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NBC said to be building new Tonight Show studio at 30 Rock

TheBigA said:
FightingIrish said:
Conan seems like the most obvious choice by Letterman when he retires.
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May seem hard to believe but Conan is a bit too old to replace Letterman. They might as well pick Ray Romano.

I think there are better/younger/hipper people already within the CBS system that they're thinking about.
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Are you serious? Ray Romano is 55. Conan turns 50 next month. You want to skew young by having Ray Romano, who will probably be in his lat 50's by the time Dave leaves as your Late Night franchisee?

Conan is a good idea, but I think that Craig Ferguson will get the nod. He says that he doesn't want it, but we all know the old adage about how money talks.
 
F.M.Hertz said:
Are you serious?
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You made my point. Ray & Conan are about the same age. Neither will get a shot at a new late night show. Nor will Craig, who is simply too out of control for 11:30. You can't muzzle a Scot.
 
Letterman gave a clue last fall on his thinking when he went to Brooklyn to be on Jimmy Kimmel's show and welcomed his move to 11:30.






F.M.Hertz said:
TheBigA said:
FightingIrish said:
Conan seems like the most obvious choice by Letterman when he retires.
Click to expand...

May seem hard to believe but Conan is a bit too old to replace Letterman. They might as well pick Ray Romano.

I think there are better/younger/hipper people already within the CBS system that they're thinking about.
Click to expand...




Are you serious? Ray Romano is 55. Conan turns 50 next month. You want to skew young by having Ray Romano, who will probably be in his lat 50's by the time Dave leaves as your Late Night franchisee?

Conan is a good idea, but I think that Craig Ferguson will get the nod. He says that he doesn't want it, but we all know the old adage about how money talks.
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Christ, only Fox News could come up with this angle: On "The Five," they openly pondered for roughly five minutes whether this potential move was politically-oriented, since it's NBC and Leno does "good, clean comedy" while Fallon is "beloved by Hollywood liberals."
 
TheBigA said:
F.M.Hertz said:
Are you serious?
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You made my point. Ray & Conan are about the same age. Neither will get a shot at a new late night show. Nor will Craig, who is simply too out of control for 11:30. You can't muzzle a Scot.
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There is something to be said for out of control. I, personally, love his humor and his take on doing a talk show. If he moves to 11:30 he will have to tone it down.

But that has me thinking of a double standard. When Dave and Conan both moved to 11:30 there was talk that they both had to tone it down, but with Saturday Night Live also coming on at 11:30 then tend to push the envelope.
 
It's possible that the set will be used anyway by Jimmy Fallon, whether or not he stays at 12:30 or takes over "Tonight".

On the one hand, given that Jay Leno still usually wins at 11:30 ET/PT in total viewers and key demographics, I could see NBC giving him one last two-year deal, with his last "Tonight Show" coming in early August of 2016, right after the Opening Ceremonies of the Summer Olympics, which will be in Rio (and broadcast live during prime-time).

Jimmy Fallon would take over the Monday after the Olympics end.

This would give NBC a huge promotional platform during the Games to promote Fallon's new gig (Bob Costas: "We're about to switch to the Rio Arena for live women's gymnastics, but first a reminder that Jimmy Fallon's all-new 'Tonight Show' begins a week from Monday here on NBC"), and with much of prime-time being live, more viewers may watch than anything else televised in 2016 apart from the Super Bowl.

Or, to take advantage of an Olympics taking place sooner than that, NBC could try to have the transition occur next February, with Jay Leno's last show being February 6th (the night before the Opening Ceremonies) and Jimmy Fallon's show being on February 24th (the night after the Closing Ceremonies), with the Olympics likewise being used as a promotional platform (however, the time difference between Sochi, Russia and the East Coast will preclude any live prime-time coverage, so I think the TV ratings may be lower than they were for the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver).

I could see NBC talking with Leno to have him step aside right after the Winter Olympics by telling him "Steve Allen left the 'Tonight Show' when he was on top. Jack Paar left when he was on top. Johnny Carson left when he was on top. Wouldn't you want to do so too??".

One other scenario: NBC offers Jay Leno a "retirement bonus" in exchange for leaving "The Tonight Show" sometime this Summer, so Jimmy Fallon would succeed him in July or August (assuming his show remains in New York) and get a month or two to "work out the kinks" prior to the "official" start of them 2013/2014 prime-time TV season.

Remember that Leno himself got three-and-a-half months to work out those "kinks" prior to the start of the 1992/93 TV season, and Jack Paar in 1957 got almost two months to likewise "work out the bugs" before the official start of a new TV season.

And this doesn't even begin to discuss two possibilities (which should be topics for separate threads on this board):

(1) Whether NBC will expand "Tonight" to 90 minutes when Fallon takes over (which would likely mean the end of "Late Night", the show he's now doing, and Carson Daly's "Last Call" moving up 30 minutes, or,

(2) Whether NBC will reduce prime-time from three hours to two (except Sundays outside of football season, where prime-time would be cut from four hours to three). Under such a scenario, the 10-11 P.M. ET/PT hour would be returned to stations, and NBC would likely reclaim the 11-11:30 (ET/PT) half-hour and move-up "Tonight" (and "Saturday Night Live" on weekends) to 11. This may be the only way "Late Night" (with a new host or hostess) would likely remain on the air if "Tonight" is expanded to 90 minutes.
 
