Late Show UK

Conan O’Brien’s live tour begins this April across America. The tour – entitled “The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour” – will be a 30-city tour and has got sponsorship from American Express.

For more information (and to buy tickets to see Conan live) please go to www.teamcoco.com and follow the links. Also, follow Conan on his official Twitter account at www.twitter.com/conanobrien and join the I’m With Coco official Facebook page at www.facebook.com/imwithcoco.

In other Conan news, Fox are rumoured to be in preliminary talks with him for a new TV show.

Conan O’Brien has joined Twitter. Follow him at www.twitter.com/ConanOBrien. His Twitter bio says “I had a show. Then I had a different show. Now I have a Twitter account”.

Conan O’Brien is reportedly thinking about launching a live stage show in the interim period between now and September.

The NBC deal he signed to leave the network stated he wasn’t allowed to sign up with another television network until September, but a live stage show is the next best thing.

O’Brien is already drawing up plans for tour dates for a live show according to The New York Times.

The New York Times report the shows would take place in “theaters in major cities from California to New York, and perhaps parts further east and west–and maybe north”.

The New York Times – “Conan O’Brien’s Next Appearances Could Be on Stage”

Fox are allegedly in talks with Conan O’Brien to move him across to their network following his departure from The Tonight Show. BBC News quotes News Corporation boss Ruper Murdoch as saying there’s been “some conversations” about him coming to Fox and “if the programming people can show us we can do it and make a profit, we would do it in a flash”. Conan won’t be allowed to join any new TV network until September because of contract rules from NBC.

BBC News – “Fox ‘in talks’ with Conan O’Brien”

Jay Leno will be a guest on Oprah Winfrey’s talk show this Thursday. It’s also thought Oprah’s trying to get Conan O’Brien to appear on her show as well.

Seattle PI – “Oprah Winfrey to Interview Jay Leno; Possibly Conan O’Brien”

The final episode of The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien aired on Friday night. Steve Carrell, Tom Hanks, Will Ferrell and Neil Young all appeared on the last show. Click here to watch highlights from the final few shows. In his final monologue Conan said “we have exactly one hour to steal every single item in this studio”.

Highlights of the final show included another “World’s Most Expensive Sketch” to use up the remaining portion of the budget for The Tonight Show, Conan asking what will happen to the almost-new Tonight Show studio he’s leaving behind (“leave the studio cold and empty and rename it the world’s largest metaphor for NBC programming”), Steve Carrell conducting Conan’s NBC “exit interview”, Tom Hanks coming out to greet Conan wearing sunglasses and plying him with alcohol and Will Ferrell’s song to to close the show (with Conan on guitar and Max on the drums).

Conan has been using some expensive music throughout the final week of The Tonight Show and will be sending the bill to NBC to pay for the rights for that – including Satisfaction by The Rolling Stones and Lovely Rita by The Beatles.

Conan’s final speech on The Tonight Show was emotional. He said “every comedian dreams of hosting The Tonight Show and for seven months I got to… I did it my way, with people I love, and I do not regret a second. I’ve had more good fortune than anyone I know and if our next gig is doing a show in a 7-Eleven parking lot we’ll find a way to make it fun… I don’t want to do it in a 7-Eleven parking lot”. There wasn’t one mention of Jay Leno throughout the entire show.

NBC officially confirmed The Tonight Show will return on 1st March with former host Jay Leno. Conan will be able to start a new talk show from September if he wants to – Fox are rumoured to be very interested.

Conan’s final Tonight Show will air on CNBC at 11pm tomorrow night – the usual CNBC 30-minute cutdown version. Reruns of The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien will air on NBC next week.

NBC – “NBC Announces That Jay Leno Will Return To Host ‘The Tonight Show’”
NBC – “Statement From NBC and Conan O’Brien”
BusinessWeek – “O’Brien thanks fans, NBC on final ‘Tonight’ show”
NY Daily News – “Questlove: Use of Beatles’ ‘Lovely Rita’ on Conan O’Brien’s last ‘Tonight Show’ cost NBC $500k”

Conan O’Brien will be able to join another US TV network from 1st September. His exit deal with NBC states he’s not allowed to sign up for any other US network until that date. Conan is examining his options – he could go to Fox, Comedy Central or Fox-owned channel FX.

