Conan O'Brien

SYM · Post by **SYM** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 1:00 pm

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100412/ap_ ... an_o_brien

NEW YORK ג Late-night mainstay Conan O'Brien is headed to TBS to resume his comedic duties with a talk show expected to debut in November, the network says.

The program will air Mondays through Thursdays at 11 p.m. Eastern, shifting TBS' "Lopez Tonight," starring George Lopez, to midnight.

Monday's surprise announcement hit the same day O'Brien starts a two-month, nationwide comedy tour in Eugene, Ore., amid persistent reports that he was likely to claim Fox as his new late-night home.

Barring Fox, syndication was widely considered O'Brien's most likely option. Few if anyone mentioned TBS as a plausible destination.

O'Brien began serious talks with TBS just last week, the network said.

"In three months, I've gone from network television to Twitter to performing live in theaters, and now I'm headed to basic cable," O'Brien said in a tongue-in-cheek-toned statement. "My plan is working perfectly."

O'Brien left NBC in January after hosting "The Tonight Show" for just eight months, as his ratings plunged from those of his longtime "Tonight" predecessor, Jay Leno, who reclaimed the hour. Until last June, O'Brien had followed Leno as host of "Late Night" since 1993.

OBrien's parting deal bars him from appearing on TV until September.

Employee · Post by **Employee** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 1:07 pm

George Lopez's talk show on there sucks some balls.

ackbar · Post by **ackbar** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 1:08 pm

nice.
why be mad he ends up @ tbs? even tho the channel sucks.. all that matters is whether or not they let him produce a good show

Roy Johnson · Post by **Roy Johnson** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 1:09 pm

Employee wrote:George Lopez's talk show on there sucks some balls.

I feel legitimately heated whenever I see previews for that shit. I'ma bust my TV screen one day like Carcetti.

Website · Post by **Random Sample** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 1:09 pm

Conan O'Brien wrote:"In three months, I've gone from network television to Twitter to performing live in theaters, and now I'm headed to basic cable," O'Brien said in a tongue-in-cheek-toned statement. "My plan is working perfectly."

Conan is the man. Will watch the show for sure.

Reggie · Post by **Reggie** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 1:20 pm

Employee wrote:George Lopez's talk show on there sucks some balls.

Pat Sajak's talk show had more redeeming qualities.

Positive A · Post by **Positive A** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 1:24 pm

Seems odd as fuck that he'd go to TBS to lead in to Lopez no homo. But I'd watch Conan if he was on Oxygen so fuck it.

capable_keL · Post by **capable_keL** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 1:44 pm

what matters is that he is back

Trademark · Post by **Trademark** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 4:17 pm

No, no way...

SuperFeen · Post by **SuperFeen** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 4:42 pm

Random Sample wrote:
Conan O'Brien wrote:"In three months, I've gone from network television to Twitter to performing live in theaters, and now I'm headed to basic cable," O'Brien said in a tongue-in-cheek-toned statement. "My plan is working perfectly."

Conan is the man. Will watch the show for sure.

blastmaster · Post by **blastmaster** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 5:37 pm

Odd move.

I think the idea of starting on FX (which is a vastly superior network than TBS, jesus) then letting Fox get their shit together while building an audience would have been the best route.

TBS will have to almost re-launch themselves to make this work.

PopeyeJones · Post by **PopeyeJones** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 5:37 pm

TBS will let him do whatever the fuck he wants. This is a good thing.

Trademark · Post by **Trademark** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 5:39 pm

I mean, what the fuck is TBS? Seinfeld, Friends, Family Guy and Tyler Perry sticoms? How often will Braves games bump into his time slot?

supnick · Post by **supnick** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 5:57 pm

Roy Johnson wrote:
Employee wrote:George Lopez's talk show on there sucks some balls.
I feel legitimately heated whenever I see previews for that shit. I'ma bust my TV screen one day like Carcetti.

freal, this show is absolute trash

glad conan is back tho, regardless of where he's at

ackbar · Post by **ackbar** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 5:59 pm

i don't particularly feel loyalty to any tv channel.. so it doesn't matter that much to me anyways

but reruns of seinfeld, the fresh prince, king of queens, the office & saved by the bell are actually better/more watchable than a lot of the original programming on other networks. tbs is trying to establish themselves as the "funny" network or whatever & linking up with conan is a great way to do that

ackbar · Post by **ackbar** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 6:01 pm

and all that said.. i'm waiting for them to announce who picks it up in

. it better be a network that broadcasts in hd

Truth. · Post by **Truth.** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 6:08 pm

