You’re TBS–a cable channel not exactly known for late night talk shows. You entered the fray last year, giving TV actor/stand-up comic George Lopez (Lopez Tonight). Fox goes after Conan O’Brien (aka Team Coco) only to find it challenging from an affiliates standpoint (they were locked into myriad syndicated deals for years, making 11 PM unavailable). TBS steps into the void and with Lopez’s help (as detailed in this Bill Carter [the late night expert at the New York Times] piece) gets O’Brien to commit to a show starting in November 2010.
If you’re TBS, you want to get O’Brien marketing his brand on TBS ASAP. But NBC has a clause preventing him from appearing on TV until June. What do you in the interim? This.
Well played, TBS. And I can’t wait for November.
And in the meantime, I will check out Lopez Tonight, because of the classy way Lopez viewed gaining O’Brien as an opportunity and happily offered his 11 PM time slot (committing to midnight).
Speaking of Lopez, he did a great bit last night acknowledging O’Brien and even “interviewing” Coco. Good stuff.
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