This video needs no real introduction other than Jimmy Kimmel has, throughout this entire NBC debacle, completely and utterly owned it and proved on Jay Leno’s show last night that he might just be the biggest winner from it:
Posted in January 2010 …
What happens to Conan?
Conan O’Brien and Jay Leno have been embroiled in a scheduling saga where The Jay Leno Show, which preceeds Tonight With Conan O’Brien, has been cancelled because of low ratings. NBC want to move Jay Leno to 11:35pm in order to improve his ratings, which would mean bumping Conan to a post-midnight slow, therefore returning to the position that both presenters ended up in a year ago. NBC were hoping that Conan would agree.
Nope.
O’Brien today issued a statement:
People of Earth:
In the last few days, I’ve been getting a lot of sympathy calls, and I want to start by making it clear that no one should waste a second feeling sorry for me. For 17 years, I’ve been getting paid to do what I love most and, in a world with real problems, I’ve been absurdly lucky. That said, I’ve been suddenly put in a very public predicament and my bosses are demanding an immediate decision.
Six years ago, I signed a contract with NBC to take over The Tonight Show in June of 2009. Like a lot of us, I grew up watching Johnny Carson every night and the chance to one day sit in that chair has meant everything to me. I worked long and hard to get that opportunity, passed up far more lucrative offers, and since 2004 I have spent literally hundreds of hours thinking of ways to extend the franchise long into the future. It was my mistaken belief that, like my predecessor, I would have the benefit of some time and, just as important, some degree of ratings support from the prime-time schedule. Building a lasting audience at 11:30 is impossible without both.
But sadly, we were never given that chance. After only seven months, with my Tonight Show in its infancy, NBC has decided to react to their terrible difficulties in prime-time by making a change in their long-established late night schedule.
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. My hope is that NBC and I can resolve this quickly so that my staff, crew, and I can do a show we can be proud of, for a company that values our work.
Have a great day and, for the record, I am truly sorry about my hair; it’s always been that way.
Yours,
Conan
What happens now? My personal wish is that he joins Comedy Central, meaning that that station would have a comedy powerhouse in Conan, Jon Stewart, and Stephen Colbert. My initial thoughts suggest he will try everything to make sure that he and NBC can find some resolution, but I think this could be the start of the end for both parties.
Pro Evolution Soccer steals your spare time
I ordered Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 for the Wii a week ago after abstaining for a while. I haven’t played it for about 3-4 years but I thought, for £9, it was a worthwhile investment. I got it yesterday, played it today, and reminded myself of how much time the game steals from your leisure time. It’s as addictive as any good real-time strategy title like Civilization or Rise Of Nations and just as fun as any other sports game. I tried to play it using the Wii remote and the Nunchuck but I failed miserably, so I’m using the classic controller, which works fine. I just have to hope that this doesn’t interfere with valuable work time for the next few weeks!
Why Jonathan Ross quit the BBC
The news that Jonathan Ross will be resigning from the BBC is not a surprise to those who are in the know about the media. There had been rumblings of this happening for a few weeks now because of all the issues regarding his own contract, which the BBC would have had to lower significantly. In short though, there are two reasons why he resigned.
The first is the implications of the Sachsgate saga. Throughout 2009 he has been told to rein in some of his jokes and his swearing as the corporation lived in fear of having even more bad press (although they did tons of other things last year that did that instead). Because of this, Ross himself hasn’t been the same as an entertainer and nowhere is this more evident than his Friday night talk show. It’s not as funny or indeed as watchable as it used to be and that isn’t down to Ross’ talent waning, but because he isn’t allowed to do what he wants to do. The only program where he had full control was Film 2010.
I think he also feels that the BBC no longer knows what to do with him, so instead of having more contract negotiations that would have proven awkward, he’s decided to skip all that and jump overboard. The BBC have no other programs they can use Ross in and they haven’t even tried to get him into new ventures for quite a while. It’s almost like they’re embarrassed to have him, especially on a £3 million-a-year contract.
Ross has timed all this to perfection and I can see him moving ship to Channel 4 where he will have full control again of what he’s allowed to do. ITV is also possible but I do think that they’re also trying to avoid being censured and I think they’d be quite brave to take him on.
The Crystal Maze is being ruined by ITV
Yesterday, ITV announced an update of famed 90s gameshow, The Crystal Maze, which was originally on Channel 4 and is the greatest gameshow ever to appear on UK TV. This shocking and disturbing news comes from Digital Spy:
Cult gameshow The Crystal Maze is to be revived by ITV, a report has claimed. The new show will have a similar format to the ’90s classic but feature Britain’s Got Talent judge Amanda Holden as host, according to The Sun. It is also thought that celebrity contestants will tackle the difficult puzzles and physical challenges rather than members of the public. A source said: “ITV are huge fans of Amanda and are looking at a number of different gameshow concepts, but this is certainly the one they are excited about. They are spending a lot of money and hope it will surpass – and blow away – the old Crystal Maze.”
The Crystal Maze remake is going to be mind-bendingly bad. They are going to ruin it and it’s going to be for three reasons:
1) It’s on ITV1, which means it’s going to be tacky.
2) Amanda Holden is presenting it, and she has as much personality and charisma as a lamp.
3) Celebrities?! Are you out of your mind?!
It’s going to be a low-budget version that will look more like a knock-off than an update. I just hope it fails and gets axed and no one will mention it ever again.
