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LAST UPDATED: November 2004
LATE NIGHT TO AIR ON CNBC Starting on Monday (November 15th 2004)
CNBC will begin airing Late Night With Conan O'Brien's day-old shows
at 7:00 PM (Eastern) Monday - Thursday.
For further information see:
http://moneycentral.msn.com/Content/CNBCTV/TV_Info/Schedule.asp
NBC LATE NIGHT SUCCESSION PLAN ANNOUNCED: JAY LENO TO TURN OVER 'THE TONIGHT SHOW' TO CONAN O'BRIEN IN 2009
Released by NBC (Monday, September 27, 2004) In 2009, after what will then be a 17-year run as "America's Late Night Leader," Jay Leno has announced that he will turn over "The Tonight Show" to Conan O'Brien. Leno will officially make the announcement during this evening's "Tonight Show" -- a show that also celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the late night institution.
Said Leno: "In 2009, I'll be 59 years-old and will have had this dream job for 17 years. When I signed my new contract, I felt that the timing was right to plan for my successor and there is no one more qualified than Conan. Plus, I promised Mavis I would take her out for dinner before I turned 60."
"It is a great accomplishment and testament to both Jay and Conan that we were able to all work together on a long-term plan for this important institution," said NBC Universal Television Group President Jeff Zucker. "We look forward to more years of laughs from Jay and are thrilled to have Conan's future be as part of the NBC family."
"Late night talent is a rare commodity," echoed NBC Entertainment President Kevin Reilly. "Cultivating it and keeping it has always been a priority here and with this announcement, we couldn't be in a better place."
Conan O'Brien has signed a new contract with the network in a long-term deal that will keep him at the helm of the critically-acclaimed and top-rated "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" for the next five years and then has him taking over has host of "The Tonight Show" from Leno.
"'The Tonight Show' is one of the great franchises in television and I am thrilled to get this opportunity," said O'Brien. "I am thankful to everyone at NBC -- which has been my home for the last eleven years -- and I am particularly grateful to Jay for all the generous support and kindness he has always shown me."
Rick Ludwin, Senior Vice President, Late Night and Primetime Series, NBC Entertainment added, "Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien continue to be the most successful combination in all of late night. With today's announcement about Conan, we have locked in the future of this daypart for years to come."
"The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" continues to dominate late night and has won nine television seasons in a row, 34 consecutive sweep months and 36 consecutive quarters (including ties) with its largest 18-49 audience in three years and its largest 18-34 audience in four years.
In its eleven years on the air, "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" has dominated its time period, winning every quarter and every sweep month over that period. For the 2003-04 season, "Late Night" averaged 2.5 million viewers (nearly one million viewers ahead of its nearest competition) and won by a 71% margin among adults 18-49, its highest in five years and his adult 18-34 audience was "Late Night's" biggest in six years.
On its 50th Anniversary, "The Tonight Show" continues to be the most dominant late night institution in television history. Since it first premiered on September 27, 1954 with Steve Allen, "The Tonight Show" has had just four permanent hosts, including Jay Leno. Allen, host of the then titled "Tonight," eventually left late night to start his own primetime variety series on NBC. Jack Paar premiered on July 29, 1957. On October 1, 1962, Johnny Carson stepped on stage for day one of his nearly thirty-year tenure as host of "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson." Jay Leno, who began guest-hosting "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" in September 1987, became host of "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" on May 25, 1992. Conan O'Brien joined NBC as a writer on "Saturday Night Live" in 1988 and premiered as host of "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" on September 13, 1993.
10th Anniversary Special DVD & Show Special
(August
6th 2004) Conan O'Brien peddles DVDs Operators will be standing by during Late Night with Conan O'Brien
next week.The Aug. 12 edition of the NBC show will be an hourlong parody of an
infomercial that peddles the new DVD releases of O'Brien's 10th-anniversary show that aired last fall and a collection of the
best of Triumph, the Late Night Insult Comic Dog.
O'Brien will be sending up the pitches that viewers see at all hours around the dial — such as Regis Philbin hawking DVD sets of the old
Dean Martin variety show. Every cheesy aspect of informercials will be included in the parody,
from Bruce Jenner-like guests to O'Brien dressed in a really loud sweater.
