Celebrity Mound

Howard Stern dislikes Jay Leno and he’s not afraid to say it.

And perhaps, CBS’ “The Early Show,” seeing potential ratings in Stern just doing that, gave the outspoken radio host upwards of four minutes Tuesday morning to slam the “Tonight Show” boss.

“Just the mere mention of Jay Leno’s name makes me to want to vomit,” Stern told “Early Show” anchor Harry Smith — who, not surprisingly, barely got a word in.

“I don’t like this guy,” Stern said. “I don’t disguise it.”

Stern was on to weigh in on the late-night wars, which got underway again Monday night when Leno returned to host “Tonight.”

Leno left the show last June as part of a five-year NBC plan to replace him with Conan O’Brien on “Tonight.” Leno left reluctantly, and announced he would do a comedy show weeknights at 10 p.m.

O’Brien’s version of “Tonight” struggled in the Nielsen department, followed by Leno failing in the 10 p.m. slot. In January, NBC officials decided to move Leno back to late night with a half-hour show at 11:35 p.m., followed by O’Brien at 12:05 a.m. with “Tonight.”

O’Brien balked at the move, saying he didn’t want to be part of the destruction of the “Tonight” franchise. He then negotiated a settlement for himself and his staff worth $45 million.

“Jay Leno seems to be the kind of showbiz animal that won’t let go,” Stern said, suggesting Leno should have initially walked away when NBC decided to replace him. “Jay is a lap dog.”

Smith did say that television was a business, and Leno was able to generate ratings and revenue for NBC.

Leno typically does not respond to remarks like Stern’s.

But a source close to Jay says, “it’s just Howard trying to stay relevant, especially at new contract time.

“It is ironic, however, that Howard goes off like this about Jay, but at the same time he and his producer continually try to book Jay as a guest on the show.’”

Check out the video from the CBS Early Show below:

Settlement talks continued Sunday on a deal that would let O’Brien leave NBC and “Tonight,” and put Leno back into the 11:35 p.m. EST time slot he occupied for 17 years through last spring.

Jay Leno staffers say their boss isn’t the bad guy in NBC’s late-night upheaval.

Leno has faced online chatter and some reports suggesting he’s wresting “Tonight” from Conan O’Brien.

“The network asked him to make a compromise. He’s being a good soldier, and he’s being trashed,” said producer Jack Coen, who has worked with Leno for 14 years.

He added that there isn’t any truth to the suggestion that the talk host forced the issue to get back on “The Tonight Show.”

Tracie Fiss, a co-producer who has worked with Leno for 18 years, said her reaction to such characterizations is “frustration.”

“Jay doesn’t have the power to make these decisions. The decisions are made by NBC,” she said.

Settlement talks continued Sunday on a deal that would let O’Brien leave NBC and “Tonight,” and put Leno back into the 11:35 p.m. EST time slot he occupied for 17 years through last spring. NBC is dropping “The Jay Leno Show,” his disappointing prime-time show that debuted last fall at 10 p.m.

A proposed deal would give O’Brien more than $30 million for leaving and allow him to go to another network as early as this fall, according to people familiar with the talks, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the negotiations.

After O’Brien rejected NBC’s initial plan to move him and “Tonight” to midnight EST and give Leno a half-hour show at 11:30 p.m. EST, the flap became monologue fodder for them and for other late-night hosts. The exchanges, which grew increasingly pointed and with Leno often the target, have been widely reported.

Appearing by satellite last week for Leno’s “Ten at Ten” question-and-answer segment, ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel was asked to relate his best prank ever. Kimmel replied that he told a guy five years ago that he’d give him his show, and “then I took it back.”

It was a thinly veiled reference to Leno’s agreement in 2004 to surrender “The Tonight Show” to O’Brien last year.

Coen, who worked on “Tonight” with Leno and is a producer on Leno’s prime-time show in charge of writing, said such barbed humor isn’t unusual among comedians but contends it’s being misinterpreted in news reports.

“It’s interesting to be on this side of the story and see how it’s being reported. They act as if he’s the corporate lapdog but also the master marionette forcing these issues,” Coen said.

If Leno emerges with “Tonight” but with his image scarred, it could have ramifications for him and his show.

NBC said Sunday it decided to pull the plug on the Jay Leno experiment when some affiliate stations considered dropping the nightly prime-time show, and the network is waiting to hear if Leno and “Tonight” host Conan O’Brien accept its new late-night TV plans.

“The Jay Leno Show,” which airs at 10 p.m. EST, will end with the Feb. 12 beginning of the Winter Olympics, said NBC Universal Television Entertainment Chairman Jeff Gaspin. Leno would return to his former 11:35 p.m. slot after the Olympics ended under the network’s new plan, which also calls for O’Brien to retain his job with “Tonight” but at the later hour of 12:05 a.m. EST.

Jimmy Fallon and his “Late Night” would be pushed a half-hour later as well, to 1:05 a.m. EST.

