Conan's the man!

Started by ono, October 16, 2003, 11:38:17 PM

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MacGuffin

Fox discusses deal with Conan O'Brien
The network may have a viable plan to bring the comedian back to late night, sources say.
Source: Los Angeles Times

Fox Broadcasting is inching closer to bringing Conan O'Brien back to late night.

Key Fox executives, including Rupert Murdoch, are on board with the plan and would like to finalize a deal in coming weeks so they can make a splash on May 17 when the network unveils its fall lineup. Several significant issues remain and the Fox talks could fall apart, according to people close to the negotiations who asked anonymity because the discussions were meant to be private.

But people close to O'Brien are cautiously optimistic.

"We'll get there," one of them said Tuesday.

Fox executives have been huddling to figure out how much it will cost to mount a late-night talk show that would be profitable for Fox stations and affiliates. Stations, hammered by the advertising recession, rely on the profits generated by syndicated reruns such as "The Simpsons" and "The Office," and it's unclear how many stations would be willing to substitute those shows for a risky venture -- even one starring a big-name host.

Fox realizes that if it ever wants to get into the late-night game, this is the time.

The network, owned by Murdoch's News Corp., has had its eye on entering the late-night talk show wars for years. Indeed, it was Fox's overtures to O'Brien nine years ago that prompted NBC's Jeff Zucker to promise O'Brien "The Tonight Show" to keep him at the peacock network. Zucker's plan famously unraveled when Jay Leno decided he wasn't ready to retire.

Fox Entertainment President Kevin Reilly and Entertainment Chairman Peter Rice have been leading the campaign to bring O'Brien to Fox, according to knowledgeable people. But their bosses have told them to demonstrate that a late show would be financially viable. A breakthrough came last week when they outlined a late-night scenario that one executive described as "a deal that we could live with."

It hasn't been decided whether the show would launch in the fall or January.

Fox, however, is unwilling to spend the money that NBC had been paying to support "The Tonight Show" with O'Brien. NBC spent close to $90 million a year to produce the show, which included O'Brien's salary of more than $12 million a year. Fox wants to spend less than $60 million a year for the show, said people close to the discussions.

O'Brien's camp is weighing whether it can pull off a high-quality show with the smaller budget -- or if it should shift to cable.

The major hurdle comes from Fox stations, which are obligated to air reruns at specific time periods, in some cases after the 10 p.m. news. That would mean forcing a proposed O'Brien show, at least initially, to air at different time periods: 11 p.m. in some markets, 11:30 -- or later -- in other cities.

"Without a uniform start time, it would be hard to get traction for a show and hard to promote it," said Jason Maltby, a top ad buyer for the firm Mindshare. "Saying, 'Check your local listings' doesn't have the same ring to it as saying, ' "The Tonight Show at 11:35 p.m." ' "

After the expiration of the stations' agreements for sitcoms in late night, the O'Brien show would run at the same time -- likely 11 p.m. The challenge would be getting to the two-year mark by maintaining a large enough audience and enough advertisers to make the show successful.

"Late night is already pretty full -- everyone has carved out their own niche," said Maltby. "It comes down to the available audience and how you slice it."

Fox is the likely outlet for a traditional network late-night show, but it's not O'Brien's only option, said people close to the comedian. Several cable channels have expressed an interest, although Comedy Central -- which would appear to be a natural fit -- is not on the list, these people said.

Comedy Central already has its big stars in late night, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, so the earliest available time period for O'Brien would be at midnight.

That would not be acceptable to O'Brien, who surrendered "The Tonight Show" when NBC said it planned to shift his start time to 12:05 a.m.

O'Brien's team also is working to secure a soundstage for a new show and could use the same facility on the Universal lot that NBC spent nearly $50 million to refurbish for O'Brien to take over "The Tonight Show" in June. The soundstage -- the home of the Jack Benny show -- is large enough to accommodate skits, a band and a studio audience -- and is close to Lankershim Boulevard, making it easy to manage crowds who come to the show.

