for Kimmel which was the rumor to begin with. Also, if they are paying buttloads for Leno, how the hell are they going to afford Seinfeld.
Poor Conan, I love him! He was and still is the funniest person on late-night TV, hands down, no question. Jerry Seinfeld is a fucking wasteland of a human being. I hope they DO replace Conan, just so that they can watch the remainder of their ratings go right down the toilet. And then they’ll be on their knees begging Conan to come back. And there will be much rejoicing.
NBC sucks!
Conan deserves better than this.
Boo to Seinfeld idea.
Conan deserved better than being knee-capped by NBC and Jay Leno’s ego by sucking away at the Tonight Show’s ratings with that awful Leno show at 10.
If Leno hadn’t done his show, the dang regular lineup wouldn’t have gotten all wonky and instead of staying up to watch Conan, you get people watching Jay’s earlier show, the news, then going to bed.
Conan may not be everybody’s cup of tea, but he deserves better than he’s getting from NBC and Leno. Leno is an ass for saying he’d go back to the Tonight show in a heartbeat.
Sorry you got buyer’s remorse Jay, but you were the one that said it was time to go. Gawd, I couldn’t imagine 5 nights a week of that whiner Seinfeld.
If Jay would stop stealing all the good guests from the Tonight Show, maybe people would actually tune in and watch what I think has become a really enjoyable show. Just the other day he had an amazing show with William Shatner, Sarah Palin, Zach Braff, Bear Grylls and Tony Effing Bennett. And it was AWESOME. People need to give Conan a chance.
Ugh! I hope not… I love Conan and can’t stand Jerry or his plagiarizing wife.
Who says Jerry Seinfeld would even WANT that job? The mistake NBC made was pushing Leno out in the first place. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, as the saying goes. To me Conan is not funny AT ALL. He’s just awkward and weird. Seems like a perfectly affable guy, but he doesn’t make me laugh. He makes me cringe. I’m one of the 52 percent that isn’t watching the Tonight Show anymore, and I won’t, until they get a funny host. The biggest surprise to me in this whole debacle is that Fallon’s show is kicking arse!! He’s got a great band, he’s really funny and he gets great guests – all big improvements over Conan. Find something else for Conan to do, and get Jay back on Tonight.
no, no, no, no, no…stomps feet, pounds fists…no, no, no, no, no
I love Coco! and i absolutely loathe Jerry. never seen Jay’s new show. Not a big fan of Fallon. i only watch three late night shows – Conan’s, Jon Stewart’s, and Stephen Colbert’s.
NBC is obviously run by a team of utter wan<ers. How is a guy (Conan) supposed to have a chance with a new timeslot when they put the old timeslot in before him. They tied his hands together and threw him overboard. No-one watches the Tonight Show because no-one watches Leno, the viewers have found good compelling dramas on other networks at 9pm/8c and then stick with them.
I don’t see Seinfeld a) being up for a daily grind of a show like the Tonight Show and b) working out – he’s brilliant but he’s brilliant because we only get to see him now and again. He’d be too much of a good thing, or too much smarm, whatever your take is.
I only catch the Tonight Show occasionally but ultimately if NBC screw Conan, I will follow Conan to (please) ABC. I might (and suggest we all) send Jeff Zucker a letter entitled “NBC, this is why you suck”.
Maybe they need to consider that this format has run it’s course. I hate all late night talk shows, it is basically fluff pieces and very rehearsed answers by celebrities to promote their latest project. Give me some late night trash talking even Joy Behar and Chesley Lately do a better job at this “late night” forum.
TiaC, how can you possible think Fallon is funny. The guy is terrible and a perfect example of how the untalented and hacky have proliferated in the entertainment industry.
Not to mention he is the worst interviewer I have ever seen. I know the show isn’t deep interviews by any means and just set up anecdotes but he can’t even handle that.
The guys grasps of language and communication is absolutely shocking.
Oh man, I hate what they’re doing to Conan! The Tonight Show has improved, but it’s nothing compared to Late Night With Conan O’Brien. I was dreading this exact situation. I saw some of Jimmy Fallon a few weeks ago when Fred Armisen, Elisabeth Moss and Amy Poehler were playing charades. It was entertaining, but Fallon was an afterthought. I think I caught the wrong episode. Conan’s just not for everybody. People either love him, or wonder ‘what’s wrong with that kid?’ I don’t know if The Tonight Show is really his gig, but I hate to see him get ragged on. Jerry Seinfeld? Why?