“My goal is to keep Jay, Conan and Jimmy as our late-night lineup,” Gaspin said, adding later that they “have the weekend to think about it” and discussions with them will resume Monday.

NBC had moved Leno to prime-time last year in order to keep him from leaving the company and keep a promise it had made to give O’Brien the “Tonight” show. The change was one of the most dramatic in prime-time television in a generation. It was also a roll of the dice at a time NBC was suffering in prime-time. It didn’t even last six months.

Gaspin said the new proposal gives Leno what’s important to him – telling jokes at a later hour – and O’Brien his top priority, retaining “Tonight.”

“I hope and expect that before the Olympics begin, we’ll have everything set. I can’t imagine we won’t have everything in place before then,” Gaspin told a meeting of the Television Critics Association.

Gaspin said that despite lower ratings for NBC at 10 p.m. compared to last year, the network was making money off the show.

But affiliates were upset that it was leading fewer viewers into their late news programs, costing them significant advertising revenue. Some affiliates told NBC in December they would go public soon about their complaints if a change wasn’t made, or even take Leno’s show off the air.

Gaspin said about one-third of the affiliates were really hurt by the Leno show, although he wasn’t clear on how many said they might pre-empt his show.

“I asked them (the affiliates) how many are they talking about, because I could have lived with one or two. But I got the sense that it was more than one or two,” he said.

Michael Fiorile, chairman of the NBC Affiliate Board, said it was a great move for NBC stations, the networks and viewers.

“We admire their willingness to innovate, and their willingness to change course when it didn’t work for us,” Fiorile said.

Gaspin said he pondered combinations of possible schedule changes before the holidays and then called his boss, NBC Universal chief executive Jeff Zucker, for approval to act.

“I don’t want to wait anymore. Now is the time,” Gaspin recounted telling Zucker.

Both Leno and O’Brien made comedic hay out of the issue last week. Leno joked in his monologue that NBC was working on a solution in which all parties would be treated unfairly, while O’Brien wisecracked that he and Leno would be thrown by the network into a pit to fight and “the one that crawls out gets to leave NBC.”

Gaspin said he’s “perfectly fine” with their on-air remarks “if that’s how they blow off steam and that’s how they’re comfortable.”

NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” and its “Weekend Update” with Seth Meyers also got into the act.

“It was reported Thursday that in the wake of poor ratings for `The Jay Leno Show,’ NBC will move his show back to the 11:35 time slot, and then start Conan O’Brien’s `Tonight Show’ at midnight – though it’s a little weird to start the `Tonight Show’ at a time when it’s no longer tonight,” Meyers said Saturday.

Asked if O’Brien and Fallon expressed anger at his proposal, Gaspin said both men were professional and understanding when they talked. “Beyond that, it was a private conversation,” Gaspin said.

O’Brien reportedly has a contract that guarantees him a multimillion-dollar payment if “Tonight” is moved later than 12:05 a.m. EST.

But Gaspin, asked if a contractual penalty weighed into the decision to bump O’Brien’s show a half-hour rather than a full hour, replied, “No, not at all.”

As for reports that Fox may be considering courting O’Brien for a late-night program, Gaspin repeated his desire to keep him, Leno and Fallon at NBC.

The decision to shift Leno will leave a gaping hole in NBC’s prime-time schedule, at a time the network is already struggling. A mix of reality programming, “Dateline NBC” and at least two hours of scripted shows will be added to fill in the five hours taken up by Leno’s prime-time show each week.

Looking ahead to the 2010-11 season, NBC announced seven drama pilots under development, including an updated version of “The Rockford Files” from “House” executive producer David Shore; “Undercovers,” a husband-wife spy drama from producer J.J. Abrams (“Lost”) and “Prime Suspect,” based on the BBC series about a female detective.

The network’s heavy development slate is a reversal of its most recent approach of attempting to make series without pilots.

Are Jay Leno’s days in primetime numbered?

The future of NBC’s “The Jay Leno Show” is in question as Web reports Thursday triggered all sorts of scenarios for the troubled program.

What is clear is that the network is reconsidering its commitment to Leno at 10 p.m., with moving him back to late-night being a credible option.

In such a scenario, Leno would return to 11:35 p.m. for a half-hour program, with Conan O’Brien and Jimmy Fallon shifting back a half-hour to 12:05 a.m. and 1:05 a.m., respectively. If he agrees to the plan, O’Brien would retain “the Tonight Show” name for his show.

TMZ first reported the possibility of a shift, saying the move will happen after next month’s Winter Olympics, which pre-empt NBC’s primetime programing for two weeks. NBC did not deny such a possibility.

But the time-period shift scenario would require NBC to fill five primetime hours very quickly.

The network has ramped up development for next season with plans to order 18 pilots, including 10 dramas, but the new series would not be ready before summer. NBC also has several reality shows ready to roll, but such programs normally are designed to air from 8-10 p.m.

