The Tonight Show
Heartbreaking Photos Depict De-Conanzing of The Tonight Show
When is a TV studio not just a TV studio? If the network that owns it takes a sledgehammer to the short-lived legacy of its previous inhabitant — as NBC appears to have done in photos from the ravaged set of Conan O’Brien’s Tonight Show — then that’s probably your first sign that there’s something a little personal going on.
Former Tonight Show blogger and contributor Aaron Bleyaert passed along some snapshots of carnage likely wrought by no less than the furious Jeff Zucker himself, who I assume took time from helping to rebuild Jay Leno’s image to do some demolition work at Universal Studios. A wrecking ball is forthcoming, no doubt. If the set suspiciously resembled Super Mario Bros. before, then this must be the Halo look.
And just for maximum heart-rending effect, a glimpse back to when everything was new:
Ah, television.
· What’s left of The Tonight Show Studio [BAM via Gawker]
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Posted 08 Feb 2010, 9:31 AM
Good. Conan was a nightmare I don't want to remember. Jay should have never been forced to leave. NBC made a big booboo and now they are getting back on track...Welcome back Jay Leno! Now I'll be watching the Tonight Show again!
Posted 08 Feb 2010, 6:08 PM
Old person?
Posted 08 Feb 2010, 6:18 PM
Are you mentally ill? I suppose the "Leno crew" are the ones who found Bob Saget hilarious on Funniest Videos. Cue card comedy...oh the skill and comedy timing.
Posted 08 Feb 2010, 6:26 PM
Definitely a senior citizen.
Posted 08 Feb 2010, 6:47 PM
Octogenarian fo sho.
Posted 08 Feb 2010, 11:00 PM
Jay, are you posting anonymously in articles about yourself? You are the worst human being on American television.
Posted 09 Feb 2010, 7:50 AM
Jay Leno wasn't forced to leave the tonight show?!? what are you talking about? He went out on a limb and tried to take an earlier 10pm time slot. Didn't you see his stupid show that bombed? now he's crying to NBC wanting the tonight show back..damn..i miss johnny carson
Posted 09 Feb 2010, 10:48 AM
Grandpa?
Posted 09 Feb 2010, 11:32 AM
I have watched almost all of the Tonight Show Hosts and none have brought more laughter since Johnnie Carson than Conan. Jay Leno's jokes and comedy sketches were really not all that funny. Conan took no measure against anyone and spoke about anything and anyone which gives purpose to freedom of speech and thought period. For those that dictate against persons of what they can say or do is purely by all terms communistic. If that is what you wish in your life then move to China. As for the other host, albeit her short time on air (Joan Rivers)she was barely funny at all. Maybe it was because she was a feminist and nothing suited her at all. Whatever the case, Conan was screwed over and it's unfortunate that NBC didn't listen to the ballad "Don't know what you got"; Cinderella.
Posted 08 Feb 2010, 9:35 AM
Well, I liked Jay Leno better anyway. Conan was a wierdo!
Posted 08 Feb 2010, 1:15 PM
Jay, the disguise only works when you're taping promos for Letterman.
Posted 08 Feb 2010, 9:44 AM
The previous posters are morons and do not know good comedy, even if it slapped them upside the head several times.
Posted 08 Feb 2010, 9:55 AM
Letterman wins, as well he should. The guy is hysterical! :)
Posted 08 Feb 2010, 9:57 AM
It hardly looks like carnage. More like cleanup after a Mary Kay party. Most of the bars on Bourbon Street look worse today than this. No one forced Jay to leave, no one forced him to come back. Any animosity over the whole situation is his responsibility.
Posted 08 Feb 2010, 10:04 AM
jey leno sucks i hate him conan rocks nbc and jay leno can both suck it
Posted 08 Feb 2010, 10:18 AM
Conan is way better.