But the 1-800 number that appears on the screen during the show will be no joke. Viewers will be able to call in and buy the DVDs (clips
from them will be shown throughout the show) for $19.98 each. "It's an infomercial parody that is actually an infomercial," says
Late Night executive producer Jeff Ross.
The idea didn't come down from NBC Universal headquarters, where no synergistic stone is left unturned. The Late Night and Triumph DVDs
are distributed by Lions Gate — a deal made before NBC merged with Vivendi Universal.
It came out of the Late Night writers' room, which has put O'Brien in unusual formats before, including presenting the entire show in
claymation. So have your credit card ready.
CONAN HEADING NORTH (December 5th 2003) - Conan O'Brien is indeed taking
his show to Canada. A tentative deal has been reached to take
the show to Toronto for four days of taping, Feb. 7-10. The early February sweeps date works best for everybody, says Canada's Walk Of Fame founder Peter Soumalias, the driving force behind the event.
"Everyone from NBC's side -- from Conan, Lorne Michaels, (executive producer) Jeff Ross and everyone at the network level -- has been outstanding," Soumalias said
yesterday to The Toronto Sun. "We couldn't ask for more co-operation."
The venue for the event appears to be the historic Elgin Theatre, across Yonge St from the Eaton Centre. Originally a vaudeville house, the 90-year-old facility seats more than 2,000.
CONAN
AND LIZA WELCOME BABY GIRL (October 15th 2003) LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "Late Night" host Conan O'Brien
and his wife are the parents of a new baby daughter, NBC said on Wednesday.
Neve O'Brien was born to the comedian and his wife Liza on Tuesday
evening in New York, NBC said. O'Brien is scheduled to return to the
air on Thursday. It is the couple's first child.
10TH ANNIVERSARY
(September 14th 2003) Comedian Conan O'Brien can laugh now but his early years as a late night TV
host were far from funny. Audiences and critics were unimpressed when the red-haired rookie replaced
David Letterman in NBC's "Late Night" slot 10 years ago. The network wasn't
sure about their choice, either, and O'Brien recalled NBC initially suggested
week-to-week renewals. "I thought the reviews were fair when they went after me as a performer and a
late-night host because I just didn't have the confidence and the chops yet,
but I thought that they were unfair when they attacked the comedy because I
always thought the comedy was good," he said recently.
The first three years were the toughest as skepticism persisted, O'Brien, 40,
recalled. "We were put in a very difficult position," he said. "Going through that
gauntlet, going through the thousand-mile-long spanking machine that we went
through helped us earn the right to be there. I honestly wouldn't change
anything. It worked out. I'm lucky to be here." NBC will air his 10th anniversary special in primetime on Sept. 14.
CONAN AND LIZA GET MARRIED (Sat Jan 12, 2002) SEATTLE (AP) - Late-night funnyman Conan O'Brien tied the knot
Saturday to Liza Powell, a Seattle ad executive he met when she made an appearance on his show.
``Sorry about the rain,'' O'Brien quipped as he and his new bride emerged from the James Cathedral under an umbrella after the
afternoon ceremony. The pair became engaged last July, about a year after Powell met
O'Brien while appearing on his show in a skit about advertising.
O'Brien, 38, is in his ninth season on NBC's ``Late Night with Conan O'Brien.''
O'Brien's longtime friend and Harvard roommate, the Rev. Paul O'Brien, officiated. The two are not related.
The service, which was closed to all but invited guests, was attended by ``Friends'' actress Lisa Kudrow and several on-air staffers from
O'Brien's show.
MAX AND BRUCE TOGETHER AGAIN.... The Max Weinberg 7 joined Bruce
Springsteen on stage in New Jersey last night, and will do so again
tonight. The Boss was performing two holiday shows (Dec. 17 and 18
2002)
in Asbury Park's Convention Hall. Profits from the two shows will
benefit several local charities, including the Greater Asbury Park
Chamber of Commerce, the Boys and Girls Club of Monmouth County, and
the Women's Center of Monmouth County.
RATINGS.... Late Night TV ratings for the week ended Dec.
