The Laws of Late Night TV
[caption id="attachment_338" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Late Night Law"][/caption] By now everyone is likely familiar with the whole Tonight Show controversy surrounding Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien. In terms of a legal standpoint, there is a virtual buffet of laws that have been touched upon through the course of this recent colossal debacle. As it was stipulated in a contract set forth by NBC back in 2004, effective June 2009, Conan O’Brien, then host of Late Night, was to take over has host of the Tonight Show, replacing long time host Jay Leno. This was an unheard of arrangement, as Leno at the time was number one in terms of ratings and NBC was promising O’Brien the Tonight Show five years in the future. To put it mildly, a lot could happen…