# Leno/Conan Shakeup at NBC **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 7, 2010, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073 "2010-01-07T21:31:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 25
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/481 "2010-01-16T06:57:48Z")
Ok, so if you are Conan, what is you next move? I’d do this: Realize that the current late night bullshit is host, competent but unremarkable band, monologue, half assed skit, Guest #1, Guest #2, Music Guest. Repeat until you are fucking bored to death. Like just about everyone watching. Who the fuck would want to watch that? It is comedian hell. So, you are Conan and you are out in LA, and FOX is about the only option. But FOX has this hidden gem, the old MAD TV crew. You are a funny guy,and that MAD TV was fucking funny. So get your shit together with what is left of MAD TV cast and writers, and just go to fucking town with the funny shit. Skip the boring talk show crap, and be funnier than SNL 5 days a week. Quit trying to go for the aging audience and go for the young with real comedy and not the crap that everyone else puts out doing the exact same thing Carson did for 20+ fucking years. Get the fuck over that and get funny! ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/482 "2010-01-16T09:39:51Z")
I’m pretty indifferent to it all, since I do not watch either. But I do resent what NBS has done to their prime-time line up. It seems like they have been declining for a decade. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/483 "2010-01-16T10:14:37Z")
If he moves to Fox, he’ll be back on the same network as the Simpsons. That opens up all kinds of possibilities for crossovers, gags, you name it. Maybe Conan could even write an episode or two while getting a new show geared up, and get back some of the old mojo, monorail-style. ---
**Author:** ![BKReporter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@BKReporter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BKReporter)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/484 "2010-01-16T14:09:45Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > I’m pretty indifferent to it all, since I do not watch either. But I do resent what NBS has done to their prime-time line up. It seems like they have been declining for a decade. I’d also question just how well did they really do back in the 90s. It seems they had one really good night a week (the Must See TV line up on Thursdays), with maybe two other so-so nights (Tuesday and Sunday), and a bunch of lame attempts to launch the Must See brand and Dateline on all the rest of the nights. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/485 "2010-01-16T14:48:21Z")
Well, it’s been mentioned a few times in this thread that NBC choosing Leno over O’Brien is short-term thinking, and that in five years Leno will be even older, his audience will be even older, etc. Maybe NBC has decided that The Tonight Show only has a few years left anyway. The world is changing too much. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/486 "2010-01-16T15:46:49Z")
> [@bup](#): > > Well, it’s been mentioned a few times in this thread that NBC choosing Leno over O’Brien is short-term thinking, and that in five years Leno will be even older, his audience will be even older, etc. > > Maybe NBC has decided that The Tonight Show only has a few years left anyway. The world is changing too much. I rather doubt it. I think that NBC thinks Jay will work until he is in his mid-70’s. He loves his work, is in great health, and may even outlast Carson in terms of tenure…excluding the weird 7 months or so he has not been the host. I wonder how long Conan would have stayed on the air. 20 years? ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/487 "2010-01-16T16:27:20Z")
Carson retired at age 67 after 30 years. If Leno stays 30 years he would retire at age 72 in 2022. TV could be very different in 12 years or even 5 years. For his 2 shows combined Letterman has done 28 years and he’s 62. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/488 "2010-01-16T16:55:00Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > …For his 2 shows combined Letterman has done 28 years and he’s 62. And he’s always looked 62. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/489 "2010-01-16T18:53:14Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > For his 2 shows combined Letterman has done 28 years and he’s 62. Yeah but…Jay has actually been _funny_ ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/490 "2010-01-16T19:08:59Z")
> [@Dag\_Otto](#): > > Ok, so if you are Conan, what is you next move? Comedy-wise and market-wise, Conan would fit in nicely at Comedy Central, but they clearly could not afford him. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/491 "2010-01-16T19:39:37Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I rather doubt it. I think that NBC thinks Jay will work until he is in his mid-70’s. He loves his work, is in great health, and may even outlast Carson in terms of tenure…excluding the weird 7 months or so he has not been the host. I understand that; my point is that there may not be a _Tonight Show_ to host in five years. The difference between broadcast and cable channels shrinks every day, people watch entertainment on the internet, and people watch local news less and less. NBC may see the handwriting on the wall, and so they’re only planning on the host for the next five years, when they pull the plug. ---
**Author:** ![2ply](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/b2d939/32.png) [@2ply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2ply)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/492 "2010-01-16T20:19:02Z")
I think Leno can last into his mid-70s or whenever. He has a _very_ loyal audience. His 10pm ratings were still better than any other show on late night. I think Leno sucks, but he’s a routine for millions of people who’ll watch him for years until they’re all in wheelchairs gathered around the living room of the nursing home. Conan’s only good option is Fox. ABC isn’t going to push out Nightline or Kimmel. Cable would mean taking a big pay cut. The CW is as good as being on cable, and their prime time audience of teenage girls thinks Conan is a big orange dork. Fox can give him 11pm. Plus, they’ll let him own his own show, which is where the money will be. Murdoch has also been willing to throw money at things in the past even when they lose money, so Conan will be given plenty of time to build an audience without a lot of pressure. Fox will be happy with his 2-3 million viewers. He can do a lot more edgier stuff on Fox and the network can promote the hell out of him. God, having Conan as a guest judge on American Idol would be awesome. Oh, I can dream. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/493 "2010-01-16T20:27:38Z")
