Will TMZ stalk Conan O’Brien to find out in which EDD office he attempts to file for unemployment insurance benefits? Will Conan O’Brien jump over to FOX as David Letterman did to CBS when he was passed over for The Tonight Show prior to Mr. Leno? Will Jimmy Kimmel and/or the Prime-Time Band still have jobs? Will Universal Studios Hollywood hike its Studio Tours admission to recoup the unprecedented cost of building a shrine for Mr. O’Brien? Will NBC air its behind-the-scenes footage of the “Late Night Sagas” at 10PM which would do better than any other property they’re considering now?
Welcome to The Unemployed World of Conan O’Brien and the Black Hole @10P sponsored by the NBC coffers.
And they say history doesn’t repeat itself…HA! This travesty was a World War waiting to landmine itself right into the greedy and desperate hands of the NBC Suits. Regardless of what Mr. O’Brien and Jay Leno’s final exiting figures are and who has rights to any portion of them, let’s explore what lessons have been learned here as a result of my year as an unemployed professional.
Remember the class you took on Salary Negotiation? Corporate America failed again on this one and any living soul would be an idiot not to take the ludicrous amounts of money offered in any one of these contracts win or fail. Wouldn’t it have been more judicial for NBC to start slightly lower in compensation than what is now in the press? How about 3-5 million to start with existing studio space? Wouldn’t you have taken that offer? Let’s see what happens over the course of the first sweep and we can reevaluate then instead of NBC running scared to keep these two comedic icons, afraid they’d run somewhere else which is quite likely now for one of them. If it loses, the starter kit is yours and have a nice life; if the experiment pays off, then we’ll peel your grapes and bow at your golden feet. Regardless of what experience you and I have, we’d never in a million years see a starting contract this stupid. Do you think this will happen again? Damn straight!
So who’s at fault here? Jay? Conan? Dave? Mr. Fallon?
“At the end of the day Jay at 10 o’clock didn’t work, and I take responsibility for that.”
~ Jeff Zucker, Chief Executive of NBC Universal (as sourced from NYTIMES.COM)
There’s your answer. Once again, Corporate America screws it up and makes the employee take it on the chin, but this time lets the employee take the corporate cash with them – even dumber. If the errors occur as a result of poor programming and poor negotiations by the executives charged with making those decisions, then why is it these same individuals maintain gainful employment while firing off the messenger? Why not kill the message? Why don’t the shareholders and Board of Directors insist on making those who make the mistakes accountable for their actions? Have we not learned our lessons over the last two years on how to handle business and finances? Do you think the folks at Comcast are jumping for joy looking at what they have invested a fortune into to now inherit a monster?
Shuffling NBC’s late-night schedule around was a herculean risk; one that could have been ingenious had it worked. When the announcement was made, I predicted either a huge win or an equal failure – either one being determined quite quickly. The results weren’t going to take long to tabulate. NBC’s logic was, and rather astutely, if Leno was to work, he could be to NBC’s Summer Schedule what ‘Idol’ is to FOX’s Winter Schedule. Who could resist Original Leno in July then reruns of anything there? And they did apply some math seeing how cheap Jay Leno was to produce comparatively. NBC got caught up in their own delusions of grandeur, didn’t properly think it through and now they are a travesty.
But I guess it all makes sense in the end. Through networking and attending all that I do, I am in constant contact with probably 100 people out of work…all with impeccable ethics, standards and a treasure trove of accomplishments; outstanding professionals in their respective fields, each one I can’t figure out why they are out of work. As I travel through restaurants, retailers and plenty of so-called healthcare facilities, I see the answer. Minimal pay for minimal work – you clearly get what you pay for…and how sad in this day and age that it shows, unabashedly.
With sincere and heartfelt apologies to both Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien, you both are not at fault. In the final days of your productions as we view them in their present states, the Network is seeing overwhelming ratings as a result of their gross oversights and petty handling of what could have been an all-around win for everyone involved. Talk about publicity stunts, but no, the Affiliates have voiced their opinions and why Mr. O’Brien is getting all the heat when it was Mr. Leno leading into the news is beyond me…possibly it was a trickle-down effect…
What I do know is this:
If I got offered my old job back, I’d turn it down in a heartbeat at any price and if I got a mega-million dollar house built for me on a whim and a prayer and I let the house go to pot but still collected on the insurance policy, receiving all the equity in it and then some after letting it burn down I wouldn’t think twice about it ‘cause if my bosses were that naïve to give it to me unequivocally, why should I care? Threaten me with not being able to build another house for three plus years? Are you insane?! Yeah, probably…
Move on folks, stop being children and grow up; life is way, way too short. Look at Haiti…
As Always, Thanks For Surfing My Wave!
Why Just Look For A Job? Create One!™
TheUnemployMENTOR – email@theunemploymentor.com
