andPOP » The Tonight Show

More Signs Conan O’Brien Is Heading to Fox

andPOP Staff — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:50:40 +0000

If there weren’t enough signs already, here is another one. TMZ reports that Fox executives are putting pressure on affiliates to put Conan O’Brien on between 11pm and midnight.

Sources say that Fox and Conan’s people are currently having “serious conversations” about doing a deal. However some affiliates are hesitant to pick up the show as they make more money running reruns of sitcoms during that time slot.

Additionally many people at the local affiliates are saying that a deal is “imminent.”

Conan O’Brien Launches Comeback Tour

andPOP Staff — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:37:27 +0000

Conan O’Brien fans rejoice – Conan is coming back. Conan has announced a 30 city comedy tour, but be forewarned, it’s “half-ass.”

Although it’s not clear on what type of material the show will include, Conan says expect a “night of music, comedy, hugging and the occasional awkward silence.”

The tour begins April 12th in Oregon and includes stops in Canada. The tour is being called “The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour.”

Jay Leno Reclaims Old Position at NBC’s “Tonight Show”

Sam Rashid — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 14:46:04 +0000

Jay Leno has been missing from TV screens across the world for just over three weeks now. And Monday, he will reappeared, reports the CBC.

Nine-teen days ago, NBC cancelled Leno’s own prime-time show. It has also been nine months since Leno has given up his position at the “Tonight Show,” to Conan O’Brien. But now, Leno is back to reclaim his old position on the “Tonight Show.”

Since Leno is back, the late-night war once again begins with CBS opponent David Letterman. Letterman dominated the ratings during O’Brien’s brief appearance as the “Tonight Show” host.

But, Leno ruled the late night for much of the 17 years he was with the “Tonight Show,” and NBC is hoping that he will be comfortable in his desk chair, once again.

Handicappers are already wondering if Leno can recapture the same momentum he used to have on the show. It will be hard for Leno to do so since he left last May in favour of O’Brien and was just so recently cancelled by NBC.

As for O’Brien, he could possibly be placed on the FOX network, where he would enter in the late-night war with Letterman and Leno.

NBC now needs something to new to brag about, with the Winter Olympics now in the past. Leno, once again hosting the “Tonight Show” might just do the trick.

Leno’s guests included Jamie Foxx, Olympic gold medal skier Lindsey Vonn and singer-songwriter Brad Paisley. Letterman will battle back with Bill Murray and rap star Ludacris.

You can catch Leno’s “The Tonight Show” at 11:35 p.m. Eastern time, along with the “Late Show with David Letterman.” Let the late-night battle begin.

Jay Leno Tells Oprah he’s ‘Embarrassed’

andPOP Staff — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 19:43:33 +0000

Jay Leno is “embarrassed.” The late night comedian appeared on Oprah to talk about the late night controversy at NBC. Jay told Oprah, “Anything they did would have been better than this,” which took place on the set of his current show. “Anything. Anything they did. If they’d come in and shot everybody, I mean, it would have been people murdered, but at least it would have been a two-day story. Yes, NBC could not have handled it worse, from 2004 onward. This whole thing was a huge, huge mess.”

We can understand his feelings considering the guy has really been pulled through the gutter over the past couple of months. Being accused of stealing The Tonight Show from fellow comedian Conan O’Brien cannot be easy, however don’t feel too bad for him. At the end of the day at andPOP we are CoCo fans forever.

Conan O’Brien Bows Out Gracefully

Vanessa Baker — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 17:11:44 +0000

On his final show Friday, The Tonight Show host Conan O’Brien thanked NBC for the 20 years he spent on the network, reports E! News.

“The terms of my settlement say that I can’t host another show for seven months,” O’Brien said. “So next week, look forward to the Andy Richter Show with his sidekick, me!”

Jay Leno will be returning next week to host the show.

Oprah Winfrey is interviewing Leno in Los Angeles for her Thursday show and has invited O’Brien to participate. It has not been reported whether he will accept her offer.

“As I set off for exciting new career opportunities, I just want to make one things clear to everyone listening out there: I will do nudity,” he said in his final monologue.

