Whoever thinks New York is tough can go suck a Hummer tailpipe. This is a mean town and we need no further evidence than what’s happened to Conan O’Brien. He was at the top of his game in New York. LA seduced him with the Tonight Show promise. He moves his staff and himself to Tinsel Town only to find out the diva isn’t going away quietly, he’s rewriting all of television to accommodate his non-retirement. Conan is then, even with the move and the dream job – still second fiddle to a lukewarm 80′s relic.

And then a Desperate Housewife, tries to crack Conan’s skull open.

Then Jay Leno get’s moved back and Jeff Gaspin cuts Conan’s show by half. So Conan’s Tonight Show, after the winter Olympics, is supposed to start at 12:05. Which Seth Meyers pointed out on SNL, it means the Tonight Show will air when it’s no longer tonight.

And now the siren song of Fox is calling Conan. And according to the also Rupert Murdoch owned New York Post, he’s considering it.

The point is, no matter how famous or successful you are, in LA, you’re not beyond getting jerked around.

Vivi Zigler, the woman who brought you (the marketing for) Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and Celebrity Poker, has been promoted yet again within NBC Universal, where she has worked for more than 10 years.

Congratulations, Vivi!

Press release:

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Radar’s busting NY Times show-biz reporter Bill Carter on his sleeping with friendship with those he covers, like Ben Silverman:

Carter has mentioned Silverman in no fewer than 25 stories since 2000, including two lengthy profiles in the last 10 months.

Carter’s been named in the lawsuit brought by Maurice Fraser against NBC and Reveille Productions. Fraser had an idea for an Idol-esque show, Carter set up a meeting for Fraser with Silverman. Silverman pitched the idea to NBC executive Jeff Gaspin, and legal action ensued. Fraser’s suit charges that NBC and Reveille tried to steal his idea before bagging the show altogether.

Carter denied to Radar that he and Silverman were really friend-friends. Show-biz friends: completely different.

NBC’s TCA presentation is set for Monday morning, with Silverman should put on quite a show.

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