Everyone knows about the Jay Leno/Conan O’Brien mess on NBC that left the latter kicked off The Tonight Show after the former was reinstated.
O’Brien was recently offered the chance to appear on another network, but a fear of his fans and supporters has prompted NBC to keep him off TV until April 21. Although O’Brien has been in talks with Fox Broadcasting Co. about a possible talk show, he was recently approached to appear on American Idol’s charity show, “Idol Gives Back.”
But NBC’s contract with O’Brien bans him from television for another month.
We can’t help but see this as a desperate push from NBC to cover up the awkwardness of January’s whole Late Night debacle. We understand NBC’s reluctance to have another network plop O’Brien opposite Leno and see who has the most fans, but barring him from the airwaves even for charity events is a little extreme.
Even if you don’t find O’Brien’s antics terribly amusing, it is still obvious that NBC’s handling of the situation was most unfair to the man who was promised the job of a lifetime and then quietly paid to step down.
The refusal to allow O’Brien on television until this “blows over” is not making NBC look any smoother. O’Brien, on the other hand, seems to be dealing fairly well. In his free time he is planning a 30-city tour called the “Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour.” It’s good to know someone’s laughing.
