In a surprise development, short-lived “Tonight Show” host O’Brien has signed with basic-cable channel TBS to do a talk show that is expected to debut in November. O’Brien’s hourlong, yet-to-be-titled show will air Mondays through Thursdays at 11 p.m., serving as a lead-in for George Lopez’s “Lopez Tonight,” which will be moved back an hour.
Said O’Brien, “In three months I’ve gone from network television to Twitter to performing live in theaters, and now I’m headed to basic cable. My plan is working perfectly.”
According to a statement released by TBS, O’Brien and the network began talks in earnest just last week, after Lopez called him to ask that he consider joining the network’s late-night lineup. Lopez is in his first season as a TBS talk-show host.
It long had been speculated that O’Brien would end up on another broadcast network, specifically Fox, which does not have a late-night presence on weeknights.
O’Brien recently embarked on a cross country stand-up comedy tour that has planned stops in San Francisco (April 22-23), San Jose (May 5) and Sacramento (May 6).
Reports said Fox affiliates resisted the idea of airing an O’Brien show at 11 p.m., preferring instead to show syndicated reruns during that hour.
O’Brien left “The Tonight Show” on NBC in a much-publicized dispute with the network after it decided to abandon Jay Leno’s prime-time experiment. Leno moved out of his longtime seat as “Tonight Show” host to front a 10 p.m. program leading into local newscasts. Leno failed to catch on with viewers, and so was moved back to 11:30 p.m.
