Jay Leno and Conan- National TV

[Skynet74]

Jay should have been the one fired. Not Conan.

Jay wanted to go. Twice. He wanted to go a year ago, and he offered to leave this time. They told him (both times) he is too important to NBC.

Nobody put a Gun to Jay's head. If he wanted to leave that bad all he had to do was say Goodbye.

 

[DToTheJ]

To hear Leno tell the story, NBC... had already promised the show to Conan. Very similar to the Walter Cronkite situation with Dan Rather. CBS was forced to promise the anchor job to Dan, and used the CBS retirement rule to get Cronkite out. But Cronkite was #1 at the time. And the retirement rule was done away with a few years later.

I think it's fair to say that Rather's own tenure behind the CBS News anchor desk also ended in a "forced" retirement... :

 

[TheBigA]

But it wasn't done by an agent in a contract. I think that is bush league. No one did that to Carson. He was host of the tonight show until he said it was time to go. Jay didn't get that chance. It's unfortunate that NBC is losing Conan, but this is the way things should have gone in May. They should have said that Jay is still #1, therefore, no need to replace him. Pay Conan a penalty, but he stays at 12:30 or leaves. And Jimmy Fallon either gets a weekend show or replaces Conan.

 

[LKellerIII]

To hear Leno tell the story, NBC... had already promised the show to Conan. Very similar to the Walter Cronkite situation with Dan Rather. CBS was forced to promise the anchor job to Dan, and used the CBS retirement rule to get Cronkite out. But Cronkite was #1 at the time. And the retirement rule was done away with a few years later.

I think it's fair to say that Rather's own tenure behind the CBS News anchor desk also ended in a "forced" retirement... :

The situation was different by its very definition. CBS had an iron-clad retirement age of 65 in those days. Cronkite had hit 65, I believe. Could CBS have changed the retirement rule to keep Cronkite? Sure, if they had wanted to. But they used it as an excuse to bring in a 'younger' face.

Those retirement rules are long gone now, and Leno is only 59 in any case (60 in April). The only similarity is that both Leno and Cronkite were #1 when they were forced out.

No doubt NBC hoped they could keep the Tonight Show #1 and also bring in a younger demographic with the younger Conan.

 

[Skynet74]

Sucks that Fallon has a show and Conan is out the door. Conan clearly is the better host with the better show.

 

[imhomerjay]

A show Conana could have chosen to keep. He opted not to. That's fine that it was his choice, but it was precisely that----a choice. A choice that paid off quite well for him, so I shed no tears either way.

 

[Kenny Atkinson]

Sucks that Fallon has a show and Conan is out the door. Conan clearly is the better host with the better show.

I stand to correct you.....Someon would agreee .Lopez Tonight out lasted Conan.As for Jimmy Fallon.I dont think hes good at all as a talk show host...

 

[Skynet74]

As for Jimmy Fallon.I dont think hes good at all as a talk show host...

You've got that right. He was much better on Saturday Night Live. I'm not finding him very enjoyable as a talk show host.

 

[searadiofreak]

Perhaps the better comparison would be Fallon against O'Brien in his first year. I distinctly remember that Conan was considered pretty "green" in his first year or two.

 

[searadiofreak]

No Leno tonight (atleast in my mountain zone), went with dateline in the 3rd hour of prime. Same in all zones? If so, interesting in that he was scheduled for tonight.

 

[fybush]

No Leno tonight. We got Dateline at 10 ET, too.

 

[searadiofreak]

I wonder if Leno, in his new found nicey-nice with Conan, asked to let Conan have the night with his final show. If so, probably a good PR move for Jay. Total speculation, though.

 

[Skynet74]

Fallon was better tonight than he was a few months ago. I don't know if he's getting a little better or if he just got lucky tonight and things clicked. I already miss Conan though and he's only been gone for an hour. I sure hope FOX signs him to a deal. It would really suck if he doesn't return for a long time.

I'm now wishing that he had just chose to stay at NBC. I have to keep reminding myself that they didn't fire him. They were only pushing the show back a half hour. After hearing that bit of news Conan chose to quit on his own. I hope that he doesn't regret it.

 

[searadiofreak]

Fallon was better tonight than he was a few months ago. I don't know if he's getting a little better or if he just got lucky tonight and things clicked. I already miss Conan though and he's only been gone for an hour. I sure hope FOX signs him to a deal. It would really suck if he doesn't return for a long time.

I'm now wishing that he had just chose to stay at NBC. I have to keep reminding myself that they didn't fire him. They were only pushing the show back a half hour. After hearing that bit of news Conan chose to quit on his own. I hope that he doesn't regret it.

