We don’t usually get into what people in Hollywood like to call the “executive shuffle” here at The Flickcast. In the entertainment industry, its usually much more interesting to discuss the machinations of the “creatives” instead of the people who are in charge of studios, networks and the like.

However, in the case of someone like Jeff Zucker who, it could be argued, basically destroyed any credibility NBC has as a network and pretty much offended most people with his handling of the Conan O’Brien / Jay Leno deal, the situation does warrant commentary. Fortunately, smarter and funnier people than us have already done what’s necessary.

In this new video from our friends at Jimmy Kimmel Live, Zucker is given a chance to tell his side of the story in a news conference/music video. Sadly for him, but great for us, things don’t go exactly as he planned.

Check out the video after the break.

Continue Reading →

Now that the NBC dust has settled, all of the diehard Conan O’Brien fans can put aside their hatred for Leno as the premiere date for the first episode of Conan’s show on TBS draws closer and closer. Well, probably not. But at least we still have the show to look forward to.

Conan is done touring, back in California, and getting things ready for what looks to be the biggest thing to hit TBS since the birth of the network. With that come some amazing new TV spots from the Team CoCo crew which can be considered to be either weird or genius, depending on your outlook.

In the most recent spot, we get a touching moment with an old man and a stripper. See what we were saying? Genius.

Check out the fulfilling moment after the jump and be sure to glue yourself to the TV or DVR for the premiere of Conan on November 8th, only on TBS. Very Funny. Soon to be Funnier.

Continue Reading →

It feels like only yesterday when we were cursing the names of Jay Leno and NBC for what happened to Conan O’Brien and the entire Tonight Show fiasco. Here we are, 8 months later and Conan is already getting prepped for his new home on TBS.

The late night comedian signed a deal back in April to be the host of his very own show over on the cable network. The show pushes George Lopez’s show to midnight every night, but Lopez was more than happy with the deal as long as it meant O’Brien got to be his lead-in.

While the show is set to start as early as November, TBS has already started prepping their audience with a new 10 second spot. It may only be 10 seconds, but it manages to promote Conan in a bizarre Monty Python-esque way, which seems to be right down our alley.

O’Brien has already stated that he’s bringing his sidekick Andy Richter along for the show, as well as many of his writers that came with him from Late Night and even The Tonight Show. You can expect to see an official premiere date to draw closer, but as for now, we’ll just have to take our Conan dose in the form of a 10 second ad.

Check it out after the jump.

Continue Reading →

Though NBC has been the subject of ridicule due to what is now being dubbed as “The Tonight Show Conundrum”, that doesn’t seem to have phased them as they are ramping up the upcoming awards season with two new hosts.

Last week, the network announced that Ricky Gervais will be returning to host this year’s Golden Globes, making it his second year in a row as the host. On the heels of that announcement, NBC has also named Jimmy Fallon as the host of the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards. From Live Feed:

“Jimmy was the natural choice as one of the most promising and likable young entertainers who will now have the chance to display his many talents on television’s biggest night,” said Paul Telegdy, executive vp of alternative at NBC. “His proven skills as a comedian and host — as well as his openness to new ideas — will fully engage audiences and ultimately deliver a lively Emmy telecast.”

Added executive producer Don Mischer: “Jimmy has many talents. He can sing, he can dance, he does impersonations, and he does it gracefully and with ease. I think he’ll make a terrific host and we are really looking forward to working with him.”

Continue Reading →

While most of us are still railing after the Conan/NBC/Leno debacle, plans are still underway for Leno’s return to the illustrious Tonight Show host position on March 1st. However, not all is smooth sailing with the show. Word is coming in that band leader Kevin Eubanks, who served as Leno’s “number 1″ for a massive 17 years, will be leaving the show along with announcer John Melendez.

Eubanks originally planned to remain on as Leno’s bandleader when he returned to the Tonight Show, but it looks like he’s now having a change of heart. From Variety:

Eubanks is said to be interested in returning to touring and working out a flexible schedule with the “Tonight Show.” Whether that means he’ll leave for good — or take lengthy leaves of absence, as Conan O’Brien band leader Max Weinberg did to tour with Bruce Springsteen — has not yet been worked out, NBC insiders said.

Eubanks joined the “Tonight Show” band in 1992, and replaced Branford Marsalis as band leader in 1995. When Leno moved to “The Jay Leno Show,” Eubanks became the leader of the renamed “Primetime Band.”

NBC has not yet looked for Eubanks’ replacement. (An online rumor that Hootie and the Blowfish frontman Darius Rucker would replace him was quickly shot down by all involved.) As for Melendez, he took on a behind-the-scenes role as writer, and will continue that position.

