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

Sunday, April 20

The Simpsons - "Desperately Seeking Lisa" (Fox, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Lisa has a misadventure in the dark world of Capital City's downtown art scene.

Family Guy - "Drunk With Power" (Fox, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Peter swaps lives with Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and is forced to make a ruling on the constitutionality of gay marriage, meanwhile, Brett tries to become friends with Quagmire, Cleveland and Joe.

Krapopolis - "John Fate Comes A-Knockin'" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Deliria's clairvoyant ex comes to town and gives the family some bad news.

The Great North - "The Prince of Hides Adventure" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Wolf fulfills the Tobin dream of going on a survival show; Honeybee introduces Aunt Dirt to margaritas.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of April 14)

Friday, April 18

David Alan Grier (St. Denis Medical/Dad Stop Embarrassing Me!/The Cool Kids/The Carmichael Show/Bad Teacher/Life with Bonnie/DAG) - Watch David on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Bernadette Peters (High Desert/Mozart in the Jungle/All's Fair) - Bernadette is a guest on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Chet Hanks (Running Point) - Chet appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Woody Harrelson (Cheers) - Woody takes "The Colbert Questionert" on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Paul Rudd (The Shrink Next Door/Living with Yourself/Wild Oats) - Paul is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Ike Barinholtz (The Studio/The Afterparty/Bless the Harts/The Mindy Project/Eastbound & Down) - Ike appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Bobby Moynihan (Mr. Mayor/Me, Myself & I), Thomas Lennon (The Odd Couple/Sean Saves the World/Reno 911!) and Mary Eliabeth Ellis (Santa Clarita Diet/The Grinder/Perfect Couples/It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) - Bobby, Thomas and Mary are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Luke Kirby (Étoile) - Luke talks about Étoile on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Café Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - Valerie is joining Drew and Ross Mathews to hit the headlines on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Annaleigh Ashford (B Positive) - Annaleigh is telling Drew about the thrilling new series Happy Face based on a real life serial killer on The Drew Barrymroe Show, so check your local listings.
Michael B. Jordan (The Assistants) and Delroy Lindo (UNPrisoned) - Michael, Delroy and others tell Sherri about their highly anticipated new film Sinners on Sherri, so check your local listings.
Joel Kim Booster (Loot/Shrill) - Joel talks about Bravo's Love Hotel on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.