Why give Jay Leno an additional two year deal to host the 11:30 show???? That would essentially give him three years to maintain or grab more ratings. That was NBC's mistake in 2004 which they provided to Jay the same scenario. So, we're back at square one. Jay Leno continues to host the 11:30 show. Jimmy Fallon is tied to "Late Night" for three years, or gets wise to what NBC is doing and tells them to pound sand.

Leno and Paar did start their runs in the summer, but remember, Leno started during May sweeps, and the ratings picture in 1957 was completely different for Paar.

It's a mistake to start the show in the summer, one of the lowest watched time of the year for TV watching. Best bet is to start in the fall. One reason, is that it falls in line with the rest of the new network offerings, and two, there's a summer to promote the new host of the "Tonight Show." The fall has been the more traditional start for some talk show hosts: Letterman in late August 1993, Conan in September 1993, Steve Allen in September 1954, Johnny Carson in October 1962, etc.

Also, NBC will never give up the 10:00 hour to the affiliates. Although they're struggling, they are still making money in that hour.
 
F.M.Hertz said:
Why give Jay Leno an additional two year deal to host the 11:30 show???? That would essentially give him three years to maintain or grab more ratings. That was NBC's mistake in 2004 which they provided to Jay the same scenario. So, we're back at square one. Jay Leno continues to host the 11:30 show. Jimmy Fallon is tied to "Late Night" for three years, or gets wise to what NBC is doing and tells them to pound sand.

Leno and Paar did start their runs in the summer, but remember, Leno started during May sweeps, and the ratings picture in 1957 was completely different for Paar.

It's a mistake to start the show in the summer, one of the lowest watched time of the year for TV watching. Best bet is to start in the fall. One reason, is that it falls in line with the rest of the new network offerings, and two, there's a summer to promote the new host of the "Tonight Show." The fall has been the more traditional start for some talk show hosts: Letterman in late August 1993, Conan in September 1993, Steve Allen in September 1954, Johnny Carson in October 1962, etc.

Also, NBC will never give up the 10:00 hour to the affiliates. Although they're struggling, they are still making money in that hour.
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Conan also started in the summer--or just after Leno's May 2009 departure. Leno may have started during sweeps, but if he did, it was in the final few days in May '92.
 
Leave it to NBC to mess with something that is currently working, albeit not like it used to. The 18-49 demo for traditional network late-night other than "SNL" has disappeared and is not coming back. They're not going to cable either (see Conan's TBS ratings as proof). "The Daily Show" and "Colbert Report" probably get as many viewers through next-day online streaming as they do through traditional cable/satellite distribution.

I think I may be in the majority when I say I'd like for NBC to reach a deal with Johnny Carson's estate and run classic "Tonight" instead of passing the torch to someone who is definitely not ready for 11:35.
 
umfan said:
Leno leads in all categories, so if the rumors are true about giving Fallon the slot, particularly because some executive was miffed about a monolouge, it would be a foolish decision on NBCs part.
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At least NBC would be doing something they're very good at. They have become experts in foolish decision-making. ;D
 
The transition isn't looking like it will take place until late next year. That would mean a 22 year run for Leno, excepting the short hiatus when O'Brien was on. Not too shabby.

He'll go out on top.
 
Any renovation is way overdue. When Fallon goes into the audience (and he does so just about every night) you can see how dingy the theater is. It really hasn't had a major facelift since Letterman left. From time to time, they still use some effects Letterman used, like the rising staircase. There's not much seating, and the left side of the set sort of disappears. So there are a lot of things they could do with it. Ferguson campaigned for and got a much bigger studio at CBS. So the least NBC could do is try to keep up with the competition.
 
TheBigA said:
Any renovation is way overdue. When Fallon goes into the audience (and he does so just about every night) you can see how dingy the theater is. It really hasn't had a major facelift since Letterman left. From time to time, they still use some effects Letterman used, like the rising staircase. There's not much seating, and the left side of the set sort of disappears. So there are a lot of things they could do with it. Ferguson campaigned for and got a much bigger studio at CBS. So the least NBC could do is try to keep up with the competition.
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Letterman and Conan were in 6A, the studio proposed for renovation (which I don't see is possible currently due to Dr. Oz being there, and was redone in the theater of the round concept). Fallon is in 6B, which was rebuilt for him after WNBC vacated it four years ago. The renovation was done with full recycling of materials in mind, so the 'old dingy' look was on purpose.
 
I can't believe there is so much discussion about a show that draws, at best, 3M per night and most of those are either outside the demo or asleep.
 
landtuna said:
I can't believe there is so much discussion about a show that draws, at best, 3M per night and most of those are either outside the demo or asleep.
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Because it's a franchise that has been around for close to 60 years and has a rich history.
 
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