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Will Ferrell And Conan O’Brien Mock TV Business At Turner Upfront

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Wednesday May 15, 2013 @ 12:11pm PDTTags: Conan O'Brien, Pete Holmes, Turner Entertainment Networks, Upfronts, Will Ferrell

Turner Entertainment seems to try hardest to make advertisers laugh at its upfront presentation — and generally succeeded this time with help from Will Ferrell, Conan O’Brien, and TBS newcomer Pete Holmes. In a recorded routine, Ferrell said that he had bought the company and with his background in comedy “I couldn’t care less” about networks including CNN, TNT, and TruTv. Since “I like to mess around with my new toys,” he introduced the new boss: Charles Barkley. The former NBA star said that since “I’m in charge now” viewers would be “seeing a lot more Charles Barkley” — cutting to clips from Turner shows that insert him into the action. “This is the kind of bold thinking I was hoping for,” Ferrell said. “With me as CEO of Turner, and Charles, can you really go wrong?”

Related: TBS Urges Advertisers To Favor Engagement Measures Over Demo Ratings READ MORE »

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President Slams Media But Conan Softballs Obama At Lame WH Correspondents Dinner

By NIKKI FINKE AND DOMINIC PATTEN | Saturday April 27, 2013 @ 8:24pm PDTTags: Barack Obama, Conan O'Brien, White House Correspondents' Dinner

3RD UPDATE – FINAL: (See Conan and Obama videos here and here.) We warned you not to expect much from tonight’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner. And true to form it failed to deliver. Bland to a fault Conan O’Brien didn’t lay a glove on … Read More »

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Video: Conan At WH Reporters Dinner

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Saturday April 27, 2013 @ 8:23pm PDTTags: Conan O'Brien, White House Correspondents' Dinner

Conan O’Brien roasted the media at tonight’s White House Correspondents’s Dinner but took it easy on President Obama in his second hosting gig in 18 years:

Related: President Slams Media But … Read More »

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Hollywood List For WH Reporters Dinner

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Friday April 26, 2013 @ 3:40pm PDTTags: Barack Obama, Conan O'Brien, White House Correspondents' Dinner

3RD UPDATE, 3:40 PM: Psy is the only act to get 1 billion hits on YouTube with his “Gangnam Style” video, and his follow-up video “Gentleman” is already past 232M views. He has been tapped to join CBS News’ table at tomorrow’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner alongside the likes of Homeland‘s Claire Danes and her husband, Hannibal‘s Hugh Dancy.

2ND UPDATE, 8:10 AM: One day before the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, Fox News Channel has said who from Hollywood it is bringing to the event — and it’s a big list. While Greta Van Susteren is passing on this year’s dinner, Fox News stars Bill O’Reilly, Chris Wallace, Geraldo Rivera and Bret Baier will be in attendance, as will the likes of Oscar-winner screenwriter Dustin Lance Black and a contingent from sister studio Fox’s latest X-Men movie: director Bryan Singer and producer-writer Simon Kinberg. See who will be sitting at FNC’s 14 tables below. Also check back for more last-minute additions as we head into the final hours before Saturday’s dinner.

UPDATE, THURSDAY PM: TV comedy king Chuck Lorre will be making his first White House Correspondents’ Dinner appearance this year while waiting for series-pickup news for his hot CBS pilot Mom. Lorre, who is behind the CBS series The Big Bang Theory, Two And A Half Men and Mike & Molly, will be sitting with former Secretary of State Madeline Albright.

Related: Conan O’Brien Tweets Pic From DC

PREVIOUSLY: Hollywood is again the guest everyone seems to want at their table for this year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Returning headliner Conan O’Brien is set to take up the court-jester role that Jimmy Kimmel played last year and news organizations have begun to reveal guest lists for the April 27 event. There’s a lot of Tinseltown glitter already set alongside generals and top-tier cabinet secretaries — as well as power players like Harvey Weinstein. We know President Obama and the first lady will be there; here’s who else we know is going from Hollywood so far: Read More »

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Conan O’Brien Pretends To Be Obama Press Secretary For The Day: Photo

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Friday April 26, 2013 @ 2:25pm PDTTags: Conan O'Brien, White House Correspondents' Dinner

Now this is a White House press briefing we might tune in for. Conan O’Brien paid a visit to the West Wing today ahead of his hosting gig tomorrow at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Politico reports the TBS late-night host met with press secretary Jay Carney, … Read More »

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Conan O’Brien Tweets Pic From DC For White House Correspondents’ Dinner; CNN Joins Others In Airing Event

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Thursday April 25, 2013 @ 2:15pm PDTTags: CNN, Conan O'Brien, White House Correspondents' Dinner

Looks like Team Coco is in the house. Well, actually just near the house, but it is the White House we’re talking about. In the nation’s capital to host this year’s White House Correspondents Dinner, Conan O’Brien today tweeted a pic of himself in front of the Executive Mansion. “In D.C. to perform at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Practicing my opening “Goofy Sunglasses” bit,” the TBS late-night host wrote Thursday. Saturday’s dinner is the Boston native’s second stint as headliner. He also hosted in 1995, a couple of years after joining Late Night.

