Conan O'Brien Juggles Adoring Fans, Industry Backlash

By Ben Widdicombe Posted Mar 25th 2010 03:00PM

Conan O'Brien salvaged a public relations victory from his messy divorce with 'The Tonight Show' earlier this year by using his charm and wit to connect with audiences. But while the public still loves him, NBC's decision not to let O'Brien take part in Fox's 'Idol Gives Back' charity show has exposed an attitude in the television industry that thinks the former host made out like a bandit in the split.

NBC fired O'Brien and paid him a reported $40 million to walk away from his contract after disappointing ratings seven months into his hosting of 'The Tonight Show.' In return, Big Red agreed not to appear on television until May 1 or accept a new hosting gig until September.

The Hollywood Reporter first reported that NBC refused to waive that provision to allow O'Brien to appear on 'Idol Gives Back,' 'American Idol's' April 21 charity fundraiser. Fox is also the network most widely tipped to be O'Brien's next employer.

But what may come as a surprise to the millions of members of "Team CoCo" -- the grassroots fans who campaigned for Conan to keep his job at 'The Tonight Show' -- is that even TV insiders who don't like NBC feel that if the network paid O'Brien $40 million to stay off the air, Conan should honor the deal.

"If he's going to take the money, he should follow the rules," said one industry manager, himself a veteran of some bruising battles with NBC. "If you look at the Conan situation as a whole, I think [NBC] were nicer than they should have been."

Another source told PopEater: "Assuming Conan signs a deal when he is legally able to this September, he still gets to keep the $40 mill. That's a lot of money for a nine month vacation, especially considering he trashed NBC night after night on the air. A lot of people don't think he deserved such a payday after the way he behaved."

O'Brien is not keeping his feet up, of course. From April through June he will be playing his 30-city 'Legally Prohibited From Being Funny On Television Tour,' a comedy jaunt capitalizing on his recent career hiccup. But while Team CoCo will no doubt be buying tickets in force, O'Brien could face a chilly reality when he returns to the TV bargaining table.

"Conan has a lot of buzz, and there's a lot of interest in hiring him," says the second source. "But still, every network knows he couldn't bring in the eyeballs when it really mattered on NBC. That is going to be reflected in any future offer."

Tags: american idol, conan obrien, fox, nbc

Comments

(16)

Friday 26 March

By jessejamestattoo

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But he was never funny to begin with. and he was a writer for the Simpsons?? It's amazing.

Thursday 25 March

By Chris

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Are you kidding? Conan O'brien is way funnier than jay.. the episode where he went to finland was classic and the year 2000 bit is hilarious.. i could name hundreds of moments like these that clearly state that anyone with a brain will agree that Conan is funnier than Jay.

*also to correct an error in this article.. conan left the tonight show because jay was getting bad ratings and they wanted to move the show to 1am and he didnt wanna participate in the deconstruction of the tonight show.

"In my opinion no one wants to watch csi anyway.. if it aint broke dont fix it."

also if you think the Simpsons isnt funny I feel sorry for you.

By gobluespartyon

I think Conan should be allowed on Idol Gives Back. I think NBC is being petty but I understand why NBC is doing it if you let Conan do it then everyone that gets a buyout can go on TV anytime even know I don't agree with it and think it's petty but I understand why.

By Izzy

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I'm shocked that someone named jessejamestattoo doesn't think Conan is funny. Whatever. I'll watch anything Conan hosts. He's a riot.

By larry

One guy screws a mega giant corperation out of 40 million that's usually crapping on people is fine with me..........

By Millie Bea

If Conan was so funny he's still be on The Tonight Show.

By C. J. Summers

If Jay was so funny he'd still be on in prime time.

By jaylenizsoofuny

tht is vary tru. j leno are funier then conan so that way he bak @ twonite sho. any 1 who dont thinked jay is funy is idit and stuped anywyz. word. i dont evn get haf of conan joke so he not funy. leno shoud be presidant of usa. greatist county ever!

By Mike

They shouldn't have given him a cent more than they had to. If I still had to pay him, I would have stuck him in a closet til his contract ran out. Zucker isn't the sharpest tool in the shed. I'm amazed he's still there after this king-sized screw-up.

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I think it would be awesome if Conan appeared on Idol Gives Back.. Its abut giving back and helping people who arent as fortunate as us.

By Gstill

Will Fox be hiring Jay Leno to do a show at 10 PM and then giving all of the promotion and buzz to Jay while Conan tries to do the late night show? If not, Conan should do fine. And on Fox, Conan will be allowed to be edgier. Do NOT count him out. Leno will be gone before long I'm sure.

By conanfan2

Gstill's points are often overlooked...how would Conan have done if the promotion that NBC gave to Leno, who was supposed to have retired, have been used for Conan's show instead? Conan probably would have been clobbering Letterman.

By YH

If NBC doesn't allow him to appear on Idol that's fine, but that quote by the Popeater "source" is just idiotic. Conan's "trashing" of NBC was mild, he's been doing the same NBC jokes even when he was not feuding with them. And how convinent they leave out that on his last show he made it a point to THANK NBC for giving him a chance to host a talk show. Also let's not forget NBC was the one who breached Conan's contract by trying to do move him to 12am. That 40 million was for breach of contract. Just because you call it the Tonight Show doesn't make 12am the Tonight Show. Just weaseley lawyer tactics. Finally Idol gives Back is for charity. NBC is the classless one not allowing him to do a show for charity.

By gary munyon

you are wrong YH,,,,,Conan's agreement did include NBC's right to change the shows starting time. If Conan knew this when he signed the agreement why the big fuss when it happened? Ego. Leno would have had a half hour show to midnight. Conan would have retained the "Tonight Show" name and full hour but starting at midnight. NBC made a big mess, but did not break the agreement. Conan did and got 40 million from NBC. Why NBC paid him I do not understand?

By JMG

NBC paid up because their lawyers were smart enough to know would lose big time if this was taken to court. See Gary, we have an objective theory of contract law in this country. The objective observer in this case would read the phrase "Tonight Show" and think 11:35 because it has been that way for the past fifty years. Conan bargained specifically for the Tonight Show, not the "Early Morning" show. They don't need specific timeslot restriction in the contract to prove that the word "Tonight Show" meant a pre-midnight timeslot. NBC was in material breach, not Conan. Even if there was a chance that wasn't the case it was likely a slim chance and NBC's lawyers likely did not want to chance it. Thus, a settlement. Conan not doing press for an extensive period of time (nearly four months) is a pretty steep price in this culture....plus he lost some of his intellectual property (i.e. some of his characters and skits). He's been successful getting around that, but if there was no internet/social networking he would have a harder time keeping attention in this case.

PS: These sources also miss the point when they say NBC was nice. They're only thinking of Conan and forget the fact that NBC also screwed over all of the staff members who moved their lives across the country for that show.

I'd also like to know what "rules" this insider claims Conan is breaking. He followed the agreement and kept off the TV and news media (i.e. no interviews) for the past few months. I don't see how doing one appearance about a week before his blackout period is up is breaking any rules.

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