Late-Night Hosts Gang Up to Pummel NBC
If NBC was hoping to brush the whole Conan/Leno debacle under the table, they should get ready for a long, hard ride if last night's late-night assault on the Peacock network was any indication. Conan reamed NBC for essentially pushing him out, Jay alluded to it but mostly avoided Conan's situation, and other network hosts chimed in as well.
After the jump, a breakdown of all the 'Tonight'-gate commentary on Tuesday.
Conan's Colossal Day
Hours after releasing a statement saying that he had no interest in manning 'The Tonight Show' if it was bumped to 12:05 am -- marking perhaps the biggest middle-finger letter from employer to boss we've ever seen -- Conan didn't hold back during his Tuesday monologue. He joked: "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."
As the one that many are considering the person who was the most royally screwed during this whole ordeal, Conan fans had reason to celebrate. He ripped the network that is pushing him out while still showing a good deal of tact and classiness for not totally freaking out.
Jay Jokes, But Ignores Conan
Aside from a joke or two about the overall hairiness of the situation he's at the epicenter of, Leno stopped short of directly addressing Conan's statement released earlier on Tuesday. Instead, he focused on smaller barbs towards NBC, saying: "The folks here at NBC, they don't handle these things well. They don't have a lot of tact. After they canceled the show, they told me if I gained 10 pounds I could join 'The Biggest Loser.'"
Perhaps in job preservation mode at this point (PopEater's Rob Shuter
reports Leno may be out at NBC as well), Leno avoided any him-versus-Conan taunts.
Dave Doesn't Hold Back
David Letterman has never been one to bite his tongue. By far the most ornery late-night host, the NBC mess is a dream come true for Letterman, who still has an axe to grind with his former network and Leno himself.
"You know what this means -- that's right, I knocked off another competitor," he joked in his monologue, referring to Conan O'Brien's decision Tuesday to leave NBC if they move 'The Tonight Show' to 12:05 a.m. Letterman repeatedly referred to his old and soon-to-be current foe as Jay "Big Jaw" Leno and mocked the "geniuses" at NBC programming who devised his move to prime-time.
Kimmel Gets in Leno's Shoes ... Literally
Over at ABC, consummate prankster and impersonator Jimmy Kimmel used the 'Tonight' firestorm to bust out his fantastic Jay Leno impersonation, complete with prop chin (naturally).
Kimmel, as Leno, said in his monologue: "Hello, hello, my name is Jay Leno and let it here by be known that I'm taking over all the shows in late-night," he quipped, referring to the recent dustup at NBC. He went on to joke that "It's great to be here on ABC," he adds. "You know what ABC stands for? Always Bump Conan."
Another shot was lobbed directly at Leno with the joke: "Conan O'Brien, today, announced that he is leaving NBC. He released a statement today saying 'I won't participate in the destruction of 'The Tonight Show.'" Fortunately, though, I will," Kimmell says.
Fallon Forgets to Talk About It
A somber looking Jimmy Fallon dodged getting involved in 'Tonight'-gate entirely, as his place at NBC following all of this drama is still unknown. His first two jokes were about Sarah Palin and 'Jersey Shore,' skating around the 800 pound elephant in the NBC offices.
With Conan likely out, there's no word where Fallon -- whose current show begins at 12:35 a.m. after Conan's 'Tonight show' -- will land. Whether it was a conscious decision by Fallon to stay out of it or network executives told him to back off is unknown, but one thing is for sure -- there was certainly some strange energy going on.
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Jimmy Fallon is not ready for the tonight show. He is still finding his way on his own show. Leno is not funny, he is not a smart man that is why he picks on people who are dumb. I hope Conan eithers stays where he is or gets a better deal somewhere else....I'll follow him no matter where he ends up.
Top 10 reasons that letterman should get the ax:
10. His hair is getting pretty hard to look at
9. That gap between his two front teeth is harder to look at.
8. 90% of his jokes are funny only to Paul Shaffer.
7. The other 10% of his jokes are about young girls,mentally challenged people, or people in wheel chairs.
8. His guest are so hard up to have someone watch them on TV they go to his poorly rated show.
6. His show sucks
5. His show really sucks.
4. His show really really sucks.
3. His show really really really sucks.
2. His show really really really really sucks.
1. He's ugly and his show really really really really sucks!
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HEAR! HEAR! Right On!!!
LOL, so true.
I am with you 100% he sucks and his show sucks-- WHEN THeY GET Rich they just are not funny!!I am agree with you that Jimmy Is not ready yet- I would watch every night if Seinfeld came back He never lost it- and Jay Leno should have retired when he was good. He is not even with a smile any more. He should fire his writers.
LOL..LOL That's was hilarious!! Wanna Late Night Show on NBC?
Who cares? Craig Ferguson is the best.
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They're just a bunch of narcissistic, liberal, loud mouths ... all trying to out shine each other ... not much difference than those now in THE WASHINGTON ADMINISTRATION!!!!
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Why do some retards try to turn everything into a political diatribe? How do you know they are liberals? Your're like a dog that barks at the wind...Shut up already!
Well said. I could not agree with you more!
I wish Letterman would keep his gap-toothed yap shut! Too bad nobody's getting rid of his arrogant ass. The way I see it, neither Jay nor Conan are to blame for any of this. But yet it's a fact so I wish everybody'd just sit tight and wait to see what happens. It isn't up to us. If it was up to me, Jay would never have left the Tonight Show. So now maybe they see what a mistake they made by letting him go. Just my opinion. Not trying to start anything, OK?
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I don't think Conan deserves this. If Jay had a bad show at 10PM, then he'll have a bad show at 11:35PM! No one wants to watch him!
And I do think Jimmy is just trying to stay out of it. If I was in Jimmy's shoes, I would want to stay out of it, too.
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If it ain't broke, don't fix it!
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We don't bother with any of them anymore except Craig Ferguson! We record his show every night. On the rare occasion we watch one of the others....it is always Letterman.
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I stopped watching NBC long ago, all the changes, and upsets, and all the constant reruns. From what I read, Conan seems to be the 'adult" in the whole mess, I wish him well. If he lands some where other than MBC, I am sure I will watch.
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NO INTELLIGENT PERSON GIVES A DAMN ... OR WATCHES SUCH TRIPE!!!
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Put Craig Ferguson in the Tonight Show Slot because he is the most Versital of them all as well as FUNNY-- ( Leno who is getting away from his old show methods- Conan who stinks at what he attempts- Letterman who belittles everyone just to get three stupid girls to holler out yea )We need Carson's old script sheets to make it work!!Change isn't always needed, take note you just out of college NBC employees!!
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Leno isn't the bad guy here. If you want to blame anyone for this mess, blame the executives at NBC. Leno has been cooperating with everything Conan and the network wanted since 5 years ago.
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How could the writer of this article forget to include Craig Ferguson in this list?
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I'm almost 50, I can remember the days when the only thing on at 11:30 pm was the tonight show or crappy B movies on the other networks. Quite frankly, I think all these talk shows should be pre-recorded and the consumer can use tivo or on-demand channels to watch them if and when they want to and bring back the crappy movies to late night. I so miss "creature feature", HA-HA-HA!!!
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