In any case, the rumors have roiled the industry: Eyebrows have been raised not only because NBC would be considering reversing its Leno plan but because it would be making such a drastic move in a few weeks. But looming for NBC is its January 21 affiliate meeting, where it would face disgruntled station owners whose late newscasts were hit hard by the anemic “Leno” lead-in, and, in unfortunate timing, the network’s Sunday session at the TV Critics Assn. press tour, where its top executives undoubtedly will be barraged with Leno questions.

Any change on “Leno” would represent an embarrassing about-face after NBC’s numerous public statements pledging to give Leno months, even years, to grow into the slot; the network always emphasized that the show was a 52-week strategy.

The retreat also could represent a serious blow to NBC’s executive leadership as its ownership shifts from GE to Comcast, especially since “Leno” impacted the network precisely as industry experts predicted — and performed in its time period precisely as network execs repeatedly claimed that they anticipated, including in a statement Thursday morning.

That wasn’t lost on Leno, who took a series of shots at NBC in his monologue Thursday night including, “What does NBC stand for — never believe your contract?” He also suggested he might switch networks. “If we did get canceled, it will give us time to do some traveling,” he said. “I understand that Fox is beautiful this time of year.”

Some industry analysts and affiliate stations were downright elated by the news that NBC would shift the show out of its 10 p.m. slot.

“While NBC can be credited with a new approach to primetime programing, the ratings results were untenable not just for the network but for its partner affiliates,” John Rash of ad agency Campbell Mithun said. “If the show is canceled, it’s best to do it now in order to closely collaborate with the creative community to develop dramas for the 10 p.m. time slot as well as address the programing problems that now exist in late-night as well.”

Bill Campbell of Katz TV stations added, “Stations have always believed that Jay Leno was best positioned in the 11:30 p.m. slot and would be happy to see a potentially stronger lead-in to their late local newscasts.”

Thursday was rife with rampant Web speculation about the future of Leno and O’Brien following an early post on FTLive.com claiming that NBC was “pulling the plug” on Leno’s primetime show and TMZ’s subsequent time-shift story. That forced NBC to issue two statements, one denying that “Leno” was canceled but acknowledging that “it has presented some issues for our affiliates” and the other stating that the network brass “remain committed to keeping Conan O’Brien on NBC.”

Prime-time newcomer Jay Leno says he would have rather stayed put at “The Tonight Show” – and if NBC offered him that job again, he’d take it.

In an interview with Broadcasting & Cable magazine published online Monday, Leno hastily added that such a decision isn’t his to make.

Conan O’Brien, his successor as “Tonight” host after 17 years, is “doing fine,” Leno said.

“Conan is in the same position I was in when I took over. It takes a while. Some will like it; some will leave forever and not come back.”

Leno said he doesn’t think the recent controversy surrounding his former late-night rival David Letterman “will have a big effect at all.”

Referring to Letterman’s acknowledged sexual affairs with female members of his staff, Leno said, “If it were me, it would kill me. I’m the guy who’s been married 29 years. But Dave has never pretended to be Mr. Moral America, he’s never set himself up that way. He’s not a hypocrite.”

“The Jay Leno Show” began on NBC in September, airing Monday through Friday at 10 p.m. Eastern, where it has displaced several prime-time scripted dramas. For that, and for his less-than-stellar ratings thus far, Leno has taken heat within the TV industry as well as from critics.

It’s just part of the battle, said Leno, who insisted he enjoys it.

“I get a certain amount of satisfaction from pounding my head against the wall,” he said. “I’m not having a bad time at 10 o’clock now. I look at this as a job, and now I’m faced with a challenge, and it’s a challenge I find difficult but interesting.”

Jay Leno introduced a new segment on his talk show Tuesday night called “Ten @ Ten,” in which the host “makes house calls” to celebrities and asks them 10 random questions.

Speaking via satellite from the Worcester, Mass. set of their new movie “Wichita” was Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz.

The actors, who previously co-starred in “Vanilla Sky,” were game to answer anything from their guilty pleasures, fast food preferences and strip club visits.

When asked who spends more time in the make-up chair, Diaz sarcastically joked, “Please, do I look like I wear rouge?”

“Clearly me, Jay,” joked Cruise.

Cruise, 47, also denied ever going to a strip club, resulting in the audience booing the actor.

“I never have been. Sorry to disappoint you,” he answered. “I swear, if I went I would say, ‘Jay, yeah of course, I went.”

The actor also showed off his musical chops by singing a line from Stevie Wonder’s hit song, “Isn’t She Lovely,” a tune he sings when putting his 3-year-old daughter, Suri, to bed.

Diaz, 37, admitted her guilty TV pleasure is watching all the “Real Housewives” shows, whereas Cruise sticks to ESPN.

Leno finished the segment by asking the most uncomfortable question for Cruise: “What are you better at? Flying or sex?”

“I try to excel in all areas and I’ve never been asked for a refund,” he answered. “[Sex with me] is like flying.”

TMI, Tom. TMI.

(source)