Has Peter Jackson Chosen His Bilbo? ~ Geeks Corner ~ DAPs Magic

Soon enough all the folks over at NBC will be able to heave a big sigh of relief and know that the NBC civil war of late night is over. Of course, it'll just be the beginning of the war between networks for the top ratings during late night but that is another story. Tomorrow night will mark the last episode of The Jay Leno Show. What was hoped would be a cheaper alternative to those really expensive dramas turned out prove the old adage true: "you get what you pay for."

Anyone who hasn't been living under a rock the last few months has seen NBC practically self implode over the ratings they hoped Conan O'Brien and Jay Leno would bring to their new time slots. It hasn't happened and it is all over as of Tuesday night at 11:00 PM.

Next comes The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and what NBC hopes will be a return to the top of the late night ratings battle. I'd tend to guess that this will indeed come to pass. Some people won't watch in protest at first but Jay Leno is a good guy with a friendly face and a sense of class and honor. He will win people back; if with nothing else a lot of good old fashioned hard work. I wish Jay Leno well and I do hope to someday be in the seats watching him tape the show live!

So now with all of that over with, let's turn the page and move forward. Heck, it seems as if Letterman and Leno are... they even filmed a commercial together!

LABELS: JAY LENO SHOW, TONIGHT SHOW, CONAN O'BRIEN, JAY LENO, LETTERMAN, MR DAPS, LATE NIGHT

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 21, 2010

Details on the Departure of Conan

POSTED BY MRDAPS AT 08:16 PM

Here is what the Associated Press has to say about Conan O'Brien's departure from NBC. It wraps everything up so I thought I'd share. Hope you enjoy!

- Mr. DAPs

NEW YORK – Conan O'Brien bid NBC good riddance Thursday in a $45 million deal for his exit from "The Tonight Show," but his immediate future in television remains a question mark.

The contentious two-week battle that would allow NBC to unseat O'Brien and move Jay Leno back to the program he hosted for 17 years, comes less than eight months after O'Brien took the "Tonight" throne from Leno.

Under the deal, O'Brien will get more than $33 million, NBC said. The rest will go to his 200-strong staff in severance.

What happens next for O'Brien?

"We don't know," his manager, Gavin Polone, said Thursday. "While we have had expressions of interest, we have not had any substantive conversations with anybody."

Ideally, said Polone, O'Brien "wants to get back on the air, doing the show he's doing now, as soon as possible."

There has been much speculation on where that might be. ABC (which airs "Nightline" and "Jimmy Kimmel Live!") has said it wasn't interested, while Fox, which lacks a network late-night show, expressed appreciation for his show — but nothing more. Comedy Central has also been mentioned as a future home.

Meanwhile, O'Brien might conceivably conduct off-camera business with his old bosses.

"We do have a continuing development relationship with Conan's (production) company," said Marc Graboff, chairman of NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios. "So we still keep the door open."

Leno, whose weeknight prime-time hour ends Feb. 11 after just five lackluster months, will return to "Tonight" on March 1, originating from the same Burbank stage where he has hosted his prime-time show. The staff of "The Jay Leno Show" is expected to be kept mostly intact for "Tonight."

Leno's viewer appeal will also prove intact when he resumes his rivalry with CBS host David Letterman, predicts Jeff Gaspin, chairman of NBC Universal Television Entertainment.

"We believe Leno will be very competitive right away," he said, "and that over time Leno will be the late-night leader again."

Compensation for O'Brien's staff and crew was the final hurdle in negotiations between NBC and O'Brien. O'Brien was said to have been "dug in" on the issue out of concern for the workers, while NBC said this week that it had already agreed to pay "millions of dollars to compensate every one of them" and deemed it a public relations "ploy."

On Wednesday night's show, speaking of a push to get a severance deal for his staff from NBC, O'Brien joked, "At first they thought I was gullible. They said the staff would be taken to a big farm, where they'd be allowed to run free forever."

Clearly, the differences were worked out.

"Conan appreciated what NBC did to take care of his staff and crew, and decided to supplement the severance they were getting from the network out of his own pocket," Polone said.

O'Brien will be free to start another TV job after Sept. 1, NBC said. His final show will be Friday, with Tom Hanks scheduled to appear as well as Will Ferrell — his first guest when O'Brien debuted as "Tonight" host last June.

