So now Bill Carter says the plan (not yet official) would be to move Leno to 11:35 in a half-hour, start O'Brien at 12:05 and then, it says, Jimmy Fallon's show would commence at 1:05. You know, that wouldn't be a bad solution to a bad problem. But I have a hard time imagining Conan will go along with it except maybe at gunpoint.
Monthly Archives: January 2010
Another Update
Bill Carter of the New York Times has apparently confirmed that NBC is in discussions with Mssrs. Leno and O'Brien about the future of their two shows. It does not bode well for Mr. O'Brien that the network is conceding that giving 11:35 back to Jay is even on the table.
One thing to keep in mind here: It's easy for us (you and me, babe) to sit here from afar and play Armchair Network Exec. We can say we'd stick Jay in this time slot or Conan in that one. We're unencumbered by the answers to real questions including, "What do Jay and Conan and even Jimmy Fallon have in their respective contracts?" We also don't know how many potential 10:00 pilots the network has, how good they are, how long it would take to get some of them into production, etc. Nor do we know if any key affiliates have made time-sensitive threats — i.e., "Get Leno back at 11:35 by April or else." Things like that.
But the fact that NBC has put out a couple of statements supporting Leno and none (so far) saying how happy they are with Conan O'Brien at 11:35 tells you the direction this thing is drifting. And aren't you glad you aren't Jeff Zucker, dealing with all this today? Any sort of move at this point would be an admission that his initial decision, the one that moved Jay to 10 PM and Conan to 11:35, was a colossal mistake. Now, he has to make another move that won't look like piling one bad decision on top of another. The TV business loves to watch when a top executive is squirming and dealing with disasters of his own making. For some, this is going to be more entertaining than anything that's ever been on NBC late night, up to and including Ed Ames and his tomahawk. In a way, it's kind of the same act.
Update
And TMZ, the gossip website that gets about half of everything wrong, is claiming that Leno is being moved back to 11:35…with no word on what will become of Conan O'Brien or whether what Jay would do in that slot would be called The Tonight Show.
There may be some truth in today's rush of rumors but I'm still waiting to hear some specifics before I believe anything's changing right now. Like, if it's so, how does NBC intend to fill that gaping hole in their prime-time schedule?
Word on the Street
Unnamed sources are saying that NBC has made or is about to make the decision to cancel The Jay Leno Show. Given the hostile reaction from affiliates to its impact on their 11 PM newscasts, this does not come as a great surprise. It would be more of a surprise if NBC has something promising to replace it with.
I am always a bit wary of rumors from within any network. Many years ago, I was in a meeting with Fred Silverman. This was back when he was running NBC. The topic was a Saturday morning show with which I was to be involved and in the conversation, someone asked about our time slot, and would we have a certain other show as our lead-in? Fred said, "Don't worry about that show. It's a piece of crap and I'm cancelling it." Well, that's a pretty good "source," right? I mean, Fred was the guy who cancelled shows at NBC.
That very evening, a friend of mine who worked on that show called and said, "Hey, I have an offer to go do another series for CBS but I think we're going to get picked up so I'm turning it down." Naturally, I told my friend what Mr. Silverman had said. Naturally, he thanked me and took the offer for the CBS show. And unnaturally, a week or so later, Fred renewed the show he'd said he was going to cancel. I think my friend still believes I lied to him or at least misunderstood. Anyway, I always keep that in mind when I hear a rumor out of any network, especially one with no source attached.
For what little it may be worth, what I've been hearing out of the Leno program for the last month or so was that they were trying to fix it, trying to launch "The Jay Leno Show 2.0," as one person put it with new segments, new correspondents, etc. But apart from a minor tweak of the opening, I haven't seen anything change. Admittedly, I haven't been watching much. I'm still a fan of Mr. Leno but most nights, I find myself bailing after the monologue or sometimes the first bit, if I even watch at all. The program just has a cheap, "forced" feel to it and even elements that worked well on his Tonight Show seem strained to me. The Green Car Challenge especially feels like they know it's a bore but they spent all that money building the raceway so they feel they have to use it.
The earlier rumor out of the network was that they were going to cut Jay back to three nights a week and drop in two hours of Dateline NBC. That hasn't happened either, probably because it's not a solution to their problem…just a way of making Leno's show cost more per night.
Jay's numbers were actually up a bit last month, probably because he was against a lot of reruns or otherwise weak competition. Still, the underlying premise of the experiment — that it could still be profitable in that hour and not hurt affiliates' local news — remains unproven and likely to remain that way. My guess is that if there's anything to the current rumors, it's that the network has decided they'll never prove it and they're quietly asking suppliers to pitch shows that can run at 10 PM. If that's the case, it won't stay quiet for long.
Today's Video Link
So I've been sitting here all evening wondering what would have happened if instead of writing the score for Company, Stephen Sondheim had penned the tunes for Bye Bye Birdie. And by an amazing coincidence, I found a YouTube video that answers my question. What are the odds?
Today's Political Comment
Sarah Palin says that she won't back off her claim that the Health Reform Bill will create "death panels" whereby the government decides which old folks will die. And you know something? If my whole career and future depended on keeping really stupid people paranoid about things like that, I might keep selling that line, too.
Recommended Reading
If the recent Underwear Bomber incident has you nervous about flying, read Nate Silver. Air travel is still as safe as ever, which is safe enough for most of us. It's inconvenient and it's probably going to get even less convenient…but it's still pretty darned safe.
