THE WAR FOR LATE NIGHT
Bill Carter

(On top of that, one Fox executive had turned up onstage so drunk that he couldn't pronounce the word "Tostitos.")

Jay wasn't displaying any overt signs of anger, but Lorne Michaels believed he was too professional to ever allow himself to let that out in public... Michaels could only guess the source of Leno's displeasure. "They made him come in, they made him do it. He had to sing for his supper, he had to audition again, and it was just all in a hostile room."

Conan was not only cagy but was totally transparent and upfront, qualities that were no advantage in a negotiation.

...but as even one senior NBC executive conceded, "You can't trust network executives; they go back on their word."

"Depend on it sir: When a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully." --Samuel Johnson

Knowing and recognizing television was like knowing and recognizing candy bars, Lorne Michaels reasoned. You anticipated what you would get for your dime or quarter or dollar (depending on how old you were.) Snickers? That was the one with nuts. If somehow that relationship changed, because the wrapper made it odder or more expensive looking, you might get confused and think maybe that wasn't the candy bar you wanted after all. It might still be a good one, of course, but it wasn't the one you knew. If it had the look of having gone upmarket, maybe you'd look around for a different candy bar.

The classy answer is, "'Oh, well, that's a silly question to ask, because somebody already has that job.' That's what you say if you're classy.

"What does Jay have on you?" Conan asked, his voice still low, his tone still even. "What does this guy have on you people?" What the hell is it about Jay?"

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