Steve Carell interviewed the exiting host, who then shared a diet cream soda toast with Tom Hanks.

“Yes, we have our differences right now, and yes, we’re going to go our separate ways,” said O’Brien in his address to the network. “But this company has been my home for most of my adult life. I am enormously proud of the work we have done together, and I want to thank NBC for making it all possible. Making this choice has been enormously difficult. This is the best job in the world. I absolutely love doing it and I have the best staff and crew in the history of the medium. But despite this sense of loss, I really feel this should be a happy moment. Every comedian dreams of hosting The Tonight Show and, for seven months, I got to. I did it my way, with people I love, and I do not regret a second. I’ve had more good fortune than anyone I know and if our next gig is doing a show in a 7-11 parking lot, we’ll find a way to make it fun.”

He spent the last moments of the show jamming on the guitar with Will Ferrell taking the lead on “Free Bird.”

Conan O’Brien Reruns?

andPOP Staff — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 18:24:26 +0000

So as everyone knows Conan O’Brien was able to negotiate a $45 Million settlement with NBC, his staff will be taken care of with severance and that his last show will be Friday. Or is it? TMZ is reporting that we haven’t seen the last of Conan on the Peacock Network as NBC will be running reruns.

Apparently NBC executives don’t like the idea of introducing a new host only a few weeks before the Olympics. So NBC will be going through the vaults and picking (in their opinion) the best Conan episodes. Maybe Conan will have the last laugh after all?

Conan O’Brien Deal Update

andPOP Staff — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:02:56 +0000

Conan O’Brien’s settlement deal is in the homestretch, but there are a couple of hangups still left to be ironed out. One of the issues is how long Conan needs to keep his mouth shut about NBC (which is pretty funny). In this contract NBC wants Conan to sign, they are basically saying that he cannot badmouth NBC for a certain period of time. Apparently this is a real issue for Conan (and why he has been so funny recently) so the lawyers are going back and forth about finding a reasonable resolution.

The other stumbling block is severance. Conan is a man of the people and he wants to make sure his staff are taking care of (they should be as they moved from NYC to LA for the show). NBC has offered $7.5 million in severance for Conan’s staff, but Conan is holding out for an additional $600,000. NBC feels that’s unreasonable and Conan is just trying to look like a hero.

Also noteworthy is the severance Conan gets, along with his Executive Producer Jeff Ross. Conan will be getting $32.5 million from NBC as a going away gift, and Jeff Ross will be taking home $4.5 million. Not a bad pay day for 7 months work!

Conan O’Brien and NBC Deal Details

andPOP Staff — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 00:54:15 +0000

The specifics of Conan O’Brien’s settlement deal with NBC are starting to surface. Although it’s not official that Conan is leaving the network, if and when he leaves, there will be certain strings attached. TMZ is reporting that some of the highlights of the deal include:

1. He cannot trash NBC. If Conan does trash NBC, he will need to pay a predetermined number to NBC.

2. Conan cannot take another hosting job for a certain period of time. That means FOX may have to wait a little bit.

3. If Conan takes another hosting gig, any income from the new job will be offset by the amount of money NBC pays him. Basically his new income will be subtracted by Conan’s severance.

Conan O’Brien Reaches a Deal with NBC

andPOP Staff — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 06:51:26 +0000

It looks like its official – Conan is saying goodbye to NBC. TMZ is reporting that O’Brien and NBC have reached an agreement, with the lawyers reviewing the final details Friday evening. Assuming everything adds up, Conan will end his rein at NBC and a official announcement will be made Saturday. Rumor has it Conan is having serious discussions with FOX about bring his show over to that network.

Conan O’Brien is out, Jay Leno is in

andPOP Staff — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 23:01:55 +0000

Conan we all were rooting for you, but it doesn’t look like you are going to pull through. Although your ratings were up this past week (possibly because of the media hype) NBC is siding with Jay Leno. Jay Leno will now have the 11:35-12:35 time slot, moving from his 10pm show. Consequently it looks like Conan O’Brien is going to hit the dusty trail. However we are confident there is another network that would be happy to host Conan. Did someone say FOX?