With the question of Leno definitively settled, the big question left on the table is will Conan go to Fox? A NYPost “exclusive” [cough] has sources saying The peacock ruffled Conan O’Brien’s feathers — and now he’s ready to fly the coop:
“This level of sh- – -iness was not expected,” one source said.
“He’s done a great job for NBC. He moved his entire staff, he moved his family to LA. And five months later, they repay him like this?”
As it stands now, the source said, “Conan would be happier somewhere else. […]
The pompadoured host has “many options,” including a move to Fox, which for years has been looking to create its own late-night show.
In fact, he has already spoken with Fox, The Wall Street Journal’s Web site reported last night.
Did someone say WSJ?
A person familiar with Mr. O’Brien’s camp said there had been “approaches” by other networks since it emerged Thursday that NBC hopes to return former “Tonight Show” host Jay Leno to his longtime 11:35 p.m. eastern perch at the General Electric Co. network, displacing Mr. O’Brien.
One suitor is News Corp.’s Fox network, which has had early discussions with Mr. O’Brien’s circle about hosting another late-night show, according to other people. News Corp. also owns The Wall Street Journal.
Variety says he feels stung:
“It’s radically unfair what happened to him,” one source said. “He turned down a massive offer six years ago with the promise of eventually getting the ‘Tonight Show.’ And then he never really got the ‘Tonight Show.'”
It was Fox’s overtures to O’Brien in 2004 – with a salary believed to be as much as three times what he was making at NBC – that led to the Peacock’s unusual five-year “Tonight Show” succession plan.
They quote Seinfeld (can someone say washed-up has-been?)
“I don’t think anyone’s preventing people from watching Conan,” Seinfeld said. “I don’t think anyone has done anything to Conan. There are no rules in show business.”
I’m only wondering, will Conan go back to NYC? Fox is hot. Conan and Fox is the marriage that should have been. Leno is the perfect middle-aged milquetoast foil for the younger, edgier Fox. Did someone say midlife crisis?
“You have the combination of expired content, in terms of current public taste, appearing at the wrong time on a medium that has lost its salience, by whatever standards you use,” said Paul Levinson, professor of communication at Fordham University. […]
The message to the younger talent is one thing — wait for a turn that may never come or may be taken back at any second — but the message to younger audiences is even clearer: a legacy industry will default to legacy assets and ride them down to the bitter end.
Conan’s not stupid. He goes to Fox (if they don’t get stingy — the man deserves a raise!) where he will win late night; and Jimmy Fallon keeps his after-hours slot.
LATER: Bill Carter quotes a Fox executive, “We love Conan.”