George Lopez knows a good thing when he hears it.
"In case you hadn't heard, Conan O'Brien will be joining us late night at TBS! Welcome!" the exuberant comedian announced Monday to his Lopez Tonight audience, reiterating the news that O'Brien has signed on to be Lopez's lead-in starting this November.
Lopez will be moving from 11 p.m. to midnight to accommodate the redheaded cable newcomer.
"I want to say that I am completely 100 percent on board with this move," Lopez continued. "I talked to Conan on Wednesday, I talked to him last night, and I said, 'I welcome you into my deep, loving embrace.' "
So apparently Lopez knew about TBS' late-night coup long before the rest of us CoCo fans. Long enough to come up with a new moniker, anyway.
"Then I said, 'Let's take the party and make it bigger, and take it into the next generation of late-night TV! Let's do that!" Lopez recounted.
"Everybody's heard of 'I'm With CoCo,' but now everybody can go LoCo!"
Indeed, including the folks at Fox, who, according to the Hollywood Reporter, talked seriously with O'Brien about setting him up with his own show, but ultimately couldn't make it happen due to preexisting deals with various affiliate stations around the country.
"There were very positive talks with Fox, but there are commitments at the stations for the next two years that made it very difficult to put the show in enough markets to make it competitive," a source told THR.
Meanwhile, TBS president Steve Koonin told the trade that they were able to cut a deal with O'Brien in "less than 70 hours. We felt we were the right match."
"We have been competing with broadcast for several years, and one of their last strengths has been morning and late-night programming," Koonin said. "Now we have a chance with two guys in their 40s to attract viewers in their 20s and 30s."
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George Lopez was spotted last week visiting a good friend who happens to be lying low these days. See who had the pleasure of George's company right here!