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Launching into tonight’s monologue, Jay Leno continued riffing about the future of The Tonight Show. “Are you all excited about March Madness? Are you all into March Madness?” he ostensibly asked about NCAA college basketball playoffs getting underway. “People are talking about who’s in, who’s out, who’s gonna be eliminated. And that’s just here at NBC. I have never been in the paper this much. It’s fantastic.”
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Welcome to “Hacking Your Way Back to Mediocrity” with your host, Jay Leno!
” I have never been in the paper this much”. What paper Jay? Which 1950′s comedian did you steal that line from? It is 2013. Way to adapt to bring in a younger audience… No wonder your time is done.
His time is done? He beats everyone in ratings including those hi-tech whippersnappers. Give this drumbeat a rest already.
I love reading this crap about a “younger” audience. It’s clear from Kimmel’s tanked ratings that young people are not the be all, end all people think they are. They most definitely are not now, nor will they be in the future, the main viewers of late night television.
That’s only because most of the insomniacs are over the age of 55.
I don’t know what you are smoking, but he is comparing himself to how many times he has been listed in the paper due to news stories regarding the Tonight Show.
Yes Jay we’re all very proud of you getting all this remarkable nonstop news coverage it’s amazing and it’s only happened twice before all because of your massive ego and your incredible talent.
You are a giant coward you could have gone to ABC in 2009 and you’d have been welcomed there they wanted you to replace Nightline but you were afraid to leave NBC so you hung around like a guy who graduates high school but keeps going back to the high school because he’s afraid to move on to college. That’s you Jay.
You deserve to be forced out and if you had been smart you’d have said in 2009 “I’m going to ABC and it will be a three man three network race. Me against Conan and Dave and may the best man win.” That’s what a real man would have done but nope not Jay you took the coward’s route and now you are paying the price.
Easy for a nobody to say.
You have a very strange definition of what a “coward” is. Seek professional help.
You do realize it’s just a TV show, right? You seem waaaaaay too worked up over this whole thing. I’m no big Leno fan either, but I think you might be taking it a little too far. Someone who’s been that successful for that long might have earned at least a modicum of respect? Maybe?
Look, I’d agree with you “It’s only a TV show” most of the time. But you are completely underestimating the Leno hatred in many circles. While you yourself do not hate Leno, it’s probably because you are over 45, a hard right Republican or he signed a T-shirt for you in 1995. Leno lovers fall into those three camps.
Those under 40, Conan fans, comedy fans, and people who are not on the outer fringe of the Republican Party almost uniformly despise Jay, and the Cowardly commenter speaks for the many millions of us.
Jay was afraid to leave NBC??? More like NBC was afraid to let Jay leave to go to ABC or FOX and start a new show that would beat both Conan and Dave. NBC made sure that wouldn’t happen the only way they could, by giving Jay 10PM.
My goodness such hostility towards Jay Leno, he has the right to
fight for his place as much as anybody else. The Tonight Show should stay in Burbank and keep some of its Johnny Carson history, I mean that really is and will always be the ONLY Tonight Show. They might as well call it something else when Jimmy Fallon does his thing.
People are still blaming Jay for Conan. So is that Comment by “Cowardly Jay Leno” really Conan?
Keep the “Johnny Carson history” and legacy of the Tonight Show? Suan, you obviously know absolutely nothing about the history of the Tonight Show, or of Jay Leno’s attitude towards protecting the legacy of it.
The Tonight Show started in New York with Steve Allen, continued with Jack Parr, and Johnny. Johnny moved with it to Burbank in 1972, after hosting it for 10 years in New York. If you want to talk about the history of the show, then New York is truly the Tonight Show’s real home.
Secondly, let’s not forget that is was Leno who was absolutely fine with moving the Tonight Show to midnight when his ten o’clock show failed in 2009/10. It was Conan who refused to move it, as he wanted to preserve its original time slot.