Prawn Shop
As a follow-up to our report on the economy in Las Vegas, we've heard that the Golden Gate casino has finally raised the price of its famous, somewhat edible shrimp cocktail from a buck to two bucks. As explained here when I predicted this increase (an easy call), for years people visiting downtown L.V. have tramped to the back of the Golden Gate — which means they pass every slot machine in the place twice — for the sheer novelty of buying a shrimp cocktail for one dollar. I don't think too many of those folks particularly wanted a shrimp cocktail but the bargain was always too good to resist.
Then in the spring of '08, legions of cheap tourists were jolted by the news that the Golden Gate had doubled the price…but there was an "out." If you joined the Golden Gate slot club, you got your mini-crustaceans for the old price. So everyone did. The same folks traipsed to the rear of the place for the same bay shrimp at the same price. They just stopped en route at the booth where you sign up for the free membership card.
And now that deal is gone and it's two dollars for everyone. I suppose sales will not decline much since the way the economy's going, "two dollars" is the old "one dollar." It's still a bargain but it's still a shame.
Go Read It!
Joe Brancatelli on the year (2009) in air travel. I don't get why they pay the CEOs of the major airlines an average of $3.6 million a year to run an industry that collectively loses $5 billion a year. They could hire me to run an airline for half that and I'd do just as bad a job for less.
Foto File
Here's another photo that I recently found in my files here. I'm not sure if I took it or someone else did but it's too good to not share. From left to right, we have Will Eisner, Burne Hogarth, Jerry Robinson and Jack Kirby. So right there in one shot, you have the guys who invented about half of the entire vocabulary of drawing adventure-type comic books and strips.
Today's Video Link
Hey, let's embed one of my favorite musical moments from the world of motion pictures. It's Danny Kaye and Louis Armstrong in a song from The Five Pennies…
It's Not That Easy…
Okay, so today I got my car back from the body shop. They took out dents all over and gave the thing a full paint job…and it looks great but I have this bizarre problem…
I don't know what color my car is.
When I bought it, the official color at the dealership was "jade." It was a very, very dark green…the kind in that in some lighting you'd take for black. But most of the time when you looked at it, you'd see green, which is what it says on the registration. The body shop said they could and would match that color but it's now a shade or two darker…so dark that it looks black in most lighting and green now seems to be the occasional exception.
I'm going to look at it for a few weeks and poll friends before I decide what I'm going to say when, for example, a parking attendant asks me what color my car is. There is green in there but if he goes looking for a green car, he might never find mine. Now, it kind of looks like a black car that ate a batch of bad clams.
Recommended Reading
Michael Kinsley on what he thinks is wrong with news reporting these days. It's not so much what they say as how many words they take to say it.
Finger Follow-Up
I have to run out and pick up my car at the body shop but I wanted to thank everyone who's sending in suggestions regarding the Bill Finger Award. And I'd like to politely suggest that some of you re-read what I posted. An awful lot of people are sending me suggestions for artists who are deserving of greater recognition. I don't doubt that some/most/all of those folks are underappreciated but this is an award for writers…not for artists and not even for an artist who you think deserves an award and since he once wrote a story or two, we can give him what's supposed to be a Lifetime Achievement Award for writing.
Also, consider these words: Lifetime Achievement Award. I've had several nominations of writers who've been in the business less than ten years but are somebody's favorite…or in one case, close personal friend. Actually, quite apart from the Finger Award, I have a little annoyance at what constitutes "lifetime achievement" these days. I don't think any award should be taken that seriously but, you know, at least give the thing to someone who qualifies under its own criteria. I once accepted a Lifetime Achievement Award for whatever it is I've done and I'm less proud of the trophy than I am of the fact that I had the common decency not to think I'd really had a lifetime of achievement.
Anyway, thanks for the suggestions. Keep 'em coming…especially of writers who are still with us. I have a long list of nominees who are deceased and likely to remain that way. In fact, we'll never come close to honoring everyone on that list. But we could use some help with the list of writers who are alive.
The Midnight Idol
I didn't watch TV on New Year's Eve so I missed this year's Dick Clark appearance. I did hear about it on the 'net…a lot of people saying it was just so sad. His speech is still thickened by the stroke he had in 2004 and much of America cringed when he messed up the countdown. If you surf any distance on the web, you'll come across a post from someone saying, in effect, "Dick, we love you and we admire your courage…but it's time to give it up."
I wouldn't blame him if he did but I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't. I haven't spoken to Dick since we worked together on a batch of shows back in the eighties. He was one of the cheapest, grab-every-buck producers I ever worked for and yet I liked him tremendously. Part of that was because he was Dick Clark, part of that was because he had a terrific sense of humor about himself and part of it was because he just plain worked his ass off. He was an absolute pro, giving 110% in everything he did.
Actually, I worked for him on a couple of shows and then there was one where he kinda worked for me. I was the producer and he was a hired hand…and he was on time and utterly cooperative. He either did exactly what was requested of him or…well, a couple of times, he had ideas on how something could be improved. (Well, why the heck wouldn't he? He'd done more television than everyone else in the studio put together.) And whereas other stars will pull rank and make it clear that you'd better do it their way, Dick presented his suggestions in a manner that said — and he may have used these words — "Hey, it's just a thought. If you prefer, I'd be glad to do it your way." If you've ever produced a TV show, you know how much you appreciate guys like that.
Anyway, the point I want to make here is that, and this is an educated guess from afar, I don't think Dick's doing those New Year's Eve shows for our benefit. I think he's doing them for his own benefit. I think it's something he needs, maybe as a goal — to inspire his therapy — and/or maybe because total retirement for a guy like that could easily segue into giving up on everything. When you work hard all your life, work becomes your life and to not work is to not live. I don't want to see him the way he is either, folks…but if doing 30 minutes of TV once a year is going to keep the guy going, then I hope he keeps right on doing it as long as he can.