Yaaaaaaaay :conan:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/27/business/media/28CND-NBC.html?ex=1096948800&en=53ac1de7e72e0d3f&ei=5006&partner=ALTAVISTA1

Conan O'Brien to Succeed Jay Leno in 2009, NBC Announces
By BILL CARTER

Published: September 27, 2004


BC announced today that Conan O'Brien will succeed Jay Leno as host of the "Tonight" show when Mr. Leno's contract expires in 2009, cutting off early efforts by competitors to steal away Mr. O'Brien.

Mr. O'Brien, the host of NBC's "Late Night" for more than 11 years, signed a new contract early today at NBC's headquarters in Rockefeller Center. The deal guarantees Mr. O'Brien will serve at least two years as host of "Tonight," still the leading show in late-night television, when he takes over from Mr. Leno at a yet-to-be-determined date in 2009.

NBC made the news official in a press release this afternoon, after it was announced to the staffs of both shows early in the morning. Mr. Leno planned to tell his own television audience tonight on his program, already billed as a special edition because it is the official 50th anniversary of the first broadcast of "Tonight," with Steve Allen as host. Mr. O'Brien will become the fifth host in the show's history.

Because of a desire to allow Mr. Leno the first public comment on the decision, the hosts and NBC executives declined on-the-record interviews today. But several people involved in the negotiations said they had been conducted in an amicable fashion, even though Mr. O'Brien has been surprised and disappointed earlier this year when NBC announced it had signed Mr Leno to a five-year extension.

Mr. O'Brien, with his own contract set to expire in January of 2006, had made it plain in interviews that his goal was to be the host of an 11:35 p.m. late-night show soon.

NBC executives said today that Mr. Leno was instrumental in making the new arrangement, having agreed when he signed his latest deal in March that he would be willing to step aside for Mr. O'Brien in 2009. He will be 59 at that point, while Mr. O'Brien will be 46.

In a statement, Mr. Leno said: "When I signed my new contract, I felt that the timing was right to plan for my successor, and there is no one more qualified than Conan. Plus, I promised my wife Mavis I would take her out for dinner before I turned 60."

The deal to secure Mr. O'Brien and to set a date for the end of Mr. Leno's tenure was put in place by Jeff Zucker, the president of the NBC Universal Television Group. Mr. Zucker had conducted complicated negotiations over a period of months with representatives of the two stars, trying to work out a plan that would keep Mr. O'Brien at NBC. Mr. O'Brien was expected to be heavily sought after by other networks had NBC not managed to re-sign him. Mr. O'Brien's representatives had already received some preliminary indications of interest from at least two other television companies.

One of the main inspirations for concluding the deal this early was NBC's conviction that it could not go through the painful and at times embarrassing process that attended the last decision to turn over the host job on "Tonight." In 1991, after Johnny Carson announced he was stepping down, NBC first handed the job to Mr. Leno, then a substitute host for the program. And then, as the contract of its other late-night star, David Letterman, was expiring, the network offered to give him the show at the end of Mr. Leno's first contract.

Mr. Letterman saw that as a ploy to keep him inside NBC and was not convinced that NBC would have gone through with that commitment, so he declined and joined CBS.

Some of the people who were involved in how that scenario played out wondered today about whether NBC might be employing a similar tactic, offering Mr. O'Brien what he most wanted, the "Tonight" show, in order to secure his services and keep him away from another network, while essentially postponing a real decision on Mr. Leno's future for five years.

But the people involved in the negotiations said that Mr. O'Brien's representatives had been completely satisfied that NBC's commitment was real. They said that the contract Mr. O'Brien signed today included a multimillion dollar financial penalty if he did not get the "Tonight" show, a penalty payment so substantial that the network surely had no intention of ever having to pay it, according to people involved in the deal.

For NBC, the "Tonight" show remains one of its biggest moneymakers. After Mr. Leno became the host in 1992, CBS lured away Mr. Letterman, and his competing show on CBS for a time beat Mr. Leno's in the ratings.

But Mr. Leno zoomed past Mr. Letterman in 1995 and has dominated the late-night ratings ever since.


