Day: November 9, 2010

Jeff Zucker's reign at NBC is almost over, and last night, he was supporting his wife, Caryn, who along with comedian Bob Saget produced an annual benefit show for the Scleroderma Research Foundation called Cool Cuisine, Hot Comedy, at Carolines on Broadway. See WireImage photos from the event. This is what greeted Zucker as he crossed Broadway to head into Carolines. A giant Conan billboard. Zucker didn't walk the red carpet, so I didn't get to ask him if he planned to watch any TV last night, but it seemed almost everyone else who was awake was keenly aware of Conan's debut, too. You couldn't avoid knowing about it. Not even Zucker could avoid it. The ratings for Conan's debut on TBS were big. How big? Big enough to dominate everyone else, especially his head-to-head demographic rivals and friends at Comedy Central in Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. Here are last night's ratings for selected late-night competition, which excludes the numbers for Chelsea Lately on E! at 11, Nightline on ABC at 11:35, and Jimmy Kimmel Live after midnight. I'll break it all down for you later as the viewership shakes out. Late-night TV for Monday, Nov. 8, 2010: (Total viewers/18-49) Conan 4.2 million/3.3 millionTonight Show with Jay Leno 3.5 million/952,000Late Show with David Letterman 3.3 million/1.3 millionLopez Tonight 1.4 million/883,000The Daily Show with Jon Stewart 1.3 million/687,000The Colbert Report 1.0...

FOX has announced it will roll out an extended sneak preview of its upcoming animated series, Bob's Burgers, on Thanksgiving night during its two-hour broadcast of The Simpsons Movie. It's another early sign of support for Bob's Burgers, which is good news for comedy fans, since the series is voiced by comedians: Jon Benjamin, John Roberts, Kristen Schaal, Eugene Mirman and Dan Mintz. The series officially debuts in January 2011. Last month, the network ordered six additional scripts for the series. Here's a clip of the cast and creators discussing the show during Comic-Con in San Diego. Roll it!...

Meet your new late-night TV competition, same as the old competition. That was the case for David Letterman last night, as just like a year ago, he's up against Conan O'Brien for viewers. And unlike Jay Leno, Letterman had no problem bringing up Conan by name. Or using it at Leno's expense. Here's some footage from last night's Late Show monologue (with added jokes about former President George W. Bush's new memoir). Roll it.   The situation is decidedly different for Jon Stewart on Comedy Central. He's been ruling the roost at 11 p.m., but now he and Conan will be targeting the same demographic. For some reason, Stewart isn't all that optimistic, at least by how he opened the show last night on The Daily Show. Roll it....