10 2000,
according to Nielsen. In households Adults 18-49 Late Night with
Conan O'Brien scores 2.0/9 (rating) 1.2/8 (share).
CONAN SIGNS UP WITH NEW
AGENTS (2000).... According to Variety Conan has signed up with
the Endeavor agency for representation in all areas. Gavin Polone of
Hofflund/Polone will continue to be his manager. Conan's decision to
sign with Endeavor comes in the home stretch of his five-year
contract with NBC, which runs through September 2002. Conan has
grown in popularity since the deal was made with NBC in 1997. It's
expected that next time he'll command much more than the $2 million
annual salary he signed for back then.
LATE NIGHT BABY NEWS.... Andy Richter and Sarah Thyre report the birth of William Oscar Richter, born on November 22nd 2000 weighing in at 9lbs 11oz, and 21 1/2 inches long. CONGRATULATIONS TO ANDY AND SARAH!!
SMIGEL'S TV FUNHOUSE.... Robert Smigel's new show TV Funhouse will premiere on December 6th
2000 @ 10:30pm on Comedy Central (after Southpark). The pilot episode entitled "Wonderman" features film shorts and animation highlighting Robert Smigel's skewed look at a children's puppet show, an a rumored appearance by Triumph the insult comic dog.
NBC EUROPE CANCELS CONAN --- AGAIN.... Sat Europa have reported that NBC Europe will once more cancel Late Night with Conan O'Brien. From December 1st, the satellite channel will launch a programme called Giga Games which will replace Conan on the station. More info at:
http://www.sateuro.cwc.net/ Our deepest condolences go to all in Europe who will be missing the show now. You can email NBC Europe and tell them what you think of their decision to drop Late Night at nbce@dfa.de You can keep up-to-date with what's happening on the show with the newsletter though.
PETS.COM GONE.... SAN FRANCISCO-November 7, 2000-Pets.com (Nasdaq: IPET), the leading online pet retailer, announced today that it will begin the orderly wind down of its operations. In addition, it announced the layoff of approximately 255 of its 320 employees. The company plans to sell the majority of its assets, including inventory, distribution center equipment, URLs, content and its Sock Puppet brand icon and other intellectual property. That'll teach 'em not to mess with Triumph!!
ANDY'S "DOG DAYS" CANCELLED.... NBC's midseason replacement "Dog Days", featuring the voice of [former] "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" sidekick Andy Richter, is staying in the doghouse. The network has pulled the plug half-hour comedy from Carsey-Werner, according to Variety. After filming a pilot of "Dog Days" last spring, NBC had ordered five more episodes for midseason, but the net ultimately decided that the show didn't work. A deal was struck with Carsey-Werner to halt production on the new episodes before they began. "Dog Days" was a live-action comedy which used computer animation effects similar to those seen in 1999's hit film "Stuart Little." The story focused on a young woman (played by Anna Farris) and her dog (Richter), who regularly speaks to her.
ANDY RETURNS TO NBC.... Announced Oct. 25th. Andy Richter will guest-star on NBC's "Just Shoot Me," Nov. 9 as Maya's friend from high school , a successful motivational speaker. In the episode, Maya's old chum, Alan (played by Andy), confides to her that he is a recovering alcoholic and reveals that he started a nasty rumor about her in high school and asks her forgiveness. When she refuses, he starts drinking again, just before his presentation at Blush.
NBC'S FINAL ANSWER IS 'NO' .... October
15th 2000. Don't expect to see Conan or any other NBC stars on ABC's "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire". Conan had tentatively agreed to appear on the ratings-winning show's Celebrity Special in November during the sweeps period until an NBC source 'leaned on him' and other NBC personalities not to appear. "We would just prefer that our talent not compete against us during a sweeps month,'' an NBC spokesman told Reuters. Conan is a Harvard grad who might be expected to clean up on "Millionaire" and personally we would like to see him on the show. Email your thoughts on this to programming@nbc.com
MUSIC IN THE AIR.... The Max Weinberg Seven album is out now. Also, the Vivino Brothers, Jimmy and Jerry also have a brand new album out on DMP Records. Find out more about it here: http://jimmyvivino.8k.com
52nd ANNUAL EMMY AWARDS SHOW REPORT.... The opening sketch to this
year's Emmy award show was a spoof of 'Survivor' featuring none other
than Andy Richter. The actual host of 'Survivor' took the
contestants (Andy Richter, Cheri Oteri, Craig Kilborn, Arsenio Hall
and Garry Shandling) though a 'Tribal Council Vote' to decide who
would host tonight's awards. Andy spoke about how quitting Late
Night was a mistake, because he's broke now. Garry Shandling won,
and as you know, hosted the show.
