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Oprah Invites Jay and Conan to Appear on Her Show

Tonight was Conan O'Brien's last night as host of The Tonight Show. He decided to leave rather than put his show back thirty minutes. His $40 million settlement will no doubt ease some of the pain he's feeling. Jay Leno will move to The Tonight Show after the Olympics, and Jay can count on at least one major fan to help him spread the word: Oprah Winfrey. Oprah has also invited Conan O'Brien to appear, although Conan hasn't responded yet.

Oprah announced on her show today that Jay will be a guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Oprah Winfrey said she is set to interview Jay Leno, and her production company said an offer has been made to Conan O'Brien to appear.

Winfrey said on her talk show Friday that she was going to Los Angeles for a "one-on-one" interview with Leno to air on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" on Thursday. O'Brien's appearance has not yet been confirmed, Harpo Productions said.

Will Conan show up and hug it out with Jay? Will they both cry? All signs point to....yes.

Posted on January 22, 2010
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Conan and NBC Finalize Deal

The late night NBC disaster is finally over. Early this morning Conan O'Brien's team and NBC reached a deal in which Conan leaves NBC, gets a lot of money, and can go back to work on another network on September 1. Jay Leno will go back to The Tonight Show and The Jimmy Fallon Show will remain in the same time slot.

In a marathon session, lawyers for the talk show host and NBC finalized a settlement sealing O'Brien's exit from "The Tonight Show" at about 3 a.m. Thursday. The overall deal is said to be worth $46 million-$47 million, close to the $50 million annual production cost of "The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien."

O'Brien's settlement is for about $33 million, with the rest of the money going to his staff in severance packages from the network. NBC on Thursday also formally announced the return of Jay Leno as "Tonight" host. He'll start March 1. "We're pleased that Jay is returning to host the franchise that he helmed brilliantly and successfully for many years," said Jeff Gaspin, chairman of NBC Uni TV. "He is an enormous talent, a consummate professional and one of the hardest-working performers on television."

The network will air reruns of Conan's show until the Olympics, then will reboot The Tonight Show with Jay Leno after the Olympics ends. Conan will most likely end up at Fox where he will compete with David Letterman and Jay Leno.

Posted on January 21, 2010
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Report: Leno Back to Tonight Show, Conan Leaves With Big Payday

According to Nikki Finke, the NBC/Jay Leno/Conan O'Brien disaster may be settled very soon. Nikki says there's a tentative deal to put Jay back hosting The Tonight Show at 11:35 p.m. and to pay Conan a lot of money to leave. They had to call in Ron Meyer, the president of Universal to get the parties even to speak to each other.

I've just learned that, for the past 48 hours, Universal Studios President/COO Ron Meyer was secretly drafted during this NBC late night crisis to negotiate a settlement between the network and Team Conan after O'Brien and his reps were threatened by NBC Universal chief Jeff Zucker (see below). "Ron is a former agent, one of the biggest in Hollywood. He could get this done, so NBC used him," a source just told me. "No one would talk to each other, and they talked to Ron. He got everybody to talk to everybody."

The deal as sketched puts Jay Leno back hosting The Tonight Show, and Conan O'Brien exiting with a lot of money. But there are still some terms to be worked out -- which is why there hasn't been any announcement yet. But I'm warned that "anything can happen" now that Meyer did his duty, and NBC is back in charge. I can tell you there are definitely people around NBC Universal boss Jeff Zucker who want to keep Conan in place at The Tonight Show. "But Zucker is digging in his heels because of the bad press. He's being stubborn," a Team Conan insider just told me.

Jeff Zucker wants Conan gone and he doesn't want to pay him anything. But that's not reasonable, so someone else had to come in to mop up the mess. Nothing's signed yet, so the whole thing could blow up by morning.

Posted on January 14, 2010
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Conan to NBC: I'm Won't Move to New Timeslot

The late night talk show disaster just keeps rolling on. NBC has been pushing Conan for an answer about whether he'll agree to move The Tonight Show to 12:05 a.m. Well, the suits got their answer: no way. Here's Conan's statement that he released today:

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

So far NBC has refused comment on Conan's amazingly brave statement. Will NBC cave and allow Conan to stay at 11:35? They've already committed to putting Jay Leno in that timeslot for half an hour with the hope that Conan will roll over and move his show back half an hour. Well, that's not happening. Although Conan says he has no formal offers, there are rumors that Fox wants to lure him away from NBC. In any event, it's not a happy day in the executive suites at NBC today. What a disaster they've created.

Posted on January 12, 2010
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Jerry Seinfeld, Rihanna to be Jay Leno's First Guests

Jerry Seinfeld will be Jay Leno's first guest on his new prime time talk show, according to Variety. The Jay Leno Show premieres on September 14.

Seinfeld also is expected to do standup. Also appearing on the first show will be Jay Z, Kanye West and Rihanna. Leno is taking the 10 p.m. slot Monday through Friday, a move that may make financial sense for the network but has rankled many in the creative community.

Seinfeld will also appear on HBO later this year as he and the rest of the "Seinfeld" troupe will appear on "Curb Your Enthusiasm." In addition, he has reality show "The Marriage Ref" set for NBC in midseason.

This will be Rihanna's first interview since the Chris Brown battery case. Will she talk to Jay about it? It's going to be hard for him to avoid asking questions about the subject.

Posted on August 14, 2009
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Leno's Move Rocks Hollywood

Hollywood is still reeling from NBC's announcement that Jay Leno won't be leaving the peacock network when his contract is up. Instead, he'll move to prime time, hosting a show every weeknight at the 10:00 pm hour. That means no scripted shows will air on NBC at that time.

For the industry players whose livelihood depends on the health of TV's scripted biz, it was yet another lump of coal in an already ugly holiday-season stocking. "It's a bummer for the writers who are writing for drama," said one agent. "Five less scripted drama shows at 10 p.m. is bad for the business ... Some leaders at NBC said there hasn't been a 10 p.m. drama that's worked in three or four years. But no, they just haven't developed the best dramas."

Writers have already felt the primetime pinch in recent years, as the networks devote more hours to reality programs -- as well as repeats on dead nights such as Fridays and Saturdays. "The more reality shows and talkshows the broadcast networks do, the more that dramas will go to cable, where they can be done properly," "The Closer" exec producer James Duff said this week at a Hollywood Radio and TV Society panel.

Veteran producer Steven Bochco, who's latest series, "Raising the Bar," airs on TNT, said the move may actually benefit producers - by convincing them to move to cable.

"I think what NBC's done is smart for them, at least in the short term," he said. "And, contrary to a lot of doom and gloomers, I actually think what they've done is good for drama producers. It will, of necessity, force them to cable, where the atmosphere is far friendlier and the creative environment more conducive to doing original work."

If scripted shows all move to cable, the network ratings are going to fall even further. But that's the way things are shaping up.

Posted on December 10, 2008
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