Conan should've accepted one of the huge offers he was getting to do a show of his own at *ABC* or *FOX.* If he had, the whole debacle might've been averted.
@@gallery7596 I agree. Why not go back to Fox where his comedic sensibility was (apparently) partly responsible for the shift in the Simpsons humor from Season 3 to 4? It's a network he knows, he's going to go back as a huge returning star, he can start his own franchise, the way Letterman did, and why not also be like Lorne Michaels and be the executive producer of the Fox version of Saturday Night Live the way Michaels was the executive producer of Late Night even though he wasn't there day-to-day? He should hire JB Smoove and get him to do all the sketches that Lorne Michaels didn't allow on NBC. I think Conan was of a generation that was so enamored by the Tonight Show that he couldn't see that by the time 2004 came around (when he signed his deal with NBC to take over the Tonight Show) that it was just another late night show on one of the networks at 11:30pm.
The Tonight Show analogy is pathetic. This means no host has control over it, Allen, Parr, Carson, Leno, O'Brien, Fallon and whoever follows. It is an empty shell then if that is the case?
@@johnking5174 The bus analogy means it was built by someone else and Steve Allen, Jack Parr, Johnny Carson, Jay Leno and now Jimmy Fallon were hired to drive a treasured antique and trusted to keep it between the lines.
Not the biggest fan of Rosie, comedy-wise, but she's honest as hell and I love when she gets pissed and gives assholes like Leno the grief they deserve
Rosie screwed up her own talk show and also acted like an out-of-control bully on "The View". I don't see her as having the moral authority to be criticizing the way anybody handles their own show.
@@gallery7596 Jay Leno, babe, we can tell it’s you. Please stop. This is embarrassing. (And if this isn’t Jay, this is doubly embarrassing bc, wtf are you doing commenting on EVERY Jay/Conan related video?)
@@valenfigurka3869 RE: "...this is doubly embarrassing bc, wtf are you doing commenting on EVERY Jay/Conan related video?" (A) Apparently you find the subject as fascinating as I do (since you did admit in your post that you check out "EVERY Jay/Conan related video"). (B) There's still too many out there who are judging the main players in that debacle without looking at what happened from all sides of the issue. (C) Nobody's forcing you to read my comments. Instead of whining about them, you can just scroll past them. Problem solved.
nikemac84 He acts like a schoolboy talking to his crush, just laughing and giggling at everything they say. Its brutal, he can be funny, but as an interviewer its brutal.
nikemac84 So sick of that "forced laughter" crap. All you have to do is watch any of his bust ups at SNL, his live stuff or the off air Late Night or Tonight Show to see that's how he really laughs.
The only thing I knew about Rosie were the jokes that other shows would make about her. After this interview, I have a massive amount of respect for her. She really does seem genuine
This woman has earned a new level of (unprepared for) respect from me. As she said, yes, television is a business but there have been the introduction that she made - that they (she & Conan O'Brian) are people & a shared history exists among them AS PEOPLE, as professionals. NBC is more than well aware that ratings fluctuate, a roller-coaster subject to change all according to a fickle public. However, NBC will reap as it has sown, in dumping Conan, their lack of loyalty for him (17 years!) is symptomatic of their decrepitude. Rosie has an advanced lexicon, proper grammar usage, & able to mentally multi-task issues in the blink of an eye. In viewing this episode, I can only hope that she is empowered with more opportunities as a commentator & entertainer.
Mark Mullins Rosie O’Donnell is anything but a loser. She won more than 8 Emmy awards for one of the most successful talk shows in television history, which earned her 100 million dollars. So you tell me who’s a loser
Two of the best right here, both lost by incompetent "major" networks. They treat people like Jay Leno like gold and let Rosie and Craig and Conan get away.
The fact that Craig Ferguson could have LITERALLY anyone on his talk show and still make the interview entertaining is a testament to his abilities as an interviewer. CBS missed out with not renewing his contract. Craig Ferguson was (and maybe is!) the best TV talk show host of all time. No cards needed, no silly skits or gimmicks, just pure conversation. What a guy.
