More shake ups a NBC

As you've no doubt heard by now, NBC is doing what they do best: acting a fool.

Yesterday, TMZ leaked details that Jay Leno's show, due to abysmal ratings, was being canceled. Then, the real shoe dropped: He was taking back his 11:30 spot. This part, and whether he will only have a 30 minute show before Conan comes on from 12-1 or not is all still up in the air. But, it leaves so many questions unanswered:

What is with NBC jerking around Conan O'Brien like this? Not only are they messing with his life, it's all of the people who made this huge move to L.A. with him. If there weren't so many other people who would be affected if Conan simply walked, I could easily see the Tonight Show host jumping ship at the network completely. There are plenty of places that would actually want and appreciate Conan, I'm sure.

What happens to Jimmy Fallon? In the beginning, he wasn't funny at all, and now he's kind of adorable. Plus, The Real Housewives of Late Night? Priceless. He doesn't deserve to get screwed in all of this.

(Let's just all say it now: No one cares about Carson and what happens to his show. Though, if they push it back far enough maybe that'll get rid of Poker After Dark once and for all.)

If NBC is indeed thinking up some kind of 30 minute show for Leno, what will that even consist of? I feel like his monologue alone drags on for 30 minutes. Plus, I'm convinced that no one actually watches him for his jokes, they watch for bits like Jaywalking, the talking photo booth, Headlines, etc.

Conan O'Brien, so far, has remained classy and quiet regarding the situation, but Leno was making cracks about in last night's monologue.

We can only sit and wait for more information as NBC continues to prove why they've fallen so low.

Source: Oh No They Didn't (The BEST source for entertainment news!)

NBC announces fall schedule and mid seasons

MONDAY
8-9 p.m. Heroes
9-10 p.m. Trauma
10-11 p.m. The Jay Leno Show (I am still 'ugh' about this.)

TUESDAY
8-10 p.m. ­ The Biggest Loser
10-11 p.m. The Jay Leno Show

WEDNESDAY
8-9 p.m. Parenthood
9-10 p.m. ­Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
10-11 p.m. ­The Jay Leno Show

THURSDAY
8-8:30 p.m. ­ SNL Weekend Update Thursday (multi-episode run)
8:30-9 p.m. ­ Parks and Recreation
9-9:30 p.m. ­ The Office
9:30-10 p.m. ­ Community (moves to Thursdays 8-8:30 p.m. after 30 Rock returns)
10-11 p.m. The Jay Leno Show

FRIDAY
8-9 p.m. ­Law & Order
9-10 p.m. ­Southland
10-11 p.m. ­The Jay Leno Show

SATURDAY
8-9 p.m. ­ Dateline NBC
9-10 p.m. ­ Trauma (encore broadcast)
10-11 p.m. ­ Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (encore broadcast)

SUNDAY
7-8:20 p.m. Football Night in America
8:20-11 p.m. NBC Sunday Night Football

NBC MID-SEASON 2010 SCHEDULE
(2010 WINTER OLYMPICS preempts regularly scheduled programming from February 12-28, 2010)

MONDAY
8-9 p.m. ­ Chuck (season premiere)
9-10 p.m. Day One
10-11 p.m. ­The Jay Leno Show

TUESDAY
8-9:30 p.m. ­The Biggest Loser
9:30-10 p.m. 100 Questions
10-11 p.m. The Jay Leno Show

WEDNESDAY
8-9 p.m. ­Mercy
9-10 p.m. ­ Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
10-11 p.m. ­The Jay Leno Show

THURSDAY
8- 8:30 p.m. Community
8:30-9 p.m. ­ Parks and Recreation
9- 9:30 p.m. ­ The Office
9:30-10 p.m. ­ 30 Rock
10-11 p.m. The Jay Leno Show

FRIDAY
8-9 p.m. ­ Law & Order
9-10 p.m. ­ Southland
10-11 p.m. ­The Jay Leno Show

SATURDAY
8-9 p.m. ­ Dateline NBC
9-10 p.m. ­ Southland (encore broadcast)
10-11 p.m. ­ Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (encore broadcast)

SUNDAY
7-8 p.m. ­ Dateline NBC
8-9 p.m. ­ The Marriage Ref
9-11 p.m. ­ The Celebrity Apprentice (season premiere)

As promised for ABC, expect rundowns of the new shows and what they are soon!

NBC vs. the public

Upfronts are happening right now at all of the major networks, and while (as of this posting) NBC has already released most of their schedule, ABC , FOX, CBS and the CW don’t happen until later this month. So, I’ll wait to discuss the fall pickups (and drops) until much later. For now, I’d like to discuss Jay Leno. Look, I know that there are very opinionated people either way. I’ll save my opinion for the end of the article. Let’s just talk about why it’s happening and why it seems the majority of television watchers are up in arms.

