The Tonight Show with Conan O'brien

[2Epcot]

Conan O'Brien off to a strong start
'Tonight Show' tops latenight, primetime ratings

By RICK KISSELL

Conan O'Brien's premiere on NBC's hallowed "The Tonight Show" produced the show's best Monday overnight rating in four years, standing as the evening's top-rated program -- latenight or primetime.

Three nights after Jay Leno averaged a monster 8.8 household rating/20 share in Nielsen's metered-market overnights, "The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien" bowed with a 7.1 rating/17 share. The rating represents an 82% improvement over the second-quarter average of "Tonight" (3.9) in the nation's 56 biggest markets.

This is the best Monday delivery for "The Tonight Show" since a January 2005 telecast featuring a special tribute to Johnny Carson. And it ranks as the seventh-highest Monday for the program since Leno took over "Tonight" in 1992.



I've been a fan of Conan O'Brien for a long time. I was never a fan of Jay Leno, and can probably count on one had the Tonight Shows I watched from beginning to end, with him hosting. I started watching Johnny Carson when I was 10 years old, and was luckly to watch the last half of his career. I was really hoping Letterman would have got the show back then, but at least he was over on CBS. I thought Conan's first show was very good. Conan knows how to work the recorded pieces into the show, without the entire show coming to a sceeching halt. That's something Jimmy Fallon still needs to work on. I'm glad I can start watching entire Tonight Shows again, and not just to see certain guest stars.

[DisneyAggies]

We enjoyed it, but we've been BIG Conan fans for a while now (at least since high school)...funny thing, though...I kept telling DH to turn off the TV because it was "already SO late!" I'm still used to him being on later!! LOL

[NotaGeek]

I have it on TiVo ad will watch it when I get home. Hey Chris did they keep the same writers or are they using the Tonight Show staff? Some of Conan's stuff was pretty lame, I am hoping with the earlier time slot they will get some more $$ to throw at the script!

[PirateLover]

I have also been a Conan fan for a while now. Some of his humor is quirky and I'm sure it will need to be tweaked for the larger audience. I only watched the opening monologue and the lead up to the first guest before I fell asleep last night. I loved the bit he did with the tram car. Classic Conan. I agree though that some of the writing can be lame... Some of his best stuff in recent years was actually when the writers went on strike and he was forced to go back on air.

[jerrywilborn]

I watched it on Hulu just now and it was hilarious. It's funny how many glowing comments he made about the set (compared to how many negative ones he had about the one back in ny).

[2Epcot]

I have it on TiVo ad will watch it when I get home. Hey Chris did they keep the same writers or are they using the Tonight Show staff? Some of Conan's stuff was pretty lame, I am hoping with the earlier time slot they will get some more $$ to throw at the script!

I did watch the last Tonight Show with Jay, and Conan said that they brought almost all of their people out to LA, so I would guess that would be the writing staff as well.

[RockinRobin]

I can't stand Conan and I will not watch the Tonight show any more. I liked Leno and sorry to see him go. Guess I will just go to bed early.

[2Epcot]

I can't stand Conan and I will not watch the Tonight show any more. I liked Leno and sorry to see him go. Guess I will just go to bed early.

For those Jay fans he's only gone till the fall. He will be back on at 10pm EST. every night with a new show.

[ASweetLov]

I loved watching Jay Leno and will miss him. I have never really watched Conan though but my fiance thinkis he is really funny

[Goofster]

For those Jay fans he's only gone till the fall. He will be back on at 10pm EST. every night with a new show.

That's good to know. I loved Jay on the Tonight Show. Never really cared for Conan and his humor...too dorky for me.

[Camping Mom]

Conan is so quirky and that is why I like him. I have not seen the Tonight Show since he took over, though. I could not tolerate Leno and I abhor Letterman. I think he is totally without class.

Hope to catch Conan soon. Maybe I can this summer.

[Goofy4TheWorld]

Well, 7 months later, who's side are you on?

I loved Johnny, then I loved Jay up and until about the time Battle of the Jaywalk All-stars and "Ross the Intern" both became regulars on his show. Then I was very excited to see Jay depart to make way for Conan, even though I worried Conan's humor may not catch on at 11:30 (or make it past the censors). But now I am absolutely shocked that Jay has turned out to have this huge ego that is stopping him from handing over the reigns with the dignity he has always appeared to have had in the past.

