what was the skit? Was it funny at least? ----- Original Message ----- From: "George Arterberry" <brotherfromhow...@yahoo.com> To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Sent: Friday, January 22, 2010 9:04:10 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Conan O'Brien: Free At Last!
Conan lost pointes from me blowing a million and a half on a skit for a car. From: Keith Johnson <keithbjohn...@comcast.net> To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Sent: Thu, January 21, 2010 11:55:31 PM Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Conan O'Brien: Free At Last! I still think it would have failed, because I just don't see an appetite for a talk show at 10 pm five nights a week. Most people are looking for a drama or comedy. I like Leno okay, but at 10 pm i'm looking for stuff like Southland, Burn Notice, etc. Now if they were to bring back a true variety show--singing, dancing, skits, etc.--that'd be a different story. But sacrifice five hours of scripted programming for this? Bad move... ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mr. Worf" <HelloMahogany@ gmail.com > To: scifino...@yahoogro ups.com Sent: Thursday, January 21, 2010 11:44:44 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Conan O'Brien: Free At Last! Conan was just funny and Leno wasn't a real warmup for him. Maybe if they had swapped the two shows? That would have been an interesting 3rd option. On Thu, Jan 21, 2010 at 8:25 PM, Keith Johnson < KeithBJohnson@ comcast.net > wrote: Wow, thirty-plus mill to get *fired*? And his staff splits twelve mill, but Conan's going to give them extra cash? That's cool. I've seen Zucker from NBC all over the tube, everywhere from Charlie Rose to the financial channel, trying to explain this debacle. Reminds one of why some people need to stay behind the scenes. He comes off as defensive, surly, like a child who's caught doing something wrong, but remains defiant. A lot of "we made what we thought was a smart move, but it didn't work". Very little honest "we screwed it up and screwed O'Brien to boot". End of story: I still don't get who felt that Conan could be an exact replacement for Leno, given the differences in their appeal, and the expected differences in what demographics Conan would attract. I don't get who the hell felt it was sufficient to say that o'Brien had failed after only seven months, when it took Leno himself a year-and-a-half to hit his stride. And I really don't get who in the world thought O'Brien had a chance to succeed when Leno had a show on earlier than his, both sapping potential O'Brien viewers, and subjecting the public to talk show overload, possibly chasing off viewers for both shows. NBC screwed this up royally, and made it worse when Ebersol (?) recently tried to blame a lot of this on O'Brien's refusal to change the Tonight Show format. I guess we can't blame Leno, who just wants to work, but I wish he'd have said "no" to the 10 pm show, and really wish he'd say "no" to taking the Tonight Show back. That would have taught NBC a lesson. Frankly I'm glad this all failed. I didn't relish a solid five hours of primetime being replaced by a talkshow. We're losing enough original programming on broadcast TV as it is. ************ ********* ********* ********* ******** http://www.tv. com/conan- obrien-free- at-last!/ story/20919. html?tag= hotspot;gumball; 1 Conan O'Brien: Free At Last! by Tim Surette TV.com Staff Writer 01/21/10 10:15 AM Conan O'Brien: Free At Last! What's the going rate for an unfair firing these days? About $45 million if you hosted a late-night talk show on a major network. The Conan O'Brien vs. NBC saga is finally coming to an end, says The Hollywood Reporter , as both sides have agreed to a deal that frees O'Brien from his contract with NBC and includes a whole lotta stipulations. First, let's talk money—since that's what the whole kerfuffle was about. The entire settlement is reportedly worth between $45 million and $50 million, with Conan pocketing $32 million and his staff sharing $12 million. But don't feel too bad for Johnny the Janitor; reports say O'Brien will be supplementing his employees' severance packages out of his pocket. O'Brien's last night behind the desk of The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien will be tomorrow (Friday, January 22), with Conan repeats airing until the start of the Winter Olympics. After that, Jay Leno will return to The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on March 1, global warming will cease, world peace will rule, and the long war between cats and dogs shall end. Or so NBC believes. The deal also bars Conan from hosting another show until September, and all the characters Conan created for his shows—including the lovable Pimpbot, the very relatable Masturbating Bear, and Triumph the Insult Comic Dog—will *gulp* remain the property of NBC, which will let them collect dust in their mausoleum of stolen artifacts. Triumph is the cash cow here, and he should belong to Robert Smigel , who does all of the delightfully distasteful dog's improv and masterful puppeteering. The final tally? Conan received the dream job he worked his entire life for for a total of seven months. The big questions now: What will Conan do next? What should Conan do next? And how will audiences respond to the return of Jay Leno? -- Celebrating 10 years of bringing diversity to perversity! Mahogany at: http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/mahogany_ pleasures_ of_darkness/