Another detail of the NBC deal has been revealed – he won’t be able to bring his old characters like Triumph The Comic Dog and the Masturbating Bear with him to another network as NBC have claimed them as intellectual property. This reminds me of when Letterman left NBC and they wouldn’t let him take his segments like Viewer Mail – Letterman always joked that the word “intellectual” isn’t usually something you’d associate with NBC.

Leno – who is expected to return to The Tonight Show from the 1st March – said “I don’t believe the iceberg is that big, the biggest ship, this ship will never sink” with a reference to the Titanic. On The Tonight Show, Conan took more swipes at NBC saying one of the things he’s not allowed to do is “make fun of NBC programming… I have to let the programming speak for itself”. Conan’s final Tonight Show will air tonight in the US – you can see it on CNBC at 11pm on Monday.

Reuters – “Conan O’Brien exploring options after NBC split”
NBC Bay Area – “Jay Leno: “I Have Chosen to Stay on the Titanic”"

The final edition of The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien will air this Friday – after the 22nd January show Conan will no longer be hosting The Tonight Show.

A deal has now been reached between NBC, Conan and his staffers. TMZ.com report NBC “have reached a $45 million settlement… Conan will get a severance of $32.5 million, regardless of whether he gets another hosting gig”. They also say “NBC will pay $7.5 million to Conan’s “Tonight Show” staff — and our sources believe the network added several thousand more to the pot at the last minute”. In addition to this “NBC will pay a whopping $4.5 million to the executive producer”.

The guests for Conan’s final Tonight Show this Friday will be Tom Hanks, Will Ferrell (who appeared on the first ever edition of The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien last year) and Neil Young.

When The Tonight Show returns after the Winter Olympics break, it’s likely Jay Leno will take The Tonight Show back in the normal 11.35pm timeslot. It’s not known when Jay’s final 10pm show will air but it could be as early as the 26th January.

TMZ.com – “Conan O’Brien, NBC Reach $45Mil Settlement”

TransWorldNews says Conan “has reportedly accepted a $32.5 million deal to leave The Tonight Show… according to reports, NBC has agreed to pay O’Brien $32.5 million to leave The Tonight Show and to remain silent about the controversy surrounding the show’s time slot change. Jay Leno will reportedly return as host of The Tonight Show”. Conan is rumoured to be in discussions with Fox for a possible talk show on their network. TMZ say Fox even registered a website for Conan already – they report “the registrant of CONANONFOX.COM is the Intellectual Property Department of Twentieth Century Fox”.

Several well known celebrities have commented on the Leno/Conan debate – Ricky Gervais hosted the Golden Globe Awards ceremony this week and opened with “let’s get going, before they replace me with Jay Leno” and comedian Sarah Silverman (the ex-girlfriend of talk show host Jimmy Kimmel) said “NBC displaced a lot of people by bringing the show here. People enrolled their kids in school and I don’t think six months is enough time”.

It’s not known how much longer The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien will be on NBC – original reports suggested the final episode would air in February before the Winter Olympics start, but the show may end as soon as this week – guest listings aren’t being released very far in advance at the moment which is a sign the show is ending soon.

TMZ.com – “Conan O’Brien Scores $32.5 Mil from NBC”
TransWorldNews – “Conan OBrien and NBC Reach $32 Million Deal”
Hollyscoop – “Celebs Weigh in on Conan-Leno Controversy”
Hollyscoop – “Conan In Negotiations With Fox”

Conan O’Brien released a statement yesterday with regards to the current situation at NBC with The Jay Leno Show and – Conan’s show – The Tonight Show. As you undoubtedly know by now, The Jay Leno Show is being axed from the 10pm slot on NBC from February. NBC have proposed The Jay Leno Show is cut down to a 30 minute show and aired at 11.35pm with The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien shifting 30 minutes later at 12.05am. The Tonight Show has always aired at 11.35pm and Conan isn’t happy.

