Word has come down from on-high that Jay Leno's ill-advised primetime variety/talk show has been canceled, due to low ratings. NBC was drawing heat from network affiliates who were losing their local news audiences thanks to Leno's weak lead-in. The Jay Leno Show may continue, but would air in a later timeslot, thus pushing both Conan O'Brien and Jimmy Fallon's shows back as well. While such a proposal has already been made, no contracts had been signed at the time of this post. The Jay Leno Show will quit airing at 9pm (CST) on February 12th, the day the Winter Olympics begins; the new late-night line-up will not begin until February 28th.
Internet rumor has O'Brien considering a move to FOX, though this is only speculation. Comedienne, Wanda Sykes, has a weekend late-night show airing on FOX presently which is actually pretty good (though still finding its way). FOX famously attempted two late night talk ventures which failed dramatically: Joan Rivers and Chevy Chase. Another rumor has it that O'Brien receives a multi-million dollar payout, should The Tonight Show be bumped more than :30 minutes, but an NBC spokesperson said this had absolutely nothing to do with the planned schedule changes. NBC is trying its best to hold onto all three hosts.
One reporter asked about a fifth season of Heroes and was told that NBC "really love[s] that show"and were waiting to hear Tim Kring's fifth season pitch later that day. NBC also released a PR suggesting its coverage of this year's Winter Olympics would be at a financial loss. And while the Peacock Network ordered a host of new scripted programs, both drama and comedy, it has made no mention of what the primetime line-up will look like this March.
© C Harris Lynn, 2010
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Conan O'Brien's scheduled Friday night guest is Will Ferrell - Ferrell was Conan's first guest when he took the reins of The Tonight Show last summer. His increasingly venomous monologues this week made it clear, long before Ferrell's appearance was announced: Conan O'Brien is leaving The Tonight Show this Friday - a mere eight months after taking over as host.
Reports say NBC settled with O'Brien for $30-some-odd million severance but "Camp Coco" leaked to the press that O'Brien was holding-out to make sure his crew also received large severance packages. NBC claims this is nothing more than a "ploy" meant to disparage the network; the network says they have already spent millions in severance on O'Brien's staff.
While FOX officials have made it clear they are interested in talking to O'Brien, they cannot do so until he is no longer under contract to NBC.
And they just found a successful vehicle for poor Wanda Sykes! That poor woman doesn't seem to be able to catch a break!
Oprah Winfrey interviewed Jay Leno. It airs this coming Thursday, Jan. 28.
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