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Conan O’Brien Moves to TBS

April 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment

CoCo to Cable! Late-night television host Conan O’Brien is headed to cable channel TBS to resume his comedic duties, with a talk show expected to debut in November. He had been in discussions with Fox about starting a talk show at that network, but negotiations apparently faltered, resulting in O’Brien beginning serious talks with TBS just last week.

Conan O'Brien

Per Marquee Blog:

“In three months I’ve gone from network television to Twitter to performing live in theater, and now I’m headed to basic cable,” O’Brien said in the statement. “My plan is working perfectly.”

O’Brien was booted from his job hosting “The Tonight Show” in January, when NBC decided that Jay Leno’s 10 p.m. nightly show wasn’t cutting it and the network gave Leno back his old slot after only eight months. Rather than head back to his 12:30 a.m. show, or even to 12:05 a.m., he left NBC. O’Brien, who is hitting the road today for a two-month standup comedy tour, reportedly signed a 5 year contract for a price being described only as “competitive.” The deal also makes him owner of the show. TBS also announced that O’Brien’s untitled show will air four nights a week, Mondays through Thursdays, at 11 p.m. George Lopez’s “Lopez Tonight” late-night show already airs on the cable net, but will get pushed back to midnight to accommodate O’Brien’s new venture – But not before O’Brien doublechecked to make sure he wasn’t doing to someone else what was done to him on NBC.

Per TMZ:

Sources tell TMZ the idea of bringing Conan to TBS was hatched by Turner’s entertainment chief Steve Koonin. We’re told Koonin went to George Lopez and said he would only approach Conan if George gave his blessing. We’re told George immediately figured out that having Conan as an 11:00 PM lead-in would be nothing short of amazing for a midnight show. With Lopez on board, we’re told Koonin then approached Conan with the idea. Conan’s first reaction — he didn’t want to do to someone else what was done to him, referring to NBC’s decision to blindside Conan. Koonin told Conan that George had signed off, but Conan wanted to make sure. George then called Conan to reassure him he was on board and thought they would be great partners.

And there’s this … George Lopez is saying, “I totally support Conan’s decision … We’ll have the best hair in late night.”

I thought it was very classy that Conan originally turned downed the offer when it meant moving Lopez. Equally classy (and smart) for Lopez to talk Conan into it. Lopez’ show wasn’t even on the radar during the talk show wars and today everyone is quoting him. I think this now puts Lopez ahead of Kimmel in the pecking order. Team Lo-Co!

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Leno vs. Conan vs. NBC- The Saga Continues

January 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment

NBC suits made it official over the weekend: Jay Leno will be moved from primetime.

jay-leno-and-conan-obrien

‘The Jay Leno Show,’ which has been airing at 10:00 PM EST, will now be pushed back to 11:30 PM EST and shortened to a half hour long with Conan O’Brien following at midnight.

However, the change has made our favorite Ginger-Boy a little angry.

Via The Feed:

“NBC has asked Leno to move to 11:35 p.m. and host a half-hour show, followed by O’Brien’s hourlong “Tonight Show” and Fallon’s one-hour “Late Night.” Leno is expected to agree to the change, though it’s unclear if O’Brien is willing to stay with the network. The comedian has had multiple overtures from networks and on Friday a Fox source called O’Brien ‘a good fit’ for the network.”

Fox has no late-night show of its own.

So far, Conan has kept mum on his feelings regarding the change in the line-up. However, I have a feeling he’s going to be spotted by paps leaving Chateau Marmont on the arm of Rupert Murdoch any day now.

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Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien NBC Shake-Up

January 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

jay-leno-vs-conan

Apparently, Jay Leno’s new show is falling hard. So hard that local networks are complaining that, due to poor viewership of ‘The Jay Leno Show,’ their nightly newscasts are losing viewers by the truckloads.

Yesterday, TMZ reported that NBC decided to move Leno back to his original 11:30 PM time-slot.

“We’ve learned Jay’s 10:00 PM show will go on hiatus February 1. After the Olympics, Jay will take back his 11:30 PM time slot. What has not been decided — whether Jay’s show will be a half hour, followed by Conan, or whether Jay’s show will be an hour and NBC says sayonara to Mr. O’Brien.”

However, other sources are revealing that’s not so much the case.

Via Deadline Hollywood:

“On tonight’s monologue, Jay Leno sounds upset, even going so far to say he has “trust” issues with NBC right now. Which indicates that Leno and his reps are fighting NBC’s attempts to cancel The Jay Leno Show at 10 PM primetime Monday through Friday. That would violate his 5-year contract in which the network gave his show a 2-year iron-clad commitment. But NBC doesn’t want to absorb the penalty — ‘it’s just too big’ — so their solution is to find a place for Jay in late night. But, wait — wouldn’t Leno like NBC’s idea to return him to the 11:35 PM time slot he called home from 1992-2009? Not so much if it’s an abbreviated half-hour that’s just a lead-in to Conan. That’s right, TMZ is wrong: I’m telling you that Leno is not being offered The Tonight Show.”

Perhaps we should settle this the old-fashioned way with a Hamilton vs. Burr style duel? My money is on the redhead.

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