What the Internet people say has little to do with anything. Again, if you’re not a Nielsen family your opinion doesn’t matter. Those people decide what stays and goes. TV is not a representative market. It’s a market made up of people who the TV stations want to sell ads to. This is different. Google does make tons of money, pretty much no one else on the Internet does. Google makes more in ad revenue than ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX COMBINED. But not so for Yahoo and others. Amazon the most successful realitor has a click through rate of 29%. The next most successful sell site, eBay comes in at 14%. Most others have less than 1%. Hulu and all those sites don’t make money. YouTube loses million after million. But Google has truck loads of money to spend, so they can keep YouTube afloat. Part of a contract for making a movie or TV show is to promote said product. This is not option for a celebrity to go on TV and say “I won’t go on so and so’s show.” The ratings for both the Leno and O’Brien show are hot now. This is good news for NBC. This makes them in a better position. Even though the reason people are watching is because of the controversy. Remember in the 80s when Valarie Harper, got tossed off her own show “Valarie,” which later became the “Hogan Family.” Harper sued and won and long story short, she was happy. Why? Because what most people don’t know was Harper owned 25% of the show. Harper didn’t want to kill the show off, because in reality it was making money for her anyway. Same with NBC, they may not like it but if it gets ratings they make money Will Conan go to FOX? Perhaps, but the FOX stations make much more money by airing local product. This way they keep ALL the ad revenue. It will cost FOX at least 50 million dollars to launch a show. Other FOX affiliates have contracts with syndicators already. FOX would have to help those stations buy out those contracts or risk having the Conan show bumped to another time. And Conan has not shown any reason for anyone to think he can do better than he did on NBC. Conan HAS to twice as well on FOX as he did on NBC to keep from FOX giving him the boot. FOX is already having issues with Simon Cowell leaving “American Idol,” will the show still be #1? Who knows, but I think Cowell is a large part of the #1 rating. Conan also has to think. If he failed at NBC and goes to FOX, and fails there, he’s totally washed up. If he leaves NBC and stays away from TV, taking his settlement, and goes back to writing his value continues to be an unknown factor and he can later on come back. Who is right and wrong is simply publicity. The more NBC plays it up the better the ratings. Like the Kimmel thing, can you say “Publicity stunt?” NBC didn’t have to air that show if they didn’t want to. WOW suddenly Lenos ratings go up. In my opinion FOX should hire Conan for \*the Simpsons \*. Maybe he can turn that show around to the level it was at whe he worked there. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/494 "2010-01-16T20:39:07Z")
> [@bup](#): > > I understand that; my point is that there may not be a _Tonight Show_ to host in five years. The difference between broadcast and cable channels shrinks every day, people watch entertainment on the internet, and people watch local news less and less. NBC may see the handwriting on the wall, and so they’re only planning on the host for the next five years, when they pull the plug. That’s ridiculous. The Tonight Show costs very little to produce and makes back a good chunk of money. Obviously, paying Conan a huge contract like they did may not happen ever again, but The Tonight Show will probably always be there on NBC, even if it turns into a revolving door of hosts like they did on the Late Late Show when looking for Craig Kilborn’s replacement. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/495 "2010-01-16T20:56:24Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > It seems so simple to me, and probably it does to most others too. > > Leno retires from late Night. Tries a show in Prime Time. Fails. Gets cancelled. Goodbye Leno. The end. It seems simpler to the Network. Conan gets paid 20 million and proceeds to lose 200 million in revenue in 7 months. Gets fired. The end. It’s not a charity. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/496 "2010-01-16T21:11:47Z")
Our local Fox station has sitcom reruns at 11. They don’t keep all the money since they have to pay for the shows but I bet they still do well. They just changed shows , now they run 2 episodes of the Office from 11-12 and 2 Seinfelds from 12-1. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/497 "2010-01-16T21:17:16Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > It seems simpler to the Network. Conan gets paid 20 million and proceeds to lose 200 million in revenue in 7 months. Gets fired. The end. Read back through the thread. Placing all of the blame at Conan’s feet is shortsighted at best and a downright dirty lie at worst. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/498 "2010-01-16T23:16:46Z")
[Rally for CoCo at Universal on Monday](http://www.facebook.com/bethanydwyer?v=photos&so=30#/event.php?eid=264316979168&ref=mf) (Facebook link, but viewable by non-Facebookers) Sure, seems everything is a done deal at this point, but it’s a chance to get in on the fun of the big mess. Also, the Red Cross will be in attendance taking donations- so, folks get to fan-wank, have a good time, give NBC the finger, make Conan feel warm and fuzzy while double tasking all this with helping the Red Cross with something considerably more real. I’ll be there. Should be fun. You’re supposed to wear orange. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/499 "2010-01-17T00:04:52Z")
Man, when NBC finally goes under, Conan’s gonna have a hell of a show that night. Then Fox will replace him with Leno. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/500 "2010-01-17T02:06:09Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Read back through the thread. Placing all of the blame at Conan’s feet is shortsighted at best and a downright dirty lie at worst. Conan is responsible for his time slot. He is a poor substitute for Leno or Carson and the numbers show it. He belongs somewhere else doing a different show. It was a bad decision to give it to him and it was a bad decision on his part to take it. His buyout for failing is enough to retire on and he still has many years of a future career ahead of him. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073.md?page=24) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073.md?page=26)