Related: CNN Adds Guests, ‘Duck Dynasty’ Cast Set For White House Correspondents’ Dinner Read More »

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White House Correspondents’ Dinner Less Hollywood This Year: Report

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Thursday April 18, 2013 @ 12:15pm PDTTags: Barack Obama, Conan O'Brien, The Hill, White House Correspondents' Dinner

Scandal’s Kerry Washington will be there and so will Steven Spielberg and House of Cards’ Kevin Spacey but this year’s White House Correspondents’ dinner will not be attracting the Hollywood players of previous years says … Read More »

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Late Night On Boston Bombings No Joke

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Monday April 15, 2013 @ 7:05pm PDTTags: Boston Marathon, Conan O'Brien, Craig Ferguson, Jimmy Kimmel

2ND UPDATE: Jay Leno, David Letterman, and Jimmy Fallon are in repeats tonight. But Conan O’Brien‘s show is original and Boston is his hometown so he comments on today’s bombings (below). So does Jimmy Kimmel (below). Also Craig Ferguson (video below) who notes during his cold open that, when he became an American citizen in 2008, he spoke at Faneuil Hall on July 4th at the invitation of Boston Mayor Tommy Menino:

CONAN O’BRIEN: We have a great show for you tonight.  But first, I have to mention what an upsetting and sad day it’s been. Boston is my hometown – it’s where I grew up, and it’s where my family lives.  So I just wanted to take a moment to say that – like everyone here – my thoughts and prayers are with the people of Boston and everyone who has been affected by this senseless act.  That said — it is our job to do a show. We’re going to try and entertain you the best we can. Which,  given our track record, gives you people a 20% chance of having a good time tonight.

JIMMY KIMMEL: Well – it was a terrible day. Very bad things happened today for no good reason – and our thoughts are with the people of Boston and everyone who is suffering as a result of the bombings at the marathon. It’s a disgusting thing. I don’t understand it. But my job is to make you laugh and so I will try to do that. And – I will probably fail. I’m failing already.

Read More »

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TBS Renews ‘Conan’ Through November 2015

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Monday April 1, 2013 @ 8:11am PDTTags: Conan, Conan O'Brien, TBS
Nellie Andreeva

TBS has renewed Conan O’Brien‘s late-night talk show for another two years. Conan has been picked up through November 2015, when it will mark its fifth-year anniversary on TBS. “When we invited Conan O’Brien … Read More »

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Conan O’Brien Named 2013 White House Correspondents Dinner Host

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Wednesday February 20, 2013 @ 7:47am PSTTags: Conan O'Brien, White House Correspondents' Dinner

Team Coco is heading back to Washington D.C. Conan O’Brien will be the headliner of this year’s White House Correspondents Association Dinner, it was announced today. “Thrilled to reveal @ConanObrien has agreed to headline … Read More »

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Fox Developing Medical Comedy Produced By Conan O’Brien

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Wednesday January 2, 2013 @ 11:00am PSTTags: Big Deals TV, Conan O'Brien, Fox, Super Fun Night
Nellie Andreeva

Fox has closed the deals for a script order to a single-camera medical comedy from Conan O’Brien‘s Conaco and Warner Bros TV. The project’s title, Bob’s New Heart Show, appears to be a riff on … Read More »

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Conan O’Brien To Produce & Lew Schneider To Co-Write ABC Comedy Based On Kindle Single Memoir

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Friday November 2, 2012 @ 12:13pm PDTTags: Conan O'Brien
Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: Books as source material for comedy series projects have been hot the last few development seasons. Now, with book publishing undergoing h a digital revolution, digital books are making the leap to television too.

ABC has put in development an untitled single-camera comedy based on the Kindle Single memoir Keep Swinging by Rick Marin. This is the first Kindle Single to be optioned by Hollywood since Amazon launched its service for short stories, long-form journalism and opinion pieces in January 2011.

Former Everybody Loves Raymond executive producer Lew Schneider will co-write the TV adaptation with Marin for Conan O’Brien’s Conaco Prods., which is producing with Warner Bros. TV. The comedy centers on an artsy dad with zero interest in sports who is thrown into a new family dynamic and social life as he and his wife face a challenge for which they are woefully ill-equipped: a jock kid. Marin, Schneider, O’Brien, David Kissinger and Jeff Ross are executive producing. Read More »

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Bob Costas Disses NBC Olympic Coverage

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Thursday September 13, 2012 @ 12:05am PDTTags: Animal Practice, Bob Costas, Conan O'Brien, Olympics

Bob Costas tonight wryly criticized his bosses, their London Olympics coverage, and NBC‘s infamous sneak preview of its new fall show Animal Practice (“evidently a comedy, at least we’re hoping it is”) to Conan O’Brien, who replied “You’re the best guest ever!”:

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‘The Tonight Show’ Lays Off 20 Staffers And Host Jay Leno Takes Pay Cut To Save Jobs

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Friday August 17, 2012 @ 8:45pm PDTTags: Big Deals TV, Comcast, Conan O'Brien, Jay Leno, NBC, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

Related: Tonight Show Cuts Latest In Wave Of NBC Layoffs & Cost Trims Imposed By Comcast

SATURDAY UPDATE: Jay Leno’s spokesman has now issued this statement: ”Jay’s foremost concern is for the wonderful people who work for The Tonight Show. He did what was necessary to ensure their well-being.”

