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UPDATE: I just spoke to Letterman’s producer Rob Burnett who says: ”When we were talking about what it should be in very early conversations, we talked about the notion of Conan being involved in it in some way. I made an initial call to [Conan's producer] Jeff Ross, who said they had too much going on to consider it…” Conan and Leno on the same set? Priceless. But I bet NBC would never have allowed Jay to participate, especially now that the network is removing all memory of O’Brien working there.
News reports say the spot was shot upstairs at the Letterman show’s Ed Sullivan Theater where Leno had to sneak in wearing a disguise (hooded sweatshirt, glasses, fake mustache). It was Dave’s idea to do the ad and he wrote the bit, which echoed a similar spot he did when CBS last aired the Super Bowl in 2007. That one involved only Dave and Oprah. Winfrey said OK to this bit immediately. But the NBC suits had to agree to it before Jay could participate. They wound up flying him in on the corporate jet:
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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I was hoping to see Letterman in a Trojan condom ad.
Probably shot without any of them in the same room…
This was the best spot of the night, but it would have been even better if Conan had popped into the background, asking if anyone wanted something to drink, or something like that.
Now that would have been even more funny!
I’m still wrapping my head around this. Dave must have agreed to be on an NBC commercial during the Olympics, otherwise I can’t imagine NBC would be too pleased about this. But I guess Jay can do pretty much anything he wants to do at this point. I mean, what can they do, take the “Tonight Show” off of him?
BTW, this was the best ad of the Super Bowl.
It’s all about Jay doing damage control.
Why would NBC not jump at the chance to put their former and future late nights leader on the screen in from of viewers on CBS?
And how did they get Leno to do that ad for Letterman’s Late Night? I guess also a Leno ad, and Oprah.
What a big fuck you to Conan
Actually it’s a big “fuck you” FROM Conan. He was invited, his rep told CBS “He’s too busy”. Conan is extremely hot right now. Even to the network that fired him, having just sold a drama to them. To play 4th fiddle to 3 old has beens–yeah, I said it!– on their way down (Oprah’s leaving next May, Jay’s return is questionable whether he’ll get his audience back & Dave’s still Dave) is beneath him.
If all you Coco Kool-aid drinkers had spent as much time watching TTS when he was on it as you do on boards complaining that he’s no longer on the show, maybe he’d still be the host of TTS?
Just sayin’.
I still hate Leno for what he did (and didn’t do) from the ConanGate fiasco at NBC, but wow that day between him and Letterman must have been awkward.
Still, everyone a good sport for making a joke of their bitter feud.
RRA – I disagree. This Leno/Letterman feud was about standards and sticking up for what is right. What does this ad show? That Letterman will bury the hatchet (up Conan’s ass) in order to ‘make nice’ with a creepy, dead-eyed corporate predator with no style or wit. It goes to show that Letterman, despite his faux outrage over Leno’s actions, really doesn’t care to uphold whatever it was he was pissed about.
This stupid, momentary ad killed the respect I had for him or had left. I could never see media oracle Howard Stern kiss ass in this fashion for self promotion. HURL. Fail. HURLFAIL
Totally agree Disgrace… Im soooo disappointed in Letterman… shoulda been Dave, Conan and Oprah.
WTF?
Oh, come on. Don’t confuse Dave with Howard. Letterman will do whatever it takes to get a laugh, plain and simple — and he’ll say as much. In fact, Rob Burnett explained it that way in talking about this bit. Anyone who expects anything different obviously hasn’t been paying attention. Letterman’s point has always been that what he does — and by extension the rest of them — isn’t important enough to merit the kind of moralizing you’re on about. It’s show business.
Howard will do whatever suits his particular schtick, and his schtick is egocentric outrage…which is why I like Howard. But “media oracle”? Give me a break. His disapprobation is — in good part — simple showmanship and positioning, as it’s always been, though I’m sure he personally dislikes Leno for all of the stated reasons…not the least, because it’s profitable for him to hate Leno.
It’s good PR for both Leno and Letterman, it really does say
Let the LateNight ratings war begin, again. Round two.
In the end, these are a couple of comedy shows so they can’t exactly challenge each other to a duel. This worked on every level: it was funny, it made everyone look good and it diffused some nastiness that had gone about as far as it could. Well done for everyone.
This one wasn’t actually funny. It would have been funnier had Leno retired from TV last summer. Think about it. You’ve got Letterman and Oprah, both still on TV.. and then you’ve got an out-of-work Leno who has joined them for the party. Put a beard on him, and the joke lands.
Um, Paul Martin, did you happen to hear that Leno got the Tonight Show back?
You should re-read my post: “It would have been funnier had Leno retired from TV last summer.”