All that matters is we now know he is officially coming back with a show

Truth. · Post by **Truth.** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 6:47 pm

BREAKING NEWS! 2ND UPDATE 10:45 AM: We hear that Conan O'Brien will own the late night show on TBS, the same way that David Letterman owns his show on CBS (both the Late Show and the Late Late Show). O'Brien's salary is north of $10M (not including ownership). And Fox is pretty shellshocked, apparently kept in the dark from the reaction we're getting to today's big announcement.

10:20 AM UPDATE: The news that Conan O'Brien has picked a new TV home comes just as Conan kicks off his comedy tour today. Yes, this venue is a surprise. But these days, it's not like there's a big difference between a network and a cable show: all those 500+ channels seem indistinguishable. And TBS has done a terrific job branding and promoting Lopez Tonight. (OגBrien began talks in earnest with TBS just last week, after George Lopez personally called him to ask that he consider joining the networkגs late-night line-up. גI canגt think of anything better than doing my show with Conan as my lead-in,ג Lopez said. גItגs the beginning of a new era in late-night comedy.ג)

A lot of showbiz reporters got it wrong (not us!) speculating about where Conan would land. They were fixated on Fox and assumed he would only go to a network. But the fact is that, we knew from the very beginning, Team Conan (including his exec producer Jeff Ross, and WME's Rick Rosen and Ari Emanuel, and manager Gavin Palone), were thinking way outside the network box. For instance, there were discussions with Microsoft about an XBox deal for Conan's show that would have broken new ground. And yes, discussions took place with Fox. Long presumed the most natural choice for the comedian, who had been clear that he was only interested in a nightly talk show, the sticking point was clearing a time slot behind the late evening news where the Fox O&O [owned and operated] and affiliate stations all have long-term syndication deals.

On the other hand, TBS offered O'Brien a weeknight platform (Monday-through-Thursday) without the hassle of having to launch in only parts of the country if not all markets were able to be cleared. "But TBS was far more aggressive from the very beginning. They wooed him hard," one insider tells me. "And Conan was incredibly impressed by executives there." Team Conan also liked the strong lead-in of Family Guy and The Office, as well as the prospect that on cable he could have "more freedom to be creatively more exciting," a source tells us. "And then George [Lopez] called Conan and convinced him to do it."

The good news is that, since he is going to a cable network, Conan won't face the same ratings scrutiny as if he were to go head-to-head with David Letterman and Jay Leno on a broadcast network. But airing from 11 PM to midnight Monday to Thursday, OגBrien will now face off directly with the formidable basic cable late-night duo of Comedy Centralגs Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report.

We understand the budget for the show will be the same as it was on NBC. And that, of course, "the deal is very good" especially considering he already has NBC's $40 million in his pocket. And, of course, Conan was, well, Conan about it all: גIn three months Iגve gone from network television to Twitter to performing live in theaters, and now Iגm headed to basic cable. My plan is working perfectly.ג

YouTube · Post by **Philaflava** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 6:57 pm

Employee wrote:George Lopez's talk show on there sucks some balls.

TBS must be afraid to lose the Spanish viewer because I am surprised that show is still on the air. Who are the companies that advertise during that hour?

Employee · Post by **Employee** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 7:28 pm

Philaflava wrote:
Employee wrote:George Lopez's talk show on there sucks some balls.
TBS must be afraid to lose the Spanish viewer because I am surprised that show is still on the air. Who are the companies that advertise during that hour?

I only watched the first few episodes. TERRIBLE.

Dids · Post by **Dids** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 7:39 pm

Not that most of the reasons behind this are valid- but I'm pretty happy he ended up anywhere but Fox.