And why do I have to be the only who continues drilling this into peoples heads. Jay Leno is not the creator or owner of the Tonight Show. It is owned by NBC. Jay Leno is an employee who has been paid hundreds of millions of dollars to do his job. NBC has bent over backwards for him since 1991. They gave him the job when it even wasn’t available, forcing Johnny Carson into an early retirement. I’ll say it again, Johnny Carson was not ready to retire. He was forced out. And then let’s not forget not only was the job occupied by Carson, but it was contractually spoken for with David Letterman. But that doesn’t seem to matter to Jay Leno, when he could have easily had his own show on CBS, which they were offering him. Nope, he had to have the Tonight Show.
I could go on and on about this, but I won’t. The fact remains, I’m not out here bashing Leno or his comedy. The truth is, I watched Jay for most of his Tonight Show career up until 2010. But the facts are out there. Jay had an opportunity to go quietly into the night, the same as Carson did. He could have had a job at ABC, hosting his own show followed by Jimmy Kimmel after the Tonight Show. But instead he continues to act as if God himself created the Tonight Show just for him. If that were true, and God did create the Tonight Show, Johnny would still be hosting.
You’re weird. Why in the world wouldn’t Jay take The Tonight Show, which was the job he wanted, when it was offered to him (both times)? Why would he defer to someone else (Letterman, who was NOT “contractually spoken for”; if the show had been guaranteed to him, NBC would have had to pay him off in 1992). Jay had no obligation to step aside if NBC still wanted him, and they obviously still did.
Let’s see – in 2004 Conan and his manager forced NBC’s hand causing Jay to retire before Jay’s time.
Blah Blah Blah – everything is Leno’s fault. Blah Blah.
Well put.
You are so full of it Ed.
First off, Johnny moved the Tonight Show from New York to California because he knew that it would equal a better show for him. Second, The Tonight Show is an institution that spans various hosts including Leno, Carson, and Conan. The Tonight Show has always been on at 11:30 PM Eastern and Pacific time or so after with the current time being 11:35 PM. I’ll get back to that in a second.
With that said, while David Letterman may have reached a verbal agreement with Johnny for The Tonight Show slot, somebody forgot to tell NBC. If Johnny Carson wasn’t ready to retire, it is likely because David Letterman had to let his Late Night contract run out. NBC likely wanted Leno to take over The Tonight Show and got their wish.
Notice that I said above that The Tonight Show is an institution. The main conflict in the 2010 events is that NBC wanted Jay Leno to do a short 30 minute show from 11:35 PM to just after midnight. At that time, The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien would begin. This flies in the face of years of the show starting after the local news, and I bet that nobody told Conan except after the fact. Conan had no choice but to quit. The current situation hurts Jay more because he has been loyal to NBC to a fault, and this is how they repay him?
Wow, it’s amazing how stupid most of you all are. Ed is correct about everything he said. David Letterman had a contractual agreement between himself and NBC for taking over the hosting duties of The Tonight Show when Carson stepped down. If NBC didn’t give it to him, they would of had to pay him a $1 million dollar penalty.
And NBC never came offering Jay the Tonight Show in the first place. CBS did. Jay used that as leverage to get The Tonight Show.
The information is out there, all of Bill Carter’s books go into great detail about all of this past nonsense. And if you can’t read, which it seems like most of you can’t, they made a movie about at as well, called “The Late Shift.”
It doesn’t take an Einstein to know that while Jay’s still #1 overall, his audience is far more likely to have Metamucil and a denture glass on the nightstand than an iPad or a glow stick.
There are worse things to do than exit gracefully while you’re still on top, and Leno’s apparently ready to do all of them.
the only thing staler than jay’s joke is the all the jay hate. hollywood has become such a childish place. “jay sucks”, “jay’s stupid”, “jay’s a coward”… suddenly, it’s a town full of 7 year olds.
People are just tired of this guy continuing to get what he wants. He’s been getting everything he’s ever wanted and then some, not to mention being one of the highest paid television personalities in history. After a while, some people deserve to have the chair kicked out from under them. Leno is one of those people.
You sound jealous. And a little crazy, IMHO.
Come on, Ed. You’re better than this.