No matter what happens, I will never watch Leno again, ever. I can't believe he is going to run Conan out of town like this. :mad: I could believe big wigs at NBC would do this, but not Jay.

Turn It In JAY!

[NotaGeek]

Jay Leno is under contract with NBC for big bucks and so is Conan ... the network holds the keys to the show line-up. Its funny that pretty much everyone knew that this was a mistake in the first place -- taking up a whole hour of prime time for a show that hasn't really been good since Johnny Carson retired? Weird.

[Nini]

Team Conan here!

I wonder if Leno realizes how bad this is making him look - he could walk away if he wanted to.

Denise

[SBETigg]

I love Conan. We usually watch the Daily Show at that time, but I still really like Conan. Never liked Jay. Now I like Jay less and Conan even more. It's a sorry situation. Jay said for years that he was retiring, which allowed NBC to offer the Tonight Show chair to Conan and they have just strung him along. I thought giving Jay the 10 pm slot was bad enough. Jay is looking bad through all this. He should just retire.

[laprana]

No matter what happens, I will never watch Leno again, ever. I can't believe he is going to run Conan out of town like this. :mad: I could believe big wigs at NBC would do this, but not Jay.

Turn It In JAY!

I couldn't agree more! I'm firmly on team Conan. I've been a big fan of his since he started hosting Late Night, and I was really happy to see him move to The Tonight Show. I've never been a big Leno fan, and now I am even less of one. I agree that this whole thing is making him look really bad to the American public. Since it was his show that got cancelled and not Conan's, shouldn't Leno be the one to hit the road? I think the position they have put Conan in is awful, but I'm glad to see he's sticking to his guns about not moving the Tonight Show to a different time. If he ends up leaving NBC and going to a new network, I think he'll be taking a whole lot of fans with him.

[NotaGeek]

I just read that Conan stepped down because he doesn't want the Tonight show to be pushed back into the later slot and he said its not fair to Jimmy Falon as that would all but cancel his show. I think its very good of him to be this considerate ... its sad to think that Jay Leno -- one of the biggest hacks in show business is so full of himself that he won't step down -- the world was fine when it thought he was going away entirely.

[PirateLover]

It really is a soap opera. Oh, and for the record, I'm with "Coco" ;)
Conan did not step down exactly, but he said he will not do the Tonight Show if it is pushed back to 12. Now TMZ is reporting a new deal was inked with Jay to hand 11:35-12:35 back to Jay, leaving Conan as the odd man out.

Everyone is blaming Zucker for kicking Leno out when he was number 1 in the ratings, but Leno was the one saying he wanted to retire. It was announced over 5 years ago that this would happen... and as the time got closer Jay and the network panicked. In doing so, they messed things up with the affiliates and got themselves into this mess. Everyone said from the beginning that bumping prime time programming for The Jay Leno Show would be bad. Local news is suffering and the affiliates ha rebelled, forcing NBC's hand. Because less people were now watching the NBC local news shows, that also hurt Conan's numbers. He never really had a chance.

I hope that Leno's ratings tank and that Conan ends up going to Fox and succeeding.

[SBETigg]

The report has Conan's last day as next Friday. I'm not sure if that's just a rumor or it's true, but I hope he's getting a huge severance package and/or the freedom to accept new offers.

[PirateLover]

The report has Conan's last day as next Friday. I'm not sure if that's just a rumor or it's true, but I hope he's getting a huge severance package and/or the freedom to accept new offers.

Yes, rumors are saying depending on contract language, Zucker thinks he can freeze him out for 3 years... but Conan is prepping to sue for breach of contract and he is represented by Ari Emmanuel so we shall see....

[Goofy4TheWorld]

...but Leno was the one saying he wanted to retire.

I don't think that is true. Conan was shopping around for a new gig 5 years ago when he was very popular with his Late Night show. NBC wanted to keep Conan with them because they saw him as the future with his large following in the valuable advertising demographic 18-24 year olds. NBC bullied Jay into "retiring" but Jay never bought it, and as soon as NBC had Conan locked in, Jay started shopping around.

All of which led to the mess they are in now. NBC tried to have its cake and eat it to, but Jay wasn't ready to ride off into the sunset, and NBC couldn't stand the thought of him jumping networks.

