Deep breath... and... The local CBS O&O here in LA did a decent piece about how Jay's firing (if we're going to call what happened to Conan a firing, we must also call what is happening to Jay a firing) will impact Burbank. NBC sold the Burbank studios a few years ago and moved most everything except the Tonight Show to Universal Studios. That dealt a harsh blow to Burbank. Even if Late Night moves to Southern California, which I'd be skeptical of since it sounds like Lorne Michaels will now be EP of every NBC late night program, they won't go to Burbank -- they'd operate from the Universal lot. Unions in this area are funky, which is a nice way of saying they do not play well with each other and have the oddest factions and rivalries. Consequently, union guys who worked on an all-TV lot like NBC Burbank are unlikely to be able to easily transition to a film & TV lot like Universal. Many behind-the-scenes guys at NBC are in their 50s... or older (that studio had a much higher retention rate of personnel than the average), who are less likely to get hired in an industry that values low salary requirements more than experience. The net result being roughly 170 Tonight Show staffers (that's the number from KCBS) will be out of work.
The mayor of Burbank was interviewed, and he seemed absolutely crushed. He pointed out the ripple effect on the city losing such a show (after all, he experienced it do a lesser degree when Conan moved it, and "The Jay Leno Show" lacked the same draw). Local businesses are gonna close. Real estate prices are going to drop. The former NBC studios will likely be knocked down in a few years. Someone asked in this thread what alternatives NBC had. Well, earlier threads have hashed and rehashed what NBC has done right and wrong with late night programing over the last several years, and I think the solution exists in long-term thinking. The Fallon move seems like a long-term strategy on its face, but I believe otherwise. To me the move smacks of corporate lackeys having a knee-jerk reaction to senior executives who parrot the phrase "make it skew younger" over and over again. It is the only reason why NBC would be rocking its own boat. I've seen it with other franchises. I'm admittedly a science fiction fan, so those are the easiest examples to draw from. Babylon 5's Crusade, Stargate's Universe, and Star Trek's Enterprise were all attempts to appeal more directly to younger demos. Younger casts were brought in, storylines featured more sex and more slam-bang action than earlier shows in the respective franchises. And the net result was severe harm to the franchises. But let's set aside the fact that Fallon's potential for skewing younger isn't necessarily a good thing. Looking at the countless interviews with David Letterman wherein he said doing a show in Los Angeles is much easier provides a major obstacle to Tonight: NY. Booking guests is much easier in California. Despite the work being farmed to other places, Hollywood is still the belly of the beast. New York gives them access to Broadway stars, which I think the "make it skew younger" mindset wouldn't list as a benefit. Tax incentives are terrific in NYC from what I hear, but again that is short-term budgeting that isn't looking at the long-term strategy of producing a better show. The solution I would have suggested, but would never happen, would have been to allow Fallon to guest host the Tonight Show during Leno's hiatus weeks, and to play up the banter between them in a more entertaining and less scripted manner than the musical number the other night. Think of how sometimes Jon Stewart tosses from his show to Stephen Colbert's. As we mentioned and some asked about Brian Williams' appearances on Leno's show over the years, how many times have Leno and Fallon shared a stage? I count 4 times in two years. There is nothing to really suggest to me that Fallon knows what 11:35 means. I'm not saying he has to do a conventional Tonight Show, but it was obvious that Leno, Letterman, and O'Brien put thought into that timeslot, and though I'm far from a regular Fallon viewer, I'm not convinced he and his staff have. Another solution would be, to skew younger which is clearly what they want, to kill the franchise. Mind you, it isn't a solution I would want personally, but I could envision a M-F 11:35 timeslot with everything from sketch comedy to animated (Adult Swim) shows... multiple shows, or a single show that could be more than monologue/interview/band/credits. Make the timeslot experimental and cutting edge, which would lend itself to younger writers, stars, and demographics. Give the network an appearance, however false, of vitality. Heck, they could do some of the shows from LA and others from NY in that hypothetical. In summary, yeah, tough to summarize this one... I admit I was all over the place... I heard from a few people whose names I can't mention who will be out of work when this all happens, and my fondest memories of working in TV were all centered on the NBC Burbank lot, so I suppose I'm taking it personally. But if I had to sum up, I'd say NBC is putting all of its eggs in Jimmy Fallon's basket (located in NYC), and that seems short sighted and way too risky, especially when broadcast networks are already struggling. ... and breath. -- Kevin M. (RPCV) -- -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! 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 --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