+Studley Muffin craig said he said he wanted to leave because he got tired of being told what to do and the show wanted him to go after younger viewers and he would not change so he left and got a HUGE payday to leave
@@shefchenko111 as I said both have totally different style .....but when it comes to entertainment value both of them deliver unlike present talk show hosts...there's no way to tell who's better craig or conan that's why I said both are equally good....Conan is last of OG talk show host
@@shefchenko111 Conan uses cards, but also likes to be surprised by guests. They often don't rehearse stories and he also doesn't watch clips before they're shown. Also, yeah his remotes are great. Besides them knowing they're going to a certain location/doing a certain activity they're also unscripted. But I don't think just because Craig does a 100% improvised show that he's better. Like the other guy said, they have two different styles. Corden and Fallon have very similar segments, but they aren't equal at all. Fallon is much worse imo. And it's just because he's not funny. Your favorite talk show host can come down to a lot of objective things, but at the end of the day it's whoever you find funnier. And personally I think Conan's self deprecating humor, and asshole persona to Jordan, Sona, etc is funnier to me than Craig. Both are amazing though
Conan was laid off, you say? You mean his famous "People Of Earth" manifesto was not his official statement of resignation from "The Tonight Show" after all??
I think NBC and Leno were in the wrong. Who puts Leno at 9pm central and ruins the news and Tonight Show lead-in? That said, why would Leno say no and why would nbc let him go?
He decided to walk because NBC wanted to push his show back to 12:05 in order to put Jay back in his former time slot of 11:35. Conan explained during his 60 Minutes interview that the NBC executives' tone changed instantly from "Take your time, we know this is a difficult decision for you" to "Make up your mind now!" He felt like he wasn't even wanted, so I don't blame him for leaving.
I've got no dog in this fight, but it does seem a bit of a douchey thing to do, no matter how much power you have over your competitor. You would think that NBC would have reviewed how this sort of thing effects good people after they screwed over Letterman, but they didn't and Leno, who seems to be an otherwise decent and generous fellow aside from this particularly petty decision, did have the upper hand in the ratings. Still, not the way things should be done because Conan is a superior comic and a loyal performer, Just my opinion.
RE: You would think that NBC would have reviewed how this sort of thing effects good people after they screwed over Letterman," Enough folks who worked with Dave have confirmed that he kinda screwed himself by not maintaining a more cordial and collaborative relationship with the network executives who would be choosing Carson's replacement. That's really on him. RE: "...and Leno, who seems to be an otherwise decent and generous fellow aside from this particularly petty decision," Which decision did he make that you find petty? RE: "Still, not the way things should be done because Conan is a superior comic and a loyal performer." He's talented, but Conan took a deal that he'd have to wait 5 years to collect on, gave his okay to an offer that was deciding Jay's retirement date for him, and trusted a network that had already been shifty in their loyalty to both Jay AND to Dave. He also turned down offers from *ABC* and in particular *FOX* where they were offering him way more money to do a show of his own and sooner than *NBC* was offering "TTS." Conan's got to take some responsibility for that.
Not saying Carson wasn't good at what he did, but the Tonight Show was started by Steve Allen and continued by Jack Paar. The main reason the show is connected to Carson is the simple fact Johnny did it for 30 years. But the basic late night talkshow format didn't originate with Carson. He fit the mold of having a smart, clever host who interviewed celebrity guests behind a desk with comedy pieces and a band.
@@Norvo82 No one's saying that it started with Carson but the fact is when you talk about the golden era of the Tonight Show, it's not Steve Allen or Jack Paar, it's Johnny Carson. Carson is the Tonight Show and the Tonight Show is Carson. Not even Leno comes close. That's what Rosie and Craig are talking about.
I just believe in comedians/guest show hosts who are actually funny and spontaneous in their work. Fallow. Is very unspontaneous and doesn't keep me excited.
Now this is a talk show. Speaking their mind and having a real conversation... not bumping into each other playing some stupid game trying to read from a script at the same time.
Rosie won multiple EMMY EVERY YEAR on her own show. Rosie redefined the daytime talk show genre! [notice how NOW all the daytime shows offer goodies to the audience etc What she did on ABC on her own show is not the same ilk at all of The View, she to this day and long after the view dies [seems imminent now what with Wallice on board I have already turned OFF] tho she infused that dry wasteland with new vigor and practically single handed revitalized BROADWAY AS WELL. All you haters gonna hate because to look in the mirror is too scary eh? All that hate is just YOU swallowing the poison and expecting her to die.
Agreed. Some people forget how powerful and influential Rosie was at her peak. Which is why I don't get why she did The View in the first place. She should have created a new show for herself doing "The View" type stuff and it would have been an even bigger success than The View.
