Jay, Conan and another battle for late night

Lots of chatter today about Bill Carter's behind-the-scenes account of the Leno-O'Brien war over late night. It's a war that was initiated by NBC's cockeyed plan to cancel Leno at 10 and move him to 11:35, followed by O'Brien at 12:05. The Vanity Fair excerpt is predictably juicy, the kind of blow-by-blow descriptions that Carter had in "The Late Shift," which detailed the Leno-Letterman war (what is it about Leno?). For pure entertainment value, my favorite bits involve NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker, who wasn't happy about O'Brien's equivocating.

[O'Brien's agent] Rick Rosen asked [producer] Jeff Ross if he wanted to grab some dinner, and they drove to the Brentwood Restaurant and Lounge, on South Barrington in Brentwood Village. Just before nine p.m., Rosen's cell rang. He checked the readout: restricted number. Rick had a loose rule not to answer his cell when he didn't know who was on the line, but things were so unsettled that he decided he had better pick this one up.

Hello, Richard," a voice said. Jeff Zucker often used the formal first name affectionately when he greeted someone. After inquiring how everyone was doing, he asked, "Well, have you seen tomorrow's New York Times yet? Let me read you something." He proceeded to share an update on the Conan situation, already available online, which included a reference to overt interest in Conan from the Fox network, expressed by an unnamed executive, as well as an assertion from a representative of Conan's that the star had not accepted NBC's plan and was not likely to anytime in the near future.

"Let me explain something to you," Zucker said. "I want a fucking answer from you. If you think you are going to play me in the press, you've got the wrong guy."

"I haven't spoken to the Times at all," Rosen replied, getting a bit heated himself.

"Well, I guess we know who did, don't we?" Zucker replied, not quite saying the name Gavin Polone. "I want an answer from Conan and I want an answer quickly. You know I have the ability to pay him or play him, and I could ice him for two years."

"Well, Jeff," Rosen answered, ignoring the threat, "we're going to give you an answer when we have thought about it."

Zucker remained hot. "Just let me tell you something: you are not going to fucking play me."

Also playing a prominent role in this future HBO movie is L.A. super-lawyer Patty Glaser, who was brought on to deal with the O'Brien settlement.