Sucks though.. I dont want him to move all the way to LA!:(

We've already got it covered. :)

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?s=&threadid=121381

pumpkin:

I wonder what the conditions of the contract are...I mean, is there a way that he could do something so they really wouldnt want him, to get them to pay the massive amount

this is so awesome!!!!!!!

congrats conan!! you deserve it

Originally posted by AKA
We've already got it covered. :)

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?s=&threadid=121381 :lol: my bad -__-. But I am just so excited. Ugh, I too am nervous about them showing the Masturbating Bear... I love him! Plus Conan does a lot of other things that might be too 'risque' for an 11:35 timeslot. Hopefully things wont change though. I would def. fly out to LA to see Conan live! He'll probably get better musical guests too since a lot of people are way out on the westcoast. Conan tends to get a lot of local unheard of bands and such. :conan:

i think its better that conan gets the indie bands.

did you watch radio 4 preform, i thought they were pretty good.

party:

Originally posted by TheAnswerMan
did you watch radio 4 preform, i thought they were pretty good. I dont usually watch the musical guests -____-

oh :(

Originally posted by ¤I Love Clay Aiken¤
Sucks though.. I dont want him to move all the way to LA!:( Aw, I know. That's the downside of it :(

But otherwise, that's pretty awesome.

:conan: Wooo Conan effing rules :conan:

WHAT?? la?


nooooo...i have to see him in ny before '09

I wonder who will replace Conan when he goes over to the Tonight Show.

Cool!

Letterman will still be king of late night television though.

nobody can replace conan.

Originally posted by TheAnswerMan
WHAT?? la?


nooooo...i have to see him in ny before '09 Go go go! Hes so awesome live. You can either call for tix 212-664-3056 (sad I have the # memorized :o ) or get standby- which is what I usually do. Whats good though about LA is that the audience will be much bigger. My other major concern too, is that Joel gets to stay as the announcer.

i hope he doesnt sell out, or is forced to do things a certain way.


he is awesome how he is..thats one of the reasons i dont want him to leave late night.

Originally posted by TheAnswerMan
nobody can replace conan. I wasn't talking about that. I said I wondered who was going to replace Conan in his spot at 11:35 Central Time.

Originally posted by BravesFan2004
I wasn't talking about that. I said I wondered who was going to replace Conan in his spot at 11:35 Central Time.

i know what you meant. maybe jimmy fallon haha

Originally posted by TheAnswerMan
i hope he doesnt sell out, or is forced to do things a certain way.


he is awesome how he is..thats one of the reasons i dont want him to leave late night. Yah I get what youre saying. Jay is so 'clean cut' and stuff, while Conan well, isnt. Hopefully NBC lets him do what he wants. I remember last year when they did all the contracts and stuff, it was mentioned how Fox wanted him or whatever for an 11:30 timeslot, but Conan chose to stay because he can get away with a lot more at 12:30, which is true. And I hope he doesnt switch his 'Actual Items' to 'Headlines'.

Yesss.. I'm so glad he'll still be on.. in 2009 I'll be 18 so I definitely wanna see him live.. or when I turn 16 :D :conan:

Originally posted by ¤I Love Clay Aiken¤
'Actual Items'

You, just, can't make that stuff up! That's the beauty of it. ;)

YAY!!!!!!! :conan:

i hope he still does the string dance and plays "peek a boo " with the camera while making a hissing sound.

Originally posted by Ian
You, just, can't make that stuff up! That's the beauty of it. ;) :rofl: My mother had to ask me one time if they were fake. Im like dude lets get real..:lol:

hahahah

i love clay aiken, (i dont know your name)


who was on when you went to the show?

wait. were you msconanobrien?

Originally posted by TheAnswerMan
wait. were you msconanobrien? Indeed I was! ¤MsConanOBrien¤ was my old name. This name is actually only supposed to be a temp., but I havent thought of anything yet so I still have it :lol:.

Umm.. the first time I went, Martin Short was on. The last time.. Eugene Levy.

Originally posted by TheAnswerMan
i love clay aiken, (i dont know your name)


who was on when you went to the show?

her name is Crystal. and yeah she was MsConanOBrien:)

awesome!

This is awesome!!!!:D

But yeah I am worried about them still showing some of that tsuff. And why would Joel staying as the announcre be aconcern? Woulld he not be on if they moved the timeslot?

Originally posted by "Weird" Jack Wilso-vic
This is awesome!!!!:D

But yeah I am worried about them still showing some of that tsuff. And why would Joel staying as the announcre be aconcern? Woulld he not be on if they moved the timeslot? Well Im just concerned that if they moved and whatnot, theyd replace some people such as 1.) the band 2.) the announcer 3.) the writers.

Originally posted by ¤I Love Clay Aiken¤
Well Im just concerned that if they moved and whatnot, theyd replace some people such as 1.) the band 2.) the announcer 3.) the writers.

i really hope that does not happen.

When Letterman moved to CBS, he kept most of his staff, including bandleader Paul Shaffer and his original announcer, the late Bill Wendell.

