Conan O'Brien Rips NBC in Monologue

By Mike Hess Posted Jan 12th 2010 11:33PM

Conan O'Brien didn't hold anything back in his first 'Tonight Show' since officially stating that he would not be willing to jump to 12:05 a.m. to make room for Jay Leno thanks to the massive chaos in NBC's nighttime lineup. "Welcome to NBC, where our new slogan is 'No longer just screwing up prime-time,'" O'Brien said in his opening monologue. More scathing quotes and clips after the jump!

With a rousing ovation, O'Brien began his monologue by saying "I may not have that much time ... Hello, my name is Conan O'Brien and I may soon be available for children's parties."

He went on to say: "I've been giving the situation a lot of thought. When I was a little boy, I remember watching 'The Tonight Show' with Johnny Carson and thinking 'One day, I'm going to host that show for seven months.'"

Perhaps the biggest NBC barb was when Conan said of the current situation: "NBC said they were planning on having the late-night situation figured out before the Olympics start. And let me tell you something, when NBC says something, you can take that to the bank."

Howie Mandel dropped by during the monologue to run down Conan's future "options" in 'Deal or No Deal' style, which included the untaken options of "Move to Animal Planet, eat bugs on 'Man vs. Wild'" and "Gay neighbor on untitled Ed Asner project." Conan's choice? "2 Tickets to see Jay Leno perform stand-up at the Luxor Casino in Las Vegas." Well played, Conan.

The Conan-Jay drama began when NBC canceled Leno's 'The Jay Leno Show,' which aired at 10 p.m. But when Leno's 10 p.m. show flopped in the ratings and caused panic among local NBC affiliates who were losing lead-in viewers to their 11 p.m newscasts, NBC hoped to move Leno back to 11:30 and have Conan follow-up in the post-Midnight slot. Unfortunately for them, O'Brien wanted nothing to do with the switch and skewered the network in a statement.

"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," O'Brien said in a bold statement on Thursday. He went on to call 'The Tonight Show' "the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting," saying that him taking the new time would "seriously damage" its integrity.

"It was my mistaken belief that, like my predecessor, I would have the benefit of some time and, just as important, some degree of ratings support from the prime-time schedule," Conan said, taking a shot at the weak pre-'Tonight' ratings that ultimately hurt his own show.

Various media outlets are reporting that O'Brien's January 12 broadcast will be his last, and that NBC is on the prowl for guests hosts to take over 'Tonight,' likely because they fear Conan will continue to batter them in his monologue and jokes.

As for where Conan will go, nobody knows. Fox reportedly is courting him, but there's been no official confirmation of such negotiations.

► VIDEO: Letterman David Letterman Mocks NBC Debacle, 'Big Jaw' Leno
► Earlier: Conan O'Brien Says He Won't Budge for Jay Leno
► Aol Television's Gary Susman: Hey NBC, Just Let Jay Leno Go

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Conan O'Brien Snapshots

Conan O'Brien is seen here in December at Disney's Imagination Movers in Los Angeles. Click for More Pics of Conan and His Show >>>

Getty Images for Disney

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Amy Adams Snapshots

Actress Amy Adams (Right) and actor Darren Le Gallo attends the premiere of "Leap Year" at the Directors Guild Theatre on January 6, 2010 in New York City. "Leap Year" New York Premiere - Outside Arrivals Directors Guild Theatre New York, NY United States January 6, 2010 Photo by Jim Spellman/WireImage.com To license this image (59235392), contact WireImage.com

Jim Spellman/WireImage.com

Actress Amy Adams attends the premiere of "Leap Year" at the Directors Guild Theatre on January 6, 2010 in New York City. "Leap Year" New York Premiere - Outside Arrivals Directors Guild Theatre New York, NY United States January 6, 2010 Photo by Jim Spellman/WireImage.com To license this image (59235381), contact WireImage.com

Jim Spellman/WireImage.com

NEW YORK - JANUARY 06: Actress Amy Adams attends the after party for the premiere of "Leap Year" at the Rouge Tomate on January 6, 2010 in New York City. (Photo by Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Amy Adams

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NEW YORK - JANUARY 06: Actor Matthew Goode and actress Amy Adams the after party for the premiere of "Leap Year" at the Rouge Tomate on January 6, 2010 in New York City. (Photo by Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Matthew Goode;Amy Adams

