Conan Officially Leaving NBC, Last Tonight Show on Friday; ION Gets Emeril Lagasse For New Series

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Conan Officially Leaving NBC, Last Tonight Show on Friday; ION Gets Emeril Lagasse For New Series

NBC and Conan O'Brien have finally officially reached a resolution of the issues surrounding O'Brien's contract to host The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien.
Under terms of an agreement (at about a $45 million buyout for he and his staff) that was signed earlier today, NBC and O'Brien will settle their contractual obligations and the network will release O'Brien from his contract, freeing him to pursue other opportunities after September 1, 2010.
O'Brien will make his final appearance as host of The Tonight Show tomorrow night (Friday, January 22). Jay Leno will take over The Tonight Show once again starting March 1 the night after the Winter Olympics end. The primetime Jay Leno Show will end after its Thursday, February 11 airing.
From Monday, January 25 through Thursday, Feb. 11, NBC will air repeats (at least Jan. 25-29, maybe guest hosts from Feb. 1-11?) of The Tonight Show, as the Winter Olympics will take over from Feb. 12-28, before Jay Leno returns.
NBC still has not mentioned a word about Last Call with Carson Daly. Is his show still going to on at 1:35am? Who knows. It is repeats half the year anyway...seriously. Anyway, Conan will be able to return to late night television on Sept. 1. But where? Tweet us where you think he'll end up? Fox, FX, TBS, or somewhere else?

Building on its 2009 momentum, ION Television today announced its first original non-scripted series, The Emeril Lagasse Show, a new weekly, entertainment television show featuring celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse. The original, primetime series will be recorded before a live studio audience and will capture Emeril's passion for people, entertainment, music, food and celebration. The hour long program will air on Sundays at 8:00pm ET/PT beginning Sunday, March 28.
The Emeril Lagasse Show will feature one of America's most popular chefs as he has never been seen before. Each week, Emeril will welcome celebrity guests, musicians and entertainers to break news and break bread as Emeril shares his world, his friends and his passions with the studio audience and viewers at home. A house band will be on set, playing live music and interacting with Emeril, guests and audience. The show also will include entertaining and surprising field pieces that will be shot in and around New York City where the show will be taped. TV veteran Karen Katz and After Five Productions, which executive produced Lagasse's long-running Food Network series, Emeril Live, will be executive producer of The Emeril Lagasse Show.
The Emeril Lagasse Show will be produced with innovative marketing opportunities that will appeal to advertisers from a broad range of categories. The show will be supported through traditional marketing and social media including Facebook where consumers can become a fan at Facebook.com/Emeril.
Stay with us in the coming weeks for our ION Television March 2010 highlights.

Don't forget the series premiere of The Deep End tonight at 8/7 central, right before Grey's Anatomy on ABC!

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Sunday, May 28

The Conners - "Possums, Pregnancy and Patriarchy" (ABC, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Harris makes a big announcement. Meanwhile, Ben is overwhelmed with family responsibilities.

The Conners - "Hiding In and Moving Out" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Harris takes her anger out on Darlene. Elsewhere, Dan and Louise spend an entire day in bed together.

The Conners - "The Contra Hearings and the Midnight Gambler" (ABC, 10:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Mark fights for a spot in the Lanford High chamber orchestra. Elsewhere, Jackie puts a lottery machine in the Lunch Box.

The Conners - "Road Trip and Guilt Trip" (ABC, 10:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Dan and Jackie take a road trip to a hardware wholesaler in Oklahoma. Meanwhile, Darlene heads out of town and leaves behind a plethora of to-do notes for Becky and Ben.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of May 22)

Friday, May 26

Jason Bateman (Arrested Development/George and Leo/Chicago Sons/Simon/The Hogan Family/It's Your Move/Silver Spoons) - Watch Jason on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Ali Wong (Big Mouth/American Housewife/Are You There, Chelsea?) - Ali is a guest on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Chris Pratt (Parks and Recreation) - Chris appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Tom Hanks (Bosom Buddies) - Tom is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Sebastian Maniscalco (How to Be a Bookie) - Sebastian talks about his new film About My Father on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your listings.
Issa Rae (Insecure) - Issa is a guest on The Jennifer Hudson Show, so check your local listings.
Bill Bellamy (Mr. Box Office/Men, Women & Dogs/Cousin Skeeter) - Bill appears on The Jennifer Hudson Show, so check your local listings.
Ming-Na Wen (The Single Guy) and BD Wong (All-American Girl) - Ming-Na and BD talk about Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai on NBC's Today in the 9am hour.
Hailee Steinfeld (Dickinson) - Hailee and actor Shameik Moore sit down together to talk about their new film, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, in theaters on June 2 on Sherri, so check your local listings.
Leslie Odom Jr. (Love in the Time of Corona/Big Dady) and Nicolette Robinson (Love in the Time of Corona/Perfect Couples) - Leslie and Nicolette chat with the ladies of The View on a repeat on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Daniel Wu (American Born Chinese) - Daniel talks about American Born Chinese on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
Kimberly Williams-Paisley (According to Jim) - Kimberly is a guest on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.