Reports are filtering in from sources like The Daily Beast that Conan O'Brien and NBC are close to a deal that would see O'Brien depart The Tonight Show. He would take with him a sizable amount of money and an agreement that would allow him to appear on television before his contract with NBC expires. Nothing has been confirmed from either O'Brien or the network.
If a decision is made by the end of the weekend, it would be the first sign of closure for what has been a week and a half of trials and tribulations for the network and its beleaguered late night line-up.
The decision also does little for any of the parties. And even though O'Brien would lose The Tonight Show after seven short months, he may come out the real winner in the mess. Sentiment among About Talk Shows readers strongly favors O'Brien - 72 percent to 28 percent of 158 readers, according to a recent poll.
Jay Leno stands to lose the most, as his credibility, brand and image have been tarnished. Late night comedians have been skewering Leno and NBC since the debacle began. None more so than O'Brien who continues to use his dwindling time at The Tonight Show desk to take swipes at NBC and, to a lesser degree, Leno.
But the biggest loser in all of this is, quite possibly, The Tonight Show itself. For nearly 50 years, through Johnny Carson and Leno's tenure, the show has secured itself as the pinnacle of talk shows, a place where every host dreams of living. NBC's move suggests that The Tonight Show is not an institution, but a thing to be tinkered and toyed with.
In short, NBC is not only showing great disrespect to Conan O'Brien, it is showing greater disrespect to The Tonight Show and its storied history.
Comments
I tried watching Conan but couldn’t get him. All that jumping around lead me to think he does that because he can’t get your attention any other way. Johnny Carson never had to do that during his monologue.His announcer is terrible. Nothing ever worked on that show. I don’t know what happened to his hair but it wasn’t like that when he first started comedy. Check it out. I can’t wait to have Leno back where he belongs.
I guess the old saying stands true
be careful what you pray for
too bad this all happened it should have stayed the way it was..they each had their own audiences
all would have been well a big mistake by nbc
Not fair. Give Conan a chance anyway.
Leno is wached up,as far as I’m concerned. No point
in putting him back on!
Give the 4 guys at night a chance. They are just as good. Put them on earlier and they will get more viewers.