Jay Leno eviscerated by the ratings and Andy Richter; Willco reportedly suicidal

[Ichirou]

BrandNew redeemed?

Letterman Blackmailer Pleads Guilty; Plus, Jay Fades and Andy Talks
Posted by James Poniewozik Tuesday, March 9, 2010 at 2:49 pm
3 Comments • Related Topics: andy richter, david letterman, jay leno
Word is just in that Robert Halderman, the TV producer whose extortion attempt led to David Letterman's confessing a longtime affair with a staffer, has pleaded guilty.

That there will be no drawn-out trial means Letterman potentially dodged a bullet, insofar as any further embarrassing details might have come out. I suppose this is good news for Dave, personally and publicity-wise, although considering that the initial bombshell helped his ratings if anything, maybe more on-air drama might have helped in his new battle with Jay Leno. Speaking of whom...

* Preliminary Monday ratings are in, and Jay Leno's total-viewer advantage over David Letterman has shrunk significantly. Of greater concern, though 18-to-49-year-old ratings are not in yet, the gap is close enough that it's possible Dave may already have caught Jay in the only demographic that matters to advertisers. (Update: Uh-oh, he did.) Since Conan O'Brien was, overall, even with or beating Letterman in the advertising demo, this would not be a great thing for NBC. Particularly since, one could argue, a man who's been in late-night for two decades has no room to grow his audience, especially on the younger end. But again, early ratings are a moving target, and we need to see where things settle down.

* But Andy Richter is not settling down. Apparently NBC never signed Conan's sidekick to a no-disparagement agreement, so today he was out there on Regis and Kelly, disparaging: "It's very frustrating when somebody says — and especially when they're on videotape — saying, ‘I'm going to take this No. 1 show and hand it over and hope that the next guy gets to — makes it a No. 1 show.' And then doesn't... And says things like, ‘Well, they didn't — I didn't have any choice. They wouldn't let me out of my contract,' which, you know how multimillionaires are always being forced to do things they don't want to do."

Letterman beats Leno on Monday night

This gets a headline because of the man-bites-dog rule: David Letterman beat Jay Leno in the adult demo Monday night. CBS' "Late Show" drew 4.2 million viewers and a 1.3 in the demo compared to NBC's "Tonight Show" bringing in 4.4 million viewers and 1.1 in the demo. Dave's guests were nothing special -- Kelly Ripa and Lady Antebellum.

So why the upset? Lead-in! CBS won Monday night primetime, NBC was a distant fourth place with the likes of "Trauma" and "Law & Order."

[The Fake Shemp]

It was just one night and Dave had Kelly Ripa - she's a huge draw! The Chin is the new king of late night. :lenowned

[Ichirou]

CBS is ascendant, while NBC is just appealing to the geriatric set now.

LETTERMAN POWER.

[Akala]

I'm trying to think of anything I watch on CBS and am drawing a blank...

[Ichirou]

CSI? Cold Case?

[Vizzys]

criminal minds is pretty good

[CajoleJuice]

My parents watch NCIS

[Akala]

CSI? Cold Case?

 

criminal minds is pretty good

can't comment.

My parents watch NCIS

Most people's do.
"CBS: The Network Your Parents Watch."

[Ichirou]

Which would make NBC the network nobody watches.

[Ichirou]

CBS has had additional successes with police procedurals Cold Case, Without a Trace, Criminal Minds, NCIS, and The Mentalist, along with CSI spinoffs CSI: Miami and CSI: NY, and sitcoms Everybody Loves Raymond, The King of Queens, Two and a Half Men, How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory and The New Adventures of Old Christine.

Seems like they've had a solid lineup the past few years to me.

[fistfulofmetal]

i enjoy Survivor.

[Great Rumbler]

Jay Leno's house of card is crumbling. It'll only be a matter of time before NBC comes crawling back to Conan, begging for him to save their network.

[Ichirou]

Jay Leno's house of card is crumbling. It'll only be a matter of time before NBC comes crawling back to Conan, begging for him to save their network.

I for one cannot wait for the CONAN FIESTA.

[Human Snorenado]

It was just one night and Dave had Kelly Ripa - she's a huge draw! The Chin is the new king of late night. :lenowned

Somebody 'shop Leno's mug onto this dude:

[Ichirou]

"WE ARE WINNING THE LATE NIGHT WAR"

[Eel O'Brian]

leno was a bad long-run bet, i figure he's only gonna go about 3 or 4 more years before he really retires or strokes out (dude is like a workaholic and not in great physical shape)

pure money decision here from what i've read, cost nbc less to buy out conan

[The Fake Shemp]

Yeah, I heard it would have cost somewhere in the ballpark of $80 million to buyout Leno.

