Great bit from Conan!
In a nutshell he says they're going to spend the week doing sketches that cost a boatload of money as NBC has to pay for it.
So, they bring out a Bugatti dressed like a mouse and the theme for this rediculous character is...SATISFACTION. Conan goes on to say how it costs a fortune to broadcast the song on the air and then again on the internet. THE BIT COST 1.5 MILLION DOLLARS!

LOVE IT!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-01-21 07:16 by downagain.

yeah, but kind of inappropriate, coming right after a spot for donating aid to Haiti.

I don't see how it was inappropriate. It wasn't his money. I'm sure if he could have forced NBC to donate 1.5 million dollars to Hatians he would have in a heartbeat. As it is, all he can do is waste their cash on rediculous sketches.

Did anyone see his show so far tonight? Playing Satisfaction with the mouse car...
joke about the most expensive things he could find for his show before he heads out......awesome!!

yeah, but kind of inappropriate, coming right after a spot for donating aid to Haiti.

I don't think it's inappropriate. Just because there is tragedy in the world doesn't mean the rest of the world has be sad. If that were the case it would be a pretty sad life all of the time. Don't get me wrong, I feel for those suffering in Haiti and hope they find relief as soon as possible. Conan has encouraged donating and the bit was just that, a bit. It didn't really cost 1.5 million dollars. They didn't really purchase the car. I think during times like this, we need a little levity.

Who is this guy?
The TV medium creates **STARS** who, once they leave their own country (say for holydays), discover they're totally unknown abroad (reality check?) ><

The TV medium creates stars? Is this really news? Every time I go to England or Belgium to visit relatives I'm confronted with a host of celebrities of whom I've never heard. Conan't been on the air for nearly 20 years so it's not like he's an overnight sensation. He's just getting a ton of press right now because of this whole debacle with NBC.

Back on topic...for those of you who wish to see the sketch in question it can be found on THIS PAGE.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-01-21 14:39 by downagain.

There's a pro shot version at the link I provided above.

IMO Conan is a terrible host with no instincts for interviews and bottom line just not at all funny and never was. Very glad to see him go.

The only people who find him amusing are those under 30.

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The Sicilian
The only people who find him amusing are those under 30.

I'm over 30...

He really got Satisfaction. He was given $45 Million to leave the show after friday. $12M goes to his staff & $33M to him.

It's so very lonely, you're 2,000 Light Years from home

Yeah OK fine but look at the overall picture - NBC SCREWED HIM! And everyone working with him. Forget the money - they all moved out there and they weren't given a chance to do what they do, like how some sports team owners just fire a new coach after one season or whatever. No chance to nurture what they're there for. In a downloadable society, they all want instant satisfaction, ha ha. So damn right he should sock it to 'em. They've destroyed any credibility they've had and Leno's gonna flop when he goes back to The Tonight Show. He's just as ruined as NBC is.

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The Sicilian
IMO Conan is a terrible host with no instincts for interviews and bottom line just not at all funny and never was. Very glad to see him go.

The only people who find him amusing are those under 30.

I started watching him when I was 19. I'm now 35 (though immature) and I still love him. Generally you're right though. Conan attracts a younger audience than Leno which is actually a more sought after demographic.

Comic delivery is a highly subjective thing. Personally, I can't stand the way Jay delivers a joke and often kinda mumbles the punch line again. The only thing I find funny with Leno is Headlines and I suspect that has a lot to do with he nor his staff being involved in the writing of that bit.

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skipstone
Yeah OK fine but look at the overall picture - NBC SCREWED HIM! And everyone working with him. Forget the money - they all moved out there and they weren't given a chance to do what they do, like how some sports team owners just fire a new coach after one season or whatever. No chance to nurture what they're there for. In a downloadable society, they all want instant satisfaction, ha ha. So damn right he should sock it to 'em. They've destroyed any credibility they've had and Leno's gonna flop when he goes back to The Tonight Show. He's just as ruined as NBC is.

first off im a letterman /late show fan .so why dont you think when jay retakes the johnny carson chair he does not go back to mopping the floor with dave in the nielsen's? i totally agree that this was a below the belt shot to conan and his crew memebers and families that packed up and moved three thousand miles away to get told thanks but hit the road conan .jay made a statement on the air monday night that i agree with 100% .that in hollywood you can get away with anything as long as you have the ratings .so thats what it comes down to and in the end it's all business now isnt it ?

Yup. I watch the same show as you, Greek man.
Very, very well said.

Yeah you're right but, see, Jay's ratings are not going to 'recover' after all of this. His new show sucked. He was sucking before he left. He should retire.

Letterman, on the other hand, could go on for another 30 years if he wanted to.

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skipstone
Yeah you're right but, see, Jay's ratings are not going to 'recover' after all of this. His new show sucked. He was sucking before he left. He should retire.

Letterman, on the other hand, could go on for another 30 years if he wanted to.

to me letterman is the one that has more wit and a higher intelect ,but the flip side is more acerbity than jay .that is also the charm of dave and nowadays those rare moments when dave goes off on any given day and the beauty of watching that .think back to his old show on nbc late night when cher flipped out on him and called him an as$%^&* and the time he went off on the wrestlers ya know when andy kaufman got knocked out by the wrestler and dave was doing some goading of his own when he told the wrestler (wwf back then) that wrestling was fake anyway and it was all downhill afterthat .those moments dave is priceless and back then it was must see tv on the peacock network .

I think this was inspired by a bit done by TV pioneer Ernie Kovacs.

(I couldn't find it on YouTube, so I'll have to describe it)

Ernie had a sketch that lasted only a minute or so, where he played a TV car salesman doing an ad. At the end of his pitch, he slaps his hand on the hood, and the entire car suddenly crashes through the floor.