His statement is addressed to “people of Earth”. A segment of the statement is below;

“Last Thursday, NBC executives told me they intended to move the Tonight Show to 12:05 to accommodate the Jay Leno Show at 11:35. For 60 years the Tonight Show has aired immediately following the late local news. I sincerely believe that delaying the Tonight Show into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting. The Tonight Show at 12:05 simply isn’t the Tonight Show. Also, if I accept this move I will be knocking the Late Night show, which I inherited from David Letterman and passed on to Jimmy Fallon, out of its long-held time slot. That would hurt the other NBC franchise that I love, and it would be unfair to Jimmy.

So it has come to this: I cannot express in words how much I enjoy hosting this program and what an enormous personal disappointment it is for me to consider losing it. My staff and I have worked unbelievably hard and we are very proud of our contribution to the legacy of The Tonight Show. But I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction. Some people will make the argument that with DVRs and the Internet a time slot doesn’t matter. But with the Tonight Show, I believe nothing could matter more.

There has been speculation about my going to another network but, to set the record straight, I currently have no other offer and honestly have no idea what happens next”.

Click here to read Conan O’Brien’s statement in full at MSNBC.

Conan O’Brien returned to host The Tonight Show last night following the cancellation of last Friday’s episode because of his accident whilst filming the show. Conan got a concussion during Friday’s taping when Teri Hatcher was racing him in a triathlon for a segment to go out that evening. Friday’s new show never aired and NBC broadcast a rerun episode instead.

Conan said he wanted to carry on with Friday’s taping after the accident but soon became clear something was wrong when he couldn’t speak properly and the cue cards he was looking at were “like a menu for an Egyptian restaurant”. He said “as many of you may know, on this past Friday’s show I was doing a stunt and I hit my head and suffered a slight concussion. And I promise, if you’re a good audience, I’ll do it again tonight”.

The Associated Press – “O’Brien back on `Tonight,’ joking about accident”

Click here to watch a clip of last night’s show including Conan talking about the accident and a clip of the moment it happened

Conan O’Brien hit his head during a stunt on The Tonight Show on Friday, forcing NBC to air a rerun as the episode wasn’t completed before the mishap happened.

Conan was taken to hospital and has released a statement – “last thing I remember I was enjoying the play with Mrs. Lincoln, and the next thing I knew I was in bed being served cookies and juice”.

Next week’s new episodes are subject to change and may be replaced with reruns.

Telegraph – “US chat show host Conan O’Brien in hospital after hitting head in stunt”

In a visit to NBC TV affiliate WKYC Channel 3, Conan O’Brien has been talking about becoming host of The Tonight Show.

He says “my analogy is, they’re handing me the keys to this beautiful Ferrari of The Tonight Show… I’ve been driving around in a Jeep Wrangler called the Late Night show. A fine Jeep Wrangler with a busted radio, but now they’re handing me the keys to a Ferrari called The Tonight Show… I want to get this thing up over 100 miles an hour. I want to clip some fire hydrants. I want to get it up on two wheels, on its side, like James Bond in that alley”.

Conan’s determined to make The Tonight Show his own and not try to copy Jay Leno or Johnny Carson. He says “every person has done it his own way… that’s just what I have to do” and “I was following in David Letterman’s footsteps… we did a completely different kind of show, and I think that’s the only reason it succeeded”.

In a different interview with Minnesota news channel KARE, Conan says he’s been on a tour of many NBC stations to promote his new show before it begins in June – “you have to take time to meet the people who work at the stations… you can’t be a snob about it”.

The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien begins on the 1st June on NBC.

Cleveland.com – “Conan O’Brien intends to make ‘Tonight Show’ his own”
StarTribune.com – “KARE bears meet Conan O’Brien”

After 16 years (2,725 episodes) Late Night With Conan O’Brien ended on Friday 20th February 2009. The final week saw some of Conan’s favourite guests booked on the show – Bob Saget, Stephen Colbert, Nathan Lane, Martha Stewart, Jerry Seinfeld and even an appearance from Mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg. The final show saw The White Stripes perform. The final week was full of trips down memory lane with Conan looking back at some of the memorable moments from the past 16 years.

Other guests on the final show were former Late Night sidekick Andy Richter (saying “I told you you’d never last without me”), Will Ferrell with an impression of George W. Bush and John Mayer performing a song with the lyrics “LA’s gonna eat you alive” – a tongue-in-cheek lyric for Conan’s move to The Tonight Show.

