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 / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Thursday, April 24

Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - "TV Money" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Mandy tries to prove she’s financially responsible after Jim and Georgie call out her poor spending habits, and Connor’s new girlfriend needs a place to stay.

Ghosts - "I Know What You Did Thirty-Seven Summers Ago" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
When Sam and Jay host a fundraiser for the mayor to earn a favor for Jay’s restaurant, they learn of his bizarre connection to one of Woodstone’s ghosts. Odessa Adlon returns as Stephanie, the ghost who died on her prom night.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of April 21)

Thursday, April 24

Da'Vine Joy Randolph (Only Murders in the Building/High Fidelity/People of Earth/Selfie) - Catch Da'Vine on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Michael B. Jordan (The Assistants) - Michael appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Olivia Munn (Perfect Couples) - Olivia is a guest on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Walton Goggins (The Righteous Gemstones/The Unicorn/Vice Principals) - Walton appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Sasheer Zamata (Home Economics/Woke/Robbie) and Greta Titelman (Fantasmas/Search Party/Los Espookys) - Sasheer and Greta are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Will Forte (The Four Seasons/HouseBroken/MacGruber/The Last Man on Earth/The Cleveland Show) - E! News has an interview with Will at 11pm on E!.
Tika Sumpter (mixed-ish/Final Space/The Game) - Tika sits down with the Tam Fam to talk about her new children's book I Got It From My Mama on Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
Michael Urie (Shrinking/Krapopolis/Partners) - Michael swings by the studio on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
Edi Patterson (The Righteous Gemstones/Vice Principals/Partners) - Edi chats about The Righteous Gemstones on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
Ernest Lee Thomas (Everybody Hates Chris/What's Happening!!/What's Happening Now!!) and Haywood Nelson (What's Happening!!/What's Happening Now!!) - Ernest and Haywood talk about the 49th Anniversary of What's Happening!! on NBC's Today in the 9am hour.
Cheech Marin (Rob/The Golden Palace) and Tommy Chong (That '90s Show/That '70s Show) - Cheech and Tommy talk about Cheech & Chong's Last Movie on NBC's Today in the 9am hour.
Tiffany Haddish (The Last O.G./The Carmichael Show) - Tiffany co-hosts NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Casey Wilson (The Righteous Gemstones/Black Monday/The Hotwives/Marry Me/Happy Endings) - Casey talks about The Great American Baking Show on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Michelle Buteau (Survival of the Thickest/Bless the Harts/Enlisted) - Michelle is telling Drew about her show Survival of the Thickest on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Café Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - Dating expert Damona Hoffman is joining Drew and Valerie for a Q & A about first dates on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Morris Chestnut (Out All Night) - Morris tells Sherri about the new season of Watson on CBS, so check your local listings.