Marc Liepis finally moving up

When I first started doing Late Show News almost 15 years ago, I got a nice note from Andy Richter at "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," and thus began a friendly relationship with that show that has never abated. A big reason for that is the host, of course, who keeps putting out a show that I want to watch, but another reason has been the people behind the scenes.

When I was first starting out, the NBC flack for the show was a gravelly voiced chain-smoking old soul named Daniel Ferguson. He was funny and easy to work with, and since I went to NYC quite a bit in those days, he kept an open door at 30 Rock for me. And then a producer's job at the show opened up and Daniel took it.

So then came along the new NBC flack, Marc Liepis, and he was every bit as accommodating as Daniel was, though once I came to Kansas City and started visiting NYC less, there were fewer f2f opportunities. I remember standing in the hallway outside 6A with Marc after a taping and him saying to me, "I like my job, but this is the last P.R. position I'm going to have. My next job I want to be a producer."

That was in 1996.

Well, that's how it is in TV-land. A show gets settled, the talent isn't being renewed at 13-week intervals, people know they've scored a good gig so why shop around, and next thing you know, you're the NBC publicist for life.

So I have great news to report: One of the best publicists I've worked with has finally scored that producer's job. Not surprisingly, it will be with NBC's "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon." A show which, as I have noted earlier, is in no danger of cancellation -- although I do think Marc is getting out of PR at just the right moment, because he won't be the one to explain why CBS's "Late Late Show" is beating Jimmy in the ratings. (Correct answer: We don't care about ratings, only demos.)

Good luck in the new year, Marc -- I'm happy for anyone who scores a new job right now, but especially Liepis.