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The War for Late Night
Bill Carter
When Leno Went Early and Television Went Crazy
Viking Adult
November 2010
On Sale: November 4, 2010
416 pages ISBN: 067002208X EAN: 9780670022083 Hardcover
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Non-Fiction History
A dramatic account of the politics and personalities
behind NBC's calamitous attempt to reinvent late-night
television. When NBC decided to move Jay Leno
into prime time to make room for Conan O'Brien to host the
Tonight show-a job he had been promised five years
earlier-skeptics anticipated a train wreck for the ages. It
took, in fact, only a few months for the dire predictions to
come true. Leno's show, panned by critics, dragged down the
ratings-and the profits-of NBC's affiliates, while ratings
for Conan's new Tonight show plummeted to the lowest
levels in history. Conan's collapse, meanwhile, opened an
unexpected door of opportunity for rival David Letterman.
What followed was a boisterous, angry, frequently hilarious
public battle that had millions of astonished viewers glued
to their sets. In The War for Late Night, New York
Times reporter Bill Carter offers a detailed
behind-the-scenes account of the events of the unforgettable
2009/2010 late-night season as all of its players-
performers, producers, agents, and network
executives-maneuvered to find footing amid the shifting
tectonic plates of television culture.
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