Getty Images

NEW YORK - JANUARY 06: Actor Matthew Goode and actress Amy Adams attend the after party for the premiere of "Leap Year" at the Rouge Tomate on January 6, 2010 in New York City. (Photo by Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Matthew Goode;Amy Adams

Getty Images

Actor Matthew Goode and actress Amy Adams attend the after party for the premiere of "Leap Year" at the Rouge Tomate on January 6, 2010 in New York City. "Leap Year" New York Premiere - After Party Rouge Tomate New York, NY United States January 6, 2010 Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage.com To license this image (17093661), contact WireImage.com

Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage.com

Tags: conan obrien, jay leno, nbc, tonight show

Comments

(135)

Wednesday 13 January

By leroy

Lowest Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

Conan and Andy are NBC !!! UH UH UH FIRST AGAIN..DON`T HATE cuz you`re second..what ?? what ??

By bombsaway

Vote down Vote up Report this

Thanks a lot! We can't all be first you know!

By jd

conan is a F-IN moron. bye bye

By Jim

High Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

I am pro Conan on this one. I think it sucks that since Leno's show bombed that NBC would just kick Conan in the nuts and shove him aside in favor of Leno. Personally, I never cared much for Leno anyway. Without his writers, he's as useless as tits on a bull. At least Conan has writing talent behind him. NBC has lost my vote and my viewrship.

By Tracer

Highest Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

The whole situation is rather unfortunate and ultimately NBC's fault, although I'm also not so happy with the way Jay has been so uncooperative this entire time, intent on getting what he wants without a care to how it effects Conan, poor Jimmy Fallon, and NBC in general. So Conan, good luck! I will follow you anywhere; you are classy, funny, and without a doubt very smart. I'm sure you'll end up on your feet - even if that means at another network!

By Ron

Lets face it, Conan is a dork. How he got to where he is is beyond me!

By Jen

Jay being unreasonable? This screw up is all NBC. I think they should both leave NBC. I just hope my tax dollars aren't there to bail them out, as too big to fail

By HG in MN

Well said!

By vanstheman

I like Conan because you can tell he's been really hurt and angery about this the last few days and he's not hiding it. To some it probably looks like he's unprofessional and biting the hand that's fed him. At this point he says he's not moving on his own and will probably rip NBC until they decide to axe him.

He announced a new show for tomorrow night but something in this situation develops each day. We could hear by afternoon that NBC removed him.

The show just ended now. He ended it by saying "..we'll see you tomorrow". Then he paused and shrugged his shoulders adding "I think".

By Dianne

O'Brian is no loss. He's more boring than watching paint dry. Let him go elseware he'll still flop!!!!!!!

By HL

It seems like NBC is just going for the quick fix and in the end will be destroying their late night audience. Jay Leno's contract was up, he tried something else, it didn't work, and Conan shouldn't be punished for that. If NBC wants to do anything to gain intelligent under 40 viewers, they have to make an effort to draw people away from shows like the Daily Show or Colbert that are much smarter than either Letterman or Leno ever will be.

I agree with the previous article on this topic: Leno is a nice enough guy, but he and his humor have soured over time, and now I think his actions are pretty self-centered.

By s. Ritus

Low Ranked Vote down Vote up Report this

Actually, NBC got it right. Leno belongs on Prime Time where the audience will watch anything. Leno's sophomoric jokes are not for thinking, intelligent folks, but appeal to the audience that takes a little time to "get it". NBC, just give Leno's Prime Time audience a chance, they will eventually catch on and you will have your ratings.

By Ralph Miller

Conan you are not that funny!

By tony

but you are funny ralph!!!!!.may be you should take over for conan.

By bobbie

high 5 ralph. silly an asinine is not the same as funny

How right you are. He's not even a little bit funny.

By Not Sure

I agree that Conan is not funny a good portion of the time. He has his moments where i may chuckle but when watching him, i can't help but to try to find out if something else is on that's better (i usually do). His form of funny just does not seem like it is meant for adults sometimes. he is always making fun of himself it just gets old. Conan is kind of like Joel McHale but Joel McHale is funnier. I think NBC made the right buisiness decision, if I had to choose between Conan or Jay I would choose Jay too. Sorry Conan, your cool but not that funny.

By Rick

Leno's problem is that his political views as reflected in his act are ignorant. NBC should cut him loose and move forward.

By BigTony

If Conan goes, so do I and million sof viewers.

Jay and NBC can go you know where.

I don't think we have to worry. Conan doesn't have millions of viewers just a few like you. Follow him wherever you like it's no loss.

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