Conan and Garry Shandling were talking backstage in between awards.
Conan told Shandling that if he won, he wanted to be political during
his speech, to talk about Women in the workplace, and how little they
earn compared to men. Garry replied 'You don't wanna be that guy',
and then asked him if he had a date for the show. Conan said he
didn't bring a date, and thought this would be a good way to impress
the ladies.... Actually, Conan did bring a date to the show! He was
spotted exiting a limo during the Emmy pre-show holding hands with
his new blonde squeeze.
Late Night was nominated in the category of OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A
VARIETY, MUSIC OR COMEDY PROGRAM along with Chris Rock, and Eddie
Izzard. The clips screened during this award were oddly, all of
Charlton Heston films, nothing to do with the award or the shows that
were submitted for nomination -- the shows taped in Los Angeles.
Transvestite comedian Eddie Izzard, won and was not present to accept
his award for the HBO special "Dressed To Kill".
In the second hour of the show, Conan stepped up to present the award
for OUTSTANDING VARIETY, MUSIC OR COMEDY SPECIAL. Just before
announcing the winner he took a moment to point out his staff in the
audience, who lost out on an award earlier, and told them 'It's
incredible up here. You'll live and die and never know it.' The
award was won by Saturday Night Live's 25th Anniversary Special and
accepted by Lorne Michaels.
We're disappointed because we think Late Night deserved to win this
year. Not just because we're big fans of the show and like to bow
down to Conan, but because this was a great chance to honor Andy
Richter's contribution to the show over the past seven years.
Somebody screwed up.
SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE...
Conan and his new Seattle-based girlfriend were spotted dining at the Cascadia with her parents last weekend. According to the Seattle Times hungry little Conan "started with a scallop and prawns appetizer, then moved on to a king salmon entree." The mystery lady's name is being kept under wraps for now to protect the couple's privacy.
SEXUAL HARRASSMENT CASE INVOLVING LATE NIGHT: Three former
NBC Staff members have hit the network with an $800 million
lawsuit, alleging racial and sexual harrassment according
to the New York Post. One of the plaintiffs, Gilbert Muro,
a former staffer on the Today show, says that he overheard
a senior news director make racist remarks about then
co-host Bryant Gumbel. Muro then moved to Late Night With
Conan O'Brien, where he says sexual harassment was rampant.
NBC is denying the charges.
(July
15th 2000) CONAN WON PEOPLE MAGAZINE'S MOST ELIGIBLE BACHELOR online poll with a landslide 28,135 votes. In total Conan received over 20% of the total votes cast thanks to vigorous voting from his faithful AFCOBbers. I bow to you all for making him number one.
(July 10th 2000) SMIGEL GETS OWN SHOW: Robert Smigel the man behind Triumph, the lips of Clinton, and SNL's "Ambiguously Gay Duo" has signed a deal with Comedy Central to make his own tv series. The show is expected to begin in the fall and is said to feature puppets, cartoons and animals. Ten shows will be made this year and twenty next. Triumph the insult comic dog may also make an appearance if his ongoing lawsuit with Pets.com is resolved.
ANDY'S LAST WEEK (May 23 - 26 2000): Andy Richter is now ready to part ways with late-night funnyman Conan
O'Brien Richter's last show is May 26. O'Brien has no plans to replace him.
Andy has told press he is looking to try different things.
LOS ANGELES DELAYED.... This year's Late Night trip to LA, has been
put back until sometime next year due to scheduling problems and an
apparent lack of funds according to an NBC source.
The show's second trip west was originally planned to take place
during November sweeps.
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