Hopefully Conan can do the same. He can't afford to lose Max Weinberg. Joel Goddard is valuable to the show, too.

haha joel and his asian boyfriend

Originally posted by TheAnswerMan
haha joel and his asian boyfriend :rofl: Ahhh haha. I love Joel, he is my favorite person on the show besides Conan, of course.:lol: And I miss Sam..:(

Originally posted by AKA
When Letterman moved to CBS, he kept most of his staff, including bandleader Paul Shaffer and his original announcer, the late Bill Wendell.

Hopefully Conan can do the same. He can't afford to lose Max Weinberg. Joel Goddard is valuable to the show, too. Ohh thats good to hear. Conan and Max are awesome together. Hopefully since Andy has his own show in LA, he'll be able to stop by more.

i love conan and max's conversations

Originally posted by TheAnswerMan
i love conan and max's conversations :lol: Me too. And their staring contests.

haha, talking about this makes me want to watch late night.

Originally posted by TheAnswerMan
i love conan and max's conversations

:lol: Me too.. they're hilarious.
I taped Conan from last Friday night and I was watching it the other day and they were doing the "Year 2000" skit and Conan said that Micheal Moore will run for president and his campaign slogan will be "Vote for me or else I'll take off my shirt" :rotflmao:

hahahaha

I'm a huge fan of Late Night and I'm really not liking this at all! So far it looks like I'm the only one. I mean just picture it: CONAN hosting the tonight show??!?! That's just not right. I like it how it is now: Late Night! I really hope EVERYTHING is the same with Joel and Max, too!

To me Conan will ALWAYS be Late Night and Late Night will ALWAYS be Conan! I hope the next 5 years doesn't go by too fast!

Originally posted by ¤I Love Clay Aiken¤
Well Im just concerned that if they moved and whatnot, theyd replace some people such as 1.) the band 2.) the announcer 3.) the writers. Ah I see

Originally posted by TheHappyBurgerMeister
I'm a huge fan of Late Night and I'm really not liking this at all! So far it looks like I'm the only one. I mean just picture it: CONAN hosting the tonight show??!?! That's just not right. I like it how it is now: Late Night! I really hope EVERYTHING is the same with Joel and Max, too!

To me Conan will ALWAYS be Late Night and Late Night will ALWAYS be Conan! I hope the next 5 years doesn't go by too fast!

i feel the same way. but it is a honor...to follow johnny carson, not much jay...but its an honor

Originally posted by Janet McFarland
:lol: Me too.. they're hilarious.
I taped Conan from last Friday night and I was watching it the other day and they were doing the "Year 2000" skit and Conan said that Micheal Moore will run for president and his campaign slogan will be "Vote for me or else I'll take off my shirt" :rotflmao: :rotflmao: I saw that too

Originally posted by "Weird" Jack Wilso-vic
:rotflmao: I saw that too

Cool :lol:

Originally posted by TheAnswerMan
i feel the same way. but it is a honor...to follow johnny carson, not much jay...but its an honor It is. Its a huge honor. Hes going to get so much more acknowledgement know, which is awesome. Hopefully he'll get some more recognition now with the Emmys and such.:D

Originally posted by ¤I Love Clay Aiken¤
It is. Its a huge honor. Hes going to get so much more acknowledgement know, which is awesome. Hopefully he'll get some more recognition now with the Emmys and such.:D
yay, someone understood what i was talking about.

Originally posted by TheAnswerMan
yay, someone understood what i was talking about. :nod: And hopefully if it didnt do well going up against Letterman, he could get his old gig back or something. Hes going nowhere but up now.. I mean, aint like hes reducing himself to.. LAST CALL :o.

hahahahahah

We still have half a DECADE left before Conan goes to The Tonight Show. That's a lot of time. 2009 isn't for a looooooong time...:lol:

Originally posted by PZelda
We still have half a DECADE left before Conan goes to The Tonight Show. That's a lot of time. 2009 isn't for a looooooong time...:lol: Its gonna come here so fast..

Originally posted by ¤I Love Clay Aiken¤
Its gonna come here so fast..

True...but still. You have a TON of time. Conan'll manage to get 5 seasons under his belt before he makes the switch. That's roughly 1,000 episodes and thousands of guests... Enjoy it! ;)

HE HAD LARZ ON HIS SHOW AND HE KEPT MOVING HIS HANDS AND IT WAS ALL FUNNY AND STUFF. OH AND JESUS AND THE TERRIBLE HORRIBLE NO GOOD VERY BAD DAY IS MY FAVORITE BOOK I'VE NEVER READ.

