Bill Carter (1) (1966–)

I remember when this happened. I sincerely felt Conan was wronged and I still believe it to this day. However, after hearing all sides of what went down, courtesy of respected TV journalist and author Bill Carter, I can see now why those involved acted the way they did.

On one side, you have Conan O'Brien. Back in the early 2000s, Conan passed on an offer to move to Fox, and with it a HUGE pay increase—something like 7x his current salary—because NBC reassured him The Tonight Show was show more his once Jay Leno stepped down. Essentially, the show was contractually promised to Conan. Then there's Jay, the workaholic ratings king, whom NBC asked to step aside in 2009 to make way for Conan. His response was, "... okay." Except, what he was actually thinking was, "Why is this okay? I'm number one on late night. Why is NBC asking me to leave when I still have so many good years ahead of me?" And then there's NBC, headed by Jeff Zucker, trying to avoid the mess from the last Tonight Show hand-off back in 1993. NBC loves Jay, but didn't want to lose Conan. So they brokered a deal in order to keep both stars. Egos clashed and drama ensued. Admittedly, it wasn't as bad as '93, but it still wasn't pretty.

I want to note one especially good moment: It's from the chapter titled "We're the Network" and it's Lorne Michaels, the creator and decades-long producer of Saturday Night Live, recounting a conversation with his NBC boss from the late 1970s which impressed upon him how valuable he was (and would be) to SNL's continuing success should he decide to leave to show and how NBC as an entity, aka "The Network," was indifferent to whatever he decided. The lesson: Sometimes you're given something special, something only you can grow into something better. Take it or leave it. Few if any other people would be able to do the same. show less

Still Bill Carter which means picture perfect reporting and a narrative you can't put down. Problem here are there are too many characters and no clear beginning or ending to the story so its structure is a bit of a shapeless mess and ends like the cord being yanked out of the outlet. It's not as good as his two books about late night TV but still the work of one of the best minds writing about television today.

Great writing about the players behind the scenes of Late Night TV in the 90s. I looked forward to my nightly chapter and frequently cheated and read more than one a night. Flowed nicely, flashbacks were handed very well, and characters introduced and fleshed out nicely as needed.

Reading this after the recent Leno/NBC/Conan shenanigans made it even more interesting. I am left wondering if any of the NBC execs from that time were still left and involved in the recent "I call take backs!" of show more Leno.

Mr Carter, write another book about the latest incidents! :) show less

I couldn't get enough of the Tonight Show saga when it was going on and this is an excellent narrative of the whole affair. Researched almost entirely through interviews by the author, it reads almost like a novel in places. You learn a great deal about the process and the thought behind the initial deal which kept Conan at NBC in 2004 and the later disastrous decision to move Jay Leno into primetime, but also about the main players both in front of the camera and behind the scenes: what the show more meetings were like, and what their lives are like. (A particular eye opener for me was how important and influential executives like Dick Ebersol at NBC and the lizard-like Roger Ailes at Fox are--despite having responsibilities completely unrelated to late night.)

The prose is first-rate, always interesting, but never getting in its own way. This is what the lame "oral histories" of Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons could have been. I suppose they still could be. show less