Allen Quinn She probably got a boatload of money offered to her to join The View. Her 90's daytime show was modeled after either Merv Griffin or Mike Douglas' show which is why it was so eclectic, and full of entertainment variety. As annoying, and carried away as she could get at times (Tom Selleck gun interview), her show really left a void, and created a template that Jimmy Fallon is honestly trying to use. Unfortunately for him though, it has and will always read as inauthentic and forced for whatever reason.
i laughed so hard when he did the german impression. this interview was surprisingly enjoyable. that was also a really cool gift considering how many people it went out to
We like Rosie. At times, a bit too on the waitin'-for-the-chance-to-talk front. But her heart seems to be is in a good place... as if honestly trying to make sense of things.
I can blame him for taking his show back. He was going back on his word. And Jay was 60 when he initially left TTS, which is close enough to retirement age. 18 years is a long run. He even said himself that he's no Johnny Carson, so why should he get 30 years like Carson did? And Conan may have had a following, but some of them weren't into his more mature/mainstream humor so they were turned off by his Tonight Show. He was basically starting over, and he deserved more time.
+mastermill79 But what Rosie didn't know was Jay asked NBC if Conan was on board with the time bump idea and they assured him he would be. In spite of that assurance, Jay asked if they would release him from his contract. NBC said no.
NBC execs (specifically Jeff Zucker) screwed Jay first- and that was with Conan's approval, too. As for what happened later to Conan, you can't blame Jay if they wouldn't let him out of his contract.
I just remember the "please don't blame Conan" hypocricy out of that fucking fat chinned moron. Nuff said. Also he had 5 years to bring it up to Conan or do something about it....
As soon as Jay turned the show over to Conan, "The Tonight Show" fell from it's long held #1 status. So Conan did share in the blame for the show's faltering ratings. And are we really to believe Conan would've turned down NBC's deal for Jay's sake? It's not like Conan asked Jay how he would feel about being put out to pasture so he could have his job. What exactly was Jay supposed to do about it?
I definitely agree with Rosie and Ferguson, especially the fact that The Tonight Show ended when Carson retired Before Rosie started her Talk Show, she appeared on Letterman and Dave gave Rosie his blessings and he was also protective of Ferguson because CBS didn't like Craig, but Letterman had his back the whole time God Bless David Letterman
Wow- this interview made me change my POV on Rosie... How great is Craig! Tks for the uploads bud!! This is 1of the best things on RU-vid. Fozho' 100% much, much, better than most licensed therapists in NYC-
It's complex but here goes: Jay said he wanted to retire from The Tonight Show, but in reality he was being let go by NBC so they could give his job to Conan who was getting offers from other networks. When Conan took over that summer the ratings slid pretty fast, and when Jay's new 10pm show premiered in the fall, it bombed, too. NBC asked Jay to do a 30 minute show at 11:35 to bring the late night ratings back up, but Conan didn't want his start time moved to midnight, so he quit.
I met Jay the other day at a custom auto shop in Glendale (I am a postal worker) and asked him about his favorite restaurants around town, he recommended me a Mexican restaurant called Granadas. He spent a good five minutes with me talking about his favorite dishes and figured out what my wife and I would like there. So yes, he is a down to earth guy who doesn't make you feel intimidated nor starstruck.
What I find with many of those who feel that way is they don't know all the facts of the case. If they did they would probably recognize that Jay Leno was the one who got screwed first. There's two sides to this issue and Team Coco only cares about Conan's.
I don't care what people think about Rosie O'Donnel, I actually love her. I think she's hilarious, fearless and I like the fact that she isn't afraid to be herself.
Yes, I agree. They should've just wished Conan luck and sent him on his way to FOX or ABC and let Jay continue to keep "The Tonight Show" #1 in the ratings- which he continues to do now even. Sure seems like NBC is making the same mistake all over again firing him for Jimmy Fallon.
"Jay was 60, which is close enough to retirement age." LMAO! Like to see the day come when Yankeeboy512 has other people deciding for him when its time to retire. See how HE likes it.
I like Rosie. And in no way am I trying to be a troll’ But if she was 6 inches taller and not as big boned she could be very attractive. Then again if I had more hair and more muscle mass, I could be a semi decent looker.
The reality is: Jay Leno did not focus on himself during his "ToNite" show; unlike all the others including David Letterman. Watching Jay all those years I never heard him talk about his car collection or anything else about himself.
I'll never understand the logic of the whole Conan/Leno debacle. Both of them got a raw deal by NBC, but while Conan is viewed as The Woobie, Leno is viewed as this 'two'-faced' 'backstabbing' abomination.
