When the Jaypocalypse began to unfold at NBC last January, I doubt there was a person who covers TV who did not think: Well, there’s another book for Bill Carter! Indeed, the New York Times TV-beat guy—who immortalized the Leno-Letterman fight for Tonight with The Late Shift—is coming out with a sequel of sorts (The War for Late …
conan o'brien
Conan to Debut (Sort Of) a Week Early
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pqv8pKypC1Q]
How excited is Conan O’Brien to start doing his new show for all you wonderful people? So excited that he’s launching it a week earlier than planned! Kind of. At 11 p.m. ET on Nov. 1—Conan’s regular time slot once it debuts on TBS Nov. 8—he’ll broadcast “Show Zero” from his …
Conan O'Brien Announces First Week's Guests
Conan O’Brien starts a talk show, he gets Tom Hanks to come by; that’s just the tradition. TBS’s Conan announced it’s first week of guests today, and along with longtime O’Brien stalwart Hanks, he’ll have Seth Rogen, Jack McBrayer (take that, NBC!), Jon Hamm and Julie Bowen. Let’s hope Hanks can avoid being hit by a meteor this …
Conan's Live Cam Is Up, Ready to Give You Buns of Steel
Starting today at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT, the offices of Conan O’Brien’s coming TBS show are home to the 24-hour Live Coco Cam, set up in a stairwell and promising… well, you’ll have to load it to see. Today, they kicked things off with some aerobics (“Right, left, Cyndi-Lauper-style!”) as staffers made their way to work.
As Linda …
Ask Conan O'Brien Anything
Speaking of Conan O’Brien, having conquered Twitter, he’s now putting his attention toward the other social media. (I hear he has his eye on this TV thing as well.) On his Team Coco Facebook page, he’s asking fans to submit questions for him to answer, like a scrawnier, pastier version of the Old Spice guy. His YouTube video explains …
TV Tonight: Outlaw
Outlaw, starring Jimmy Smits, is not a comedy, though it’s from Conan O’Brien’s production company. (Irony alert: the series is on NBC.) In fact, the series—renegade, rule-breaking judge quits the bench and becomes renegade, rule-breaking lawyer—sounds like it could be a show O’Brien would make as a parody. It’s not that either, …
Spoiler Alert! Conan Announces Shocking Name of His New Show
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHeyO2W8aPU]
Ladies and gentlemen, this November, Conan O’Brien is… Conan! Or “Conaw,” depending how you prefer to pronounce it.
The show-title announcement is neither earth-shattering nor a surprise, I guess, but with two months to build hype for the show, and no Emmy win for Tonight to …
Emmy Drama: What Will Happen If Conan Wins?
It might seem unlikely that Conan O’Brien will walk away with an Emmy Sunday night for his short-lived stint atop The Tonight Show, but surely no more unlikely than the fact that he received a nomination in the first place. And if he were to indeed win and hop up on stage to accept his honor, the Hollywood Reporter Esquire Blog is …
While We Weren't Looking: Watch Letterman Kick The Leno Feud Back Into High Gear
Back in January, when the whole Jay Leno Show-Tonight Show controvery was blowing up, David Letterman made something of a short-term fortune in bashing Jay Leno and the suits over at NBC.
Well, I missed this yesterday, but Letterman came back from vacation on Monday night, and seems to have rekindled the anger at his old comedy …
And Now for Something Completely Familiar: Conan's New Ad
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ITDLbBS5MM]
TBS has a new ad for Conan O’Brien‘s late-night show, debuting in November. I’m not sure if it’s reflective of the sensibility of the new show or just the sensibility of the TBS promotions department, but it’s Monty Pythonesque. More in the Terry Gilliam aesthetic than in actually …
Conan Live: O'Brien Toasts His Fans, But They're Buying the Drinks
Halfway into the opening monologue of his stage show at Radio City Music Hall last night, Conan O’Brien stopped to address a woman in the front row, getting to her seat late with a drink from the bar. “That drink better have been worth it,” he mock-scolded, then asked her for a sip. “You can’t just walk into my show late, holding a …
Turner Upfront: Conan, Plus Some TV Channels
From the perspective of Turner Networks executives, the reason to be at their upfront presentation this morning (which previewed the schedules of TBS and TNT), was “reach.” Even though this is traditionally the week that the big broadcast networks present their schedules, they argued, their cable networks reached enough viewers …
Dead Tree Alert: Why Team Coco Matters
In this week’s print issue of TIME, my column looks at Conan O’Brien‘s re-emergence on 60 Minutes (and on tour) and how his move to cable is another test of what it means to be a “star” in the age of niche media. Leaving aside the money (which thanks to a production deal, could earn O’Brien more on cable than on a big network) is it …