From the daily archives:
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Conan puts "The Tonight Show" for sale on Craigslist
"This is a chance of a lifetime to own your very own late night talk show–guaranteed to last for up to seven months!! Really must see to appreciate," says the ad (watch the video). When Conan showed the ad on TV tonight, he got 658 e-mails in the span of two minutes. PLUS: Conan may accept porn role, Conan mocks NBC's "new" shows and Rob Lowe recalls leaving NBC.
NBC exec: "What this is really all about is an astounding failure by Conan"
"We bet on the wrong guy," said Dick Ebersol, the former "Saturday Night Live" boss and current chairman of NBC Universal Sports, who feels he had to come to Jay Leno's (and Jeff Zucker's) defense. Referring to David Letterman and Conan O'Brien's jokes, Ebersol said it was "professional jealousy" and "chicken-hearted and gutless to blame a guy you couldn't beat in the ratings." He added: "I like Conan enormously personally. He was just stubborn about not being willing to broaden the appeal of his show."
Conan: "If NBC doesn't want people to see me, just leave me on NBC"
"Hi, I'm Conan O'Brien, NBC's 'Employee of the Month,'" Thursday's "Tonight Show" monologue begins (watch the video). "There’s a rumor that NBC is so upset with me, they want to keep me off the air for three years. My response to that is, if NBC doesn’t want people to see me, just leave me on NBC.” Later on, he added, "No matter what happens, it’s been a real honor to sit in the same chair as Steve Allen, Jack Paar, Johnny Carson, Jay Leno, and Jay Leno." PLUS: Andy Richter has his own statement.
Report: NBC will let Conan go to another network, no waiting
"The NBC-Leno-Conan war is close to ending, according to a knowledgeable source," reports Kim Masters. "According to the outlines of a settlement, Conan O'Brien will leave NBC and the network will make an as-yet unspecified payment. The comedian will be free to appear elsewhere on television well before his contract expires, despite earlier threats from NBC that it would prevent him from working anywhere else."
"The Office" may pit Ricky Gervais vs. Steve Carell
Based on Gervais' hinting today, "Office" counterparts David Brent and Michael Scott will actually come face to face.
HBO sets April 11th premiere for "Treme"
David Simon talked to critics today about his New Orleans drama, saying it begins with the post-Katrina world: "We started thinking about what characters ought to be in the piece to tell that story, 'this is how the city comes back or doesn't and on what terms.' We thought about all the content and then started constructing our world with things we wanted to see, things we wanted to capture in the world."
George Clooney's Haiti telethon will air on CBS, NBC, ABC and more networks
MTV Networks was the first to sign on, but it's expected that HBO, CNN and other cable channels will also broadcast the Jan. 22 event.
"You're welcome," says Jay Leno, taking credit for boosting Conan's rating
Jay kicked off tonight's monologue by saying, "Welcome to the new show, 'I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Off NBC!"
Report: Conan negotiations should be over by this weekend
"We would like to see it resolved by the weekend," a source tells Entertainment Weekly. "It’s possible." PLUS: TV Guide and The Hollywood Reporter confirm that Leno is getting his one-hour "Tonight Show" back.
Letterman airs Jay Leno attack ad
"What Does Jay Leno Stand For?"
Rosie O'Donnell: Shame on NBC! Shame on Jay Leno!
Rosie is definitely on Team Conan, as she slammed Leno in the past, especially because he refused to let her guest-host "The Tonight Show." Today she told critics, "I think he’s forgotten his roots and what stand up comedy is about, and graciousness has never been his number one quality… I think it would serve him well to think about what might happen if he were able to let go and grab on to whatever the next rung is."
Listen to Rosie slam Leno as replayed on Howard Stern // Listen to Part 2
Claim: Leno considers Conan a Harvard snob, Conan looks down on Leno's comedy
"Team Conan" T-shirt-clad audience members cheer on Conan
Barry Manilow: Conan's last "Tonight" musical guest?
Sports Guy: Conan sucked at 11:35; Fox could rejuvenate him (MP3 link)
Imagine Conan on Fox: He'll be a hit on No. 1 network with "Idol" guests!
Kevin Smith is on Team Leno, Matthew Perry is on Team Conan
HBO pairs "Funny or Die" with "The Ricky Gervais Show" and "Eastbound & Down"
All three will premiere on Feb. 19.
Beverly D'Angelo stopping by "Cougar Town"
She'll play Busy Phillips' white trash mom.
Jimmy "Neil Young" Fallon performs "Pants on the Ground"
Yet another hauntingly beautiful cover song.
Uncle Junior gets shady for "Damages"
"Sopranos" star Dominic Chianese will appear in several episodes next season.
ABC will air MTV's George Clooney Haiti telethon
Will other networks follow?
"Idol's" Skiiboski has a long rap sheet
Check out five of the "Idol" wannabe's mugshots.
Al Pacino didn't want to meet Dr. Jack Kevorkian before playing him on HBO
"I felt with Jack, the script was so complete in its portrait, and I had so much research,” he said, that he didn't seek out the chance to meet Kevorkian.