NBC Universal has said it would lease the space to O'Brien, despite the tensions that exploded when O'Brien refused to accept NBC's shift of the "Tonight Show" to make room for Leno's return to late night. But that isn't the only option. O'Brien's team has been busy scouting other soundstages during the last two weeks.

In addition, O'Brien and his representatives have been organizing a swing through 30 cities, including Los Angeles, for his Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television Tour. The tour intends to allow O'Brien to connect with his fans at a time when his breakup pact with NBC prevents him from appearing on television until September.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

MacGuffin

Conan O'Brien Plots A Movie Maneuver
By MIKE FLEMING; Deadline Hollywood
 
EXCLUSIVE: Here's the latest twist to the Conan O'Brien odyssey. Getting shoved out of his TV dream job as Tonight Show host is going to make him a movie star. I'm told that early talks are underway to give documentary feature treatment to O'Brien's 30-city live comedy/music revue, which is called "The Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television Tour." Planning is just getting underway, but I've heard that Media Rights Capital has already had conversations about coming aboard as financier. Rodman Flender is in talks to direct.

Making a film doesn't violate the terms of O'Brien's split from NBC, which gave him directly a $33 million severance package to vacate the Tonight Show hosting chair and stay off the air until the fall. Reports  say he is getting close to signing a deal with Fox, one that could be announced as quickly as upfronts. But there might be other surprise moves for the chat host, so don't dress for the Fox launch just yet.,

O'Brien got the live show started as a way to help his staff of about 40 keep busy and employed. NBC gave up an extra $12 million for the staff. Considering that the staffers uprooted their families and pulled their kids out of schools in New York and moved them across the country -- only to see NBC end Conan's Tonight Show run after only seven months, they deserve whatever extra gig they can get until O'Brien resurfaces behind a desk for another network.

In New York, the tour hits Radio City Music Hall and Madison Square Garden in June, venues that sold out quickly. Hey, maybe Conan will return to Gotham when he lands the next job. Things were going great for him until he left.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

modage

I got tix to Radio City, I hope it's awesome. 
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

SiliasRuby

NEW YORK — Late-night mainstay Conan O'Brien is headed to TBS to resume his comedic duties with a talk show expected to debut in November, the network says.

The program will air Mondays through Thursdays at 11 p.m. Eastern, shifting TBS' "Lopez Tonight," starring George Lopez, to midnight.

Monday's surprise announcement hit the same day O'Brien starts a two-month, nationwide comedy tour in Eugene, Ore., amid persistent reports that he was likely to claim Fox as his new late-night home.

Barring Fox, syndication was widely considered O'Brien's most likely option. Few if anyone mentioned TBS as a plausible destination.

O'Brien began serious talks with TBS just last week, the network said.

"In three months, I've gone from network television to Twitter to performing live in theaters, and now I'm headed to basic cable," O'Brien said in a tongue-in-cheek-toned statement. "My plan is working perfectly."

O'Brien left NBC in January after hosting "The Tonight Show" for just eight months, as his ratings plunged from those of his longtime "Tonight" predecessor, Jay Leno, who reclaimed the hour. Until last June, O'Brien had followed Leno as host of "Late Night" since 1993.

OBrien's parting deal bars him from appearing on TV until September.
The Beatles know Jesus Christ has returned to Earth and is in Los Angeles.

When you are getting fucked by the big corporations remember to use a condom.

There was a FISH in the perkalater!!!

My Collection

Stefen

Falling in love is the greatest joy in life. Followed closely by sneaking into a gated community late at night and firing a gun into the air.

modage

Having George Lopez mentioned anywhere near you is always bad.
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

Stefen

Is Conan doing to Lopez what Leno did to him?
Falling in love is the greatest joy in life. Followed closely by sneaking into a gated community late at night and firing a gun into the air.

