Preview Of New Leno Vs. Conan Book

[DToTheJ]

Vanity Fair has published an excerpt of the upcoming book "The War For Late Night" by Bill Carter, who previously had written "The Late Shift" about Jay Leno's war with David Letterman. The follow-up, of course, is between Leno and Conan O'Brien.

Note that some passages (including, as you would except, the one involving Jeff Zucker being confronted about Conan wanting to stay at 11:30 PM) contain graphic language.
http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2010/12/late-night-wars-excerpt-201012?currentPage=all

 

[KML0224]

Wow! That was a good read! I was surprised that Jimmy Kimmel was never mentioned even once.

 

[landtuna]

It continually surprises me that the movers and shakers at NBC are so clueless.

Of course it isn't limited to NBC, or to TV.

 

[KentBrockman]

I always take books like with a grain of salt.... like this excerpt:

A former president of the Harvard Lampoon, Conan had dreamed of hosting The Tonight Show since he was a boy. Now that dream seemed somehow jeopardized. He finally went home, with a raging headache. He dropped his things and walked into the spacious country kitchen, where he collapsed onto a couch. His wife, Liza, found him stretched out there.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“I think maybe they’re going to cancel Jay,” Conan said. “I just think that guy is going to hurt me.”

“I don’t really see how that’s possible,” Liza said reassuringly.



Was author Bill Carter really at Conan's house to write down the conversation Conan had with his wife?

I don't think so.

Pure fiction.

 

[LKellerIII]

I always take books like with a grain of salt.... like this excerpt:

A former president of the Harvard Lampoon, Conan had dreamed of hosting The Tonight Show since he was a boy. Now that dream seemed somehow jeopardized. He finally went home, with a raging headache. He dropped his things and walked into the spacious country kitchen, where he collapsed onto a couch. His wife, Liza, found him stretched out there.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“I think maybe they’re going to cancel Jay,” Conan said. “I just think that guy is going to hurt me.”

“I don’t really see how that’s possible,” Liza said reassuringly.



Was author Bill Carter really at Conan's house to write down the conversation Conan had with his wife?

I don't think so.

Pure fiction.

This is kind of like written "docudrama" - taking an event that really happened, but with fictionalized scenes of actors talking about events that might have (or might not have) ever happened.

 

[1069_KIFR]

Also in those meetings, do people actually remember, word for word, what was actually said?

 

[whit979]

This has got to be one of the worst-written books I've ever read. The old "show, don't tell" philosophy gets thrown right out the door with the unrelenting usage of adjectives and adverbs. So much is left up in the air by this copy that I really don't care to read the book -- I question how much is real and how much of it is pulled out of thin air.