Posts Tagged ‘Conan O’Brien’

Friday historical evening in TV

January 23rd, 2010 joel

In the middle of our wide-ranging conversation with A.J. Miceli on the P&T Podcast, he said something that was again revealed last night: the reason was programs like the evening newscasts still work is that the medium of television transcends media, but is a central facilitator of our popular culture.

That was so evident last night in a couple ways as no less than 22 broadcast and cable networks simultaneously aired the Hope for Haiti Now fund-raising telethon. The two-hour event was overwhelmed by stars of film, television and music, complete with some of the most tasteful and unique mashups of talent I’ve ever seen. One of my favorite moments was supplied by Justin Timberlake and Matt Morris.

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Later, the last Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien was a triumph (pun intended). He had some great moments, including his exit interview conducted by NBC employee Steven Carell.

The Huffington Post has the text and video of his final farewell to NBC, which was strikingly poignant.

Friday night showed that TV continues to be about shared experiences, which helps to bind us together as a nation. That’s a good thing, no matter what the circumstances that precipitated these events.

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Conan is gone from NBC

January 21st, 2010 joel

The Wall Street Journal is breaking this morning (Thursday) that it is confirmed that Conan O’Brien has signed a separation agreement with NBC, ending his long time connection with the network. According to WSJ.com:

While details on the final agreement were unclear, the deal was expected to include a payout of about $32 million for Mr. O’Brien and about $12 million for his staff. It is also believed to include a nondisparagement clause, both for the 46-year-old comedian and NBC. The deal has been said to include a provision that would bar or limit Mr. OBrien from appearing on other shows or hosting his own show for a period of time, according to people familiar with the negotiations.

“In the end, Conan was appreciative of the steps NBC made to take care of his staff and crew, and decided to supplement the severance they were getting out of his own pocket,” said Gavin Polone, Mr. O’Brien’s manager. “Now he just wants to get back on the air as quickly as possible.”

The Tonight Show - Jan. 20, 2010

Last night, Conan made more news with a bit that reportedly cost his soon to be former benefactor $1.5 million. He bought a Bugatti Veyron Mouse and gave it giant whiskers and ears, while playing the Rolling Stone’s “Satisfaction” with it’s accompanying high licensing fees as a soundtrack underneath.

No word yet on how long Conan will have to wait to get back to television comedy.

Posted in Television Tags: , , , 3 Comments »

NBC late night debacle all Zucker’s

January 15th, 2010 joel
Jay Leno

Jay Leno

In show-business, since when does going with the bean-counters ever work out?

If we listened to the bean-counters, there would have been no green-lights for Titanic, or Lord of the Rings, or Avitar. The bean-counters have given us 500 stations with Ryan Seacrest and only two television news teams in Erie.

Yet it was solely a bottom-line decision to take number-one rated Jay Leno off of The Tonight Show, and give him a prime-time strip, so that GE wouldn’t have to fork over $3M an episode for an hour long drama like ER.

Who was watching, and now squandering the “Bottom Line”? None other than NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker. The one-time wonder-kid of The Today Show proved that he was toxic to NBC’s once-revered prime time. I almost never agree with Maureen Dowd, but she got it right in her scathing NY Times editorial earlier in the week. It’s time for Zucker to go.

Conan O'Brien

Conan O'Brien

I doubt that its going to happen, as the network wagons circle around Jeff and Jay leaving Conan O’Brien as the odd man out, and it looks like to Fox.

It’s gotten so nasty at 30 Rock to the point that Dick Ebersol totally called out Conan in yesterday’s NY Times, saying that he was unwilling to change his shtick for 11:35, and skewed too young for the marquee placement of The Tonight Show. That O’Brien is consistently second to The Late Show with David Letterman is definitely a problem, and now it seems the network just wants to do a System Restore back to May 2009, except with Jimmy Fallon on Late Night.

All of this drama is fascinating to watch from the media observer perspective, but I gotta think that average Joe is plain disgusted and screaming at their HD sets “I told ya so!”

Posted in Television Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , 5 Comments »

The Feed for the Weekend of Feb. 21st & 22nd

February 21st, 2009 joel

Editor’s Note: don’t forget that you can always share your insights on any topic of media in Erie and elsewhere on our open comment forum, Deep Background.

  • Kanzius’s passing noted world wide: The news of the death of Erie broadcaster and cancer-fighting inventor John Kanzius has been reported around the world, including on Facebook. Here in Erie, news organizations are covering both the immediate angle of the reaction to his passing and the memorial services, but also the long-term impact of Kanzius’s death on the ongoing research and potential local economic impact of the possible cancer-killing device he invented. The latest on the viewing and funeral can be found on GoErie.com.

    • (more…)

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