Yes folks, it’s that time again here at The Flickcast. Recap time. In this edition we’ve got clips and previews for some of NBC’s shows including Mercy and the soon to be on his own Conan O’Brien from The Tonight Show. First up on Mercy, Veronica’s patient last night was an interesting one and didn’t look all that bad for a man who wakes up from a ten year coma.

Next, Conan had some pretty good guests on his show last night and the love fest continued. The very funny Adam Sandler and Community’s Joel McHale stopped by. Joel even made a very generous offer – to let Conan host his show The Soup.

He wasn’t the only NBC actor to support Conan as Ed Helms of The Office also stopped in (and brought his piano) for a quick  song: a remix of his song from The Hangover with lyrics just for Conan. Oh, and apparently some sort of Masturbating Bear was also there.

Check out all the video clips after the jump.

Continue Reading →

Even though it seemed Conan O’Brien was getting kinda shafted by his corporate masters at NBC, it looks now like he’ll at least come out ok in one area: a big settlement. According to Yahoo News, NBC is confirming that they have reached a deal with Conan O’Brien and the check has quite a few digits on it.

According to the terms of the deal, Conan’s last show will be this Friday night and NBC has agreed to pay Conan and his staff $45 Million for their troubles. $32.5 Million will go to Conan himself while the rest of the money goes to his staff, most of whom moved to Los Angeles from New York with Conan to do the show.

Obviously, they thought the show would last longer than 7 months so it made sense to move to LA. That’s what they get for thinking, right? It’s also being reported elsewhere that as part of the terms of the deal Conan is allowed to take very few elements of the show with him should he choose to go to another network. Let’s just hope the Masturbating Bear is one of them he can take.

Jay Leno returns to The Tonight Show on March 1.

We all know that this NBC Late Night war is getting out of hand. It’s good to see some are taking it seriously, while still adding a comedic twist to it, though. SNL’s Seth Meyers broke down the fiasco into marital terms that we could all understand, and now it’s time for Taiwan to take a crack at it, using the skills they’re best at: state-of-the-art computer animation.

Finally, the whole war has now been put into terms that us geeks can understand. Of course, we have no idea what’s actually being said in the video, but what we do know is that Jeff Zucker, Jay Leno, and Conan O’Brien turn into Captain America, Superman, and the Hulk about halfway through…and battle. What else could you ask for?

Is this just the Taiwanese News mocking our coverage of the Late Night War, or do they really think that the only way we solve our problems is by putting on superhero costumes and fighting? Check out the insane news report after the jump, and if anybody knows what is being said, please fill us in.

Continue Reading →

As we do often here at The Flickcast, we’ve got lots of video highlight and preview for some of your favorite shows this week including Chuck, Heroes, Law and Order and Conan O’Brian on The Tonight Show. This time around the highlights of Chuck include a clip from last night’s episode with guest stars Brandon Routh and Angie Harmon.

And get ready for next week’s episode with Stone Cold Steve Austin and Kristin Kreuk in the preview clip. With Heroes, there’s a recap showcasing Slyar’s plan to regain his power with the help of Claire. Then, look ahead to next Monday’s episode as Noah tries to take down the Sullivan Brothers Carnival.

On The Tonight Show, Conan continued to explore his job options. He shared some of his offers with the audience and then they took a vote on the best one. Conan also had a gift for his supporters at the “I’m With Coco” rally. What a nice guy.

Check out all the videos after the jump.

Continue Reading →

Once again, the country has been split. This time, it’s not for for land, democracy, money, or rap music, but the coveted prize of NBC’s The Tonight Show. The country’s sides are broken down to “Team Conan” and “Team Leno.” Though the latter should be “Team NBC”, nobody wants to take sides with the network after the decisions they’ve made.

Of course there are people who remain independent, or on “Team Dave”, but they don’t really matter here. With NBC announcing that their letting Conan go, fellow celebrity supporters of O’Brien are standing up and taking as many potshots at the network as they can on national TV. One of those supporters is Saturday Night Live’s Seth Meyers.

Meyers is not only the first solo host of Weekend Update since Colin Quinn back in 2000, but he’s also the show’s current head writer. Meyers took a moment to explain the “Late Night War” in a pretty marital analogy for everyone to understand, which both enlightened us, and stuck it to NBC CEO Jeff Zucker at the same time. Take a look at the clip after the jump.

Continue Reading →

With the newest Late Night War firing up between NBC’s own Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien, it seems that the feud has shifted focus to Conan vs. NBC. Earlier this week, Conan put out a statement directed at the network saying that he will no longer be a part of The Tonight Show if it’s moved from 11:30pm to 12:05am. From there, Conan has made his opening monologues over the past few nights directed towards NBC and their actions.

Yesterday, NBC made it official that Leno’s show will be moving to 11:30 after the Winter Olympics come to an end. They haven’t made it clear what the plans for Conan and his team will be, but some rumors have Conan being benched until his contract is up in three years.

Continue Reading →