During his wild run of popularity during the last decade, comedian Dane Cook was a frequent guest of both Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien.
As the situation with NBC’s late-night schedule comes to a head, Cook is as interested as anyone watching what’s happening.
“In both their cases, they deserve to thrive and win,” Cook said in a phone interview. “They have such different comedy approaches.”
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More: Dane Cook: I hope Leno, O’Brien ‘thrive and win’
According to the New York Times blog Media Decoder, Conan O’Brien has released a statement saying he will not do The Tonight Show if NBC airs it at 12:05 a.m.
O’Brien, who would be moved if NBC goes through with its plan to have Jay Leno host a half-hour show at The Tonight Show‘s current 11:35 p.m. slot, has said, “The Tonight Show at 12:05 simply isn’t The Tonight Show.”
He continues:
So it has come to this: I cannot express in words how much I enjoy hosting this program and what an enormous personal disappointment it is for me to consider losing it. My staff and I have worked unbelievably hard and we are very proud of our contribution to the legacy of The Tonight Show. But I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction. Some people will make the argument that with DVRs and the Internet a time slot doesn’t matter. But with the Tonight Show, I believe nothing could matter more.
Click “more” for the full statement, and a poll on whether Conan’s making the right choice.
Conan O’Brien isn’t exactly taking the high road after finding out about NBC’s late-night shuffle — with Jay Leno heading to 11:35 p.m. and O’Brien’s show likely heading to 12:05 a.m. (should he decide to stay, more on that in a moment).
Here’s his monologue from last night, which includes several barbs directed at the network:
Now, is Conan going to stay? Well, that may not be happening. Variety‘s Michael Schneider is reporting that O’Brien is meeting with officials at Fox, where the long-time late-night host had a good run as a writer on that network’s comedy juggernaut, The Simpsons.
We’re a little late on this, as some of the rumors have already come to pass somewhat — Jay Leno’s prime-time show is canceled, Conan O’Brien’s Tonight Show is likely moving to midnight.
However, this is Conan’s response to the rumors on Friday, and while he does handle them in his usual, slightly absurdist style, please note his closing line:
NBC said Sunday it decided to pull the plug on the Jay Leno experiment when some affiliate stations considered dropping the nightly prime-time show, and the network is waiting to hear if Leno and “Tonight” host Conan O’Brien accept its new late-night TV plans.
“The Jay Leno Show,” which airs at 10 p.m. EST, will end with the Feb. 12 beginning of the Winter Olympics, said NBC Universal Television Entertainment Chairman Jeff Gaspin. Leno would return to his former 11:35 p.m. slot after the Olympics ended under the network’s new plan, which also calls for O’Brien to retain his job with “Tonight” but at the later hour of 12:05 a.m. EST.
Jimmy Fallon and his “Late Night” would be pushed a half-hour later as well, to 1:05 a.m. EST.
“My goal is to keep Jay, Conan and Jimmy as our late-night lineup,” Gaspin said, adding later that they “have the weekend to think about it” and discussions with them will resume Monday.
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The failed Jay Leno experiment was great for business — at CBS.
CBS entertainment president Nina Tassler said Saturday her network took in more advertising revenue for its 10 p.m. dramas because NBC decided to put Leno’s comedy show on at that hour five nights a week. NBC is considering moving Leno back to late-night TV because its affiliates are upset that the show’s low prime-time ratings are hurting late local news programs.
“Ten o’clock is a great business for us,” Tassler said. “The unfortunate thing is that our creative community was to some degree somewhat bruised by this … A lot of people were put out of work. A lot of people really saw this as having a negative effect on our business.”
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More on Leno and late night:
Jay Leno’s late-night future up in air | Poll: Should Jay stay or go? | Video: Leno gets laughs out of rumors
Who's gonna get to keep 11:35?
NBC’s prime time/late night time slots seem like a game of musical chairs – First the Peacock network makes good on its promise to give Conan O’Brien the hosting gig of “The Tonight Show,” then takes away some of the luster of that accomplishment (no matter how they framed it) by giving Jay Leno, the abdicating “Tonight Show” host, his own 10 p.m. prime time show five days a week. People who like watching crime programs at 10 p.m., or “Dateline” episodes where Chris Hansen pulls the okee doke on “alleged” predators, or who just don’t find Jay Leno funny at any timeslot, cried foul.
And now that the show turned out to be a ratings turkey and, honestly, not all that funny, NBC is reportedly considering pushing Jay back to 11:35, meaning that Conan could be headed back to “Late Night,” and meaning Jimmy Fallon might be…oh, who knows? NBC, for their part, has released a statement confirming that they are committed to keeping Conan on NBC, which, as anyone whose ever been dumped by a vague text message claiming to want to be friends, knows doesn’t mean anything. Sure, they’re committed to keeping you around. But as what? And when? And what kind of friendship is that anyway, huh? And are you gonna pay Conan back for all those lunches when you “forgot” your wallet, NBC?
More on Leno and late night:
Leslie: Is NBC throwing Conan or Jimmy under the bus? | Jay Leno’s late-night future up in air | Video: Leno gets laughs out of rumors
Loading ...More on Leno and late night:
Leslie: Is NBC throwing Conan or Jimmy under the bus? | Jay Leno’s late-night future up in air | Poll: Should Jay stay or go?
Not surprisingly, Jay Leno’s smiling and joking his way through the latest reports that his show’s going to be canceled or moved.
Here’s the late-night-to-prime-time star making light of the situation on his show Thursday:
Desperate to do anything to improve the ratings, producers of NBC’s The Jay Leno Show are switching up the format.
Instead of putting such segments as Jay Walking and Headlines at the end of the show to lead into the news, Leno’s show will now have them following the monologue, which will more closely follow The Tonight Show template.
On Monday, according to Broadcasting & Cable, after his monologue and a commercial break, Leno came back with Headlines, followed by another commercial break, followed by Kathy Griffin. Writer Alex Weprin remarked that the show’s first half-hour was nearly identical to that of The Tonight Show.
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