O'Brien landed the "Tonight" show after successfully hosting "Late Night," which airs an hour later, since 1993. But he quickly stumbled in the ratings race against his CBS rival, David Letterman. Under Leno, the "Tonight" show was the ratings champ at 11:35 p.m. Eastern, but he proved an instant flop with his experiment in prime time.

Last week, NBC announced that the five-hour vacancy in prime time left by Leno will be filled by scripted and reality fare calculated to bring NBC affiliates a more robust lead-in audience for their local news than Leno had been delivering. A provisional slate of shows will include new and veteran NBC dramas, a comedy panel series produced by Jerry Seinfeld and "Dateline NBC."

It had been no secret that the 46-year-old O'Brien was scoring puny ratings numbers on "Tonight," averaging 2.5 million nightly viewers, compared with 4.2 million for Letterman's "Late Show," according to Nielsen figures.

It was even more obvious that "The Jay Leno Show," airing weeknights at 10 p.m. Eastern, was a disaster. Mostly justified by the network for its bargain-basement production budget, it not only was critically slammed but also found a disappointing popular reaction. It has averaged 5.3 million nightly viewers since its fall debut — about the same number that watched Leno's final "Tonight" season, in a time slot when far fewer viewers are available. By comparison, the season's top-rated 10 p.m. network drama, CBS' "The Mentalist," has an average audience of 17 million.

But few observers expected the abrupt upheaval that erupted publicly just two weeks ago, when two Web sites posted unsourced stories that the 59-year-old Leno's show would soon be canceled or moved into O'Brien's late-night domain.

Days later, NBC executives unveiled a plan to restore Leno to 11:35 p.m. with a half-hour program, then slide O'Brien's "Tonight Show" to 12:05 a.m., followed by "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon," also pushed back a half-hour.

Disgruntled affiliate stations, which have lost viewers and advertising revenue for their late local newscasts since "The Jay Leno Show" premiered, appeared to spur NBC's sudden changes. The 210 local NBC stations saw their late news audience drop, on average, by 25 percent in November compared with the previous year among desirable 25- to 54-year-old viewers, with the Leno experiment costing the stations collectively $22 million over a three-month period, according to the research firm Harmelin Media.

In a clear vote of no confidence, some rebellious stations were threatening to drop "The Jay Leno Show" and air their own programming.

The network had been counting on O'Brien's cooperation, and wanted an answer quickly, so it could have the configured lineup ready to launch after the Winter Olympics, which will dominate NBC's schedule from Feb. 12-28. But O'Brien threw a wrench into NBC's plans, and triggered a public relations firestorm for the network, when he issued a statement rejecting the offer to delay his show to make room for Leno's return.

The escalating mess furnished plenty of material for jokes by competitors of Leno and O'Brien, as well as the two NBC hosts at its center, who bashed each other and their network. As recently as Wednesday's monologue, Leno said the rainy weather in California "couldn't have come at a worse possible time. Today was the day NBC was supposed to burn down the studio for the insurance money."

Online, many have leaped to O'Brien's defense in recent days and applauded his stand against NBC. "Team Conan" became a popular Twitter topic for viewers who pledged their allegiance to O'Brien.

For many observers, this clash of talk-show hosts recalled the late-night follies played out by NBC in the early 1990s as the network wavered confoundingly over who — Letterman or Leno — should inherit "The Tonight Show" from Johnny Carson.

The current revival of the late-night follies was set in motion nearly six years ago, in what was hatched by NBC executives as a farsighted strategy to ensure an orderly transition.

In the fall of 2004, the network announced that O'Brien would take over for Leno in 2009. That move by NBC — and endorsed by Leno, despite his clear aversion to leaving "Tonight" — was designed to keep O'Brien from jumping ship when his contract expired. As years passed and Leno strengthened his grip as the late-night ratings champ, NBC anguished over how to keep him usefully occupied on the network somewhere other than "Tonight," and safely out of reach of rival networks who were courting him.

In late 2008, the network caught the public and the industry by surprise with its virtually unprecedented scheme: a new Leno hour "stripped" in prime time from Monday through Friday.

"A lot of people were shocked," Leno joked to reporters when the plan was announced. "They didn't know NBC still had a prime time."

___

AP Television Writers Lynn Elber in Los Angeles and David Bauder in New York contributed to this report.

___

NBC is owned by General Electric Co.