Gold Trumpet

George Lopez called Conan personally to tell him to go to TBS and Lopez only stands to benefit with Conan as a lead in to his show. Yes, a bump to midnight now but Lopez Tonight only has modest ratings right now anyways.

It's great for Conan because TBS will let him go wild with his show. I originally said the best deal would be Comedy Central because of creative control, but TBS represents the same thing anyways.


Pubrick

Quote from: I Love a Magician on April 12, 2010, 04:02:42 PM
http://www.nj.com/entertainment/tv/index.ssf/2010/04/why_conan_obriens_tbs_move_was.html

great write-up.

i've never heard of TBS and i have a hard time differentiating between George Lopez and Carlos Mencia or any other latino comedians, i only know the dude from photos with Sandra Bullock where they say they're best friends or whatever.. that's nice i guess, oh and i'm latino so i'm not saying they all look alike but rather they are all equally boring...

however that article made sense of the whole thing and it sounds like Conan just did the smartest thing he's done since quitting the tonight show. and it was a smart move really, i think he's not stupid and he must have felt his soul depleting every night. whatever TBS is, i hope some network over here purchases the rights, we have a comedy channel that shows leno, colbert, stewart, kimmel, and letterman,.. so i guess that's where he'll end up!
under the paving stones.

Gold Trumpet

TBS is one of the most popular cable channels in America. It used to be TNT's red headed step child, but it has emerged as the leading mainstream comedy network outside of Comedy Central.

pete

really?  I have not had tv for about 10 years now, and the last I saw of TBS it contained very little original programming and showed mostly Bloodsport every other night.  Tell me more about the programs that are on TBS right now?  I thought F/X was the comedy channel with the new louis ck and it's always sunny.  someone fill me in!

but this also means it'll be much harder to see him since I don't think it's part of obama's digital cable.
"Tragedy is a close-up; comedy, a long shot."
- Buster Keaton

Gold Trumpet

Quote from: pete on April 13, 2010, 02:43:41 AM
really?  I have not had tv for about 10 years now, and the last I saw of TBS it contained very little original programming and showed mostly Bloodsport every other night.  Tell me more about the programs that are on TBS right now?  I thought F/X was the comedy channel with the new louis ck and it's always sunny.  someone fill me in!

but this also means it'll be much harder to see him since I don't think it's part of obama's digital cable.
'

FX has two better comedy shows, but TBS's tagline is now "Very Funny" with all programming being comedy sitcoms (like Friends, King of Queens, Everybody Loves Raymond, Seinfeld, Family Guy, The Office, Married with Children). Even when they show dramatic films on TV later at night, the preview commercials mock a part of the story to make you think it's comedy. Still, it's almost all comedy. They have tried their hand at a few original programming sitcoms. One by Tyler Perry seems to have life, but the other (My Boys) hasn't done much even though it has a new season this summer. George Lopez was their first major comedy venture to bring in a core audience young audience like Comedy Central has done with their original shows, but Conan O'Brien is what could push them over the edge.

During the daytime, I prefer TBS over Comedy Central because CC is showing bad old comedic films and at least TBS is showing middle of the road comedies which can be entertaining, but because of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, I am choosing CC's later night original programming. I think TBS is trying to sway that late night audience back over to them.

Kal

TBS has a lot of syndicated shows like Seinfeld, Friends and The Office, but in recent years started producing their own comedy shows like Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns and House of Payne, My Boys, and there are a few others starting now. They also broadcast the Comedy Festival from Vegas that always has Larry David, Seinfeld, etc...

Then they started with their Late Night Show with George Lopez. The good news for Conan is that he will be by far the biggest name they have and he will have a lot of power and influence to do whatever he wants.

Good move, Conando.

"In three months, I've gone from network television to Twitter to performing live in theaters, and now I'm headed to basic cable," O'Brien said in a tongue-in-cheek-toned statement. "My plan is working perfectly." - Great quote

Stefen

Falling in love is the greatest joy in life. Followed closely by sneaking into a gated community late at night and firing a gun into the air.