Who knows? If Conan had stayed and did his show at 12:05, eventually Leno would have retired, and he would most likely move into the 11:35 slot. Damaged goods? Perhaps, but patience might have been a virtue for Coco.

As for Fallon, yes he has his good moments. As mentioned in another thread, he could become the next Tonight Show host. His performance should be compared to Conan's early late night efforts in the 90's, which were a bit uneven at best.

 

[TheRover]

Before ending the show with a song, O'Brien said the following from his desk:

"Before we end this rodeo, a few things need to be said. There has been a lot of speculation in the press about what I legally can and can't say about NBC. To set the record straight, tonight I am allowed to say anything I want. And what I want to say is this: between my time at Saturday Night Live, The Late Night Show, and my brief run here on The Tonight Show, I have worked with NBC for over 20 years. Yes, we have our differences right now and yes, we're going to go our separate ways. But this company has been my home for most of my adult life. I am enormously proud of the work we have done together, and I want to thank NBC for making it all possible. ...

Walking away from The Tonight Show is the hardest thing I have ever had to do. Making this choice has been enormously difficult. This is the best job in the world. I absolutely love doing it. And I have the best staff and crew in the history of the medium. ... But despite this sense of loss, I really feel this should be a happy moment.

Every comedian dreams of hosting The Tonight Show and, for seven months, I got to do it! I did it my way, with people I love. I do not regret one second. ... I've had more good fortune than anyone I know and if our next gig is doing a show in a 7-11 parking lot, we'll find a way to make it fun.

And finally, I have to say something to our fans. The massive outpouring of support and passion from so many people has been overwhelming. The rallies, the signs. All this goofy, outrageous creativity on the Internet, and the fact that people have traveled long distances and camped out all night in the pouring rain ... to be in our audience - you made a sad situation joyous and inspirational.

To all the people watching, I can never thank you enough for your kindness to me and I'll think about it for the rest of my life. All I ask of you is one thing: Please do not be cynical. I hate cynicism- it's my least favorite quality and it doesn't lead anywhere.

Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen. As proof, let's make an amazing thing happen right now. Here to close out our show, are a few good friends [Billy Gibbons, Beck, and Robert Randolph], led by Mr. Will Ferrell singing "Freebird"…

 

[DToTheJ]

Before ending the show with a song, O'Brien said the following from his desk:

"...Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen..."

I'm sure Mr. Murdoch is going to be very, very kind to Conan in a few weeks...

 

[TheBigA]

The Fox thing is not a slam dunk. They have basically the same problem that NBC has, and that's a bunch of affiliates that won't want to give up their local time for a national show.

Fox has gone down this road several times before. There was The Joan Rivers Show in 1986, and the Chevy Chase Show in 1993. The latter was canceled after 5 weeks. The Rivers show continued as The Late Show for a few years with a variety of hosts, but was cancelled in 88. The issue is that these Fox stations run their local news an hour earlier, and then run very profitable off-network re-runs. They are unlikely to give that time up, regardless of the host, especially given the track record.

Last May, when Leno left Tonight, he made it sound like ABC was looking for a replacement to Nightline. Of course, they could simply move Jimmy Kimmel up to 11:30. But sticking Conan in there would be a great lead-in for Kimmel, although it would mean his show would start a half hour later, angering the Kimmel fans.

Conan is better off considering a syndicated show, along the lines of Arsenio Hall. It could be harder to launch, because each station has to be signed individually. Another outlet available is cable. Channels like TBS and FX have budgets for first-run programming. Comedy Central has no room now for such a show. I'm sure the various NBC cable channels were discussed, such as Lifetime and Bravo.

 

[Poledo]

Has Conan made any mention of moving back to New York?

 

[Skynet74]

Has Conan made any mention of moving back to New York?

I don't think Conan has had much time to do anything yet other than to start drinking more.

 

[cowboybud]

The Fox thing is not a slam dunk. They have basically the same problem that NBC has, and that's a bunch of affiliates that won't want to give up their local time for a national show.

Fox has gone down this road several times before. There was The Joan Rivers Show in 1986, and the Chevy Chase Show in 1993. The latter was canceled after 5 weeks. The Rivers show continued as The Late Show for a few years with a variety of hosts, but was cancelled in 88. The issue is that these Fox stations run their local news an hour earlier, and then run very profitable off-network re-runs. They are unlikely to give that time up, regardless of the host, especially given the track record.

I saw somewhere (may have been on this board) that it's in the affiliation contracts for all Fox affiliates, that any late-night show must be carried in pattern.