___

On the Net:

http://www.nbc.com

LABELS: CONAN O'BRIEN, THE TONIGHT SHOW, NBC ENTERTAINMENT, NBC, JAY LENO, JIMMY KIMMEL, MR. DAPS, COMEDY CENTRAL, NIGHTLINE, THE JAY LENO SHOW, DAVID LETTERMAN, CBS, JEFF GASPIN, LATE NIGHT WITH JIMMY FALLEN, HARMELIN MEDIA, JOHNNY CARSON

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2010

Could NBC Lose Both Conan and Leno?

POSTED BY MRDAPS AT 11:17 AM

Conan O'Brien and Jay Leno on The Tonight Show

Yesterday, Conan O’Brien’s open letter seemed to give some hefty indications that if indeed The Tonight Show was moved to 12:05, Conan would not be with it. This led to much speculation that Conan would eventually end up with FOX and that Jay Leno would return to his former home at The Tonight Show. However this may not be how things play out. Sources close to Jay Leno are saying that if Conan leaves NBC, he might do the same.

"Now that Conan has made it clear he is leaving the troubled network, Jay is considering doing the same. They have put Jay in a terrible position. It looks like he is the reason that Conan is now without a job. Jay is a great guy and it's not fair that due to NBC's stupidity he looks like the bad guy," a source told popeater.com. "How can [Leno] possibly trust the same network that canceled Conan after only seven months?" the source added.

I personally have always been a fan of both Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien. From my years of watching them lead the late night race, I have observed two men who are passionate about what they do and are both honorable men. They are clearly men who care about the integrity and quality of the show that they create nightly. Both Jay Leno* and Conan O’Brien** have used their position to help various causes and charities.

What NBC is doing is putting them both between a rock and a hard place. One has to wonder if NBC is trying to turn the two comics against each other. Thankfully it seems to be generally recognized that NBC is the villain in this and not either of the comics. The fact of the matter is that first NBC took a gamble (realized or not) on handing Conan O’Brien the reigns of The Tonight Show six years ago and kicking Leno out of a very successful run as host of The Tonight Show. Then NBC tried to have their cake and eat it too by giving Jay Leno the 10:00 time slot and The Jay Leno Show. While I really enjoy Jay Leno, the moment I heard they were creating The Jay Leno Show I had doubts. It was basically a revamp of The Tonight Show without the history, the strength, or full support of NBC. It was a compromise made to keep both talents somewhat happy.

Conan O'Brien At work, there is an old phrase that we always keep in mind, “when you try to please everybody, you end up pleasing nobody.” NBC definitely needs to take this quote to heart. How will this play out? Some reports have Conan’s team negotiating a financial exit strategy and the moment this is in place, he will be done with The Tonight Show and Jay Leno will return to The Tonight Show. However, if the above source is to be believed it could end up with Conan and NBC splitting and Conan ending up on FOX eventually (It is assumed that part of the split will be a clause to keep Conan off the air for a year or something like that). Following this, Leno could also leave NBC. What he would do next is anybody’s guess. Personally, I’d like to see Jay Leno go to ABC and Conan O’Brien go to FOX and NBC be left up a creek without a paddle. Hopefully with that a lesson would be learned about integrity and honor.

Whatever happens, support should be given to both of these comics during a heartbreaking time for both; especially Conan O’Brien. I can only tip my hat to you. You have handled things with class and shown yourself to be a real gentleman. Both you and Leno have gained more respect for your handling of this situation and NBC… shame on you!

*Jay Leno supports the following causes:

· At risk/disadvantaged youths

· Cancer

· Creative Arts

· Education

· Health

He also supports the following charities and foundations:

· Bailey’s Café

· Keep Memory Alive

· Lance Armstrong Foundation

· Neurofibromatosis, Inc

**Conan O’Brien supports the following causes:

· At risk/disadvantaged youths

· Children

· Health

· Mental challenges

He also supports the following charities and foundations:

· Autism Speaks

· Fresh Air Fund

LABELS: THE TONIGHT SHOW NEWS, NBC, THE TONIGHT SHOW, CONAN O'BRIEN, JAY LENO, THE JAY LENO SHOW, ABC, FOX, MR. DAPS, LATE NIGHT, LATE NIGHT CONTROVERSY

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TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2010

Conan O'Brien Says NO!

