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How badly did Conan O'Brien get screwed by NBC? What happened behind-the-scenes?

posted 5 years ago by TMC-4 (19386)
4 replies | jump to latest

https://www.quora.com/How-badly-did-Conan-OBrien-get-screwed-by-NBC-What-happened-behind-the-scenes

Conan’s rush to this process was his undoing. He rushed to get Leno out early, he rushed to get the contract signed and he rushed through the review of that contract. These items are not Jay Leno’s fault, nor NBC’s fault. They are mistakes made by a long time network television performer and his long-time manager who should have known better.

Had Conan simply waited for the 3–4 years it took for Leno’s ratings to slide, he’d probably be hosting the Tonight Show today. Had either he or his manager taken the time to properly construct his contract for time-of-air and the pay-or-play clause, again — the same outcome, he’d likely be hosting the show today.

I love how everyone casts Leno as an evil villain in this thing. And maybe he is, but he brags all the time about not having a manager, he and his assistant, Helga Pollack, manage 99% of his career business. She came to work for him, not from some showbiz empire, but from a luxury foreign car dealer from which he was a customer. Both Helga and Jay are VERY smart folks. Street smart.

Further, even a cursory reading of several of the books written about Carson and his infamous contract fights with NBC would have educated to the necessity of that time-of-air clause. Those who do not know the history, are indeed doomed to repeat it.

I strongly feel that Conan truly had not read those books and knew very little of the rich history of the program and why certain things could be learned from Carson’s battles with the network.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

He didn't rush...he signed the contract 5 years before he took over the tonight show. It was the Leno/Letterman drama that led to them striking the deal with Conan for him to take over the Tonight Show 5 years in advance because they were worried another network might steal him away. Once he took over, NBC wasn't patient enough to allow Conan to find his footing at the 11:30 slot (people forget that Leno similarily struggled against Letterman when they first went head to head). Once they added the Leno show as his 10pm lead in, Conan was essentially dead in the water.

Also, considering how much it cost NBC to buy out Conan's contract to get him off the Tonight Show, I don't think the contract itself was the problem. He came away very well financially.

[–] [deleted] 3 years ago

I know this is an old post, but this is wrong:

Once he took over, NBC wasn't patient enough to allow Conan to find his footing at the 11:30 slot

The entire debacle had nothing to do with Conan's performance. It had to do with NBC affiliates around the country bailing on the Leno show. They had enjoyed great lead-ins from the shows that used to run in the 10PM slot (especially stuff like Law and Order). The Leno Show destroyed those lead-ins, destroying ad revenue for local affiliates when. To save themselves, many of those affiliates actually quit running the show at 10PM. So, they effectively canceled Leno's Show.

Rather than give Leno his marching papers, NBC chickened out and did this shady thing of Trojan Horsing him back into the network schedule with his half hour show, which you can bet it would've expanded to an hour again.

[–] ultravioletx (10212) 5 years ago

The real problem in my estimation was NBC's unwillingness to let Leno go after the transition. While I believe Leno handled the situation horribly and should've refused taking the Tonight Show back, Leno wasn't able to shop himself around to other networks for another couple years. NBC got greedy wanting to have their cake and eat it too. They put themselves in a spot where they had to give Leno a lesser show which ended up being a terrible lead-in for Conan's Tonight Show and both shows suffered because of it.

[–] [deleted] 3 years ago

Why Quote Quora, a site written by morons?

Conan was screwed by NBC. What happened was that after Leno "retired," he decided to come back. Conan had the Tonight Show, so there was no slot for him. NBC then gave him the 10 o'clock show.

The show was such a poor lead in for NBC affiliates around the country that they stopped airing it in protest. Obviously, Leno pushed to get The Tonight Show back, which is why he was show horned into the 11:35 slot, pushing Conan to 12:05 (or whatever weird start time that was). The idea was to introduce that show as a Trojan Horse. In other words, what would've happened is that the half hour Leno show would've been expanded another half hour in due time, pushing Conan back to his old slot.

Howard Stern actually PREDICTED that this is what would happen to Conan. I don't remember when it was, but before Conan left NYC, Stern appeared on his show and said, "I'm worried about you. I know Jay, and he likes to work." Conan blew Howard off in his usual jokey way but he should've gotten his agent right after and made sure there was no way for NBC so dishonor its contract.