Posted 08 Feb 2010, 10:42 AM
Conan is way better! Jay leno sucks! Jay leno is way better! Conan sucks! Conan is way better! Jay leno sucks! Jay leno is way better! Conan sucks!
(Jack Nicholson slaps me....)
Posted 09 Feb 2010, 9:42 AM
Sunny, you're on to something. The Chinatown jokes write themselves...
Do you accept people of the entertaining persuasion?
I'm sorry, we do not.
Don't apologize, neither does Zucker.
It was the ratings! It was the affiliates! It was the ratings! It was the affiliates! It was the ratings! It was the affiliates! SMACK It was the ratings AND the affiliates.
Forget it, Coco. It's Zuckertown.
Posted 08 Feb 2010, 10:56 AM
Conan is funny, Jay Leno is funny, but I dont think this was about either one of them this was NBC's fault and its sad that the same thing they did to letterman they are doing to conan. They always seem to use Jay Leno as a pawn.
Posted 08 Feb 2010, 10:57 AM
That's sad to see. Conan wasn't given enough time to grow a following in that time slot. I never saw what's so funny about Jay Leno and his style, I find him rather boring and tired. Let's hope nothing bad happens to Craig Ferguson now.
Posted 08 Feb 2010, 11:10 AM
I am truely upset and kinda hurt that conan is leaving the aire, he was one of the few things on television I truely enjoyed watching. his colorful character and lively charisma made for enteraining tv. I dont watch television much, but I did enjoy conan... SO PLEASE! DONT LET THIS BE THE LAST OF CONAN O'BRIEN!
Posted 08 Feb 2010, 11:17 AM
Isn't all this so last January?
Posted 08 Feb 2010, 9:37 PM
Says the gay person.
Posted 09 Feb 2010, 12:50 PM
So says the homophobic idiot person. (who most likely wears his wife's underwear while she is at work)
Posted 08 Feb 2010, 6:03 PM
Please will the last one out of the NBC studio close the lights.
This whole debacle was a snooze fest that nobody with a life gave a crap about.
I've got better things to do with my time than watch either of those two.
I've got a wife who loves me and I love her back.
Who watches TV? :-)
Posted 08 Feb 2010, 6:21 PM
You've got better things to do that watching them? I suppose that's how you can form an opinion about them? You've got better things to do like making baseless comments in a forum? What's so great about your wifes back anyway? You should love her for more than her physical features.
Posted 08 Feb 2010, 8:47 PM
I have to admit... It is a sexy back. Plus, it tastes like strawberries...
Posted 08 Feb 2010, 7:44 PM
Love reading comments from trolls in entertainment news forums proclaiming their lives are so awesome they don't have time to watch tv yet will waste time commenting on a show they are too Patrician to tune in to.
Lame.
Hey MSBPodcast, say hello to your wife for me.....
Posted 08 Feb 2010, 6:04 PM
Jay Leno can go suck his chin.
Posted 08 Feb 2010, 6:17 PM
NBC should not have cancelled Conan like that. Leno needed time to grow his audience just the same when he started hosting the Tonight Show back when. He didn't start pulling in the big ratings and guests until he had been on for almost a few years.
Whatever, the suits at NBC are the ones with egg on their faces and I hope Conan finds something better elsewhere (that isn't Fox, hopefully).
Posted 08 Feb 2010, 6:17 PM
Cocoass - dumbass moronic humor. Well rid of.
Posted 08 Feb 2010, 6:24 PM
You should write for Leno...your skills with the English language are amazing!
Posted 08 Feb 2010, 6:20 PM
I'll never watch Jay Leno....Where ever Conan goes I go...
Leno is for old people, smells like moth balls...old people jokes... he's not fresh!!!
Posted 08 Feb 2010, 6:25 PM
People who like Jay Leno are the OLDer crowd. The younger generation dont really care for his comedy. I guess the old people win this round.
