Report: Longtime Conan O'Brien bandleader Max Weinberg eyeing Leno gig?

Is there mutiny on the couch? Longtime Conan O'Brien bandleader Max Weinberg may be a turncoat in the O'Brien-Jay Leno late-night war, according to a new report.

Film site Movieline alleges that Weinberg is eyeing the gig as Leno's new emcee, after Kevin Eubanks announced he'll soon be leaving Leno's side.

Weinberg was jazzed last year to assume the position when Conan took over the "Tonight Show" reins, but in light of the Team Coco flush, he's made "overtures" to return solo.

"I used to think when I was a kid what a great job that must be -- you know, same place, every time, everyday. Lo and behold, here I am 40 years later, doing it," Weinberg gushed about the gig to Inside Jersey magazine in August. 

As if buzz about a switch to Leno's show isn't controversial enough, the Movieline report goes on to say ...

... that Weinberg wasn't necessarily a beloved member of Big Red's team:

Weinberg would send interns to do gardening work at his house on the New Jersey shore, and would involve staffers in his pay disputes with the network -- at one point, even enlisting an intern to tabulate every minute of screen time Weinberg had racked up over two years in an argument for a salary raise.

An NBC spokesperson had no comment regarding the report. 

Do you think Weinberg would make a good addition to the "Tonight Show" team? Does this make Leno look even worse? Tell us in comments.

-- Matt Donnelly

Photo: Conan O'Brien during life before wartime, at the TV critics tour Jan. 15, 2009, in Los Angeles. Credit: Frederick M. Brown / Getty Images.

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The Conan-NBC fracas, as interpreted by Pee-wee Herman

'Coco and the Chin': #Conan O'Brien apparently 100% OK with this #LenoFAIL situation [Updated]

Conan O'Brien apologizes to Levi Johnston, with William Shatner's help

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Comments

[Michelle]

I would be brokenhearted if this turned out to be true.

Being a member of Team Coco, I would be very saddened to see Max, a beloved sidekick from the late night days, turn on Conan in that way. Praying that this isn't true.

TEAM CONAN!

[conanfan2]

let's see...eubanks leaves leno because leno does not allow him time to do his own thing. and, max moves to fill eubanks spot, max needing time to do his own thing whenever bruce springstein does a tour. yeh, right, leno is going to allow max time off each year for bruce, but wouldn't allow eubanks to do lesser ventures elsewhere...do you want to buy a brookland bridge?

[sitdownandbequiet]

That kind of classless move would require a serious lack of loyalty on the part of Weinberg. But then his mistreatment of interns and subordinate staffers would suggest that being virtuous is not something that matters much to him.

Springsteen rules, Max who?

[Lobster Theodore]

Maxey ,does the name Luca Brazzi ring a bell?

[Grandpa]

Tommy Dorsey would be good.

[Andy]

Conan should see if John Lurie still wants the gig as his bandleader... provided Conan moves into a show that has a band.

As for Max? There was always a kind of a creepy charm to him, and I don't mind him being replaced.

[Gil]

It's ALL true.

[Gil]

Jimmy Vivino has always been the real bandleader.

[Mike]

Glad he didn't get it. He's an OK drummer/bandleader but he's as stiff as a board and absolutely agonizing to watch.

I wouldn't be all that sad if he doesn't show up on Conan's new show, either...see how he likes his new career: back at square-one as a backup drummer for Bruce Springsteen playing 3 weekends a year.

[Steve]

It is: THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE, not "a brookland bridge".

The better part of the article is the fact that Max is kinda douche-y.