Jay Leno took over The Tonight Show in 1992 after Johnny Carson’s retirement and a huge uproar between NBC, Leno, and David Letterman. He’s gone on to be the highest rated after-news talk show for his entire run by a 19 percent margin in adult viewers. In 2004, NBC made an announcement that Leno would be retiring in 2009, and would be succeeded by Conan O’Brien. All of this was announced early in order to avoid a repeat performance from 1992. Everyone believed that would be the end of it and Leno would go the way of Carson: remembered fondly for his tenure as host. However, in December of 2008, NBC released a statement explaining that Leno would move into primetime with an hour long show at 10 p.m./9 central. The internet exploded about that time with concerns over shows that have always been on the fence and what this would mean for Conan O’Brien.

For starters, this really puts the pressure on shows like Medium that have been ‘bubble’ shows; meaning when NBC has nothing else to air, they toss Medium into the fray. And shows like Law & Order and Chuck that have wobbling ratings are left up in the air. From a network standpoint, it is much more cost effective to make an hour long Leno show than it is to order a full season of any one of the bubble shows. (For example, it costs around $15 million a week for shows like Law & Order, whereas Leno’s show would be around $2 million a week). I don’t believe that up against shows like CSI or Grey’s Anatomy NBC could win the ratings time slot, but on Wednesday and Friday which are traditionally the slower days of the week, he could easily bring in large numbers. But what’s happening is that a full hour of primetime is being eaten up by this show that is (for all intents and purposes) a clone of The Tonight Show with more Jay Walking and Headlines.

One debate on the internet is that this effectively takes away from Conan O’Brien. Think about it: If you were an A-list celebrity and you had the option of promoting your film in primetime or taking a chance and waiting until after the local news, which would you rather do? Personally, I’m going for that early spot when people are still awake and families are gathered around the television. So Conan will get the leftovers and the B-listers just as he always has. (Of course that’s not always the case, but it is the trend. You won’t see Sue Johanson on The Tonight Show.) And that leaves Jimmy Fallon with relative nobodies. And after three talk shows, do we really need to stay up for a fourth with Carson Daly? It’s exhausting just typing it all out. Honestly, Jimmy Fallon would have to be better at what he does for me to be concerned anyway, and Carson, well, whatever. Sorry Carson. But it feels like Conan deserves a lot better from NBC.

No, I don’t blame Leno for this debacle. I think that NBC didn’t want him to go to another network (FOX most likely) and compete against their show. How many of us would say yes, I definitely want to retire, and then five years later have a different idea of how to spend the rest of your life? Things change in five years, and I’m not saying that Leno was innocent in all of this, but when NBC approached him with this idea (because I don’t think he pulled it out of thin air), he jumped at the opportunity to stay at NBC both because of his reputation and fan base there, and the millions of dollars I’m sure he’s receiving. Do I think he maliciously thought ‘This definitely screws over Conan’? No. I don’t even think he would have done it if NBC hadn’t offered. In fact, by what I can tell, he would have been ready to go to a different network and that scared the crap out of NBC.

My deal is that I’m afraid of what this means for shows like Medium, Law & Order and Chuck. I know that personally I don’t care to see Jay Leno invade prime time, and I don’t think the ratings will be as successful as NBC is hoping. He averages around 4.8 million viewers and in prime time, shows with ratings like that get canceled quickly. I’ll call NBC a hypocrite if they cancel Chuck which hits a rating average of about 7.28 million. I feel like this is a hit to Conan, as if NBC is saying ‘you know, we don’t really trust you at the helm of this show, so we’re going to keep the current face of The Tonight Show and if you’re successful, then it’s even better for us’.

So what do you think about all of this? How do you feel regarding Leno’s move? Do you blame him, or do you blame the greedy network? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Brittany is an aspiring television critic currently living in Oklahoma. Catch her weekly reviews of Heroes, Mad Men, and more at TheTwoCents.com

Well, balls in your court, NBC

It seems to me that NBC doesn't actually care about ever being a reputable network again. First, they get rid of an hour of weeknight programming by putting Jay Leno on at 10/9 central. Does anyone actually want to see this guy at nine p.m.? Does anyone want to keep seeing him at all? You didn't see Johnny Carson crying for more air time when his time came to pass the torch. This is not how you slip into retirement, Leno. And how is the show even going to be any different? He's screwing Conan by getting all the good guests on his show so that Conan gets the leftovers. It's lame and I'm honestly hoping that it crash and burns. (Actually, if its ratings suck but the show stays on the air, it will prove once and for all that all the network cares about is money.)

Then, NBC decides to cancel Kings which is a damn shame because it's a brilliant show. I get that enough people aren't watching it but come on! You're airing it on Friday and now you're moving it to fucking SATURDAY.

I'm sorry, I don't normally curse like this in my blog but I can't even understand that network anymore. I'm pretty sure trained monkeys are making the decisions up there - it certainly isn't Jack Donaghy, is it?