Photo: Conan O'Brien from the TBS website

Former “Tonight Show” Host/Comic, Conan O’Brien, appears to have made a triumphant return to late night TV. “Conan” debuted late night on TBS and according to The Wrap whipped the competition. In the Nielsen’s 56 metered markets, Conan rated a 2.8, Leno got a 2.7 , and Letterman a 2.5.

On the TBS website today, the comedy network crowed about the late night talker’s young adult demographics as well. Here are those  numbers:

• 2, 451, 000 adults 18-34 watched
• 3, 285, 000 adults 18-49 watched
• 4, 155, 000 total viewers

In a press release, TBS credited O’Brien’s strong following among younger viewers and social media for the show’s successful kick-off. ”Conan’s audience has been very vocal online, and he clearly made a smooth transition from Twitter to TBS,” said Steve Koonin, president of Turner Entertainment Networks. “Conan delivered an extraordinary audience and stands out as the youngest late-night talk show on television.”

It’s going to take a few weeks to see if these numbers hold after the hype of “Conan” wears off.  Even if O’Brien show takes a dip in the ratings, his comeback from the NBC debacle last winter, which resulted in the entertainer walking away from “The Tonight Show” hosting job, has been admirable.

Last night, O’Brien’s guests included Seth Rogen and Jack White. Click here for the monologue posted over on Deadline.com. Tonight, Tom Hanks and Soundgarden join O’Brien. “Conan” airs at 11 p.m, Monday through Friday. The late night talker is produced right here in Burbank, at Warner Bros.’ Stage 15.

 Conan O’Brien gets four Emmy nominations

Late night talk show host, Conan O’Brien, has plenty to joke about after receiving four Emmy nominations today, for his short-lived version of “The Tonight Show,” including nods for outstanding variety music or comedy series, for writing, directing, and art direction. How many nominations did his rivals Jay Leno and David Letterman get? Nada! Zilch!  

That recent odd-ball Emmy ad campaign by the TBS Network for the comedian just might have paid off. Or maybe O’Brien got a lot of sympathy votes because of the shabby way NBC treated him in “The Tonight Show” debacle last winter, which led to Leno returning to the legendary late night talker as host. O’Brien is now prepping his new late night show for this fall on TBS.

The 62nd Primetime Emmy nominations were announced this morning.  HBO got the most nominations, followed by ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and PBS. Several posts about the Emmy nominations on deadline.com/Hollywood

Disney plans to appeal $200 million-plus court decision

Photo: FLLewis/Media City G -- Disney Studios in Burbank

Investors are watching the Mouse Kingdom’s stock for signs of erosion after a federal jury in Riverside yesterday awarded the creator of the “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?”  television game show nearly $269.2 million in damages.

U.K.-based Celador International sued Disney in 2004 claiming it did not receive a fair share of profits from the show.  More on the legal battle here.

 ”Eclipse” still making serious money

“The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” continued its winning ways this week. Over the Fourth of July weekend, the vampire/fantasy/love story easily won the Box Office race with a haul of $83.6 million.

In its first six days of release, the third installment of the “Twilight” film series made a huge $176.3 million at the domestic Box Office. As of yesterday,  the film had earned nearly $20 million more — meaning it will probably leap the $200 million mark before the weekend.  At the center of the plot is a love triangle involving main characters Bella Swan, Edward Cullen, and Jacob Black played by Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner.

In second place, another new fantasy flick, “The Last Airbender” with $52 million.  Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, the movie is about a young adventurer,  portrayed by Noah Ringer, who has the power to manipulate the four main elements of nature : water, fire, Earth, and air.

“Toy Story 3″ came in third with $43 million, and rounding out the top five, the comedies “Grown Ups” $26 million and “Knight and Day” $14 million.

“The A-Team” movie and the dish on its development

“The A-Team” film re-do of the popular 1980s TV series reportedly has been in the works since the mid 1990s. No wonder there’s a long list of writers on the project. Nikki Finke over at Deadline.com/Hollywood has the dish on the behind the scenes dealings on the film and who got the best writer credit on it.

