Based on this thread I’m surprised Conan’s ratings are not 80%. 
It’s backfiring - he’s coming off as incredibly ungracious and obnoxious. He’s basically getting whatever he wants here and he’s whining non-stop about being canceled?! What a tool - I never understood how he had such a “nice guy” reputation.
Perhaps you don’t remember when the Leno-Letterman debacle was in full flower, Leno was constantly talking about how NBC stood for “Never Believe your Contract” and ripping the network night after night in his monologs.
All’s fair in love, war and contract negotiations.
Are you kidding? All he “wanted” was to have the Tonight Show at the timeslot it has always been at, which has been guaranteed to him for six years. I don’t possibly see how you view that as ungracious and obnoxious. They didn’t support him and when ratings bombed they bring back Leno, even though I could’ve sworn he wanted to retire…
Grrr. I didn’t want to wade into this thread, but I when these mixups happen on the dope, it is like an eyelash in my eye…I can’t relax until it is set straight.
He was referring to Leno. Dio was saying that Leno was being all ‘rawrrrr’ and then Rodgers was saying, “It’s backfiring on him (meaning Leno)” and now you are misunderstanding and thinking that he meant Conan.
Now that I am sucked into the thread, I will say that I hate, hate, hate Leno.
I find him corny and unfunny while trying so hard to be hip and funny. I find Conan funny and hip, while his schtick is to be corny and nerdy.
I used to love Letterman most of all, but long ago started liking Conan a bit more. I actually see that as a bizarre betrayal to my dad, with whom I used to stay up wayyyy too late to laugh at Letterman. My dad died before Conan started, so I always feel guilty for liking Conan better.
Now everyone knows what a weirdo I am about latenight tv, all because you couldn’t follow the stupid thread.
Thanks, exactly correct.
Seriously, I would love to see HBO and Bill Carter’s (New York Times writer and author of the book which The Late Shift was based on) take on this.
I’m in the camp that dislikes Leno, prefers Conan, Letterman and anything else on. The way I see it, Conan got screwed over.
I don’t really watch late night tv that much these days but if I did have a choice it’s Letterman, Conan, Ferguson, Fallon, sportsnews, reruns, infomercials, then Leno.
I really hope Leno falls flat when he gets the rebooted Tonight show or whatever show he gets. He’s not that funny, he’s a terrible interviewer and kevin eubanks is annoying.
I’m on team CoCo and the Booger.
Holy shit. Jimmy Kimmel is doing his entire show tonight in a Jay Leno costume, complete with voice impersonation and guest ass-kissing. This keeps getting better and better.
And Rosie O’Donnell cancelled her appearance on Leno tonight, stating that she wanted nothing to do with someone who is responsible for ruining so many other talk shows. I can’t believe I’m actually standing behind something ROSIE said!
Chevy Chase came out dressed like Conan. This is the first time in years a network has pulled me away from Adult Swim and Fox’s Seinfeld and Earl reruns.
Damn, this whole thing sucks! I’m a fan of both Leno and Conan, not so much the shows, but the monologue and the bits. I always watch Leno’s Tonight Show monologue, and most of his first bit, especially Headlines. I do the same now for his 10pm show.
NBC really screwed up on this one. Instead of having the #1 show on 11:30 and 12:30, now one of them’s gone and the other’s going to try to recapture his glory. I have no doubt Leno can get the ratings for the Tonight Show back to most of what it was, but I think NBC will have permanently lost a portion of their audience after this fuckup. Plus, I won’t have Conan anymore for who knows how long.
This is why people think network types and Hollywood is filled with snakes. NBC signed the contract so honor them. Fuck the affiliates, keep Jay at 10 and Conan at 11:30. Give Conan 2 years, the exact same time they gave Leno when he started out, to do his thing. Let him run wild, it’s the only thing that will fix this situation. Unfortunately, a move like that takes balls and apparently nobody at NBC has any anymore
Here’s what I would do if I was in charge of NBC:
First, keep Conan. Then, fire Leno. The end.
Or, if Leno’s contract with Satan forbade my aforementioned shit-canning, I’d let him keep his 10pm show one night a week-- say, Thursdays. Make it something that people would look forward to each week, rather than letting it serve as nightly filler for when nothing else is on.
Yeah. I think that’s about a gracious as you can get while being involved in something that privately has to be completely devastating. To struggle the way he did when he first started to rise all they way to host the Tonight Show…to have it ripped away after 7 months. Ughhh…
Did you catch Andy’s last episode when he left to do his own show? The last segment, now THAT was a tear-jerker. 
Conan’s agent or lawyer is trying to argue that his deal “implies” he is guaranteed 11:35. Doesn’t sound like that argument will work.
Now imagine another network signs Leno to go head-to-head against Conan. And imagine Leno then starts beating Conan. How secure is your job?
With these executives, not likely. Were they more sane, they’d see that Conan’s a better bet for the long haul, and that a strong competitor on another network can be a positive force. Not like the cancer of having competitors on the SAME network.
In any event, this has surely made for great short-term ratings. Maybe this is NBC’s answer to the Letterman scandal?
It seems to have perked up all of the late night hosts, actually. It’s interesting to watch the writing get crisper and more effective when they have some inside baseball to talk about.
It’s supremely hilarious to me to read the multitude of posts which argue: “I like Conan the best, therefore NBC should agree that Conan’s views concerning the contract are more solid than Leno’s.”
Is there any indication that Conan and Leno have diverging views on the contract? Conan’s letter claims only that the proposed change would be deleterious. The posts here instead seem to argue “I like Conan the best, so NBC should side with him rather than Leno”; this is more reasonable.