Bill Carter's book on the Leno/Conan mess

My favorite line of the book so far was during the early struggles of Conan's 12:30 show what an NBC exec said about Richter.

"Get that fat dildo off the couch."

For the record, I love Richter. I think he's hilarious.

 

Simmons has a good podcast interview with Carter about the situation and his book:

http://espn.go.com/espnradio/player?rd=1#/podcenter/?id=5787842&autoplay=1

 

Bought it on IBooks today. Sailing through it. I love this stuff.

 

That one jumped out at me, too. My first thought was, "Ouch!" I love Richter as well, though I don't think they ever quite figured out what to do with him on Conan's "Tonight Show." I still wish "Andy Richter Controls the Universe" hadn't been canceled. I think it was his best vehicle, including all the roles he's occupied with Conan & Co.

Just plowed through the Writer's Strike section, which I found really interesting. I can still remember the episodes of Conan spinning his wedding ring on the desk to burn time, and the fabulous Conan/Stewart/Colbert cross-overs. I'd forgotten about the criticism Leno received for his handling of that. I can see how it contributed to the built-up bad feeling toward him in the comic community when the whole "Tonight Show" mess hit the wall, though I don't think he did anything that was clear-cut wrong.

 

I think it's interesting that CBS passed over Jon Stewart to get Kilborn and ABC passed on him to get Kimmel.

It makes me think that Stewart is smart to stay where he is and that he might be "too smart" to have widespread appeal on a network.

I think Kimmel has the most consistently funny late night show on the networks. I would also take Nightline and Kimmel over Leno/Fallon and Letterman/Ferguson in a second if I was ABC. They get similar to better ratings and are probably paying a third or a fourth of what NBC and CBS are.

 

There's a lot said about Jay climbing back on top in total viewers in late night, but that's only compared to Letterman. "Nightline" kicks both their asses on a regular basis.

 

How far has Gary Shandling's stock sunk since 1993?

NBC offered him five million a year to do Late Night before Conan got the job. AND HE TURNED IT DOWN.

I loved the Larry Sanders Show. I like Gary Shandling. But he was insane not to take that deal.

 

Which means next to nothing since "Late Show" and "Tonight" remain huge profit centers for their networks, even though the hosts make gigantic amounts of money.

 

This was some pretty good readin'

 

If you listen, or read further, it's pretty obvious that comment came from Ebersole.