“The A-Team” and the remake of “The Karate Kid” are the two major movies opening in theaters tomorrow, Friday, June 11. Moviegoers have been cool to sequels and remakes lately –but you never know, these two flicks just might kick-start the Box Office into the hot zone. Then again, maybe not.

Ex-Disney employee remains free on bail after second court appearance

Bonnie Hoxie is no longer punching a clock at Disney, instead she’s in a heap of trouble with the Mouse and the law. The 33-year-old former assistant to a high-ranking Disney corporate executive appeared in a New York Federal Court yesterday.

Hoxie and her 29-year-old boyfriend, Yonni Sebbag, are facing insider trading charges.  They were arrested late last month in the Los Angeles area, allegedly for trying to sell inside information about Disney. The two are being prosecuted in New York–rather than L.A. — because they reportedly attempted to shop the stolen data to several investment firms in N.Y, according to Reuters.  

Yesterday, the judge allowed Hoxie to remain free on $50,000 bail. The boyfriend has been denied bail on the grounds he’s a flight risk. More here.

Wacky Emmy campaign for Conan O’Brien

Comedian Conan O’Brien’s new TV show doesn’t debut on TBS until the fall — but the network has still launched an Emmy campaign for the late night host. The campaign touts the NBC-O’Brien-hosted “Tonight Show.” 

Clearly, the campaign is geared toward stirring up buzz for O’Brien’s TBS late night talker, which debuts November 8 and it will be produced right here in Media City. More on The Wrap and Hollywood Insider.

A lot of buzz about Comedian/Former “Tonight Show” Host Conan O’Brien’s appearance on “60 Minutes.” Excerpts from that interview popped up all over the Internet last week. Last night, Reporter Steve Kroft’s complete interview with the comic ran on that CBS News program.

And yes, O’Brien talked about the NBC mess, his road tour, his new show, and his feelings about Jay Leno. Nikki Finke’s deadline.com/Hollywood has the video and the transcript. Some funny and witty Conan moments in this interview.  Check it out here.  

A run-off in the 43rd Assembly District race

It’s Democrat Mike Gatto against the only Republican on the ballot, Sunder Ramani.  

I dropped by a couple of polling places in Burbank on Tuesday evening and was told by the poll workers that the turnout was way better than expected.  A small sampling, but it turned out to be right on the mark. The Los Angeles County Registrar Recorder County Clerk’s office posted the following election results on its website.

April 13, 2010   43rd Assembly Special Election

Mike Gatto  (D)   10,584         32.34%

Sunder Ramani (R)  10,403     31.79%

Nayiri Nahabedian  (D)  7,298  22.30%

Chake Keuroghelian (D)  4,444   13.58%

Total ballots cast     32,912       16.35%

I was disappointed in the showing by Nahabedian, who got drawn into a negative campaign battle with Gatto. Both candidates hammered and jabbed at each other in a mountain of expensive political mailers. The negative campaign hurt both candidates with Nahabedian apparently suffering the most damage.

Sometimes you need to throw a few punches when you’re under attack. I can relate to that. I understand that. Nevertheless, an election is not a boxing match. Voters really don’t want to watch candidates beat-up on each other. We are more interested in candidates talking about the issues; showcasing their ideas and plans for improving our communities.

There is still time for Gatto and Nehabedian to make campaign changes. It ain’t over yet. In a strange political twist, this was the first of four elections for the same office. Gatto and Ramani will square off on June 8 for the right to finish out Paul Krekorian’s term which ends on November 30, 2010. Krekorian left early to campaign and win election to the Los Angeles City Council.

Also on June 8 there will be a primary, which will include candidates running for the next two-year term for the 43rd Assembly District. Gatto, Ramani, Nahabedian, and Keuroghelian, will be on that ballot as well.

Did you have trouble finding your polling place?

