Conan O'Brien Says He Wouldn't Have Done a Leno

By PopEater Staff Posted Apr 29th 2010 09:37PM

In his first televised interview since his late night dethroning, Conan O'Brien says he never would have acted like Jay Leno if their "Tonight Show" roles had been reversed.

"He went and took that show back and I think in a similar situation, if roles had been reversed, I know – I know me, I wouldn't have done that," O'Brien, says in the interview scheduled to air on '60 Minutes' on Sunday.

"If I had surrendered 'The Tonight Show' and handed it over to somebody publicly and wished them well -- and then ... six months later," he added. "But that's me, you know. Everyone's got their own, you know, way of doing things."

Asked by correspondent Steve Kroft what he would have done, O'Brien says, "Done something else, go someplace else. I mean, that's just me."

O'Brien eventually left NBC thinking "this relationship is going be toxic and maybe we just need to go our separate ways." He is set to host a talk show on TBS following his comedy tour.

According to the New York Times, O'Brien held back on criticizing NBC too much because of his buyout and agreement to not disparage Leno or executives. He refuses to bite when Kroft suggests he "got screwed." O'Brien responds, "No, I didn't. I'm fine."

When he's asked if Leno lobbied to regain the show, O'Brien says simply, "I don't know."

When asked if Leno acted less than honorably, O'Brien hesitated and then said, "I can't answer that."

Comments

(142)

Friday 30 April

By phdini

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the one and only reason this whole thing happened is because conan put the tonight show in the toilet... period. he is lame. leno, lopez, letterman, kimmel and all the other hosts put conan to shame. where is he now? telemundo? he never was funny.

By jillalane

That's show business folks.....

By ylg

Coco forgot to mention it was he that forced Jay out of the Tonight Show in the first place, buy threatening to leave NBC. He played his hand and he lost. Stop crying Coco, put on your big boy pants and move on.

By A. Duncan

I love Conan. Wishing him all the best. Leno has a history of acting the way he did. I won't watch Leno...just kinda sleazy!

By hardyharhar

so funny LOL all you peeps saying crap! So funny LOL!!!!! No one give a rats a** what the he** you all say here! LOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLOL ROFL ROFL ROFL ROFL Conan survived and got what he wanted LOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLOL ROFL ROFL ROFL & he's LAUGHING OUT LOUD all the way to the BANK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By M.t.

Yeah, right - if he's so noble why did he take all those millions to walk away from a station where the relationship was going to be toxic.

By Kath

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While Conan O'Brien may very well be talented, the Tonight Show was simply not a venue within which he shone brightly. That show belonged to Johnny Carson, and then to Jay Leno, and that's just the way it is.

By Elphie

OK, To all of you who say Conan was not funny and had no talent. His ratings 5 years ago were so high NBC made the 2009 deal, because they didn't want to loose Conan. If he had no talent, wasn't funny, and didn't have good ratings. Then why did NBC make him a deal to stay? They could have said go to Fox or someplace and leave now, we don't have any plans to ask Jay to step down in 5 years. Good by and good luck. BUT THEY DIDN'T! They saw his talent and numbers and choose to find a way to keep him. If he sucked the way many of you say he did, then why did NBC make a deal to keep him? 5 years ago they could have said bye Conan good luck at Fox, ABC, etc. But they didn't. So in the eyes of the network 5 years ago he had talent and added value to the network. He did not put a gun to their heads. They did not want to loose him.

By Mark

Another PUTZ who doesn't know the difference between the words LOSE and LOOSE.

By pat

Having talent is one thing, Conan has talent but not the kind that works on some shows. He really has nothing to say about anyone. 1st. he took the show from Leno, it didn't work so he quit and now is taking the time slot from Lopez. He needs to quit taking other peoples time slots and shows. But thats show biz.

