I doubt even Conan knows this far in advance, but I'd wager it will not be the same show an hour earlier, and it will probably resemble Late Night with Conan O'Brien less than Dave's 11:35 show resembles his Late Night. Unless O'Brien is just dying to live in New York, he'll do the show from Hollywood, probably from one of the new studio facilities that NBC has been talking of erecting soon. Elements like the Bear and Frankenstein will probably be long gone from Conan's repertoire by then, anyway. A few years from now, he'll look around, decide what's working for him then (and which staff members) and head West.
We will soon see the start of speculation as to who'll get the 12:30 time slot after Conan. Obviously, NBC has a lot of time to decide and unless someone hot (like, say, Jon Stewart or Chris Rock) suddenly shows an interest in signing, the network will probably wait a few years to see if any great new talent emerges on the scene. My guess would be, by the way, that Conan will leave Late Night at least six months before Leno leaves Tonight. This would give O'Brien a solid vacation and a chance to relocate and prepare. NBC would probably also want to establish the new show in a more stable environment (with the expected ratings boost from Jay's final broadcasts) rather than to start two largely-new shows at the same time.
What does this mean for David Letterman? Will this hasten his retirement?
You know, all this occasional talk about Dave quitting is rather pointless. We went through this with Carson for well over a decade. Johnny was renewing every year or two, and even he wasn't sure how long he would do his show. He wound up doing it a lot longer than any of several quotes he uttered that began, approximately, "I can't see myself doing the show past..." and then he'd give some date that would have meant 18 or 20 or 25 years. CBS has undoubtedly decided that they won't bother planning on a Dave replacement until such time as Dave decides...and Dave hasn't decided. I mean, I'm sure they have some names in mind who could go in if Letterman walked off tomorrow...but as a practical matter, it's a problem that may be quite different when the time comes to solve it. Whenever that may be.
Will Dave decide he has to stay until 2010 so he can say he outlasted Jay? Or will he decide to leave earlier because he might lose by a larger margin to Conan? Right this minute, I'll bet you he doesn't know so we certainly don't. It's fun to speculate on stuff like that but it means guessing from afar, trying to fathom a guy that few know intimately, and who may be governed by factors that we don't consider, like his health or family concerns...or even some unspoken notion of what he wants to do when he gives up the five-a-week grind.
All we can do for now is wait and watch. My gut reaction is that Leno has done something very smart. If nothing else, it's kinda fun to have some version of the Late Night Wars back. I was getting so weary of that other kind of war...the kind people are dying in.
• Posted at 2:53 PM · LINK
Groo News
I haven't seen a copy yet but I'm told that today's Daily Variety has a story about the Groo movie deal I mentioned here last week, complete with a drawing of the stupid barbarian. The press release is up over at Ain't It Cool News.
• Posted at 11:56 AM · LINK
More on the Shake-Up
Here's the text of an e-mail sent out today by Jeff Zucker, president of NBC Entertainment. It was addressed to the staff but was obviously intended for public dissemination...
Today, we are celebrating the 50th Anniversary of our late night franchise "The Tonight Show."
Today also marks another important milestone in our great late night history. In a few moments, we will be issuing a press release announcing our succession plan for this important television institution.
Jay Leno will continue to be at the helm of "The Tonight Show" for another five years, well into 2009, after which time Conan O'Brien will become the host of "The Tonight Show." Jay will officially make the announcement on his show tonight.
After that, it's back to work as usual for Jay, Conan and their teams, who will continue to provide us laughs for many more years.
I can't say enough about this late night team and these two men - especially Jay Leno - who worked tirelessly with us to help us find the appropriate time to make this announcement.
Thanks to both men we have a very bright future in late night!
This is quite amazing, especially when one remembers that Conan O'Brien is the guy NBC renewed in 13-week increments (and actually cancelled at one point) during his rocky first year or two. Now, the network has given him an unprecedented long-range commitment even if, as one expects, NBC has left themselves some sort of "out" clause...say, if O'Brien's Late Night ratings plunge before 2009. Even leaving aside however they may feel about Leno, they had to be pretty scared of O'Brien leaving NBC, either to replace Letterman or to compete in another venue.
Most outward signs suggest that Letterman isn't going anywhere for the forseeable future. Then again, a few hours ago, everyone would have said that of Mr. Leno. This change may prompt some response on the CBS front. Letterman may commit to staying until 2010, just so he can say he out-lasted Jay.