Posted 08 Feb 2010, 7:08 PM
Wait until you see Leno's ratings when he comes back on air before you start claiming a victory for old people! I have a feeling that NBC has alienated a good portion of their late night viewer base. Wherever Conan ends up will be instant market share, and I believe the Letterman / Ferguson combo will ultimately reap the rewards.
Posted 08 Feb 2010, 7:26 PM
Definitely someone that's in the 65+ demographic, wistfully wishing for the Jack Paar days; back when things were black and white and not so scary.
Posted 08 Feb 2010, 8:51 PM
Can you hear the drums, Conando? A tribute: http://bit.ly/dA0UM3
Posted 09 Feb 2010, 9:46 AM
Long ago, years before the announcement that Conan was going to The Tonight Show, there was a big news even happening that all the comedians would make jokes about. I watched all 3 shows that night (Leno, Leterman, and Conan) and was able to objectively compare their jokes. Conan's was good, Letterman's happened to be the funniest, and Leno's was the absolute lamest and most obvious joke possible - by far the least funny. Unfortunately, this was long enough ago that I don't remember the jokes themselves or what they were about, but I do remember the comparison very well.
Posted 09 Feb 2010, 1:08 PM
Yeah everyone supports Conan now, but where were you guys when his ratings were bad? This is just like the Ron Paul supporters, they just talk but there aren't many votes for him.
Or you guys are just more vocal than everyone else, but resemble a weak minority. Otherwise Conan would have had strong ratings on his show.
Don't write checks you can't cash.
Posted 09 Feb 2010, 1:53 PM
JAY LENO SUCKS ASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS i always watched david letterman instead and conan is the shizzy!!! If thats a real word, bottom line, if you don't like conan your probably really old or really german...
Posted 10 Feb 2010, 2:01 PM
I'm an older guy who could take offense at all of the OLD references. But I don't. Fact is, Conan was funny. Jay was not. NBC is catering to the dumb demographic. Case closed.
Posted 11 Feb 2010, 12:22 AM
People have different taste in comedy, and if some people like Leno better than Conan: good for them. Whatever makes them happy. But, whatever you think about the results, Conan has certainly thrown everything he has into trying to make people laugh. If he thought handling a poisonous snake would make people laugh, he handled a poisonous snake. When he decided that jumping through a ring of fire would entertain people, he jumped through a ring of fire.
He's been a kind of TV priest for a parish of lost insomniac souls. He knows that he has know idea how to save us, but he wishes he did.
I'm the only fan geekish enough to put it in those terms, but I think that a lot of Conan's fervent fans have picked up on that vibe, and I think that's one reason why the way NBC has canceled Conan has been so painful.
NBC cancels shows by wonderful, brilliant people all the time. That's life. But NBC seems to do everything it can to turn the Conan situation into a passion play. The network set about canceling Conan at a really weird point in the season, by trying to weasel out of his contract, and then tried to engage in psychological PR warfare with him. Now, NBC is rushing to destroy his set and obliterate every trace of him, even though he literally jumped through a ring of fire for it.
Posted 25 Feb 2010, 4:50 PM
Now children if we remember our history this has happened before ,and dave did just fine.NBC does not learn from their past and it will bite them in the ass.I mean they are about to be the first major network to go under,I dont forsee a bail out for them.Good move for COCO and let the rat swwim for it!
Posted 28 Feb 2010, 9:10 AM
>:o We should rage on NBC for making the stupidest decision in their whole career! RAWR!
Conan For Life! :D
Posted 01 Mar 2010, 9:08 PM
I have watched Conan and Jay since the beginning. Two different styles and both can make you laugh. Problem is (was) that Conan is just 'odd'. He is an oddball with quirky humor that almost makes you start to feel uncomfortable after a while. At times I even felt bad for him because no one was laughing except for Conan!
Don't feel sorry for any of them. They have more money than most will ever see in their entire lifetimes.
Glad to see Jay back, but will watch Conan for a change when he returns on another network.