BREAKING… EXCLUSIVE… FRIDAY 8:30 PM: NBC insiders tell me The Tonight Show went  through ”downsizing” today and that 20 staffers lost their jobs. Others tell me the number is more like 25, and producers were forced to take pay cuts or lose their jobs. I’ve also learned that Jay Leno took what is being described as a “tremendous” pay cut to “save as many people’s jobs as he could”. Leno’s Tonight Show is consistently the #1 late night talk show in both households and demographics, except for some anomalies when Leno does get beaten. And that’s despite the fact Jay Lenothat the network’s primetime ratings have been dismal for many years or that Leno himself was harshly criticized by the media for that January 2010 standoff with Conan O’Brien. Even so, The Tonight Show has been and still is a cash cow for NBC. So what happened to merit the downsizing? “I don’t think ad sales are off. I just think the people who bought this company, Comcast, wants to go through everything at NBC and get their money back,” an NBC insider tells me. ”It’s hard to go through those kinds of cuts. It’s more a network issue than a late-night issue. And I would say that Jay doesn’t get credit for digging out of a gigantic hole every single night. He’s a very valuable guy to NBC and someday everyone will understand that. He does a great job.”

Related: Gabby Douglas & Michelle Obama Give ‘Tonight Show’ A Bump

The downsizing also comes just 5 days after First Lady Michelle Obama appeared as a guest for the third time on The Tonight Show: high unemployment, job creation, and taxing the rich vs the poor all are issues in the 2012 president campaign. Leno has said publicly that he’s able to bank his entire Tonight Show salary and live on the hefty fees he makes from his hectic personal appearance schedule. Leno’s new salary is reportedly $27M-$30 million a year. He reportedly brings home another $15M-$20M a year from his other gigs. Read More »

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Conan O’Brien Urges Cable Honchos To Embrace Technology And Social Media

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Wednesday May 23, 2012 @ 9:46am PDTTags: Conan, Conan O'Brien

The comic’s become a cable industry icon since he moved from NBC to TBS, and he assured execs this morning that they have nothing to fear as new technologies and social media change the rules of engagement with TV viewers. “I was forced to embrace this world” after he lost his Tonight Show gig in 2010, he said this morning at The Cable Show. He discovered that unlike the old days, where the goal was simply to drive people to the tube, getting audiences “emotionally involved” has become just as important. For example, O’Brien says it doesn’t hurt ratings to release clips and other information ahead of a broadcast. When Will Ferrell recently appeared on Conan in character as Ron Burgundy to reveal his plan to make a sequel of The Anchorman, “we chipped his appearance out into bite-sized pieces and put it out everywhere.” That resulted in higher ratings for the night. Even people who already know what’s coming “say, ‘You know what, it’s 5 minutes of 11; I’m going to check out Conan‘.” Unlike his days at NBC, where he says there was “a condescending attitude about the Web,” Turner Broadcasting has been “absolutely a dream come true…They’re up for anything we’re up for.” O’Brien contrasted the new approach to TV to the strategies used when Johnny Carson hosted The Tonight Show. Audiences used to wait for the anniversary special to see famous clips like the one of actor Ed Ames throwing Read More »

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VIDEO: Conan & Dave Talk About Jay

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Thursday May 17, 2012 @ 6:16pm PDTTags: Conan O'Brien, Late Show with David Letterman

Conan O’Brien talks about his departure from The Tonight Show in his first appearance in 13 years on Late Show With David Letterman, tonight:

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Conan O’Brien Jabs Oprah Winfrey And Ted Turner At Turner Broadcasting Upfront

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Wednesday May 16, 2012 @ 8:43am PDTTags: Conan O'Brien, Oprah Winfrey, Ted Turner, Turner Broadcasting System

Conan O'Brien Upfront 2012The late-night comic didn’t bring his best material this year. Conan O’Brien told advertisers that if the upfront event were held on Skype, then “we wouldn’t have to wear pants.” He also zinged Turner Broadcasting … Read More »

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Conan O’Brien On Letterman Next Week

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Thursday May 10, 2012 @ 9:26am PDTTags: Conan O'Brien, David Letterman

It will be the first appearance on David Letterman’s late-night show in 13 years for Conan O’Brien when he hits the chair next Thursday (May 17). The now-TBS late-night host replaced Letterman as host of NBC’s Late Night in 1993 … Read More »

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Conan O’Brien’s Company Re-Ups Deal With Warner Bros. Television

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Monday April 23, 2012 @ 8:34am PDTTags: Big Deals TV, Conan O'Brien, Warner Bros. TV
Nellie Andreeva

Conan O'Brien ConacoEXCLUSIVE: On the heels of TBS picking up Conan O’Brien’s late-night talk show for two more years, O’Brien is renewing the production deal for his Conaco Prods banner at TBS sibling Warner Bros TV. O’Brien’s first … Read More »

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