Again, with emphasis added: It would have been funnier had Leno retired from TV last summer.
everyone at my party of 39 thought it was the most stupid and illocigal commercial on that night. horrible they were throwing things at the TV
This was an extremely poor decision on Jay’s part. Why would you advertise your competitor’s show on a rival network in front of the biggest audience possible? To make yourself look like a good guy? Guess what, Jay, it didn’t work! You were used! Again!
Oh, I don’t know about that. Jay gets his chin (and the rest of him) in front of 106million+ viewers on what is arguably the highest watched night of television in recent history.
Who doesn’t know that Leno is on ‘another network’? And that that particular network isn’t CBS? If anyone made a poor decision, it was Dave. I wanna know what he was thinking, giving Leno a platform like that.
Makes one wonder if all that sniping between them really was for show and a ratings ploy at that.
Hmmm…
Genius spot. Best of the bunch. I’d kill to have been a fly on the wall.
BRILLIANT!
Great ad but I would have preferred Conan on the couch with maybe Dave sympathizing with him.
Let the Conan backlash begin…now we think Leno is cool and we see that Letterman does not really hate him. You fools.
Thank you.
Oh please! All three were in the room at the same time – it was brilliant and topical humor – and the surprise factor, first revealing Oprah, and then revealing Jay, was priceless. And all three should be given credit for doing it – especially Jay. Just sit back and laugh for a change!
Yah, I think this was a no-brainer for all parties…
For Jay to appear… why the hell not? Letterman is going to have a spot pimping his show during the superbowl regardless… Jay can either take it and get free face time (when he really needs it) or he can pass and be irrelevant. Of course he’ll take it.
And for Dave to ask him… well, here we are talking about Dave Letterman, and had they just done a stock Letterman promo we certainly would not have been… I don’t think he could have found any other way to generate as much conversation on a 15 second spot (except, of course, landing Conan, too).
Who cares that they compete… They both score on this.
As for Oprah? Why not… not that she lacks face time, but it’s free publicity for her.
I thought it was very classy for the three of them, who’ve all been involved in the late-night comedy of errors. Yes, they’ve “picked” on each other, but as Leno admitted on Oprah, that’s what they DO. They’re comedians. And when it gets right down to it, I doubt that any of the parties have actual deep-rooted animosity toward each other. They’re part of a “fraternity” or sorts, the late-night stars…and there are so few of them thru the decades.
It was a great idea, nice move by NBC flying Leno in…and Oprah, love her. Most surprising spot of the entire Super Bowl. Loved it.
You sound liike an idiot. Of course they have a deep seated hatred for one another. This is blood sport. Show business is still phony enough that when they get in a room they glad hand for a few secs. But if you watched Letterman the past few weeks (I assume you did not) you couldn’t help but feel the venom.
I’m not sure what Letterman was thinking doing the ad. I think it was a mistake.
Shit! There goes my vow of never watching another second of Leno ever again.
NBC couldn’t have been too upset if they flew Leno out on the corporate jet. It gave NBC a tiny moment in what was a CBS night. It was a good move for Leno as part of his image rehab. Letterman needed to get back to self deprication and move away from the pointed personl attacks. Oprah would have been more than happy to insert herself into a situation that really has nothing to do with her. Conan was probably wise to stay out of it, but at least he was invited.
This was comedy. They’re just comedians. They do funny. period. lighten up and get a grip.
Good for them.
I think Conan should’ve appeared in the background, as the pizza delivery man.
Conan’s producers have a history of letting things slip through the cracks (remember the failure to tape a farewell for Diane Sawyer?), so that makes me wonder if Jeff even bothered to mention this to Conan when Rob Burnett called. I bet Conan would have loved being in this spot.
Don’t think Zucker would have been bright enough to approve this spot. I see the hand of the COMCAST boys in this already. Savvy business men with bigger brain cells already in the game. I stick to my position that the new boss forced the hand in shifting Leno back to 11:35. NBC may make a comeback yet.
All of the folks who thought Letterman was an O’Brien supporter are now stuck with a “What the F?” Letterman and Leno took advantage of the joke. That’s why they pay’em the big bucks. Better comedy though would be to let Kimmel move back to 12:30 (Let’s see how loyal to O’Brien he can be) and give O’Brien the 11:30 spot on ABC … a very interesting three way and then let’s see who gets the last laugh.
Just because they are comedians doesn’t make something funny.
The last Oprah ad fell flat and this one did too.
People are only talking about it because “OMG! They’re in a commercial”
Dave could have said “pass the Doritos” and the same people would think it was “brilliant”.
This is nothing but a ego trip, and the people taking sides just have dogs in the fight.
There was no real comedy in the bit. It was a lame moment.