Yes, all the bitter people who have accomplished very little root for failure and believe that successful people deserve to be taken down a few notches simply because they’ve had it too good. The nerve of Jay to want the Tonight Show. How selfish of him not to go “quietly into the night.” Can you believe that a host would be paid so much, all because he delivered top ratings for years for a hugely profitable show for NBC even as their primetime ratings fell apart? Ridiculous! He should just hand over $100 million and all of his cars to Fallon and NBC, too. Clearly young, edgy comedians like Conan are the wave of the future; oh wait…his Tonight Show ratings sucked, and were much lower than Jay’s in Jay’s first year hosting following Carson’s retirement. Let’s howl at the moon about how life is so unfair.
In Conan’s defense, The Tonight Show’s ratings were down because NBC replaced five hours worth of dramas so Jay could have a 10 PM comedy show. That comedy show failed and it affected the 11 PM news as well as Conan and Jimmy’s shows.
Conan’s Tonight Show started several months before Jay’s 10PM show. Jay can’t be blamed for the fact Conan lost ratings after about a week or so.
“suddenly, it’s a town full of 7 year olds”
Seven year olds with baseball bats, brass knuckles, switch blades and way too much Red Bull.
Fallon is going to flop at 11:35 the same way Conan flopped they are both perfectly suited for the 12:35 slot and by moving up an hour they will try to dumb down and broaden their comedy to appeal to a larger audience. That’s what killed Conan his show was brilliant at 12:35 it was comedy excellence all the time.
Leno dumbed down his humor as well he used to be super funny and incredibly sharp and witty when he’d guest on Letterman’s old NBC show in the 1980′s Jay was always the funniest guest. Then in 1992 he turned into a boring white bread TV host trying to emulate Carson who came from Nebraska.
Once again, someone who’s facts are incorrect. Conan didn’t flop as you or so many other people continue to suggest. Conan’s ratings were perfectly fine when he started in June of 2009. He had some modest ratings over the summer, as do all late night talk shows. But once Leno came in with his ten o’clock show, Conan’s ratings plummeted. It was Leno’s lead-in that killed Conan. And the NBC affiliates across the country can prove that with the ratings of all their local news. The majority of NBC 11:00 PM news dropped 25-50%. Did all the local news suddenly turn to sh*t? No, the ten o’clock Jay Leno show is what happened. People changed the channel. Don’t give me anymore of this this horsesh*t Conan’s ratings are what did him in, because anyone with a brain in their head who can actually read the facts that are out there knows what really happened.
I will however agree with you on one thing, Anonymous. Whether it be Letterman, Conan, Fallon or Ferguson, their brand of humor for the 11:30 time slot does not work well. When Letterman went to CBS, his first couple of years were good. But the majority of those viewers were his fans who followed him from Late Night. And as much as I love Conan, even his stuff didn’t seem to work as well for 11:30. He almost tamed it down, all while still trying to be edgy. Take Craig Ferguson, who I consider right now to be the funniest and edgiest guy on the talk show circuit. If he were to take over Letterman’s show, I’m not sure how well a talking gay skeleton and a horse are going to fly over with the 11:30 crowd. But here’s the thing, everyone’s always talking about the demographics of it all, and how Leno serves the over 40/50+ age group. So what, the younger viewers who watch Conan and Fallon are never going to get old and want to watch “their favourite talk show host” at 11:30? It’s almost the opposite of what’s happening in the movie business, where the studios are trying to market to the 14-25 year olds, and television is trying to market to the 40-50+ group? At the end of the day, it’s all bullsh*t. Everyone needs something to watch. And even though Leno is covering that market/demo, (and so was Carson during his run), the fact is, is that he cannot stay there forever like he thinks he can, especially for the cost of running The Tonight Show and at his salary.
Ed that’s not quite correct. Conan’s ratings were fine that first week (and maybe a little bit longer), but had dropped quite a bit by the time Jay’s 10PM show started several months later.
You’re right, except that Conan’s ratings were still perfectly acceptable until Leno’s 10 p.m. show began. EVERY show’s ratings drop a lot after the first week, including Leno’ comeback in 2010.
Conan could have continued trudging along with his decent/fairly good ratings for years had Leno’s 10 p.m. show not ruined everything.
