As the battle of the late-night talk show hosts continues to heat up, jokes and pointed barbs are giving way to flat out-hostility. And not just from the two main parties involved.
While Jay Leno was firing shots at Conan O’Brien for complaining that he only got seven months to make his version of “The Tonight Show” a success, O’Brien delivered body blows like telling the youth of America they can achieve anything “unless Jay Leno wants to do it to.”
Somewhat surprisingly, the most vocal late-night host was David Letterman. Letterman criticized Leno for his seemingly greedy behavior, revealed some of his former rival’s sneaky habits in the early ’90s and labeled NBC execs, most notably President and CEO Jeff Zucker, “nitwits” and “pinheads.”
The “Late Show” host also shared stories about his experiences with Zucker and company before he made the move to CBS and did a Top Ten list that featured messages from the NBC chief’s voicemail.
The final outcome of all of this bickering remains to be seen, with rumored details literally changing from minute to minute.
At one point today, TMZ reported that Leno had inked a deal with NBC to reclaim the “Tonight Show” desk at 11:35 p.m. for an hour-long show and ESPN’s Bill Simmons tweeted, “FYI: Next week is Conan’s final week hosting the Tonight Show. His staff is trying to book big guests so he goes out with a bang. It’s true.”
Except apparently, neither rumor is true.
NBC execs told USA Today no new deal had been reached with Leno and O’Brien’s personal publicist, Leslee Dart, quashed the story about his final “Tonight Show” week, saying, “He is just moving ahead, day-to-day, doing the show, per his contract – still working.”
Stay tuned.
Thursday, January 14
Whitney Cummings, Ross Mathews, Chris Franjola – “Chelsea Lately”
Snoop Dogg – “Lopez Tonight”
The Low Anthem – “Late Show with David Letterman”
Katharine McPhee – “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
Rosanne Cash – “The Tavis Smiley Show”
Julie Andrews,Vampire Weekend – “Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson”
Pete Yorn – “Last Call with Carson Daly”
Friday, January 15
Emilio Estefan – “The View”
Mark Walhberg, Ricky Gervais – “The Ellen DeGeneres Show”
Robin Thicke,Jo Koy, Christina Pazsitzky, Guy Branum – “Chelsea Lately
Lifehouse – “The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien”
Joan Rivers – “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
The Hotrats – “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
Bob Newhart – “The Tavis Smiley Show”
Luke Bryan – “Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson”
Paolo Nutini – “Last Call with Carson Daly” – rerun
Saturday, January 16
K’Naan, Mos Def – “Austin City Limits”
The Ting Tings – “Saturday Night Live”