I’m with Coco

Conan O’Brien’s Move to Fox Hinges on Affiliate Approval

by David Corbin    Posted: April 11th, 2010 at 10:41 pm

Ever since Conan O’Brien’s very public departure from NBC, industry analysts have assumed that the comic would find a new home at Fox. After all, it was because of Fox’s previous courtship of O’Brien that NBC guaranteed him the right to host the Tonight Show, a move that in hindsight may not have been the best decision. Though O’Brien and Fox are close to completing a deal, the affiliates have not yet approved the move. O’Brien has stipulated that Fox must air his new show in all or nearly all markets. Affiliates, who would be stuck with the syndication costs ofits current programming as well as a higher retransmission fee, are less than enthusiastic about the proposal. Fox wants the affiliates to sign off on a new late-night show before May 17^th when it is scheduled to deliver its upfront presentation to advertisers. For more on the negotiations between O’Brien and Fox hit the jump.

Jimmy Kimmel Brings the Pain on The Jay Leno Show; “I’m with Coco” Holds Rally for Conan O’Brien

by Matt Currie    Posted: January 15th, 2010 at 10:11 pm

Jay Leno has taken A LOT of flack from the late-night community for muscling his way back into The Tonight Show and thereby thoroughly screwing Conan O’Brien.  Pretty much the only place he hasn’t been lambasted is The Jay Leno Show…until last night, that is. On Thursday, Leno ill-advisedly decided to interview his ABC counterpart Jimmy Kimmel (who recently did a biting show-long impersonation of him on Jimmy Kimmel Live!) in his “10 at 10″ segment. As you might expect, things got ugly. Armed with nothing but his standard list of softball questions, the once and future Tonight Show host was effectively KO’ed on his feet.

I can understand Leno’s reasons for doing it; he wanted to show that he wasn’t hiding from his critics, maybe exact some modicum of revenge (but, you know, in a safe way that wouldn’t offend anybody). And he thought he’d have the advantage, or at least that things couldn’t get too out-of-hand, given that it was his show and Kimmel would be on the hotseat. Unfortunately for Jay, that really wasn’t the case. Kimmel came to throw down and he unquestionably got the best of every exchange, consistently landing comedic blows on his clearly uncomfortable inquisitor even when the line of questioning turned away from the late-night debacle. At the beginning, it’s satisfying to see him squirm. But, by the end, after watching Jay awkwardly try to deflect the barbs for 5 minutes, you’ll probably just want it to end.

Hit the jump to see Leno get his ass handed to him and to hear what the newly minted Conan cult “I’m with Coco” is doing to voice their displeasure.

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