Conan O'Brien: I won't do 'The Tonight Show' at 12:05

[CarGuy]

Conan O'Brien released a statement Tuesday (Jan. 12) saying he does not want to host "The Tonight Show" if it's moved back to 12:05 a.m., as NBC has proposed.

The text of his statement:

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 primetime 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

Conan O'Brien: I won't do 'The Tonight Show' at 12:05 - From Inside the Box - Zap2it

 

[Gullwing]

Way back in 2003? when I heard Jay talking about him giving up the Tonight Show for Conan I thought that was stupid, and they have shown it to be true.
Plus the NBC management are just running the company into the ground so that doesn't help at all.

When I was little NBC was my favorite channel (no reason just picked it), but over time I found I had no reason to have it as my favorite and now I just don't care for it at all. Only show I watch at all is Jay. I watched him a lot on Tonight, but at 10 he is just too early for me.

 

[LaArtist]

Meh he should go off the air all together..
he sucks..

Letterman Rules

 

[klier]

This whole thing is a big American drama I will stay far away from...

 

[HighestOfHigh]

This whole thing is a big American drama I will stay far away from...

We love Drama.

But honestly Conan is the least of my worries. Even though they did him wrong. Especially considering what happened in Haiti with all those lives lost.

 

[CarGuy]

Personally having watched the shows (Letterman, Leno and Conan) for years I have some opinions on this topic. I can't really stand Leno simply because he was the new kid on the block in the 1990's having had no previous television experience besides comedy tours and performances around the country at various events.

The network promised Letterman the take-over after Carson and then they go and screw over Dave by giving the position a few months before to Leno (having announced for years Letterman would take over). Letterman was really upset and although good friends with Jay he never took the decision lightly. He broke all friendship connections with Jay and NBC he did not want to hear about anymore, moving his whole franchise over to CBS. He still makes jokes and mentions NBC and Jay quite often making fun of him is a squeaky voice and saying "the NBC executives would not be where they were if they did not know what they were doing" obviously sarcastic. Just this week he had a big talk on this and he thinks they are trying to screw over Conan, maybe make him leave and do his show from his basement but he is a smart kid.

If Jay was a good friend he would have rejected the position knowing it would upset greatly the one deserving the position being Dave. And do not worry about his money situation back then since he had made performances around towns for more than 10 years and was already well loaded into the millions. And now Conan having being promised this slot is getting screwed over once again.

It seems NBC like screwing these great talents over so many times. I think Leno has somebody working for him or somebody really likes him up there at the executive levels because he is compared to the other 2 not as good of a host. He is a very poor interviewer and many times gets nervous and shaky and you can tell he is panicking as he is interviewing the guest. He is not relaxed chilled guy that does not care and can brush it off with a smile or a joke or acting goofy. Letterman is much more relaxed and composed with a lot more confidence. Conan excels at this, he can get out of anything acting goofy and nerdy and its funny and it always works. Leno lacks a lot of confidence and sometimes when Kevin asks him what was that u said Jay, he does not want to repeat it, because he knows how stupid it was and is all embarrassed, you can tell he has no confidence is what I am trying to say.

So I really think Leno is not a great host to begin with and I don't know how he has all this audience because after switching to Letterman a few years back I was amassed at the difference. What I am trying to argue for is that Leno is not a good host at all and Conan I see much more valuable and with much more potential to grow and bring profits to NBC. I think the executives are making the mistake twice and Conan could leave to FOX to make some big millions. The best solution is to let Leno go and have Conan in his spot. Leno has more than enough money and he has hosted the show for 17 years, very respectable what more does he want. He is 59 while Conan is only 46 I think.

That is my opinion on this.

 

[chonkoa]

Personally having watched the shows (Letterman, Leno and Conan) for years I have some opinions on this topic. I can't really stand Leno simply because he was the new kid on the block in the 1990's having had no previous television experience besides comedy tours and performances around the country at various events.

The network promised Letterman the take-over after Carson and then they go and screw over Dave by giving the position a few months before to Leno (having announced for years Letterman would take over). Letterman was really upset and although good friends with Jay he never took the decision lightly. He broke all friendship connections with Jay and NBC he did not want to hear about anymore, moving his whole franchise over to CBS. He still makes jokes and mentions NBC and Jay quite often making fun of him is a squeaky voice and saying "the NBC executives would not be where they were if they did not know what they were doing" obviously sarcastic. Just this week he had a big talk on this and he thinks they are trying to screw over Conan, maybe make him leave and do his show from his basement but he is a smart kid.

If Jay was a good friend he would have rejected the position knowing it would upset greatly the one deserving the position being Dave. And do not worry about his money situation back then since he had made performances around towns for more than 10 years and was already well loaded into the millions. And now Conan having being promised this slot is getting screwed over once again.

It seems NBC like screwing these great talents over so many times. I think Leno has somebody working for him or somebody really likes him up there at the executive levels because he is compared to the other 2 not as good of a host. He is a very poor interviewer and many times gets nervous and shaky and you can tell he is panicking as he is interviewing the guest. He is not relaxed chilled guy that does not care and can brush it off with a smile or a joke or acting goofy. Letterman is much more relaxed and composed with a lot more confidence. Conan excels at this, he can get out of anything acting goofy and nerdy and its funny and it always works. Leno lacks a lot of confidence and sometimes when Kevin asks him what was that u said Jay, he does not want to repeat it, because he knows how stupid it was and is all embarrassed, you can tell he has no confidence is what I am trying to say.

So I really think Leno is not a great host to begin with and I don't know how he has all this audience because after switching to Letterman a few years back I was amassed at the difference. What I am trying to argue for is that Leno is not a good host at all and Conan I see much more valuable and with much more potential to grow and bring profits to NBC. I think the executives are making the mistake twice and Conan could leave to FOX to make some big millions. The best solution is to let Leno go and have Conan in his spot. Leno has more than enough money and he has hosted the show for 17 years, very respectable what more does he want. He is 59 while Conan is only 46 I think.

That is my opinion on this.

+1

 

[ZicZachZo]

I don't blame Conan, NBC bows down to Jay Leno for reasons that I will probably never know. He's funny but he's just generic funny. He's not spur of the moment funny, he's calculated funny. That's where I think that Conan and Dave are way better. They are quick, witty, and ummm talented... Anyway, Jay had the best ratings and I guess when it comes down to it that is what matters most in the business. It'd be awesome, in a show of defiance to the management, if Conan, Jimmy and Carson (actually who cares about Carson, nobody watches that weirdo anyway) all left the company and went to Fox and started their own late night lineup. That'd be a nice eff you to NBC that they totally deserve after all of this crap.

 

[HighestOfHigh]

I can't really stand Leno simply because he was the new kid on the block in the 1990's

 

[Gullwing]

Jay is very balanced, he does not go after one person hard. He goes after both Democrats and Republicans. Jay is very relaxed and doesn't do the hard hitting interviews, he just makes the guest look good. That is why get had great ratings.
Conan could be good, but he is still just too "high school" for me. Materbating bear might be funny once or twice, but once every week or two just gets old. Once he grows up a bit he will do great.
Dave hammers Republicans just look at what he has done to Palin and her kids. Jay or Conan would not have made the joke about having her 14 year old getting knocked up by Arod. "He wasn't talking about the 14 year old" BS he has tons of writers to check everything, they did not slip up on that, and how he "apologized" was just extremely poor.
He is just a bitter old man.

 

[HighestOfHigh]

Lol...I won't go into Politics because we can't discuss that on this website. But Dave was funny when he crushed Palin. I loved it!

Conan did get a raw deal though. NBC is wrong for that.