[Ichirou]

I'm betting Leno's gonna host the Tonight Show until he's 80.  I mean, Regis Philbin is 78 and he's still doing a daily morning show.

[Eel O'Brian]

true, but he really doesn't look it and is in pretty good health nowadays

leno looks every minute of his 60 years, and is way out of shape, coupled with the way he's always working he's like a time bomb

[Ichirou]

It's weird to me that he doesn't have any kids.  I don't trust anybody that's married at that age but has no kids, yet has like 800 cars.  Seems fairly inhuman to me.

[GilloD]

CBS has had additional successes with police procedurals Cold Case, Without a Trace, Criminal Minds, NCIS, and The Mentalist, along with CSI spinoffs CSI: Miami and CSI: NY, and sitcoms Everybody Loves Raymond, The King of Queens, Two and a Half Men, How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory and The New Adventures of Old Christine.

Seems like they've had a solid lineup the past few years to me.

Procedurals do well in syndication, too. They show like 4 hours of CSi and NCIS on Korean TV every night

[Ichirou]

CSI is popular in Japan, too.  I asked my students if they knew what the initials stood for and nobody did.

[AdmiralViscen]

I look forward to more comments from Andy. More coherent ones too.

[Donono]

CSI is popular in Japan, too.  I asked my students if they knew what the initials stood for and nobody did.

That's not tha surprising.  Do you know what MASH stands for off the top of your head?

Suicide is painless? 

[etiolate]

CSI is popular in Japan, too.  I asked my students if they knew what the initials stood for and nobody did.

That's not tha surprising.  Do you know what MASH stands for off the top of your head?

Mansion Apartment Shack House

[Ichirou]

CSI is popular in Japan, too.  I asked my students if they knew what the initials stood for and nobody did.

That's not tha surprising.  Do you know what MASH stands for off the top of your head?

Suicide is painless? 

Mobile Army Surgical Hospital?

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

Maybe all of the Leno fans are catching his funny clips on Youtube

[Ichirou]

Leno has funny clips?

[Tauntaun]

It's weird to me that he doesn't have any kids.  I don't trust anybody that's married at that age but has no kids, yet has like 800 cars.  Seems fairly inhuman to me.

Maybe he's one of those people who likes to have sex with vehicles. 

[Ichirou]

Having sex with me is like having sex with a machine cause I'm a sex machine.

[Tauntaun]

Having sex with me is like having sex with a machine cause I'm a sex machine.

[OptimoPeach]

CBS has had additional successes with police procedurals Cold Case, Without a Trace, Criminal Minds, NCIS, and The Mentalist, along with CSI spinoffs CSI: Miami and CSI: NY, and sitcoms Everybody Loves Raymond, The King of Queens, Two and a Half Men, How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory and The New Adventures of Old Christine.

Seems like they've had a solid lineup the past few years to me.

Procedurals do well in syndication, too. They show like 4 hours of CSi and NCIS on Korean TV every night

Aren't they making a Korean CSI? Or maybe that's Japan

[ferrarimanf355]

http://tv.gawker.com/5489186/andy-richter-goes-off-on-jay-leno-and-nbc-on-live-with-regis-and-kelly

[Human Snorenado]

Conan to do a 30 city live tour starting in April.

[Mr. Gundam]

Tickets went on sale this morning. I'm guessing they're already sold out.

[brawndolicious]

The monologues are always the worst parts of these shows, so I have no faith in his stand up act.

[Human Snorenado]

Looks like the closest he gets to Kentucky is doing a show at Bonnaroo and one in Atlanta.  Will Brandnew prove his love by making the long drive to see Coco?

[Mupepe]

According to Facebook he's going to Atlanta for the show

[Phoenix Dark]

There's a show in DC. Maybe I'll go.

typical conan fan

[Robo]

There's a show in DC. Maybe I'll go.

I was just looking at it.  Decent seats are still availabe. 

[CajoleJuice]

I found out about the NYC shows too late. Fuck. I mean, naturally the NYC shows are going to sell out the fastest. Sigh.

[Trent Dole]

There's a show in DC. Maybe I'll go.

I was just looking at it.  Decent seats are still availabe. 

The cheap seats for the show nearest me are $45 and there's also an insane meet and greet package for $695. Time to show just how with Coco you are folks.