I heard some voters showed up at the wrong polling places. Probably because they went back to where they voted in the last election and discovered their names were not on the rosters. They were still able to vote provisionally, but that takes a little longer or they were given directions to the correct polling place.

I was assigned to a new polling site as well. In fact, I passed two polling locations on East Providencia Avenue in route to the First Christian Church on 6th Street where I voted. How smart was that? The folks that draw up these precincts for the elections have a strange logic. No wonder so many voters are skipping the polling places all together. In this Assembly election, 18,989 local voters cast their ballots by mail.

TV late night changes

 New music director for “The Tonight Show”

Recently ”Tonight Show” Music Director Kevin Eubanks has been hinting he might bow out soon and early this week, he did just that. Eubanks announced on Monday’s “Tonight Show with Jay Leno” that he’s calling it quits after 18 years with the late night talk show.

Stepping in as the new music director the Emmy-nominated and very talented Rickey Minor, who has made guest appearances with the “Tonight Show” band numerous times.  For the past few years, Minor has been the music director over on “American Idol.” Before that the accomplished musician and arranger worked with super-stars like Alicia Keys, Whitney Houston, Christina Aguilera, and Beyoncé.

Minor debuts as “The Tonight Show” music director on June 7th. Here’s the NBC press release about it.

Conan O’Brien should tape his new late night talker in Burbank

A lot of chatter out there about the new TV deal for talk show host/comic Conan O’Brien. Negotiations were going on with Fox, but Monday TBS announced O’Brien had signed on for an 11 p.m. show on that cable network. No doubt, there was a ton of wheeling and dealing that went on behind the scenes.  

O’Brien’s new one-hour late night show kicks off in November and he will own his new cable talker, according to The Hollywood Reporter.  Also, there are reports the new O’Brien show will be based in the Southland. Probably Los Angeles. Hey, why not Burbank?  We have plenty of studio space and talent in Media City to help the former “Tonight Show” host put together a terrific late night program.

Spec script market still hot

Spec scripts are still going out and getting bought! Spec Chaser reports “Romeo’s Redemption” by Dave Lease was snatched up by Gold Circle Films. The crime drama is about mob-enforcer-turned-informant who leaves the safety of the witness protection program to save the only person he’s ever really loved — his ex-wife — from his former mob associates. Nice hook.

More about this script sale and other spec screenplays being shopped here. Good inspiration for the  screenwriters out there and especially the Burbank scribes I know who are writing scripts and pitching projects right now.

One of the most bizarre episodes in television ended last night when “Tonight Show” short-timer Conan O’Brien signed off. O’Brien took over the late-night hosting gig seven months ago and the ratings plummeted. Some say O’Brien was not being his usual off-beat, funny, edgy self; instead he was attempting to sell some bland image created by the corporate types.

Apparently in the past couple of weeks, O’Brien has gotten his comic groove back, because he has been hilarious and the ratings are up. Okay, some of that attention and interest is most likely due to the messy fiasco over the late-night NBC talk shows. No matter, O’Brien deserves the credit for his recent comeback.

When the NBC honchos announced a screwy plan to slot Jay Leno in a half-hour at 11:35 p.m. and bump “The Tonight Show” to 12:05 a.m. –O’Brien refused to go along with the deal. I don’t know what was more shocking, the plan or O’Brien’s reaction to it. More than just a personal ego-trip, O’Brien publicly defended the integrity and history of the legendary “Tonight Show” as being totally and completely linked to the 11:35 p.m. time start. He’s right. I would have expected that kind of passionate protection of the late night program from Jay Leno, the more successful “Tonight Show” host. 

O’Brien’s refusal to roll over and accept the ridiculous NBC plan saved  “The Tonight Show,” and probably Leno’s career, which has taken a major hit from his failing prime-time show. Oh, and O’Brien’s gutsy stand and classy exit are getting him tons of great publicity and probably legions of new fans who will follow him to his next gig. Way-a-go, NBC.