SO YEAH, I'M GLAD HE'S ALL TAKING OVER THE TONITE SHOW AND STUFF.

Originally posted by PZelda
True...but still. You have a TON of time. Conan'll manage to get 5 seasons under his belt before he makes the switch. That's roughly 1,000 episodes and thousands of guests... Enjoy it! ;) Ugh. I dont want to wait. I hope he goes on Leno soon. Dude Im watching it now because I wanted to hear the announcement and hes all.. Conan.. its all yours so of course Im all YUDSYFHDUUDI CONANS GONNA BE ON but ugh no, Garry Shandling came out -.- And I am enjoying it.. Ima try to see him as much as I can while hes still in NYC.

I'm surprised that Jay's not staying on longer. Carson held the spot for nearly 30 years. I give him credit for wanting to enjoy his retirement years.

I think Conan will be a great successor. He is from Massachusetts, after all. :D

;)

Yeah, I heard about this last night on Leno. 5 years is kind of a long time. But I think he is the right guy for the job. :D
:conan:

2009 will be here before you know it. It seems like only yesterday that Andy was still on the show, and that was nearly five years ago.

Time flys.

Even though I don't like Leno's show, I think he's a classy guy (and a very talented stand-up comedian).

In fact, I cought the show last night, and it really sounds like he's trying to extend an olive branch to his old friend David Letterman. I think Dave should take it. They were great friends for a long time.

Originally posted by AKA
Even though I don't like Leno's show, I think he's a classy guy (and a very talented stand-up comedian).

In fact, I cought the show last night, and it really sounds like he's trying to extend an olive branch to his old friend David Letterman. I think Dave should take it. They were great friends for a long time.

How so? Did he insinuate he wants to do a show with him or something?

letterman won't

Originally posted by AKA
Even though I don't like Leno's show, I think he's a classy guy (and a very talented stand-up comedian).

In fact, I cought the show last night, and it really sounds like he's trying to extend an olive branch to his old friend David Letterman. I think Dave should take it. They were great friends for a long time.

I think Letterman is a bit bitter and for good reason considering he is much more witty and was the appropriate heir to the Tonight Show.

Beyond that, I think Jay is a decent guy and I don't think he's done anything wrong. I like the fact he is trying to make nice with Letterman.

Originally posted by Dutabi84
How so? Did he insinuate he wants to do a show with him or something? He talked about how friendships were irreversably damaged when he took over the show, and how he doesn't want that to happen to anyone else. Dave was mentioned by name a few times.

Originally posted by dlemond
I think Letterman is a bit bitter and for good reason considering he is much more witty and was the appropriate heir to the Tonight Show.

Couldn't agree more. Hosting The Tonight Show had been a lifelong dream of Dave's. He paid his dues at 12:30 for ten years, and suddenly NBC springs for the guest host as Carson's replacement instead of the Late Night guy.

I know where his bitterness is coming from. But it's been 12 years, and Dave has been very successful, even though he doesn't get higher ratings than Jay. He put CBS late night on the map (Remember The Pat Sajak Show? Neither do I.), and his show is more critically acclaimed than Jay's.

It's time to forgive and forget.

Originally posted by AKA
Even though I don't like Leno's show, I think he's a classy guy (and a very talented stand-up comedian).

In fact, I cought the show last night, and it really sounds like he's trying to extend an olive branch to his old friend David Letterman. I think Dave should take it. They were great friends for a long time. I agree! I watched lastnight and felt bad :(. I really like Leno and Ill miss him, but Ill get over it the day Conan takes over :lol:. Well, hopefully Dave saw it and will learn to get over it- its not worth a lost friendship.

i didnt watch late night yesterday.. what did conan say?

Originally posted by TheAnswerMan
i didnt watch late night yesterday.. what did conan say? It was a rerun. It always is on Mondays.

hahah wtf. i'm not thinking

Originally posted by TheAnswerMan
hahah wtf. i'm not thinking But he's making the announcement tonight!! And you missed a good rerun.

I've always wondered why Late Night is only four new episodes a week.

I think Letterman did the same thing for awhile when he was host, except his weekly reruns were on Fridays, not Mondays.

Originally posted by AKA
I've always wondered why Late Night is only four new episodes a week.

I think Letterman did the same thing for awhile when he was host, except his weekly reruns were on Fridays, not Mondays. Yah, it was the same for Letterman too. I have no idea why though. I cant complain though, because that means I get to go to bed early Monday night. The Daily Show is the same way- he runs Monday-Thursday.

Originally posted by Janet McFarland
Cool :lol: Yeah :lol: I LOVE Conan