By hitechceo

Leno left some mighty big shoes to fill and Coco couldn't get the job done. Get over it and stop blaming Jay for your failure. If you could have kept the ratings up this wouldn't have happened. I'm just glad Jay is back.

By Imaginethat

People, some of you blather on and on about things which you obviously know nothing about. This is show business. Period. some people rise and some fall and some land on their feet again. Kind of like life. In the grand scheme of things this who thing with NBC, Leno, O'Brien, blah, blah, blah, is virtually meaningless. A lot of other far more important thing are going on out in the world. This is extremely minor to say the least. It's the media that keeps it going. Both of these men, O'Brien and Leno, have more money than anyone here will EVER see in their lifetime. So does NBC for that matter and their executives. If the media did not keep this thing going, it would disappear from the radar screen and rightly so.

By duh

ever hear of change? Things are not just the way it is! Its like I sell you a car then I decide to take it back from you no questions asked, I think you didn't drive it right so I cancel our agreement and take the car back! That's not how the world works. I have to live with the fact that you drive bad and I cant get my car back! Jay Leno sucked at the 9pm show time Conan wasn't given the chance to be on ;long enough to find out how he did! Leno cant take back what he lost he has to give it up and move on. Its that simple! Leno you cant have it all. You have to move on with your life. Now move on!

By doobie

I can't believe there are actually people who watch Leno. Never did Never will! That simple! And maybe its the over 50 crowd then watching his old a** on the screen hahahahaha! Your pathetic Leno viewers! So pathetic!

By Steve

How f**king long are you going to work to try to take Leno down? G*ddammit....Conan O'Brien wasn't carrying the Show...That's LIFE! Conan IS NOT funny! TBS will find out just what small ratings look like...and poor George Lopez is going to take a hit too! When you have someone of O'Brien's mentality "thinking" about a situation....hell, it's almost an oxymoron. Intelligent Conan??? LOL! When I heard that NBC was GIVING Conan that show OVER 5 years ago, I told my wife it was the BIGGEST MISTAKE NBC could possibly make. Conan O'Brien is NOT FUNNY and cannot carry it. He hung around long enough to prove I was right. PLUS, and you ask anyone in the industry....If you can't get your claws into the viewers in THIRTEEN WEEKS, it ain't gonna happen.....They gave that doofy looking redhead double that...and he still couldn't. And.....take a look folks...JAY IS ON TOP AGAIN......Oh, but WAIT.....CBS....the SAME network behind BUTTF*CK Letterman is taking a shot at him now...Way to go fellas....keep them flames fanned and see what ends up happening.....You know, play with fire, get burned....What a business!

LOL.....Take a look at your name you moron...."DOOBIE"...I think that says it all. We know where your brain is.....lol...or USED to be!

doobie: You sound like a moron. I think you're the one who is pathetic. And the use of "hahahahahah" usually denotes the poster (you in this case) is a witless kid. Grow up!

By jaguar02

Bla Bla Bla. Conad is a liar and for all you dumb azzes that very so sorry for him , don't waste your energy. He made off with something to the tune of 40 million dollars for each of the next 3 years. What a moron he is. I wish I made that kind of money.

You ever bought a 'stock"? Your BROKER picks it up for you and then it tanks! You ever been in management where you had something to say about promoting someone? Sure...several months go by and you realize that the individual was promoted BEYOND his/her abilities....HEY FOLKS, THAT WAS CONAN! When you take a look at the history of The TONIGHT Show...Parr, Allen, Carson, yes, even Leno....suddenly it degrades the persona when you add O'Brien. The shoes WERE much too large for Conan to fill. But, not to worry folks, he's FILTHY RICH....he doesn't really care any more!

By HERES JOHNNY

FUKK U STEVE AND FUKK LENO AND FUKK LETTERMAN NONE OF THEM ARE AS GOOD AS CARSON JOHNNY WAS WHAT MADE THE TONIGHT SHOW GREAT, ALLEN AND PAR WERE SUBPAR

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