At the end of his final “Tonight Show” Friday, O’Brien took a gracious bow:  “There has been a lot of speculation in the press about what I legally can and can’t say about NBC. To set the record straight, tonight I am allowed to say anything I want. And what I want to say is this: between my time at Saturday Night Live, The Late Night Show, and my brief run here on The Tonight Show, I have worked with NBC for over twenty years.  Yes, we have our differences right now and yes, we’re going to go our separate ways.  But this company has been my home for most of my adult life.  I am enormously proud of the work we have done together, and I want to thank NBC for making it all possible.”

“Walking away from The Tonight Show is the hardest thing I have ever had to do. Making this choice has been enormously difficult. This is the best job in the world, I absolutely love doing it, and I have the best staff and crew in the history of the medium. But despite this sense of loss, I really feel this should be a happy moment. Every comedian dreams of hosting The Tonight Show and, for 7 months, I got to. I did it my way, with people I love, and I do not  regret a second. I’ve had more good fortune than anyone I know and if our next gig is doing a show in a 7-11 parking lot, we’ll find a way to make it fun.” Nikki Finke’s Deadline Hollywood site has more on O’Brien’s farewell and this whole late night talk show hosts mess.

O’Brien reportedly heads for the door with a hefty $45 million deal from NBC. The deal was held up for a while because O’Brien wouldn’t sign until NBC paid-off his staff and crew as well. More kudos for O’Brien for that. Also, O’Brien is free to hook-up a show with a new network in September. The new “Tonight Show with Jay Leno” kicks off March first.

The plot thickens over at troubled NBC. “Tonight Show” host, Conan O’Brien, issued a statement today, in which he turns thumbs down on the NBC plan to give Jay Leno a half-hour comedy show at 11:35 p.m. In the statement, O’Brien claims shifting the  “Tonight Show” to 12:05 a.m. is not an option he can accept:”For 60 years the Tonight Show has aired immediately following the late local news. I sincerely believe that delaying the Tonight Show into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting. The Tonight Show at 12:05 simply isn’t the Tonight Show.”

O’Brien goes on to say: ”My staff and I have worked unbelievably hard and we are very proud of our contribution to the legacy of The Tonight Show. But I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction.”      

You know, I’ve never been a real big O’Brien fan, however, I have to give the comedian his props for this bold statement. And he makes a lot of sense. Nikki Finke has the full O’Brien statement and more on the NBC mess over on her Deadline.com Hollywood site.

It’s a mess. That’s about the nicest way to describe the situation that NBC finds itself in right now with three of its talk show hosts, Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien, and Jimmy Fallon. Rumors of the demise of Jay Leno’s low rated prime time talk show have been swirling around for a while. Then last week, those rumors, all over the Internet and elsewhere, became a firestorm, fueled by leaks that Leno was headed back to late night.

Today, Jeff Gaspin, chairman of NBC Universal Television Entertainment, made the announcement at the Television Critics Association Press Tour in Pasadena. Gaspin spoke to the media and got right to the point: “… I can confirm what many of you have been reporting: starting February ’The Jay Leno Show’ will no longer air at 10 PM. While it was performing at acceptable levels for the network, it did not meet our affiliates’ needs and we realized we had to make a change.”

If he had his way, Gaspin would have “The Jay Leno Show” start at 11:35 p.m., followed by “The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien” at 12:05 a.m., and then “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” at 1:05 a.m. However, Gaspin admits nothing is confirmed and that the talks with the hosts and their reps are ongoing.  

“The Jay Leno Show” is expected to get the boot out of prime time by February 12,  when NBC begins airing the Winter Olympics. Let me just say here that Leno should have been allowed to stay on the “Tonight Show.” His ratings were high, even during the 2007-2008 writers strike. That’s right, folks were willing to watch Leno even without a great monologue and celebrity guests. It wasn’t broke, but NBC executives decided to fix it anyway. And look what happened!

Nikki Finke has an extensive report on Gaspin’s comments and the NBC debacle on her Deadline Hollywood site.