Conan's rep denies that Jan. 22 is his last day
"Not true," says the rep. "He has a scheduled hiatus the week of January 25." PLUS: Settlement negotiations have reportedly begun between NBC and Conan.
Letterman continues bashing NBC
From tonight's monologue: "Our good friend Ricky Gervais will be hosting the Golden Globes, if Jay lets him." And: "You heard about that? Are you getting tired of hearing about it? Me neither.
Heidi Klum: "Project Runway" will likely return to L.A. next season
"We like to change it up, we like to go back and fourth," she says.
Joanna Krupa: From "Dancing" to hit singer
Her new song with Manon, "I'll Be Around," has surpassed Lady Gaga and Madonna on the dance charts.
Little kids reenact "Jersey Shore"
Check out Little Jwow, Snooki and The Situation.
NFL playoff games will promote Haitian relief this weekend
The league is working with CBS and Fox to get out information about Haitian relief efforts.
Report: Conan is out, Jay Leno strikes deal with NBC for 1-hour "Tonight Show"
Sources tell TMZ: "Jay Leno has made a new deal with NBC, which gives him "The Tonight Show" from 11:35 – 12:35." UPDATE: NBC is denying a "Tonight" deal has been struck with Leno.
Tom Hanks booked for Conan's "final" week
He's the first of what could be many big names who will appear on next week's "Tonight Show," which is believed to be Conan's last. Howard Stern has yet to accept Conan's offer.
CBS renews "The Good Wife" and "NCIS: Los Angeles"
Both freshmen dramas have performed well this year.
"Pants on the Ground" man will sing on "The View"
Larry Platt will perform on Monday's show.
"Golden Girl" Rue McClanahan suffers a stroke
Her rep tells "ET": "She's doing amazingly well … She's walking and talking and entertaining the staff with her feisty personality. She's rehabbing and is expected home in about two weeks."
People: Jan. 22 is likely Conan's last day as "Tonight Show" host
"Conan does not currently plan on doing any more new shows after next week," a source tells the magazine.
Conan supporters seem to forget that TV is a business
"The demonizing of Mr. Leno and corresponding beatification of Mr. O’Brien," says Mike Hale, "seem to be based on some weird notion of noblesse oblige: that ceding the stage to Mr. O’Brien would be the proper thing to do. This ignores the obvious facts that (1) television is a business and (2) it’s NBC’s money. Mr. Leno, his predictably dismal prime-time ratings aside, is the reigning king of late night; NBC wouldn’t be at this pass if it didn’t think that he could immediately return to 11:35 and outperform Mr. O’Brien." PLUS: NBC is confident it didn't breach Conan's contract.
Watch the trailer for HBO's "Boardwalk Empire"
The pilot has the Martin Scorsese touch.
NBC announces post-Leno schedule — "Friday Night Lights" returns April 30
"Parenthood" and "The Marriage Ref" will air at 10 o'clock on Tuesdays and Thursdays, respectively, while the rest of the vacated Leno spots will be taken up by "SVU," "Law & Order" and "Dateline."
Letterman celebrates the 10th anniversary of his heart surgery
It was a decade ago today that David Letterman went under the knife. To celebrate, he'll have his heart surgeon on as a guest on tonight's show.
Steven Spielberg to make a World Trade Center documentary
"Rebuilding Ground Zero" will be shown on the Science Channel in 2011.
"Men of a Certain Age" renewed for Season 2
TNT has ordered 10 episodes for next season.
Hasbro and Discovery name their new kid's channel "The Hub"
The new channel will target the 6-12 demo.
Fired "Bachelor" producer: Check out his photo
His name is Ryan Callahan, and he's apparently attractive enough to get bachelorette Rozlyn Papa to break the show's rules.
HBO will launch "The Pacific on March 14, "Treme" will debut in April
Meanwhile, HBO has announced plans for a follow-up to Spike Lee's “When the Levees Broke" for this summer. Meanwhile, "Treme" will run 10 episodes.
NBC planning 835 hours of Winter Olympic coverage — the most ever
NBC itself will host more than 193 hours from the Vancouver games.
Report: NBC threatening to keep Conan off the air for 3 1/2 years
NBC is talking tough in wake of Conan's NBC-bashing statement to the media, according to Nikki Finke. She reports: "To counter O'Brien's principled public statement which the late night host issued this week, Zucker 'is threatening to ice Conan,' according to his reps. 'Zucker said, 'I'll keep you off the air for 3 1/2 years.' Which doesn't have a chance in hell of happening. What I really think Zucker wants is to hold him off the market for at least six months to a year until the dust settles and Leno is secure and Conan is squelched." One rep even compared Zucker to 'Darth Vader' because the NBCU chief 'has been so evil' about this."
Sports Guy: Next week is Conan's final week — he's going out with a bang
Conan invites Howard Stern to raise Leno hell next week
"Tonight Show" isn't taping the week after next; NBC says it was a pre-planned hiatus
Anti-NBC protest planned for Friday in Burbank
Conan on Fox isn't a slam dunk, especially when affiliates air lucrative sitcom reruns
Letterman's monologue: Will NBC fire Kimmel, too? When Johnny quit, he quit
Will Conan accept porn role? // Mrs. Fields offers Conan a job — 25 years later!
