The War for Late Night_ When Leno Went Early and Television Went Crazy - Bill Carter [171]
“Fuck,” Ross said. “Well, we know that Jay knows.”
OʹBrien walked into an office in an uproar. A post on the entertainment gossip site TMZ, “NBC Shakeup; Jay Leno Comes Out on Top,” had basically reversed the rumor—now it was Conan who had been canceled. The first few women on the staff he encountered had tears streaming down their cheeks. O’Brien called a rushed staff meeting, gathering everyone in the studio. He grabbed a hand mic and said he just wanted to address the rumors. It was simply not true that the show had been canceled, Conan said. Yes, he explained, “there is a situation with NBC,ʺ but the show was not being threatened. “We’re all going to be OK.ʺ Relief flooded the room, but did not wash away the uncertainty much of the staff was feeling.
Even more than the meeting with Gaspin and Graboff, the TMZ story upset Conan. The day had begun with sharks circling Jay’s rejected show; now they had suddenly turned in Conan’s direction? How had that happened? Who could have fed the Web site this bogus story? Conan didn’t have to guess much to come up with a suspect. He thought about the 1993 episode when Jay hid in a closet to listen in on his fate, a move that Jay had been conspicuously proud of, seeing himself as simply resourceful, but a move that played to some as evidence of the unholy lengths he would go to in order to protect his position. To O’Brien, the timing of the leak to TMZ—coming so soon after a story that Jay had been canceled—screamed of an attempt at diversionary action.
Soon after Conan got back to his office, Ross walked in with more news. He had e-mailed a contact in New York with a simple question: “Is it true Lorne knows?” The answer had come back: Yes.
“We were the last ones to find out about this,” Ross said. “This is not good.”
“Nope,” said O’Brien. “This is not good.”
Ross was just finished comparing how not good this was with “sticking a big stick up your ass” when his assistant told him he had a call waiting from Allison Gollust.
Out on the studio tour with the Comcast team, Zucker had already checked in with Rick Rosen. “Well, what do you think?” Zucker had questioned him.
“It doesn’t sound very good,” Rick replied.
“How did they take it?” Zucker asked.
“Not well.”
“Well, can I go over and speak to them?”
“Hey, Jeff—you run the place,” Rosen replied. “You don’t have to ask me.”
A short time later Gollust put in the call to Ross. She had been dispatched to reach out to assure him that Zucker was indeed in town and ready to come by and talk this through with Ross and Conan. She explained to Ross that they were driving around the lot on golf carts, still stuck with the Comcast guys, and then they had a lunch scheduled with them, but they could stop by as soon as that was over.
After checking with Conan, Jeff said it would be better if Zucker came by after the show. Zucker agreed this made sense. Zucker was mainly concerned with assuring Conan and Ross that he would make every effort to get to them as soon as he could, fully aware that they would have an issue with NBCʹs having talked to Jay first.
That Thursday night, Conan didn’t perform a show so much as simply get through one. He made no mention of the events of that day. He knew he was only half there, the other half still distracted by the anvil hanging over his head.
Jeff Ross left Conan to wind down after he left the stage and headed up to his office, anticipating Zucker’s arrival. In the past, given their closeness, a visit from Zucker would have been an occasion for lightheartedness. This evening Ross found himself more than troubled—he was pissed. The news they had heard that day was bad enough, but that it had been delivered by Jeff Gaspin, a guy they barely knew, instead of Zucker himself, left Ross hugely offended.
When Zucker arrived at around seven, he saw