Letterman-Leno Super Bowl Ad: Yes, it was real!

Like a lot of other viewers, I initially wondered if the "Late Show" ad featuring David Letterman, Oprah Winfrey and Jay Leno was real... or some kind of CGI trickery. After all, given the events of the past few weeks, it seems like former pals Leno and Letterman were, more than ever, mortal enemies, and perhaps only James Cameron-style technical wizardry could bring them together on the same couch. Especially considering that Dave broke out his whiny-Jay impersonation.

However, it was real -- and it was Dave's idea, according to "Late Show" producer Rob Burnett. "Well, the 10 seconds we did with Dave and Oprah for the Super Bowl in 2007 went pretty well and CBS came back and said we got 10 seconds again for this one," Burnett told EW.com. "Nothing is more simultaneously exhilarating and fear-inducing than hearing you have 10 seconds in the Super Bowl. We were banging heads together. How do we come close to topping the last one? Then Dave got this idea. My first call was to Oprah – she got it right away – and then I called [CBS Corp. Chairman] Les Moonves to make sure he was OK with Jay being on CBS. I have to give Les credit … he got it immediately. And then I called [Leno's executive producer] Debbie Vickers … who said, ‘Dave and Jay, in the same room?’ She laughed for a good minute and said Jay would want to call. I hung up, and two minutes later it was Jay. He said ‘This is the way show business should be.’"

Leno snuck in the Ed Sullivan Theater wearing "a disguise… a hooded sweatshirt, dark sunglasses and a mustache." Was it an awkward situation? "There was no frostiness. We were focused on trying to execute the joke. It would have been a more taxing event had it been us all going out to dinner."

Did Dave worry that he was giving his once and future competitor a boost? Said Burnett: "Dave has a simple edict: If it’s funny, we do it... if you’re a comedian and you have the chance to do something funny in front of 100 million people, you should do it."

Watch the ad here.

Olympics: How will the Games affect talk show schedules?

"The Jay Leno Show" will air its last episode on Tuesday, Feb. 9. On Wednesday, an episode of "Law & Order: SVU" will be shown, and on Thursday, two "Office" repeats will run in the 10 PM timeslot. Friday, of course, marks the start of the Olympics, with the Opening Ceremony airing on NBC all evening long. Late local news will come on at midnight in most markets, with a new "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (featuring Benicio Del Toro and Selena Gomez) to follow. After that, Fallon and Carson Daly will disappear from the airwaves until the Games end on Feb. 28.

"The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" will air repeats through Thursday, Feb. 11; check out the lineups page for the schedule. On Monday, March 1, "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" starts up again. (His first-week guests will include the cast of "Jersey Shore," because heaven knows those folks haven't gotten nearly enough TV exposure lately.)

So far, it looks like David Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel and Craig Ferguson will be airing new shows during the Games (although, of course, Kimmel shows a rerun every Monday night), to satisfy viewers who prefer comedy to winter sports.

I have been trying to get someone at Comedy Central to confirm the dates that Stephen Colbert will be broadcasting from Vancouver, to no avail. "The Colbert Report" (and "The Daily Show") will be in repeats during the week of Feb. 15, so if Stephen does head to Canada, it's going to be during the week of Feb. 22. That will give his staff a week to prepare. Why not just issue a press release and be done with it, CC folks? Anyway, there will be lots of speed skating medal events for Stephen to cover that week.

Jon Stewart vs. Bill O'Reilly: The Video

Here's the unedited video (42 minutes!) of Bill O'Reilly's chat with Jon Stewart.



The Los Angeles Times' Patrick Goldstein wrote that Papa Bear was the victor in the exchange, "if for no other reason than when it comes to TV interviews or the NBA finals, home court advantage is everything." I'd call it a draw -- Stewart seemed pretty polite, and didn't rip into O'Reilly the way he took down "Crossfire" during his infamous appearance on that show. Now, if Jon had been sitting down with Glenn Beck instead of the "Factor" host, things probably wouldn't have been quite as civil.

Murdoch: No "real negotiations" yet for Conan on Fox

Rupert Murdoch, head of News Corp. (owner of Fox), said today that the programmers at the network need to "show us we can do it (hire Conan to host a new late night talk show) and be fairly confident of making a profit."

"We’re giving it a lot of thought and a lot of examination," he told reporters during a conference call, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.

Fox would need to get its affiliate stations to carry O'Brien's new show instead of the "Seinfeld" or "Frasier" reruns they may be showing today -- reruns that bring in a lot of lucrative ad revenue. "I’m sure we’d have difficult renegotiations" with the affiliates, Murdoch said.

He added that although there have been some conversations with O'Brien's camp, there have been no "real negotiations" yet.

Jon Stewart vs. Bill O'Reilly

A lot of liberals will no doubt be setting their TiVos to record "The O'Reilly Factor" for the first time ever tomorrow and Thursday. That's when "The Daily Show"'s Jon Stewart will sit down with Bill "Papa Bear" O'Reilly for an interview. According to Fox News, “the wide-ranging interview will touch on an array of topics, including President Obama, the political landscape and media bias.”

Stewart appeared on the "Factor" in 2004, when the Fox host infamously referred to "TDS" viewers as "stoned slackers." O'Reilly was a guest on "The Daily Show" in 2005 and 2008.

Stephen Colbert wins a Best Comedy Album Grammy

Stephen Colbert beat a fellow late night talk show host (George Lopez) as well as Spinal Tap, "Weird Al" Yankovic, Patton Oswalt and Kathy Griffin to take home the Grammy for Best Comedy Album. Perhaps it's a sign of the times, but A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All has never been released on CD. The TV special which spawned the songs (which were written by David Javerbaum and Adam Schlesinger) is available on DVD, and the music can be purchased on iTunes.

"Thank you very much," said Colbert upon winning the trophy. "This is a Christmas album, so obviously I should thank Jesus Christ for having such a great birthday." After a long list of thank yous, Stephen, who was accompanied to the awards ceremony by his 14-year-old daughter Madeline, said, "I want to ask my daughter, 'Am I cool now?'"

Earlier in the evening, Colbert, when presenting the Song of the Year award, pulled out an iPad and asked Jay-Z, who was sitting in the audience, "Did you not get one of these in your gift bag? Am I cooler than you?" Then he asked Madeline if it made him look cool. She responded with a pained shrug.

At least twice last week on his show, Colbert made a plea for an iPad. Sounds like the folks at Apple were listening -- and in return, they got some killer product placement.

Watch Stephen's opening segment below:

George Lopez loves a cigar

Regular readers know that Talk Show News tries to feature any new appearances by late night TV stars on magazine covers. Is Cigar Aficionado more or less prestigious than the Costco Connection? In any case, George Lopez apparently enjoys a good stogie, and is featured in the February issue of "The Good Life Magazine For Men." "We speak with Lopez about his love of cigars while he reflects on his 30 years in comedy, from the difficulty of writing and then performing your own material to his early days of success when he was appearing on 'The Tonight Show.'"