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.
