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There are a few things you should know about me. 
1- I perform stand-up.
2 - I love ribs, wings, and any combo thereof. 
3 - Conan O'Brien is the shit.  Well, #3 isn't really about me, but it's just as true as #1-2. 

For those of you that don't know - NBC has axed "The Jay Leno Show" at 10pm and are moving him to 11:35pm.  They've given Conan the option of hosting the tonight show at 12:05am (which would actually make it the 'tomorrow' show) OR telling him to get lost.  IE, a big "fuck you" to Conan. 

Besides the obviousness of how shitty it is to ink a deal with Conan years in advance for this show, have him uproot his family/crew/staff from NY to LA, shit on him, etc, here are my thoughts....

What I would like to see happen, even though it seems unlikely, is for Conan to stay at the 11:35 timeslot with NBC.  As sweet as the thought of Conan being on another network like Fox may be (I mean, let's face it, NBC has watered down the Conan we all love to be more safe and less edgy for the 11:35 audience, Fox would let Conan be more edgy, and sidenote: Conan wrote my favorite episode of The Simpsons ever - "Monorail"), here's the reality.  3 late night shows at 11:35 is just too much and will hurt everyone all-around (not to mention you also have Colbert at 11:30 on Comedy Central and Kimmel on ABC at midnight).  Plus, taking Conan off TV for several months (if not longer) while he re-tools his show for another network wouldn't be good.  That being said, I can not reiterate how impressed I was by the statement Conan released today . . . impressed even by Conan standards.  Here's the statement:
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People of Earth:

In the last few days, I’ve been getting a lot of sympathy calls, and I want to start by making it clear that no one should waste a second feeling sorry for me. For 17 years, I’ve been getting paid to do what I love most and, in a world with real problems, I’ve been absurdly lucky. That said, I’ve been suddenly put in a very public predicament and my bosses are demanding an immediate decision.

Six years ago, I signed a contract with NBC to take over The Tonight Show in June of 2009. Like a lot of us, I grew up watching Johnny Carson every night and the chance to one day sit in that chair has meant everything to me. I worked long and hard to get that opportunity, passed up far more lucrative offers, and since 2004 I have spent literally hundreds of hours thinking of ways to extend the franchise long into the future. It was my mistaken belief that, like my predecessor, I would have the benefit of some time and, just as important, some degree of ratings support from the prime-time schedule. Building a lasting audience at 11:30 is impossible without both.

But sadly, we were never given that chance. After only seven months, with my Tonight Show in its infancy, NBC has decided to react to their terrible difficulties in prime-time by making a change in their long-established late night schedule.

Last Thursday, NBC executives told me they intended to move the Tonight Show to 12:05 to accommodate the Jay Leno Show at 11:35. For 60 years the Tonight Show has aired immediately following the late local news. I sincerely believe that delaying the Tonight Show into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting. The Tonight Show at 12:05 simply isn’t the Tonight Show. Also, if I accept this move I will be knocking the Late Night show, which I inherited from David Letterman and passed on to Jimmy Fallon, out of its long-held time slot. That would hurt the other NBC franchise that I love, and it would be unfair to Jimmy.

So it has come to this: I cannot express in words how much I enjoy hosting this program and what an enormous personal disappointment it is for me to consider losing it. My staff and I have worked unbelievably hard and we are very proud of our contribution to the legacy of The Tonight Show. But I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction. Some people will make the argument that with DVRs and the Internet a time slot doesn’t matter. But with the Tonight Show, I believe nothing could matter more.

There has been speculation about my going to another network but, to set the record straight, I currently have no other offer and honestly have no idea what happens next. My hope is that NBC and I can resolve this quickly so that my staff, crew, and I can do a show we can be proud of, for a company that values our work.

Have a great day and, for the record, I am truly sorry about my hair; it’s always been that way.

Yours,

Conan
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What a truly classy response.  CoCo for Time Magazine's Person of the Year . . . I mean, I know we have 11.5 months to go, but come on!

Conan's also addressed these rumors and whatnot in his monologues during the past Friday and Monday shows.  His jabs at NBC are incredibly clever, back to the Conan of "Late Night" with edgy one-liners against the cluster-fuck that is NBC right now.  Kudos, Conan!
 


Comments

Randy Weinstein
01/12/2010 5:02pm

When I opted to play the video, the player delivered an ad and then crashed. Funny, sad, and true....

Reply
Chase Roper link
01/12/2010 5:09pm

We both used the word clusterfuck to describe NBC. I love it.

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Chet Wild link
01/12/2010 5:11pm

RANDY...must be NBC is trying to get the last they can out of ad revenue from Conan without showing his actual showing his work.

For real though, I just played it no problem.

CHASE... a clusterfuck indeed.

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Joe Driscoll
01/14/2010 12:34pm

Yeah. Mine played the ad and then my computer told me internet explorer wasn't responding.

Reply
Chet Wild link
01/14/2010 12:36pm

People still use IE? Yikes. Mozilla or Safari is the way to go, kids!

Reply



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