Tuesday, January 12, 2010
In a professional, heartfelt and completely reasonable letter to NBC management, Conan O’Brien has rejected the notion that he would move his show from 11:35 PM to 12:05 AM behind Jay Leno. I won’t summarize its content. It’s brief, to the point, and very much worth reading – if for no other reason for its comic salutation and last paragraph. If ever there was any doubt, which there wasn’t, Conan is a class act and world class comedian.
To NBC management, if they’re listening, the problem isn’t Conan O’Brien, it’s Jay Leno and the 10 PM daily time slot that has basically killed Jay’s momentum as a major draw. Way to go. I like Jay, but Conan is the future of The Tonight Show legacy. You need to get your own act together and come up with compelling television for 10 o’clock.
If anyone needs to go, it’s NBC programming senior management that’s kept their network in third place behind Fox and CBS.
As for me, I’ll be following Conan to whatever planet he ends up – “in the year 2000.”
-wf
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