In Conan’s final farewall speech at the end of Friday’s show he said he’d “never grow up” – a reference to how some people fear he may tame down his act for The Tonight Show. He said “it’s an incredible, amazing honor to do this show for you people… we’re going on to this next gig, and sometimes I read that it’s time for Conan to grow up because he’s going to 11:30… and I assure you, that’s just not going to happen. I can’t. This is who I am, for better or for worse”.

During his farewell speech his voice cracked a little as he must have felt very emotional leaving Late Night after so many years. Conan thanked David Letterman, who hosted Late Night on NBC before he moved to the Late Show on CBS after famously losing out to host The Tonight Show to Jay Leno. He also thanked Lorne Michaels (Saturday Night Live producer), the Late Night crew and band.

Ratings-wise, the final Late Night saw audiences “up a whopping 44 percent over the show’s season average, NBC said today” according to E! Online.

Conan now moves to LA to host The Tonight Show, which begins at the start of June. Late Night With Jimmy Fallon (which stays in New York) begins on Monday 2nd March.

E! Online – ” Conan O’Brien Takes a Bow on Last Late Night”
The Insider – “Conan O’Brien’s Last Late Night”
TV Squad – “How was Conan’s last show in New York?”
E! Online – “Conan Goes Out on Top; Dollhouse Shrinks”

Click here to watch a video tribute for Late Night With Conan O’Brien found on YouTube

The last ever new episodes of Late Night With Conan O’Brien air next week. The last 5 new shows air Monday-Friday in their usual timeslot on NBC.

There will also be a week of reruns after next week leading up to when Late Night With Jimmy Fallon starts on Monday 2nd March.

So far – guests announced for Monday are Bob Saget & thenewno2, Jason Sudeikis on Tuesday, Nathan Lane on Wednesday, Jerry Seinfeld & Craig Bierko are on Thursday’s show and The White Stripes are confirmed for the final show on Friday.

More guests are expected to be announced for next week soon.

Conan O’Brien will take over as host of The Tonight Show at the beginning of June.

Late Show UK – Guest Listings for Late Night With Conan O’Brien
Late Night With Conan O’Brien official website
Late Night Underground official blog
Late Night With Jimmy Fallon official website

It was Superbowl XLIII last night between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals. Advertising time throughout the Superbowl is always a high premium.

This year the Superbowl was broadcast on NBC giving them a chance to promote Jay Leno’s new 10pm show starting this year when he leaves The Tonight Show, and also gave them a chance to promote Conan O’Brien who’s taking over The Tonight Show on the 1st June this year.

Conan also had an advert promoting Bud Light.

This isn’t the first time late night talk shows have advertised in the Superbowl – David Letterman promoted the Late Show with an advert featuring Oprah previously.

Click here to watch this year’s Superbowl adverts

It’s been a known fact for some time now that Conan O’Brien will be taking over the reigns of The Tonight Show from current host Jay Leno in 2009. Conan O’Brien is rumoured to be finishing up Late Night With Conan O’Brien at the end of February to give him sometime to get ready for taking up The Tonight Show on the 1st June 2009. Jay Leno’s final episode of The Tonight Show will air on the 29th May 2009.

On media website Advertising Age they report Rick Ludwin from NBC Entertainment says “we hope to add from perhaps the younger part of the demographic that maybe isn’t watching late night at the moment”. Advertising Age also report “to get the word out about his ascent to “Tonight,” according to people familiar with the situation, NBC has discussed plans to send him on a cross-country tour of sorts, posting video on the web to tout the comedian’s antics, according to media buyers”. The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien is tipped to be more “edgier” than Jay Leno’s show. The new show will probably keep similar aspects to Conan’s current Late Night show – with wacky segments and “coarser” comedy.

So there’s only a few months to go before the last ever Late Night With Conan O’Brien – Jimmy Fallon will take over Conan’s Late Night show when he leaves. Jimmy could start doing Late Night in March or he could wait until Conan starts The Tonight Show in June. It’s rumoured Jimmy may start Late Night before Conan starts TTS so he can build up some viewership beforehand.

Advertising Age – “And Now, Conan O’Brien! … and Younger Viewers”