On Mon, Dec 8, 2008 at 6:38 PM, Kevin M. <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I think it cuts Conan off at the knees. He still follows Leno, > al-be-it with a 35 minute news break in between (so much for the > seamless transitions between shows NBC and the other networks have > been attempting). What is currently "The Tonight Show" won't be going > away, which means its audience can easily follow Jay 95 minutes > earlier and fall asleep that much faster, leaving Conan high and dry. > > Logistically, this is a mess. A new theater in Universal City is being > built specifically for Conan, but Jay's studio is being demolished in > a few months. Will Jay move to New York, or will he stay in LA (in a > less lavish studio) and directly compete for guests with Conan? With > less programs to promote, what will the average guest lineup look > like?
I am going to take the other side on this (Jane, you ignorant slut). This is a good move on NBC's part. As noted earlier today here (though I think we got the same information a couple of weeks ago) NBC has been thinking of cutting down to 2 hours or programing a day anyway. This essentially does that, while still giving them a revenue producer. I don't know how much more they are going to pay Leno, but I suspect the costs of putting on the new Leno show will be less than doing a traditional 10:00 pm drama hour - especially when you factor in the savings from all the one hour pilots they won't have to make. It also protects Conan from Leno competition. And the 35 minute news break is actually a big plus - it will lead in well to local news with older Leno viewers, and will be the continuation of an old habit for the many used to going from Leno to Conan. This also gives NBC a platform for fresh, same day commenting on breaking events within primetime - something they seemed to have good luck with during the presidential campaign. What needs to happen now is for Leno to make a real break from his Tonight Show persona. As we noted during the strike, when Leno is Leno, outside of the moronic trappings he has imposed on himself in the Tonight Show, he is often tolerable and sometimes appealing. I think he could easily morph his format into something approaching Bil Mahr's show, with the first half hour filled with monologue and maybe political and newsy extensions of his "Headlines" bit that would allow him to stay topical (and, I guess, God Forgive him, variations on the horrid "Jaywalking), then a second half hour with 1 - 3 guests, maybe concurrent, who talk about the events of the day/week in addition to pimping whatever project they are working on. He could mix it up with some big name solo Hollywood guests, and maybe sprinkle in a few more fairly serious newsy interviews than he currently does. I am not sure when a show like this would tape - I guess 90 minutes earlier than what they currently do - would that put it taping at sometime around 2:30 Los Angeles time? That would make for an interesting audience. That might be another reason to move the show to New York. It might actually be easier to get actors to fly out to NY to do a show like this - even with mediocre ratings wouldn't more people see them on a 10:00 pm Leno Show than an 11:35 Tonight Show? I might even watch a show like this once in a while, if they actually let Leno be Leno. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Like TV only smarter. You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
