The News Of …

George Lopez, who surrendered his TBS time slot to Conan O’Brien and then saw ratings for ‘Lopez Tonight’ slide, got a cancelation notice Wednesday.
Lopez’s Thursday show at midnight will be the final one, the cable network said in a statement.
“TBS has reached the difficult decision not to order a third season of ‘Lopez Tonight’” – the network said, adding that it was proud to have worked with the “immensely talented comedian and entertainer.”
TBS declined further comment. The decision was based not only on ratings but also the cost of the show, according to a person familiar with the production, who spoke on condition of anonymity because TBS hadn’t authorized public comment.
A call to Lopez’s representatives was not immediately returned.
The comic gave up his 11 p.m. ET time slot to make room for O’Brien, who joined TBS after leaving NBC’s “Tonight” over a time-slot dispute that ended up reinstating Jay Leno as “Tonight” host.
The plan for TBS was to have a one-two punch of late-night shows that would particularly appeal to young viewers, but the results have been unimpressive and the cancelation unsurprising – said media analyst Brad Adgate of Horizon Media.
“The only positive was a young median age” of about 32 – Adgate said, which is part of the younger adult audience favored by advertisers.

George Lopez.

Following news that the ratings starved ‘Lopez Tonight’ helmed by comedian George Lopez was given the ax on Wednesday, staffers at TBS’s other nightly talk show, ‘Conan,’ starring Conan O’Brien, couldn’t help but wonder if they were next.
Show staffers told Fox411 that O’Brien and his writers weren’t even sure if they should address the controversy on his Wednesday evening show for fear that bringing attention to the cancellation would put them under the microscope. Staffers said much debate was made over whether to ignore the 800-pound gorilla in the room.
O’Brien opted to keep the Lopez cancellation out of his opening monologue and instead made sure to assert his place in the late night pantheon by reminding the audience that this was his 3,000th show since he began hosting ‘Late Night With Conan O’Brien’ in 1993.
After his first commercial break, he switched to a serious tone and sent his condolences to Lopez and his staff.
“Had it not been for George being so incredibly supportive of me I would not have come to TBS” – O’Brien said. “It makes me really sad that TBS and George could not work this out…, so tonight all of our thoughts are with George and his staff and his crew.”
A spokesman for ‘Conan’ told Fox411 that he was unable to answer the question about whether their show was in increased danger of being next on the chopping block, and referred us to the network.
TBS vehemently shot down the idea that ‘Conan’ would be next to go, saying that any cancellation rumors were not true, and that O’Brien’s ratings were not similar to those experienced by Lopez’s show.
But while the numbers may not be the same, the audience erosion is.
Since moving from the 10 p.m. time slot, Lopez’s total viewership dropped from 910,000 to 543,000. It dropped further to 391,000 this month.
In contrast ‘Conan’ has averaged a little over 1 million viewers for this season and has averaged 709,000 this month. But that’s down from the show’s debut of 2 million viewers.
Industry insiders say that Conan O’Brien is now most definitely in a precarious position.

Quite a few celebrities expressed their disappointment with the news following the announcement, including names like Roseanne Barr, Holly Robinson Peete, Niecy Nash, and Ashton Kutcher. Below are their tweets:
Holly Robinson Peete, a a host on a talk show herself on CBS’s The Talk, said: “NOOOOOO BOOOOO! RT @THR TBS Cancels ‘Lopez Tonight”.
Ashton Kutcher, the new star of Two and a Half Men, also decided to “send love”. “hey @georgelopez sending love your way flaco” – the CBS sitcom star said.
Niecy Nash, best known for her appearance on the 10th season of Dancing with the Stars said: “@tbsveryfunny canceling @georgelopez show is not funny! I guess now we have to do a sitcom together George! It’s on!”
Roseanne Barr of the sitcom Roseanne consoled Lopez. “@georgelopez so sorry to hear of your cancellation–you are great” – she said.