After days of silence about the late-night shake-up at NBC, Conan O’Brien has finally gone public, issuing the statement printed below. Read the full post.
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When Jay gave his two years notice and said Conan was taking over “Tonight”…that should have been the end. No one needs Jay Leno everynight anymore. He is irrelevant. Not anything new…and this certainly doesn’t help Conan as a lead-in. It was a bad idea from the start. Jay should have retired. No 10 p.m. I agree with Conan, and I hope the bone heads at NBC give him a fair chance and get rid of Leno. And if they don’t…their ratings will pay for it as such.
Good for him. I hope he jumps ship.
Nice job, Conan!
I stand with Conan, whatever he does, wherever he goes. He is the one being jerked around in the whole situation. Jay Leno is the Brett Favre of Late Night now, and making it worse for everyone. Leno, leave the stage, you had your turn. @erikjfisher
What an excellent letter. What excellent points!
I feel bad for Conan.Both he and Letterman have been refreshing talents who put their stamp on late night and comedy.
Jay Leno is a baby who has not improved his interviewing skills since he first started. He still seems like he’s only subbing until a real host (cough … Conan .. cough) takes over. A tip for Leno from here on out … It’s a question and answer show. You don’t have to begin every question with, “Let me ask you a question …”
I will follow Conan wherever he goes and like I’ve done since he took over the Tonight Show, I will not watch Jay Leno. I hope others won’t either.
Oh and Howard Stern was right about Leno all along.
Well said! Excellent letter that shows Conan’s class but doesn’t let NBC get away with this stupid move. Conan is going to take a lot of fans with him wherever he ends up – me included.
I love Conan! What a class act. My heart is literally breaking. I will follow him to any network! Jay Leno’s show is terrible.
Ugh. I love you, Conan.
Way to go NBC for messing with Conan and Jimmy, by far my favorite two talk show hosts of all time.
Thank you, Conan, for having the integrity to do what is intrinsically right for “The Tonight Show” franchise – too bad Leno doesn’t have the same values. For the record, if you don’t continue with “The Tonight Show”, neither will I, and I will follow you to any network. You are one funny, classy guy!
Nothing
But
Crap network is an embarrassment to the TV viewing public. Leno and his pathetic ratings killed any chance Conan had to be successful. The only good thing is it has dropped the ratings for the evening news here in Denver so less people are watching MulletHead anchorlady behind her desk
I say Good-Bye Conan….NBC needs to admit this is all their fault for forcing Jay to give up the Tonight Show in the first place because they were afraid to loose Conan. People you have to realize that Conan will never have great ratings in that time slot because he isn’t main line enough. It’s not Jay’s fault, as #1 in that time period, that his humor plays more broadly. NBC needs to accept the guilt, the fault and pay Conan off. I feel bad for all the hosts of the shows…but hey, that’s TV…its a BUSINESS!
Conan is a class act… Leno on the other hand… NBC had a bright future with Conan in their late night lineup. Now they have a 60 year, unfunny Jay Leno, who should have just stayed retired. Conan will be a success no matter where he ends up.
NBC, you have proven why you’re in fourth place with this. Can’t you get it through your heads that the problem isn’t Leno on the wrong hour but viewers don’t want Leno anymore? Conan, my advice, go somehwere for a show where you can call your own shots and rub NBC’s loss in their face.
I agree with everything Conan said but you shouldn’t knock Jay. NBC’s bad decisions have effect both Conana and Jay and it’s not really either ones fault. Plus Jay is a good guy. He gave Detroit a FREE concert because of how hard Michigan has been hit at great monetary loss to himself. He deserves better treatment just like Conan and just like Jimmy.
No offense, Jay going all Brett Favre about the Tonight Show has cost a few hundred people in the industry their jobs. Not to mention crossing a picket line.
Don’t give me this crap that Jay is a good guy who is just an innocent victim. He screwed over Dave in 1993 and now 17 years later he’s doing the same thing to Conan.
Well, yes, but – Jay made the decision to retire in ’09, announced in ’07. 2009 rolls around, he changes his mind and doesn’t want to retire. I agree that the ultimate morons here are NBC execs, but Jay has a habit of creating drama and this situation is no exception. Where’s his letter refusing to move to 11:35?
Exactly. All Leno had to say was no and Conan would’ve stayed.
I have to agree with Q. I know it’s been debated whether or not Jay ever really wanted to retire, but want to or not…he agreed to and should have stepped down gracefully. He could end ALL of this by realizing that his time is over and retiring. Go play with your cars, Jay! Go do some stand up, Jay! Go enjoy your millions, Jay! The fact that you are willing to do this to The Tonight Show is proof that you were never really worthy of it. Hosting The Tonight Show is kind of like being president….the job doesn’t BELONG to you…you’ve just been entrusted with it for awhile. Jay….we are voting you OUT!
Jay did not want to retire. NBC promised the Tonight show to Conan so he would not leave. The problem was that Leno had the best ratings when NBC took him out of his job for Conan. Leno’s new show did not do so well and Conan lost half of the Tonight show viewers. NBC is totally screwed up, like many large corporations, but they need the ratings and the viewers back sooner than later. From what I have read, Leno has been pushed around by NBC just to make O’Brien happy so I don’t get all the anger towards Leno.
Because being handed five hours of prime time a week as his personal playground was shoddy treatment by NBC? He failed to retire as he promised to do, and NBC gave him an unheard-of amount of prime time in return. Then when he failed to deliver any sort of respectable ratings carryover to the later shows, not only is NBC not canceling his clown act, they’re moving him back to his original time slot and damaging the other later hosts in the process. Sorry, but Leno can’t (legitimately) complain of poor treatment.
I never disliked Leno, Im just a Conan Guy all the way.
Ultimately it is NBC’s fault for wanting to hold on to JAy.
But if Jay is such a class act then he should have put out this letter not Conan.
Im sure Jay can find another network too.
Well put.