Will Leno stay at NBC after 2009?
When Conan O’Brien takes over The Tonight Show in 2009 (sounds like a bad decision to me), what will happen to Jay Leno? I have to admit that I didn’t even think of what Leno would do next. I guess I just assumed he would enjoy his cars and do standup again full time.
NBC entertainment president Kevin Reilly says that NBC wants to keep Leno beyond 2009, and negotiations are currently ongoing. And because of his contract, Leno is prohibited from talking to anyone else for the next two years. It’s interesting because, has anyone really investigated why Leno is having the show taken away from him in 3 years? Is he upset about it? He has consistently beaten Letterman in the ratings for many years, so I’m curious as to what is exactly happening behind the scenes (some of it is covered in Bill Carter’s book Desperate Networks).
So what should NBC do with Leno when he leaves the show? Give him another talk show? (No, not the 12:30 slot! Besides, I think Jon Stewart might be offered that). Some sort of production deal? I’m sure NBC will need janitors in 2009, so maybe he should check into that.
Ben Silverman loves Friday Night Lights (but it’s about to get canceled)
Yeah, I know, we already had a Ben Silverman-centric post today, but this is going to be interesting for fans of Friday Night lights.
Radar ran into the NBC Entertainment President Ben Silverman at a party for Lipstick Jungle (I’m sure it was a great party, but that show doesn’t have a chance), and they asked him if the high school football drama was going to be saved even though it doesn’t get good ratings, and Silverman responded in typical Silvermanian (?) fashion.
“I love it. You love it. Unfortunately, no one watches it. That’s the thing with shows. People have to watch them. We’re NBC, we have a reputation to uphold. And, man, with this writers’ strike … well, we’ll see what we can do. But start watching 30 Rock.”
It’s funny that Silverman not only tells the writer to start watching 30 Rock because “it’s the best show on TV,” he says it three times. In fact, he sort of dodges the FNL question twice, pushing the merits of 30 Rock instead, and then decides to answer by saying that NBC “has a reputation to uphold.” Not really sure if this means that he wants to give quality shows time to get an audience or he wants to replace it with another episode of 1 vs. 100, but it’s really great to see him behind 30 Rock so much.
[via Pop Candy]
Ben Silverman loves Friday Night Lights (but it’s about to get canceled)
Yeah, I know, we already had a Ben Silverman-centric post today, but this is going to be interesting for fans of Friday Night lights.
Radar ran into the NBC Entertainment President Ben Silverman at a party for Lipstick Jungle (I’m sure it was a great party, but that show doesn’t have a chance), and they asked him if the high school football drama was going to be saved even though it doesn’t get good ratings, and Silverman responded in typical Silvermanian (?) fashion.
“I love it. You love it. Unfortunately, no one watches it. That’s the thing with shows. People have to watch them. We’re NBC, we have a reputation to uphold. And, man, with this writers’ strike … well, we’ll see what we can do. But start watching 30 Rock.”
It’s funny that Silverman not only tells the writer to start watching 30 Rock because “it’s the best show on TV,” he says it three times. In fact, he sort of dodges the FNL question twice, pushing the merits of 30 Rock instead, and then decides to answer by saying that NBC “has a reputation to uphold.” Not really sure if this means that he wants to give quality shows time to get an audience or he wants to replace it with another episode of 1 vs. 100, but it’s really great to see him behind 30 Rock so much.
[via Pop Candy]