Reddit reviews The War for Late Night: When Leno Went Early and Television Went Crazy
We found 7 Reddit comments about The War for Late Night: When Leno Went Early and Television Went Crazy. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Highly, incredibly reccommend The War for Late Night by Bill Carter.
First hand accounts of the entire timeline and scenario of the Conan/Leno/Tonight show situation. Very entertaining, good insight into the shows, and a big look into some of the really complicated personalities and business of the TV industry.
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If you want to get a taste for how Leno got his job - here is a book that goes through the whole thing. Really good read.
Sorry, it's called The War for Late Night. It was written by a guy who covers the television industry for the NY Times and he interviewed everyone who was involved with this. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0452297494 But feel free to believe whatever you want.
There is an excellent book for anyone interested in the change over from Leno to Conan and back to Leno called "The War for Late Night: When Leno Went Early and Television Went Crazy" by Bill Carter.
In it Carter tells a very interesting yet telling story of just how differing in opinions NBC and Conan were during the transition.
In the third week (first month) of the show, Conan booked Norm on "The Tonight Show" (I believe this is that booking) because Norm had been a staple on "The Late Show" where he would tell long offbeat jokes which Conan genuinely loved.
With the ratings down from where Leno left and the media press killing Conan/double guessing NBC in making the transition, NBC went to the wall against Conan telling him and his booking staff in multiple ways that Norm could not be a prime guest when they had other bigger movie stars to showcase. Conan, to his credit, put his foot down going with the guy who had always performed for him and who he knew made for comedy gold. Norm came on the show.
Remember, this is only three or four weeks in yet Carter relates that this single episode is what let Conan know, behind the scenes, that "The Tonight Show" was never going to be his.
Conan understood with the ratings, the press, Leno being out there, and the internal power play at NBC to keep "The Tonight Show" main stream as opposed to more quirky Conan comedy focused, the show would slip away from his control.
Book Link: https://www.amazon.com/War-Late-Night-Early-Television/dp/0452297494
http://www.amazon.com/The-War-Late-Night-Television/dp/0452297494
great fucking read and a amazing look into the politics of big network television. Leno is a lot to blame. He never really spoke up and decided to take the 10pm slot before conan which really put a dent into Conans numbers and momentum.
Leno was asked and agreed to leave the Tonight Show after his current contract but then through back channels decided to stay and do a sub par show. There was even some rumors that he purposely sank his 10pm show to weaken Conan.
Yes the network execs are mainly to blame for completely taking a shit on themselves during the whole ordeal but Leno certainly wasnt just some innocent party in the ordeal at all.
A huge part that isnt discussed enough was a part of Lenos contract that allowed him to sue NBC for a huge amount of money if his program was cancelled which gave him huge leverage. Another aspect that isnt mentioned is the fact that Leno didnt have an agent and did most of the negations himself. His "every guy" mentality that NBC was trustworthy and he didnt need an agent further complicated the talks and slowed down a very fast and high fueled event.
Once again I cant recommend this book enough. Its an extremely insightful look into the industry. Hell it even discusses Colbert and Stewarts AND Kimmels impact on the whole ordeal.
There's a good one named Top of the Rock: Inside the Rise and Fall of Must-See TV. It has stuff about Cheers, Seinfeld, Friends, Law and Order, ER - very insightful for someone who has no connections to the network TV industry.
There's also The War for Late Night which is an interesting read.
If you're into behind the scenes stuff, try Desperate Networks.
Have fun reading them!