Watch: The full Conan O'Brien '60 Minutes' interview

How does CoCo feel about NBC, Jay Leno and Jeff Zucker? Find out...

By HitFix Staff Sunday, May 2, 2010 8:36 PM

On Sunday (May 2), Conan O'Brien sat down with Steve Kroft of "60 Minutes."

It was the first day O'Brien was legally allowed to speak publicly under the terms of his settlement with NBC following his departure from NBC.

It wasn't a hard-hitting interview, but O'Brien frankly discusses his past five months, including his current tour and his upcoming late night show on TBS. He doesn't have specific or harsh words regarding any of his "adversaries," but you might come away feeling that O'Brien isn't feeling any great love for either Jay Leno or Jeff Zucker.

Check out the full interview:

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BugKiller

I know Conan is too classy to fight fire with fire with that whacko Jeff Zucker, but SOMEONE needs to hammer home this point:

Conan was BEATING Letterman on a regular basis over the summer of '09.

He starting losing to Letterman only AFTER that abortion, The Leno Show, debuted in the fall.

So, let it be understood, Conan's Tonight Show would have continued to be successful if Zucker had the guts to get rid of Leno in the first place. But that guy has no guts, or brains, or heart. Must be afraid of Xenu or something.

Leno ruined Conan's Tonight Show. He ruined local newscasts and he was the worst possible lead-in that NBC could ever have put on at 10pm.

How this got turned around and blamed on Conan is the biggest mass spin job since what's left of the Fourth Estate shucked away their journalistic ethics and integrity in the '08 Presidential Election by openly campaigning for Obama outside of the Op-Ed page.
May 2, 2010 at 10:49PM EST Reply to Comment
- dan BugKiller- Conan's ratings were already dropping relative to Letterman's before Leno came on and they would have continued to do so. Conan then had an affiliate buffer even when Leno was at its very worst. Local news is local news. None of that changes the fact that Conan's ratings continued to go down. If Conan had never HAD that audience, losing that audience wouldn't have been a problem. But he HAD that audience and it went away and it isn't as easy as saying "Oh, his lead-in sucked because Leno in primetime was the worst thing ever." It *was* the worst thing ever. But Conan losing viewers is on Conan. He just wasn't a good fit for the network or the time slot as they currently exist. Leno is, which is why his return to 11:30 has been nearly seamless. Conan is better off elsewhere and NBC is better off with Leno at 11:35. And Conan got $32 million to look like the innocent victim here. That's a great deal, if you ask me. - Daniel
  May 2, 2010 at 11:13PM EST
- BugKiller Dan,
  
  This would not be the first time I was wrong, nor the last.
  
  I had seen it reported that Conan's rating took what was considered a normal downturn before Leno's show came on, but that after the Leno show started, both Conan and the local news ratings dropped like it was 1929.
  
  The difference being, his initial ratings slippage being considered normal after the newness of his show wore off, but his Leno-lead-in ratings slippage (and that of the local newscasts) having a definite CAUSAL relationship to Jay's massive suckage.
  
  But if I was mistaken, I apologize. :-)
  May 3, 2010 at 8:03AM EST
- dan BugKiller -- Don't worry. You're not wrong. You're just being selectively interpretative with the ratings. I am *also* being selectively interpretative. The actual answer -- how much Jay Leno destroyed ratings for Conan vs. how much Conan destroyed ratings for Conan -- probably lies comfortably in the middle... -Daniel
  May 3, 2010 at 11:22AM EST
gregel

Woe is Conan. I just wish Letterman was beating Leno.
May 3, 2010 at 1:02AM EST Reply to Comment
mrxavier344

They like this
May 3, 2010 at 1:55PM EST Reply to Comment