Conan’s TBS talk show name announced

Conan O’Brien has announced the name of his new TBS talk show starting this November. It will simply be called Conan. The talk show premieres on the 8th November at 11pm on TBS.

Conan has launched some new bits and pieces in preparation for the new show – he has a brand new Team Coco YouTube channel and a revamped official Team Coco website.

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New promos for Conan’s TBS show

New promotional ads are now running on TBS for Conan O’Brien’s new show (tentatively titled The Conan O’Brien Show) which begins this November. The new show will air Monday-Thursday (not Monday-Friday) and it will air at 11pm before Lopez Tonight.

Click here to watch the promo videos

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Conan writers special to air on TBS this weekend

Conan O’Brien’s writing team will appear on a TBS special. The standup special will be called Team Coco Presents Conan’s Writers Live and will air this weekend (Sunday at 10/9c). It will be a showcase for the writing talents of Conan’s team.

Conan won’t be appearing on the show himself though as he’s not allowed to appear on any TV shows until later this year, because of his exit deal with NBC (hence the name of his recent theatre tour – “Conan O’Brien presents The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour”).

Speaking about Conan O’Brien’s new talk show coming to TBS this November, Andy Richter has said “the network couldn’t have been more open to us and more inviting to us and more welcoming to us… it was pretty lousy what happened and it felt pretty lousy, but I really do think we’re going to end up in a better place and that’s already becoming evident”.

The name for Conan’s new talk show has not yet been confirmed.

TV Guide – “Andy Richter: Prepare For a Lot of Silliness on Team Coco Special”

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Conan ready for new TBS show

Conan O’Brien says he’s ready for his new TBS talk show which premieres on the 8th November.

At a TBS/TNT programming presentation for advertisers in New York he said “I haven’t done any research, but my hunch is that 33-year-old males want to hear corny jokes and live country music… I can’t wait to get back to having fun on television… that’s all I want to do”. Conan said “I’m more of a man… my testosterone levels have tripled since I went through this experience”.

BusinessWeek – “Conan O’Brien Says He’s Ready to Be Back on TV at TBS…”

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Conan vs Leno in Emmy nominations

Conan O’Brien has put forward his version of The Tonight Show for this year’s Emmy nominations. This means The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien will go head-to-head with The Tonight Show With Jay Leno for the award of Best Variety Show.

Gawker – “Conan O’Brien Makes Tonight Show Run Against Itself In the Emmys”
Los Angeles Times – “Emmy battle of the ‘Tonight Shows’: Conan vs. Jay…”

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Conan interview on 60 Minutes

Conan O’Brien was on CBS’s 60 Minutes programme last week to talk about his exit from The Tonight Show and signing up with TBS for his new Monday-Friday 11pm show which starts later this year. Click here to watch the 60 Minutes interview (skip to 27 minutes into the video for the start of the interview). Conan said he “got very depressed at times” and said his live theatre comedy tour made him “feel better almost immediately”.

CBS News – 60 Minutes (watch the whole programme)
TV Guide – “Conan 60 Minutes Interview – Today’s News Our Take”

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Conan to use Tonight Show stage for new show?

It has already been said Conan O’Brien is staying in Los Angeles for his new TBS show and there are now reports on EW.com that he may try to rent the stage for The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien to use for his new TBS show when it begins later this year.

EW.com say “When Conan O’Brien took over The Tonight Show, NBC spent a reported $50 million to transform the former sound stage of the Jack Benny show and the original Knight Rider TV series into a lavish talk show set for its late-night star”.

They add “Since O’Brien will own his show, start-up costs will certainly be an issue: It can run anywhere from $750,000 to $1 million to retrofit a sound stage, experts say, to say nothing of the additional dollars it will require to rent the 16,000 square feet-or-so in space he’ll likely need to do a talk show. With that it mind, it could make sense for O’Brien to return to his old Tonight Show digs, especially considering the sweet irony that would result from his headlining a hit show for TBS on NBC-owned property”.

EW.com – “Conan O’Brien Will he return to his old ‘Tonight Show’ sound stage”

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Conan O’Brien coming to TBS this November

It’s official – Conan O’Brien is coming back to US TV for the first time since The Tonight Show. Conan will host a new talk show on US cable channel TBS – not Fox as was once rumoured. In a press release, TBS says:

Comedy icon Conan O’Brien is joining TBS to host a late-night talk show that is expected to debut in November. The Emmy®-winning comedian’s new program will be followed by Lopez Tonight, which will shift to a midnight time slot.

O’Brien began talks in earnest with TBS just last week, after George Lopez personally called him to ask that he consider joining the network’s late-night line-up. “I can’t think of anything better than doing my show with Conan as my lead-in,” Lopez said. “It’s the beginning of a new era in late-night comedy.”

Said O’Brien: “In three months I’ve gone from network television to Twitter to performing live in theaters, and now I’m headed to basic cable. My plan is working perfectly.”

Lopez Tonight currently airs at 11pm, but this will move to midnight and Conan O’Brien’s new talk show will air in the 11pm timeslot. This will give Conan the edge over Leno and Letterman whose shows don’t start until 11.35pm.

TBS – “Conan O’Brien Joins TBS!”
The Guardian – “Conan O’Brien to host late-night show on cable channel TBS”
Facebook – “I’m with Coco – Conan O’Brien”
Twitter – Conan O’Brien’s post about the move to TBS

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The 2010 TIME 100 Poll

Conan O’Brien is currently ranked at number 1 in The 2010 TIME 100 Poll. Stephen Colbert is at number 12, Jon Stewart at number 13 and Jay Leno is ranked at number 72. Vote for your favourite now.

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Fox to announce Conan O’Brien deal in May?

Fox are reportedly going to announce a Conan O’Brien talk show deal on the 17th May. Contactmusic report “Fox plans to announce officially that Conan O’Brien will be joining the network at its annual upfront presentation to advertisers on May 17″. The new talk show is thought to be getting the 11pm timeslot on Fox.

Contactmusic – “Fox Reportedly Plans Conan Announcement On May 17″

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Conan O’Brien’s live tour begins this April

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.

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Conan O’Brien joins Twitter

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”.

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Conan O’Brien for live stage shows?

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”

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Fox interested in Conan O’Brien

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”

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Leno (and possibly Conan) on Oprah

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”

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Conan says goodbye to Tonight

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”

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Conan looking at his options after NBC departure

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”"

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