+Nathan Forester Leno set himself up as the villain when he decided to stick around and do a variety/talk show when he had already promised to walk away gracefully. IIRC in the book The War For Late Night it was said that he changed his mind and basically threatened to go to another network and do a show that would be direct competition for Conan if NBC didn't find something else for him to do. First they gave him the abortion that was the Jay Leno Show, which sunk the ratings for local news broadcasts (which in turn sunk the ratings for the Tonight Show). When it became clear that the Jay Leno Show was a failure in its time slot, NBC wanted to movie it to 11:30 and push the Tonight Show to midnight, which Conan wasn't willing to do, feeling that it would be a black eye for the show to be removed from it's traditional time slot. One wonders if Leno had known that NBC would later shove him out the door yet again, this time for Jimmy Fallon (who is just horrible, imo), if he would have just called it a day and walked away as was originally intended.
+ZeroGrowth In 2004 when he made this "promise" (it was really more like a surrender), Jay had been told that he would be dropped at the end of his contract because NBC feared losing Conan to another network. Jay didn't know that 5 years later NBC would fear losing him to another network, too. Jay never promised never to do another talk show, and, somewhat ironically, he was in talks to accept one of the slots that Conan had turned down in exchange for The Tonight Show. As for what would've happened if Jay had left NBC, remember that Conan started losing to Letterman months before Jay's 10pm show came along. If Jay had gone to ABC, it seems very likely Conan wouldn't have been able to withstand the competition from both guys.
Brent R "Just one other note, before the change to 11:35 was even on the table, Leno was quoted as saying he would take the slot if offered," Although he kept putting him off, reportedly the interviewer continued to press for an answer to that question and, yes, it was a mistake on Jay's part to give in. However, the interviewer was no doubt moved to ask it because "TTS" only began to fail during the first week after Conan took over. "Leno...made one to ensure his program would be on, regardless of whether NBC wanted it or not." He was an intelligent negotiator. And Conan was the only talk show host at the time who neglected to make sure he had something called "time slot protection" written in his contract. If he had done this, NBC could not have asked him to move "TTS" to midnight. That was another example of the kind of poor judgement Conan displayed that lead to so many of his troubles dealing with NBC.
Jay Leno is blamed too much, I like conan better and think he is a nicer person probably *but didn't the NETWORK force Conan to either do half an hour or leave, not Leno himself?* !!
+evov monbly it all started with Carson and Letterman.... then the next brutal part was NBC letting conan sign a contract with a Leno end date in it.. Same goes for Conan. All Leno did was get consistent ratings.
+evov monbly Never heard of "Late Night Wars", but I have a book called "The War For Late Night: When Leno Went Early & Television Went Insane"" by Bill Carter, and I don't recall the chapter that states "Leno leveraged the whole deal with his insider contacts". Can you elaborate with some names, please, evov monbly?
+00Billy dude, the guy had shitty guest the whole time, he didn't have a say in it. I mean his rating was good in his old time slot and now he switch to a better one the rating just went down? That's impossible. Just look his show now, he got like a million viewers for a cable show, that's a lot because who the hell would watch TBS
I love Rosie! I heard she had a heart attack couple days ago. Hope she's doing okay. Love this woman for always speaking her truth even though sometimes it may be a bit brash I love her honesty!
I just did a quick Google search, and discovered that the magazine was a complete failure, and her producer actually ended up going to court with her over it because they were at odds over whose fault it was that it ended up that way.
Yup. It was Jeff Zucker at NBC who actually screwed everything up for both Conan and Jay. Unfortunately most of the haters don't understand that it's the network that decides who gets to host "The Tonight Show", not the on-air talent.
Point taken. The attitude (comics had at any rate) towards Leno really shifted during that period. Although, you have to admit that it worked out very well for Letterman at CBS. Letterman had a cult following that didn't care what network he was on, the time-slot was actually beneficial to him. Conan will give both a run for the money, but if Letterman hangs it up, I think Conan will go to CBS just for the market share.
I agree! In the long run it worked out excellently for Dave. If he'd accepted Bob Wright's last minute "Tonight Show" offer, it would've been Dave getting fired to make room for Conan. But Dave can't admit that cuz it interferes with what he feels is his right to hate Jay, and to encourage others to hate him, too. I'm glad TBS is honoring the 2 year commitment to "Conan", but he's really bringing up the rear as far as his ratings go. The 18 - 49 demo seems to be whats keeping his show going.