This is great – the 15 people actually watching Conan each night have rallied and left comments here! He seems like a good guy but he wasn’t funny at 12:30 and he’s still not funny at 11:30…
Please don’t blame Jay Leno. Back in 2004, I think, NBC anounced that they were going to retire Jay in 2009 and give Conan the Tonight Show even though Jay was the #1 show in late night. If the handover didn’t happen, then NBC was contractually obligated to give Conan something like $40 million (or some such ridiculous number). Jay made jokes about it at NBC’s expense on his show for years and he was thinking of going to ABC or FOX. He probably stayed at NBC to try to keep his staff together and employed.
Yep, I believe Boxy Lady is correct. I used to work at NBC and from what I know, the dumbf*#@ management at NBC decided to get rid of Jay in his slot, even though he was #1, had been very loyal to them and wasn’t asking to be paid as much as he could have.
It was NOT Jay’s idea to leave the Tonight Show and it wasn’t something he wanted. They wanted a younger demographic so they gave Conan big bucks to relocate his family and all of his staff to L.A. and take over the Tonight Show. Then they realized that Jay would probably go to another network and compete with Conan so they were desperate to try to keep him at NBC and came up with the “brilliant” idea of putting him on at 10:00 pm, which theoretically would also save them money by not having to create drama shows for that hour. It was greedy, foolish and unbelievably shortsighted of them to do this. Their stupidity really boggles my mind in this situation and many others.
Now Jay is getting really screwed by looking like a bad guy and the downfall of NBC and Conan is getting screwed by losing a lot of his audience and probably being censored more, which downgrades the quality of his show, making him also look kind of idiotic.
If they axe Conan or Jay at this point, that will be unbelievably ruthless of NBC and will further screw their talent over even more. It makes me wonder if Conan and Jay are wishing they’d never accepted the offers they were given by NBC and had made other choices instead. I feel really bad for both of them. It also makes me wonder what kind of other talent would want to do business with NBC after seeing how they treat people.
love conan..lets just go back to the norm!
Poor Conan! He deserves better. He’s my fave among the late night show hosts.
-meream
I agree with Ben. I am always cracking up at Conana and I never even giggle with Jimmy Fallon. Jimmy Fallon is better as a writer, not a talk show host. He is super awkward and just not funny! Conan is naturally funny, which is more than we can say for Jay! I would be so very sad if they decided to axe him.
I love Conan and I think he’s hilarious! I’d hate to see him replaced by anyone. I think he does a great job.
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If Conan is a celebrated redhead, then why do they use a blue background?
That aesthetic clash is sort of a metaphor for me regarding a kind of awkwardness i get about the show. Not that i have watched it a lot or anything.
But it doesn’t seem like a really smooth experience.
Even if Leno goes back, how long would he be there? It’s impossible to believe they can’t find someone equally bland.
I always liked Letterman better, but now think he’s creepy and angry.
But Letterman is the funniest on his feet, and i think has better writers.
When sports teams tank in a deep way, they often panic and reach back to past stars hoping for past glory.
It’s a fear move and they try to put a brave face on a pathetic weak choice.
They need to axe Jay’s show, put Jay back on the Tonight Show, get the regular shows back that were taken off because of Jay’s show, and let Conan out of his contract so he can go elsewhere. (I, too, stopped watching when Jay left, but now my favorite is Ferguson.)
If they get rid of Conan for Seinfeld, it’s over and done. Seinfeld is awful.
why the hell did they make this stupid shuffle in the first place… and how can two people who had perfectly good ratings all of a sudden take a huge ratings dive? I just don’t get it… they’re doing the same things aren’t they? makes no fucking sense to me…
I think the roots of this go back to the poorly handled Johnny Carson retirement and replacement fiasco.
UGH get rid of Jay Leno! I can’t stand him or Letterman. Their humor is so old and annoying. Why would Jay Leno even agree to give up his time slot if he didn’t want to leave it?! Conan should have stayed at his old spot where his humor didn’t have to be changed or censored like it is at 11:30.
This whole Conan/Leno situation is ridiculous. This seems very similar to the whole Brett Favre fiasco a few years back. Mr. Packer retired his quarterback throne only to plead for his spot back the next year. However the team management felt “out with the old, in with the new!”. Not only has it worked out for the Pack, but Mr. Favre isn’t doing so bad himself. Our society is based on “THE NEWEST, YOUNGEST, HOTTEST THINGS”, maybe NBC needs to acknowledge this! Sooner than later!