Monday 18 January 2010

Hollywood Babble On & On #433: Some Movie-Media-Money Musings...

Welcome to the show folks...

Been a busy day, and I'm running late delivering the blogging goodness that you crave like the salivating dogs that your are. So sit back, and let my words make sweet love to your brain....

STILL MORE LATE NIGHT STUFF...

It looks like Conan O'Brien has an exit deal to leave NBC. Personally, I won't believe it until Conan's people makes a statement and he's got the money in the bank, because the longer it takes to make it all legal and official, the greater the chance old Jeff the Jolly Jester will thrust himself into the situation and Zuckerfy everything back into the stone age. If he chooses to do so at a Pro-Coco rally, it might get ugly.

Folks are already wondering about the gangly comedian's future. Some think he'd be happy and more at home at Comedy Central. Which got me thinking.

Comedy Central is connected to the Paramount/Viacom empire, which also own CBS in one form or another, which is the home of David Letterman's
Late Show. Now if Letterman wasn't a baby boomer, and thus unwilling to retire until about 5 years after his own death, he'd recruit Conan to do a show for Comedy Central as a Worldwide Pants/Conan Co-Production. Perhaps a show fostering new comedians and bands. Then after a few years, when Dave finally admits his age and young interns and viagra lose their charms, Conan would step in on the Late Show.

He could even have Conan step in as a regular fill-in host during vacations and sick-days. Something Jay Leno wouldn't have done in a billion years. (Something Jay will find even harder, because who will believe his promises of eventually inheriting the show.)

Wouldn't that put an onion in the NBC ointment. It would burn even more if Conan beats Jay, who will probably still be there.

But like I said, there's still a chance to Zuckerfy everything. Considering that one of the few remaining sticky points is who gets custody of the Conan characters and skits. Now outside of totally petty desire to avoid seeing Conan succeed elsewhere with the things they could have had, they have no real use for that material.

Unless.... Zucker's planning a Pimpbot 5000 and Masturbating Bear sitcom for the fall 2010 TV season. But NBC would never go for it. People might actually watch it.

GOLDEN GLOBES....

Skipped them.

Probably skip the Oscars again too this year.

AS IF WRITERS DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH PROBLEMS...

Hollywood studios are now becoming more closed to new writers than ever, citing fear of litigation if someone submits without an agent.

Ironically, Hollywood agents have a similar policy, being unwilling to look at anyone they haven't poached from another agent.

Besides, it's all moot anyway since from now on all Hollywood films will be written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman.

Sure, you think I'm kidding, but look at the reports of who is writing what. They're the only writers working these days.

Here's the roll call for the 2011 Writer's Guild Annual General Meeting: "Bob you here?" "Here. Are you here Alex?" "Yep. Roll call complete."

3 comments:

  1. Blast Hardcheese19/1/10 2:25 pm

    Okay D, time for some rampant speculation (or maybe this has been answered already)...

    Who was the initial jerk in all this - NBC or Leno? Did NBC say 'Gee, Conan isn't doing so well, let's stick Jay back in there" or did Leno say "Gee, my new show isn't doing so well, I'd like to go back to the Tonight Show." Whatever his faults, Leno seems like a stand-up guy, so I tend to think it was NBC/Zucker who started it.

    So what's the rumpus?

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  2. I'll do a blog post about what I think, because it's too long to put in a comment.

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  3. Hollywood studios are now becoming more closed to new writers than ever, citing fear of litigation if someone submits without an agent.

    Ironically, Hollywood agents have a similar policy, being unwilling to look at anyone they haven't poached from another agent.


    I'm glad I read this before trying to make it as a writer there.

    That's just... Why am I even surprised? It's like Hollywood WANTS to die.

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