Smallscreen News

The Last Shaft excerpts, Coco and Leno behind the scenes

By April MacIntyre May 17, 2010, 21:49 GMT

Conan O\'Brien appears to be enjoying his hiatus as he fills up his gas tank in Los Angeles, CA on March 24, 2010 a little scruffy but undeniably happy. Fame Pictures, Inc

Some scandalous scuttle to add to the Coco-Leno NBC mess people have dined on for the last year.

Playboy has published noted Tonight Show historian Bill Zehme's accounts of what happened between the two men.

In an exclusive report from journalist Bill Zehme, Playboy magazine’s June issue takes a behind-the-scenes look at what actually happened during the infamous Tonight Show battle between Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien.

Zehme – who co-wrote Jay Leno’s memoir Leading With My Chin, has had face-to-face time with Conan O’Brien, David Letterman and Jimmy Kimmel, and is currently writing a comprehensive biography on Johnny Carson – is one of the foremost experts on late night television.

In “The Late Shaft,” he reveals what went on among all the combatants, including David Letterman and Jimmy Kimmel, and shares first-hand conversations and letters from the participants.

Following is a selection of new information and quotes from his inside account provided to Monsters and Critics:

Conan O’Brien, to his Colleagues Prior to their Final Show: “You can’t blame a shark for being a shark.”

O’Brien on Being Asked to Appear in a Super Bowl Commercial with David Letterman and Jay Leno: “No f*cking way will I ever do that!”

Johnny Carson on the 2004 Announcement that O’Brien Would Eventually Host the Tonight Show: “It sure is a long engagement before the wedding, kiddo.”

O’Brien Discussing Hosting Hardships with Carson: “‘I’m a little angry with you,’ he [Conan] pluckily informed the retired king, ‘because when I grew up watching you, you made it look like the greatest job in the world. You made it look much easier than it is.’ Carson just laughed, beyond knowingly.”

Bill Zehme on Carson’s Questioning of Leno: “Carson dropped me a devilish note in which he wryly questioned Leno’s spirit of generosity by pointing out my name had somehow been left off the book’s [Leading With My Chin] cover.”

Barry Manilow Recounts Teary Details of O’Brien’s Last Show:  “Recalling the experience – ‘God, that staff of his is crazy about him!’ – the pop legend mentioned that somebody he knew had randomly snapped a photo during rehearsal on that day, which caught a forlorn O’Brien in civvies parked at his onstage desk, lost in reverie and more than a little misty-eyed. Others in the Manilow retinue confirmed seeing the ‘bittersweet picture’ before it was deleted (‘out of respect’) from its owner’s camera phone.” 

From a Letter Leno Wrote to Carson: “‘Dear Johnny: Just a little note to wish you good luck on your trip to Africa. I’m sure whatever dangerous situations or wild beasts you encounter couldn’t possibly be any stranger to what is going on at NBC. Have you heard the latest? Simulcast live: Dave on one side of the screen, me on the other. … I was extremely touched by your graciousness, considering how poorly everything at my end was handled. I was stupid and naïve and will never again let anyone handle my affairs for me.’”

Zehme on the 1992 Late Night Battle Between Leno and Letterman: “And so there, in desperate thrash, was Jay uncorking the wounded bravado, giggle-snorting about how NBC stood for Never Believe your Contract – the same soggy chestnut he would deploy again 17 years later to evince an all-new victimhood for himself (fooling nobody). ‘It’s a tricky situation. … Dave is truly a star and terrific, and this is a terrible position NBC is in. But fragging your own solider doesn’t make any sense to me.’ He also said that he’d ‘obviously leave NBC immediately’ before electing to move back an hour should Letterman consent to uproot him from the golden 11:35 p.m. time slot.”

Zehme on Leno’s 1984 Late Night Appearance: “Pitted together, their [Leno and Letterman] mutual familiarity bred a slaphappy faux contempt that was perhaps truer than either of them wished to believe. One such smackdown – findable on YouTube – captures them a year and a half into Late Night’s march, with Leno determined to elude actual conversation (never his strong suit, alas, as well evidenced during any given Tonight Show broadcast) so as to plow through his prepared litany of absurdities. Finally Letterman heaved a sigh and said, ‘I don’t really need to be here, do I?’ And Leno jabbed back, ‘No, we don’t need you here. I’ve been telling the network that for 18 months.’”

Zehme on Leno’s Selective Memory: “Leno himself told me in 1995 that he had erased every single broadcast during his first four months on the jobs – ‘practice shows,’ he flippantly called them – assuring they would never be seen again. … ‘They don’t exist.’”

Zehme on Leno’s Biggest Regret: “Leno, quite correctly, told me that ‘the biggest mistake of my entire life’ was to intentionally refrain from acknowledging Carson – at all – on  his inaugural Tonight Show, just 72 hours after the king’s momentous last hurrah. (He claimed Mrs. Kushnick forbade it, and as their toxic dynamic dictated, he did as she told.)”

Zehme on Jimmy Kimmel: “Somewhere near the thick of it, I wandered into the Hollywood command post of noble rogue Jimmy Kimmel, whose merry rampages during the fray – notably in the realm of Big Jaw- busting – had already won him the admiring sobriquet of Robin Hood from comedy hepcats Paul Shaffer and Martin Short. Buoyant and still twinkling after a Friday evening taping, he explained, ‘I love my wars! They energize me.’”

Zehme’s article is on Playboy.