There are all sorts of questions here, and we may or may not get answers to them soon. Is Leno receiving a huge payoff and some sort of long-term deal to do other things for NBC? For quite a few years now, Jay has handily won a difficult time slot and delivered ratings that give him enormous clout with the network. It's hard to believe he's being shoved aside against his will, especially since someone else would quickly snatch him up if that were the case. I'm guessing NBC went to Leno and said, "Look, we're afraid to lose O'Brien. How would you feel about setting some exit date...say, five years down the line?" And Jay figured that by that time, he'd be tired of the grind, ready to do something else, and he could go out with a splashy year-long finale. But that's just speculation. The folks I'm talking to this morning over at NBC are still triple-checking that today isn't April 1.
• Posted at 11:12 AM · LINK
Tonight's Tonight Show
Tonight's episode of The Tonight Show marks the 50th anniversary of that venerable franchise. There will be clips and surprise guests...and also a very surprising announcement. Everyone had figured that Jay Leno, workhorse that he is, would stay in that job forever, or at least until he'd beaten Mr. Carson's record of a little over 30 years behind the desk. Not so. Jay will announce that he will host the show five more years — until 2009 — at which time, he will step aside and Conan O'Brien will take over. This is obviously some negotiated compromise having to do with NBC not wanting to lose O'Brien, and it's quite unprecedented in television. I can't recall when any network ever locked themselves into something five years in advance. They're always aware that trends can change, stars can fade or emerge, etc.
More on this as it develops. But you heard it here first.
• Posted at 10:46 AM · LINK
Quick Question
Hey, wasn't this about the time the Bush Administration was supposed to be rigging oil prices to bring them way down? Well, they'd better get busy.
• Posted at 1:37 AM · LINK
Playing Catch-Up...
I was so swamped last week that I forgot to mention that I dropped by the gala signing last Wednesday evening for the new Gary Owens book...which, despite what I said here, is not his autobiography. It's a book about how to build a career in the voiceover and announcing business and while it contains many amusing anecdotes, Gary's actual autobiography is actually planned for release some time next year. Anyway, Gary had an overflow crowd of devout fans and friends turn out to buy this book and get it signed, the "friends" including Ruth Buzzi, Jonathan Winters, Fred Travalena, Chuck McCann, Howie Morris, John Rappoport, Steve Landesberg, Thom Sharp, Ronnie Schell, Jo Anne Worley, Jack Riley and quite a few others I'm forgetting.
The formal event was held in the parking lot of Dutton's bookstore in the Valley, which is right next to a Popeye's Fried Chicken stand. For about a half hour there, if you'd gone through the drive-thru at Popeye's, you could have been entertained by those folks as you waited for your jambalaya and biscuits. (Mr. Winters and Mr. Travalena were especially in top form.)
Once again, you can order Gary's new book, which will tell you all about the voice business, by clicking here. Ignore all that humble stuff he put in there about being fortunate and getting lucky breaks and all. I understand why he says such things, him being such a nice, modest guy and all. But the honest truth is that Gary Owens has worked incessantly for more than four decades because he's so good at what he does. This is not to say one cannot learn from him...but it's like if you took putting lessons from Tiger Woods. It helps to remember that much of his success is because he's better at it than just about everyone else.
Also: While I was there, I got to chat with Fred Wostbrock, a top Hollywood agent who represents some of the above-named stars. That impresses me but not as much as his uncanny expertise on the topic of game and quiz shows. Fred was a co-author of The Encyclopedia of TV Game Shows, which is one of those must-have volumes...and he has a new book about to debut, The Ultimate TV Game Show Book. This is a compendium of trivia that I've already ordered. If you've found your way to this website, you're probably the kind of person who'd be interested in this kind of stuff, too.
• Posted at 12:47 AM · LINK
Set the TiVo
On October 17, John Cleese is hosting a show called John Cleese's Wine for the Confused which, in this online video, he says is on The Food Channel. Mr. Cleese is himself confused since his program is actually on The Food Network...but I intend to watch, anyway. I've never had a drop of wine in my life but I'll watch anything John Cleese does. Even if he is in men's clothing.
• Posted at 12:15 AM · LINK
September 28, 2004