“I have never been in the paper this much. It’s fantastic.” What a disingenuous thing to say, after being the unattractive center of not one but TWO over-hyped backstage dramas involving The Tonight Show before this. But then he’s never really been relied on for his wit. Letterman knows how to be clever in these situations, Kimmel knows how to land a punch, and Fallon knows how to stay humble. Leno? “I’m just a guy standin’ here, watchin’ the corner! Gee whiz!” What a worm.
This. You are the voice of reason.
What a total and utter jerk. (I was going to use another word, but this is a family website.)
He is number one for 17 yrs in total and younger viewers and nbc wants to replace him. smart thinking!
Jimmy Fallon needs to just be happy he married well -
he is nervous and not good with guests- Jimmy Kimmel is smooth and has more of a Leno style
Fallon is awkward and not able to handle this gig- just have nancy cast you in her bff films as the two of the play producer -
of course, after that gross and offensive
capstone authoritarian ‘Demand a Plan’ video
—’CONE–IN’ is beneath mention.
Fallon is at least sometimes –somewhat funny.
Leno, like Letterman, is not, and never was —funny.
He and Letterman started the trend of ‘management
cures’ delivered cheerfully, passing for entertainment.
Yes, but if Leno has the highest ratings in late night, and his demographic is indeed denture wearers, isn’t it obvious, with people living longer, that late night should not just unilaterally dump that demographic? Someday kids today will be old and probably won’t be so interested in the “young,” “edgy,” and “hip” of their youth. And not once in these comments has Dick Cavett gotten his due. His late night show was considered an also-ran to Carson, but every talk show fan here looked at it plenty, often switching back and forth to Carson, in many ways a harbinger of the Stewart and Colbert late night to come where politics, social issues, and pop culture inter-sected in a thoughtful droll way. Carson himself was a fan.
” isn’t it obvious, with people living longer, that late night should not just unilaterally dump that demographic?”
The problem with the older demographic is that advertisers don’t pay big for it. Older people have already setteled upon the products they buy. They have a deoderant brand they buy and are satisfied with and are not inclined to change because a new brand is running a bunch of ads. They are ad resistent.
Fifth place network, first place in his time slot. Imagine what kind of bonus that performance would be worth on Wall Street.
Leno could care less anymore as he’s about to tell NBC to screw themselves as he concludes his deal with the network a year from now. This network is a joke and a farce on all fronts and their ratings are proving as such. Hell, they’re even starting to get beat by some CW shows now on certain nights. Fire Greenbladt and Salke and bring in people who don’t think like Jeff Zucker anymore, but at NBC, if you fail miserably, then you get rewarded.
What gives Leno the right to balk, piss and moan (and probably try to sabotage Fallon in some way) when Johnny Carson, Jay’s superior in every way (ratings, popularity, as a pop culture icon), when told he was being pushed out for a younger host simply accepted his (probably unfair) fate, realized the network has to look to the future, youth will be served, and retired to Malibu. Johnny did not viciously attack his NBC bosses; offer to do a 10 pm show on NBC; offer to replace the early struggling Leno; try to get a program on some cable network. Johnny left with dignity and class, as will Letterman, soon. As will Kimmel someday. As will Fallon someday. As will Colbert someday. As well Stewart someday. Only one of these guys refuses to leave center stage, and without having ever met the man it appears to me he has some serious issues.
Sure Leno would have wanted to hang in there as long as he could. But when people get older the entertainment begins to lose energy. NBC sees the energy Fallon has brought to his show and want to transplant that to the Tonight Show. How can Leno object. He had no problem with moving the old guy out early when it was Carson being greased for his benefit. Now its Jays turn. Letterman will not be far behind.
Big winner in this whole thing is The ROOTS.
This sums it up perfectly: On Saturday night, CNN. CNN analyst to “expert” whose name I unfortunately did not catch: “Why are they booting Leno when he’s doing well?” Expert: “In terms of advertising dollars, he’s not doing nearly as well as he once did. And he’s aging.”
Bullseye. The Tonight Show is earning a MUCH smaller profit margin than before Jay ruined his reputation by pushing out Conan in 2010. He never recovered, ad rates fell, and a lot of viewers returned to him. Jay has himself to blame for this. Due to lowered ad rates and the expense of producing his show, NBC’s profits are significantly smaller than they once were.