Kalistoga · Post by **Kalistoga** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 8:05 pm

Employee wrote:
Philaflava wrote:
Employee wrote:George Lopez's talk show on there sucks some balls.
TBS must be afraid to lose the Spanish viewer because I am surprised that show is still on the air. Who are the companies that advertise during that hour?
I only watched the first few episodes. TERRIBLE.

to be fair, George Lopez's show is funnier than Jay Leno's. but i guess that's not saying much...

rob1ne · Post by **rob1ne** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 12:51 am

It would be awesome to see him come on at 11 and blow jay leno's ratings out of the water, not likely to happen only because the viewer base is a lot larger with a network channel then with a basic cable channel, but still.

ackbar · Post by **ackbar** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 1:43 am

no way will conan's ratings even come close to leno's..
but all that is irrelevant at this point.

his fanbase will migrate & he'll end up with the sort of acclaim the daily show & colbert report get. less pressure & overall nature of the deal should also allow for an environment better suited to his sensibilities.

the only thing significant that was lost was the tonight show brand.. which nbc & leno will forever be tarnished with ruining creatively. nbc might win even until leno retires.. but this whole thing just marks another reason why the big networks are losing relevance more & more and entertainment keeps on expanding into many splintered directions

Positive A · Post by **Positive A** » Wed Apr 14, 2010 1:39 pm

Pretty good podcast about this. Bill Simmons and tv critic Tim Goodman:

http://espn.go.com/espnradio/player?rd= ... =ESPNRADIO

Gregg Popabitch · Post by **Gregg Popabitch** » Wed Apr 14, 2010 5:53 pm

Philaflava wrote:
Employee wrote:George Lopez's talk show on there sucks some balls.
TBS must be afraid to lose the Spanish viewer because I am surprised that show is still on the air. Who are the companies that advertise during that hour?

4 million people consistently watch the George Lopez show. For a basic cable show, that is real good. They'd be retarded to take it off the air.

Gregg Popabitch · Post by **Gregg Popabitch** » Wed Apr 14, 2010 6:03 pm

Trademark wrote:I mean, what the fuck is TBS? Seinfeld, Friends, Family Guy and Tyler Perry sticoms? How often will Braves games bump into his time slot?

People do realize that March Madness bumped into Letterman's time slot, right? How about the NBA finals bumping into Kimmel?

You guys are being ridiculous.....and aren't seeing the big picture. Conan owns his own show now. That means there will be no executives telling him what to do. He can put out his own show and not try to be something he's not. He has free creative reign. Plus he'll make more money this way.

Also, Turner will be able to promote the shit out of Conan. The Closer gets 9 million viewers per new episode on TNT. Put a couple of Conan commercials there. The NBA playoffs on TNT.....put a couple of conan episodes there. Braves on TBS? CNN, Cartoon Network? I'd like a Conan spot there, there and there. Plus Turner owns Sports illustrated as well. They will go all out to promote this shit just to make sure they get a return on their profit.

And are you guys that obsessed with network television? Are you guys crying about watching Mad Men on AMC? Or the Shield on FX? If people think a show is good, they'll watch it no matter what channel you are on. The days of loyalty to a channel is over......especially a network channel. Face it guys......Network TV is pretty much dead. A lot of the best programming is being put out by Basic and Premium cable. If you don't think this, you are a fossil.

This was a brilliant move by Conan. And even more brilliant by Turner.

SYM · Post by **SYM** » Wed Apr 14, 2010 10:06 pm

^ everything you say there is on point.

but this fossil takes exception to one thing.

Gilbert Subpoenas wrote:Are you guys that obsessed with network television? Are you guys crying about watching Mad Men on AMC? Or the Shield on FX? If people think a show is good, they'll watch it no matter what channel you are on. The days of loyalty to a channel is over......especially a network channel. Face it guys......Network TV is pretty much dead. A lot of the best programming is being put out by Basic and Premium cable. If you don't think this, you are a fossil.

Not that I disagree at all with your reasoning. I do in fact plan on eventually getting cable, and fairly soon might I add (by the time Conan makes his TBS debut incidentally), but I think most people here aren't "obsessed" with network television. Most of us just watch all of our TV online, or on netflix or something similar to boot. Whether or not its cable or network is neither here nor there.

But then again, what do I know. I'm a fossil because all I have is digital television (i.e. 20+ channels) for the time being.

SYM · Post by **SYM** » Wed Apr 14, 2010 10:33 pm

Seriously though, can anyone here on this site say with full certainty that TBS would stream episodes from Conan online? Like hulu, does their website stream anything online in full episode form?

Kalel · Post by **Kalel** » Thu Apr 15, 2010 4:21 am

Conan O'Brien

Conan O'Brien

Re: TBS = Total Bullshit (Conan settles)

Re: TBS = Total Bullshit (Conan settles)