Ernie was a very creative and determined guy. He had the idea, but it cost a lot of money for that bit, as they had to build a special breakaway floor, etc.

Unlike Conan, he didn't do it to piss anyone off, he was just a genius with a vision.

But that one very brief gag--that he just had to do--cost something like 95% of the show's budget. The rest of the program had to be done on a shoestring.





NOT THE BIT--but I'll watch Ernie anytime







Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-01-22 03:47 by loog droog.

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The Sicilian
IMO Conan is a terrible host with no instincts for interviews and bottom line just not at all funny and never was. Very glad to see him go.

The only people who find him amusing are those under 30.

Hell, being under 30 and watching late TV is like not having a LIFE. So many things to do and people watching this sometimes-funny guy. If I've ever heard of waisting your time, this is it.

I seldom watched TV in my twenties, but I'm not sure the time I spent in bars instead was any better spent! The "life" I had then is a bunch of blurry half remembered scenes, thankfully most of them amusing rather than embarrassing. Anyway, maybe all those non-viewing years mean that my TV-age is younger than my real age since I really liked Conan... in small doses.

[/quote] first off im a letterman /late show fan .so why dont you think when jay retakes the johnny carson chair he does not go back to mopping the floor with dave in the nielsen's? i totally agree that this was a below the belt shot to conan and his crew memebers and families that packed up and moved three thousand miles away to get told thanks but hit the road conan .jay made a statement on the air monday night that i agree with 100% .that in hollywood you can get away with anything as long as you have the ratings .so thats what it comes down to and in the end it's all business now isnt it ?[/quote]

Rating are obviously the ultimate prize and decisions are based on this factor. However, Jay's ratings sucked for his first two years on the tonight show (just as they are sucking now with his 10pm show) and he's stated it was a horribly difficult time for him. Taking over for Johnny Carson would certainly be a challenge. Likewise, when Conan took over for Letterman his ratings were weak.
I didn't expect Conan to come out of the box with strong numbers and I highly doubt that NBC or Conan did either. There are a host of horrible decisions by NBC which lead to Conan not being given an appropriate amount of time to build an audience at 11:30. Examples of these decisions would include giving Leno the 10pm show in the first place and allowing a provision in his contract which would see a 150 million dollar payout to Jay if they take him off the air. Business is business and while I do take issue with the simple fact that NBC went back on it's "promise" to give Conan The Tonight Show (to prevent him from walking to another network years ago), it's a horrible business practice to not give Conan the time to work through a situation anyone could have predicted.
As I've said, Zucker is running NBC like a politician who needs to make the present look as rosey as possible without considering what he's going to be passing on to the next administration.

For anyone who cares to listen, here is my song...T


HE BALLAD OF CONAN O'BRIEN (CONAN'S GETTING SCREWED!)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-01-22 15:02 by downagain.

For what its worth IMO,

Jay Leno has the best opening monologue, the jokes are first rate and it lasts much longer than Letterman. Headlines are great. The rest, well, the interviews are not as good as Letterman.

David Letterman's opening monologue is stale and very succinct. Plus he is starting to look very old standing out there trying to crack jokes that he now seems out of touch with. However, his interviews are the best, and his instincts are top notch for inserting the right question or comment. This is where he is at his very best.

Conan, is just a goof with nothing good to offer to any guests. His laughing seems fake and he is clearly a third tier host. If anything someone should give him a 30 minute show at 1:00am or later. He is good for the no nothing generation and the ones who sleep in to 12:00 every morning.

Hmm, I didn't know about this part:

"Examples of these decisions would include giving Leno the 10pm show in the first place and allowing a provision in his contract which would see a 150 million dollar payout to Jay if they take him off the air."

I guess 45 mil to Conan and his staff is not much in comparison, less than a third.

Good for Conan! I hope he gets more viewers on his new show then any other late night host! He really got screwd by NBC! I hope this all works out for him Hes a better host and funnier then Jay for sure! And Jimmy Falon is very good looking but his show isn't good. SO ROCK ON CONAN!! GOOD LUCK TO HIM!!

From the halls at 30 Rock to La, NBC f***s yet another good person
Conan will be okay I'll bet... I also feel bad for his cast and crew that migrated with him from NYC.
I sure hope that Conan doesn't end up on Fox... Not a good "fit"
Another pathetic loss to the pee-cock network

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The Sicilian
For what its worth IMO,

Jay Leno has the best opening monologue, the jokes are first rate and it lasts much longer than Letterman. Headlines are great. The rest, well, the interviews are not as good as Letterman.

David Letterman's opening monologue is stale and very succinct. Plus he is starting to look very old standing out there trying to crack jokes that he now seems out of touch with. However, his interviews are the best, and his instincts are top notch for inserting the right question or comment. This is where he is at his very best.

Conan, is just a goof with nothing good to offer to any guests. His laughing seems fake and he is clearly a third tier host. If anything someone should give him a 30 minute show at 1:00am or later. He is good for the no nothing generation and the ones who sleep in to 12:00 every morning.

Yeah Jay Leno is huge in Buffalo.

"It's just some friends of mine and they're busting down the door"

I've always preferred Letterman over Leno, it's no contest. Jay isn't that funny but does have a couple of good bits (Jaywalking, Headlines). Conan is just a horrible interviewer, he always seems to spend half the time talking about himself or doing some "physical comedy" thing that just draws attention to himself....

The thing that rarely gets mentioned in all the coverage in the news about this is how Leno was a guest on Letterman's old NBC show dozens of times. The 2 of them together was amazing stuff. They were actually good friends at one point. A lot of the clips of them together are on Youtube and to see Leno relaxed and doing some edgy humor back and forth with Letterman just shows how much he has changed.