The War for Late Night: When Leno Went Early and Television Went Crazy
The New York Times bestselling author of The Late Shift delivers "a boisterous, two-timing, high-stakes drama about the business of comedy" (The Associated Press). No one is more uniquely suited to document television's latest late- night travesty than veteran media reporter and bestselling...
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The New York Times bestselling author of The Late Shift delivers "a boisterous, two-timing, high-stakes drama about the business of comedy" (The Associated Press). No one is more uniquely suited to document television's latest late- night travesty than veteran media reporter and bestselling author, Bill Carter. NBC's CEO, Jeff Zucker, had it all worked out when he moved Jay Leno from behind the desk at The Tonight Show, and handed the reins over to Conan O'Brien. But as everyone knows, his decision was a spectacular failure. Ratings plummeted, affiliates were enraged-and when Zucker tried to put everything back the way it was, that plan backfired as well.In candid detail, Carter charts the vortex that sucked in-not just Leno and O'Brien-but also Letterman, Stewart, Fallon, Kimmel, and Ferguson as frantic agents and network executives tried to manage a tectonic shift in television's most beloved institution.
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Format: paperback
ISBN:
9780452297494 (0452297494)
Publish date: September 27th 2011
Publisher: Plume Books
Pages no: 417
Edition language: English
Not as good as The Late Shift, as I recall, but nonetheless it's a good account of the recent late show debacle.
When I first heard about this book, I was still seething from when Jay Leno took the Tonight Show away from O'Brien after only seven months of some hit or miss shows. Funny thing, for whatever reason, my hatred of Leno blinded me to the sheer stupidity of NBC. When I was finished this book, I still ...
Disclaimer: I love Bill Carter and I find all of his books to be absolutely fascinating as I am obsessed with the television industry.If you're looking for some surprise ending, you don't need this book. We all know the basics of the late night debacle and how it all turns out. What this book provid...