I blame Zucker, but not because he tried to drum Jay out of town, but because he didn't do it right (which would have meant NO 10pm show.)

[2Epcot]

Obviously I'm not happy to see Conan leave the Tonight show and Jay Leno return, but I think Conan is doing the right thing. It would really be reducing the long running Tonight Show to a second class show by moving it to midnight. Not to mention, as Conan said, it's not the Tonight show if it is starting the next day.

I feel bad for Conan and most of his staff who uprooted their entire families to move from NY to CA. It will be interesting to see if he stays in LA if he ends up doing his show at Fox.
One advantage of a show on Fox would be he would start 30 min. before Jay Leno.

I heard on one of the shows that Jerry Zucker, head of NBC isn't happy with the way Conan has been blasting him and NBC on the air. I guess there is a rumor that Zucker could force Conan to stay under contract and not be able to go on another network for the remainder of the 3 1/2 years left on the contract.

I think if NBC tried to keep Conan off the air there would be a major public attack against NBC, and most likely directed at Jay Leno and the Tonight Show. I think NBC will let Conan out just to avoid any more bad publicity.

[MNNHFLTX]

I am not a huge Conan fan, but am definitely not a Jay Leno fan at all, especially after all this. This is one of those "huh?" moments. Let's see--Jay's ratings on prime-time are so dismal that the local news networks are complaining that there own ratings are suffering. So let's reward Jay for this by giving him back his old time slot?? I understand that Conan's ratings were not through the roof either, but this all seems wrong. I think NBC has has given Conan a raw deal and I don't blame him for being bitter. I know will never watch Jay Leno again because of it.

[DakotaDisney]

It's to bad it's come to this. NBC sure messed things up for themselves and their 3 hosts. But at the sametime the 3 hosts signed the contracts and agreed to do it.

I don't watch any of them everynight, but I like to flip back and forth between Leno, Conan and Letterman. I would like to see both Leno and Conan remain on NBC.

I would suggest they leave Conan on the Tonight Show where he is and put Jay and his show after Conan. Then after a year or 2 or when is contract is up, if Conan hasn't got his show in the groove then move Jay back to the Tonight Show. That way Conan has had a fair shot at it.

[laprana]

They said on the Today Show this morning that this Friday will be Conan's last show. :( I was surprised it was so soon! They also said that he will not be able to take any of his "intellectual property" - skits and characters that he came up with while on NBC - with him wherever he ends up. No more "Year 3,000," "Triumph the Insult Comic Dog," "Conando," etc. I hate to see Conan leave, and I hope he ends up with a new show on another network soon. I would definitely watch it. The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, however, will never be on my TV again.

[PirateLover]

I hope Conan can rebound with a bigger and better show in September, and that NBC's ratings tank with Leno. I think that's so wrong that he can't take his characters. I guess they want to keep them so Jay can steal them, haha.

[IamBelle]

I have been a fan of Leno for a while and recently just started to watch Conan, three days before the final episode, and I thought he was hilarious!! I wish I had started watching his shows earlier!! I love how he did the "expensive" characters, so funny! I don't see the point of why NBC won't allow him to go on another network until Sept. they pushed him out, so why do they decide?? He also should be able to bring his characters, they were his ideas, not NBC's!

[SBETigg]

Even if Conan never gets another show, I would be pretty happy to walk away with 33 million (44 million, with the rest for his staff-- and he's pitching some of his personal funds to support his staff, too, which is really nice).

Networks build the ability to keep talent from leaving and competing with them into the contract, as well as the right to keep intellectual property developed while in their employ (as many corporations do). So NBC was probably well within their rights to do that or more, but it wouldn't be good for them if Conan sued and he probably had room to do so over the change in terms for the Tonight Show if he chose. So they came to an agreement that pleased both sides, and split. I'll never watch Jay and I do hope Conan ends up with another show. But I don't feel bad for him the way it ended up, either. I think he'll be okay.

[Scar]

Dear Internet,

I'm sure Conan will get pick up by Fox or someone else and do just fine. He is a real stand up guy for taking care of his staff and I'm sure they'll follow him wherever he goes.

[MegaDisney]

I think that's so wrong that he can't take his characters. I guess they want to keep them so Jay can steal them, haha.

That is probably what will happen. ALL of Leno's bits were stolen from others, ex: Headlines & "Jay" Walking.