Conan and Dave's ratings continued to rise Wednesday // Larry King: Team Kimmel
Dave's Top 10 Messages on Zucker's Voicemail // Conan gets massive online support
What happened to Jeff Zucker's promise to leave Leno alone for 46 weeks?
NBC hasn't threatened to sue Conan, so it might not be 100% confident
5 reasons Leno is the devil // NBC affiliates lost $22 million with Leno
While Jimmy Fallon is staying neutral, ?uestlove is backing Conan
Fox-owned affiliates range from lukewarm to intrigued by Conan
"Pants on the Ground" man, a civil rights veteran, liked his "Idol" cameo
"It played real real good," Larry Platt said of his much talked-about appearance on last night's show. “I liked it. I loved it." Platt calls himself "General" because he says he marched with Martin Luther King Jr. As for the song itself, Platt was inspired to write it after seeing a man on the street with a baby on his arm and pants slipping below his waist. “He was being disrespectful so I wanted to embarrass him," says Platt. “He rolled his eyes and pulled his pants up a little bit.”
"Pants" fever sweeps the nation // "Pants" remixed
"Idol" Night 2 ratings drop 14% // What's up with the 27th floor?
Elton John as Simon Cowell's replacement? How 'bout Nigel Lythgoe?
TMZ is floating Elton's name as the next "Idol" judge, while the UK's Daily Star claims Lythgoe is the favorite for the job. UPDATE: Elton's rep says he won't replace Simon.
VH1 Classic to put musicians through "Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy Camp"
The Mark Burnett reality show will transform 15 musicians into "rock stars."
George Clooney to host MTV telethon for Haiti
All his celeb friends are expected to appear on the telethon, airing Friday, January 22.
"Glee" star Matthew Morrison's debut album will sound like "classier Justin Timberlake"
Dropping this fall, the album will sound like Timberlake meets Michael Buble.
Food Network used "stunt double vegetables" for White House "Iron Chef"
Turns out the food picked from Michelle Obama's garden wasn't the actual vegetables used for the special.
"Law & Order" rips Letterman affair with Samantha Bee playing "Dave"
Friday's episode will revolve around a female talk show host who is blackmailed.
Elisabeth & Tim Hasselbeck to swap jobs their ABC/ESPN jobs for a day
Tim will co-host "The View" while Elisabeth will analyze the NFL on "NFL Live."
"Modern Family" is not a "true documentary"
"It’s a conversation we have a lot," says co-creator Steve Levitan. "Is it a true documentary, or is it a family show done documentary-style? I prefer the latter because I don’t like those families who let cameras in their houses in real life. I just can’t stand those shows. So it makes me — it would make me question them a little bit. Who would allow all of this to be filmed by a crew? So I like the idea that it’s just our style of storytelling." PLUS: Judy Greer coming to "Modern Family"
Report: NBC begged Jerry Seinfeld to host "The Marriage Ref"
But the multimillionaire wouldn't budge and appear before cameras. PLUS: Alec Baldwin & Eva Longoria will appear on "The Marriage Ref" as "experts."
"One Tree Hill" actor sentenced to prison for 3 months
Antwon Tanner is going to the slammer for dealing in stolen Social Security numbers.
Gay farmers to star in Planet Green reality show
"The Fabulous Beekman Boys" is "Green Acres" meets "Modern Family."
"Prison Break's" Lane Garrison is going back to jail for his new movie
The former inmate will produce and star in "One Heart," about a juvenile facility and its football team.
Alleged "I Love New York 2" killer was captured thanks to his appearance on the VH1 show
Jamal Trulove, who went by the name "Milliown," is now on trial for a San Francisco Bay Area murder.
Oprah has Sarah Palin and Lady Gaga on the same show Friday
They'll be joined Friday by James Cameron. PLUS: Here's a preview of her Adam Lambert sitdown.
Can "Project Runway" recover from its disastrous L.A. season?
"Will the challenges, which notably lacked creativity in Season 6, be more inspiring and surprising this time around?" asks Maureen Ryan. "The first challenge of Season 7 is not reassuring on this front. Will the contestants have not just interesting personalities but design aesthetics worth paying attention to? There are a few interesting garments on the runway Thursday, but all in all, whether the contestants or their clothes will be compelling remains to be seen."
Tim Gunn's new catchphrase: "This worries me"
NYC unveils Project Runway Ave // Check out "Runway," the video game
Jay McCarroll: "Runway" on Lifetime is like Pepsi trying to be Coke
Sigourney Weaver's "SNL" promo mocks Leno-Conan
From "Joey" to "Coupling" to "Andy Barker": NBC's Biggest Prime-Time Disasters
Watch 2 "Damages" seasons recapped in 2 minutes // Watch a preview of Season 3
Charlie Sheen is trying to ban TV cameras from his hearing
Check out Heidi Montag after plastic surgery
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