LATE NIGHT CHAOS
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LATE NIGHT CHAOS
Well, it’s all over the news. So I won’t reiterate all what’s been said about the domino effect of the whole Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien and Carson Daly entire NBC late night ordeal – but one thing is clear, it’s a mess!
After twenty-five years in this business, I have to say something… and that is I’m tired of seeing situations like this unfold into flimsy business modules, while the fat cats at the top keep getting fatter and keep getting rewarded for a job done crappy.
I am not the only publicist in the industry who is upset about this entire situation. If you are in the entertainment industry and/or have been in broadcasting, you are probably like me and feel disgusted by what is happening in network TV programming.
I also think it is sad to taint “The Tonight Show” name with the headlines we’ve been seeing and to even fathom the idea that if this all goes away, this is how it will be remembered. Back in the early days this show didn’t really care about what we are talking about today. From Jack Paar to Johnny Carson and all the guest host between the two, reads like a Hollywood Who’s Who directory: Art Linkletter, Joey Bishop, Merv Griffin, Arlene Francis, Jack Carter, Regis Philbin. Soupy Sales, Steve Lawrence, Groucho Marx, Donald O’Connor, Jan Murray – the list goes on forever! These folks gladly guest-hosted this variety show and the drama that existed in the industry was not dragged out like dirty laundry for everyone to see.
After Johnny Carson launched numerous careers on this institutional show and the baton was passed to Jay Leno… quite honestly, I was okay with this. I was fortunate to have pitched and booked on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno – which had me dealing with bees and hot air balloons on the back lot of NBC. Yeah, it took awhile for the viewing audience to embrace the baton passing, but it did happen.
And whether or not Conan O’Brien will get the opportunity to ever grasp the baton, is still up for debate, depending on what the network will or won’t do in the end. Who knows, maybe we’ll all be in for some ‘big suspenseful twist’ – and this cliffhanger is some sort of funky media blitz campaign gone awry in order to get ratings building in time for February Sweeps and awards season hosting one-liners.
When I think about how diligently the late Brandon Tartikoff worked back in the 80s, to take NBC to number one … it makes me sick to my stomach to see how quickly the NBC image is now going in the toilet in the Jeff Zucker years.
At the NATPE Convention in 2008 in Las Vegas Jeff Zucker announced that NBC wouldn’t be spending money on scripted television pilots and it wasn’t because there was to be less programming, but he indicated that he wanted there to be ‘less waste..’ I know, because I was there when he said it. This statement is confusing to me now…. ‘LESS WASTE?’
Aren’t we being ‘wasteful’ when it comes to changing the goal posts for late night programming? Isn’t this whole scenario ‘expensive?’ Isn’t it wasteful to spend hours and dollars promoting and marketing a show with a host that now won’t happen? And isn’t it going to be even MORE expensive if this whole late night programming situation gets ugly? Won’t it cause the network more waste in terms of time, money, legal contracts and payoffs, never mind the precious allocated advertising dollars of sponsors? What about WASTING away the existing demographic audience for late night television? Viewers aren’t stupid – they know what’s going on and they are not to be taken for granted.
If you think about this whole money scenario – it’s really stupid.
Cable television networks put out quality scripted television within a very tight budget, with great actors they don’t have to spend a fortune for - all because some people actually just want to work in this town. Yes, Hollywood - the very town that originally sent runaway productions to Canada and gave into reality television instead of scripted television. California is already in debt. The economy is already horrible. Productions have left the state to go to other states where the tax incentives are better.
And now this?! When you think about the wasteful dollars in killing programming agendas only to create other ones which make no sense to all parties involved, is it really necessary?
I say…. GOOD NIGHT!
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