NBC completely mishandled everything. Outside of their Thursday night comedy lineup, right now they're seen as a corporation that has no idea what it's doing. They wouldn't have needed Comcast to buy them out if they had been managed properly the past five years which, conveniently, was the same time that they promised the Tonight Show to Conan O'Brien.
I mean, it's simple.
TV networks want ratings. Leno was getting them ratings at 11:35. Conan was getting them ratings at 12:35. SO WHY ARE YOU CHANGING IT? I'm aware that Leno didn't want any controversy like there was between him and Letterman years ago, but this was a different situation. Johnny Carson was done with television we he handed over the show. Done. Leno wasn't and he knew that he wasn't ready to go. So why was NBC trying to force him out of a spot that he was dominating? To save money on prime-time programming? That's stupid.
If that's the case, then follow the FOX motto of two hours a night. Couldn't hurt NBC any more than this mess that they're in right now. Actually, it'd probably be a lot better. Only would've pissed off the local affiliates, and nobody really cares about them, right? Right.
I'm surely not siding with Conan because he got canned. Trust me, he's doing much better than most people in America right now. It's just the fact of the matter. NBC didn't even give him a year. That's like getting rid of Obama before he gave his first State of the Union address last night. And they're trying to make it up by picking up a show from his production company. Whoo.
Makes up for him having to move his entire staff and their families across country so that they could all keep their jobs, right.
Well played, NBC. Well played.
