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Last week, with Conan O’Brien getting ready to leave the air, Team Coco dominated the Internet. This week, with Jay Leno preparing for an image-rehab visit to Oprah tomorrow, the race to be “the only one out there sticking up for Jay Leno” is starting to get crowded. Mark Evanier argues that Jay is not the bad guy and that NBC’s decision …
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“Ladies and gentlemen,” Conan O’Brien intoned at the beginning of his final Tonight Show, “we have exactly one hour to steal every single item in this studio.”
Well, how about the audience? Can you fit them under your jacket? In his final show, O’Brien left with a mix of gratitude, rebellious humor and the implicit promise to be back, …
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Because of the NBC Nightly News’ bizarre obsession with prioritizing actual important news, the segment I taped yesterday on that network’s late-night wars was shuffled off to the Web. For those of you still interested, you can see me holding forth for about five seconds, in front of the giant books in the fake library I retire to …
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NBC and Conan O’Brien have finally signed the deal making the host’s split from the Tonight Show after this week official. You can read the details here. The question I want to ask this morning—and there are a lot of questions going forward from here—is: was shafting O’Brien on the Tonight …
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Taiwanese Animated Hulk-Conan smash!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJ9m1an-pQ8]
[h/t The Awl.]
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Last night on The Jay Leno Show, Jay gave his side of the Tonight Show takeover in terms that were his most direct yet.
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The bit where he gave a pained sigh before deciding, “Yeah, I’ll take the show back”? [About 3:30 in.] Don’t think it was meant to be a laugh line.
In a nutshell: NBC …
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Can NBC be publicly shamed into keeping Conan O’Brien at the Tonight Show?
No, probably not. Let’s get that out of the way. These are TV-businesspeople we’re talking about.
Still, the level of public mockery and pressure that NBC has come in for in the last few days has been impressive—and it could have benefits for O’Brien, even …
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This morning, courtesy of the home office in Wahoo, Nebraska:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XfcH7rIgwM]
Two thoughts:
1. It must feel good for Dave to vent nearly two decades’ worth of pent-up Jay bashing. See also his monologue last night. (“Jimmy Kimmel was so convincing as Leno that today NBC canceled him.”)
2. Jeff …
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David Letterman has been killing it the past few nights when it comes to the Jaypocalypse, in which he has a long-standing personal investment. But the most audacious and outrageously funny late-night take on the situation yet belongs to Jimmy Kimmel, who did his entire show last night as Jay Leno. See it here in its entirety:
[vodpod …
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In all the NBC late-night drama, I’ve made a point of not treating Jay Leno as the bad guy. I was not a fan of The Jay Leno Show nor of his Tonight Show, but a lot of other people were, and he did a good job making a show that they loved. He didn’t ask to get bumped off the Tonight Show, nor can I blame him for wanting it back.
That …
Tuned InTV Ratings
Let me take off my TV-critic hat for a minute and put on my TV-business hat. Everyone’s assumption now—a well-founded one, it seems—is that, forced to choose between Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien, NBC will pick Jay. Leaving aside fairness, funniness or cosmic justice, is that the right business pick?
Short-term, I have to say: …
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Let it not be said that Conan O’Brien lacks company loyalty. Even as O’Brien was busy getting publicly screwed over by his network, he was on the Tonight Show, making fun of his own situation while giving a plug to Howie Mandel and Deal or No Deal:
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The guy who’s having the best time with the Jaypocalypse and NBC’s Conanundrum? David Letterman. For now, anyway. Here’s a preview of his hit tonight (since I’m sure you’ll be watching to see what Conan has to say). The title gives away the punch line, but it’s funny anyway:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msC3uu4KZbg]