POSTED BY MRDAPS AT 02:59 PM

Conan O'Brien - The Tonight Show Conan O'Brien has responded to NBC's plan to move Jay Leno to 11:35 PM and Conan O'Brien and The Tonight Show at 12:05. What does this do to the future of late night at NBC? I have no clue... I'm betting NBC doesn't either. What does this do for the future of Conan? Who knows! He could end up at FOX has made it very clear that they'd like to develop a new late night slate around him. Anyway, everything is up in the air but here is what Conan had to say:

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

LABELS: CONAN O'BRIEN, CONAN, JAY LENO, THE TONIGHT SHOW, JIMMY FALLON, LATE NIGHT SHOW, JAY LENO SHOW, MR. DAPS, JOHNNY CARSON, LETTER TO NBC,

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 07, 2010

Jay Leno Back to the Tonight Show?

POSTED BY MRDAPS AT 05:46 PM

Jay Leno - The Jay Leno Show - The Tonight Show

Could Jay Leno be coming back to late night on NBC? I would tend to doubt it but here is what the L.A. Times had to say on the matter today:

Could Jay Leno get his old job back?

According to sources familiar with the situation, the network is in discussions about putting the comedian back on at his original 11:30 p.m. perch, either as a lead-in to "Tonight Show" host Conan O'Brien or replacing him altogether.

NBC officials declined to comment on that specific scenario, the latest of a flurry of rumors to leak out of the peacock network today.

The television industry website FTVLive kicked off a series of reports today about Leno’s future in a post that said NBC had decided to cancel the show. Such a move would amount to a major retreat by the network, which has insisted that stripping Leno’s comedy show across the week has been a success financially, even if the ratings have been lackluster.

Leno's late-night replacement, Conan O'Brien, has not performed well either, and now apparently the network wants to put Leno back at 11:30 and slide O'Brien to midnight, according to people close to the situation. The news that NBC was considering bumping O'Brien out of his time slot was first reported by TMZ.

[Updated 4:50 p.m.: NBC just released a statement regarding O'Brien's future. "We have the best comedy team in the business. We remain committed to keeping Conan O’Brien on NBC. He is a valued part of our late-night line-up, as he has been for more than 16 years and is one of the most respected entertainers on television."]

NBC has felt tremendous pressure from its affiliates over Leno's performance and have been pushing the network to return to scripted programming. This season NBC has averaged 5.34 million viewers at 10 p.m., a 29% drop from the same period last season.

[Updated at 5:20 p.m.: Leno addressed the rumors head-on during his monologue tonight, joking that NBC stands for "Never Believe Your Contract." Read more details on our Showtracker blog.]

-- Joe Flint and Matea Gold

Wow, not really sure what I think about this. I was always a fan of NBC's previous late night set up. I thought Leno leading into Conan made for a great end of the evening. We'll keep you posted on what happens...if anything. I'd tend to guess they will keep Conan but move Leno around or get rid of him. Personally, I prefer Leno...

LABELS: THE TONIGHT SHOW, CONAN O'BRIEN, JAY LENO, THE JAY LENO SHOW, NBC, MR. DAPS

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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 02, 2009

Muppets Multiple Holiday TV Appearances on NBC

POSTED BY MRDAPS AT 11:02 AM

The Muppets will be on TV a lot this month. So take note and program the DVR so you don’t miss any of these opportunities starting tonight! Without any ado, here is the list where you can see the Muppets this month:

December 2, 2009 – The Electric Mayhem, Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo, Rizzo the Rat, and Pepe the King Prawn will perform on Christmas in Rockefeller Center at 8/7c.
December 3, 2009 – Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy will appear on the Today Show.
December 4, 2009 – A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa (8/7c).
December 7, 2009 – Andrea Bocelli and the Muppets will perform on The Jay Leno Show (10/9c).
December 19, 2009 – A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa (8/7c).

LABELS: THE MUPPETS, MUPPETS, KERMIT THE FROG, PEPE THE KING PRAWN, RIZZO THE RAT, FOZZIE BEAR, GONZO, MISS PIGGY, ELECTRIC MAYHEM, CHRISTMAS IN ROCKEFELLER, A MUPPETS CHRISTMAS: LETTERS TO SANTA, ANDREA BOCELLI, TODAY SHOW, THE JAY LENO SHOW, MR. DAPS, NBC, MUPPETS NEWS,

1 C O M M E N T

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