Is Conan String-Dancing on Jeff Zucker’s Career-Grave?

The Mother-Zucker lost his job today, and I can’t help but wonder if Conan is secretly laughing.  As I pointed out in yesterday’s Blockbuster post, I don’t usually rejoice at another’s demise, but I sometimes make exceptions.  I’ll make an exception today for Jeff Zucker, who was the brains behind the Jay Leno/Conan O’Brien late-night debacle, and who handled his mistakes by pointing the finger at Conan’s failings, instead of his own.  To quote the great Tim Gunn, “take responsibility for your own actions,” Mr. Zucker.  As an aside, he also made a feeble attempt to smoke Conan off the air for three years, so that Conan could not move to another network to compete with Leno.  It didn’t work, and insiders felt it was only a matter of time before Zucker was held accountable for his poor decisions.  Zucker was fired by Comcast COO Steve Burke.  If you would like a detailed account of Zucker’s failings while he headed NBC, then read Bill Carter’s fantastic book, Desperate Networks.  You can also read Nikki Finke’s brief recap.  How NBC kept him all this time, when he single-handedly sunk the network after NBC lost Friends, I’ll never understand.  Oh wait — yes I will — It’s Hollywood.  Here’s hoping that this gave Conan a slight sense of enjoyment.

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