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Will Letterman be a surprise guest on Leno's Tonight Show finale?

W

WMC2006

Just throwing the idea out there.

I'm watching Jay tonight (to see Billy Crystal....big mistake, he isn't funny so far) and Jay mentioned that Conan will be on tomorrow night's finale plus a big surprise at the end of the show.

Letterman is on vacation this week. What's the possibility he'll be a surprise guest? I've read in the recent past that Dave said he might actually invite Jay to be on his show once his Tonight reign is over. Granted, they seemingly haven't spoken to each other in 17 years or more but it's possible. ::)

Maybe more realistically, Edd Hall and Branford Marsalis mght drop by at the end. Or Ed McMahon and Doc Severinson. ;D
 
I wondered about Letterman dropping in also! If not, good idea to take vacation, since there would be no way he could compete this week. Everyone will be watching, especially tomorrow night. Plus I'm sure Conan will have a huge ratings night on Monday and the reat of the week.

Come to think of it, poor Conan. Always stepping into someone else's shoes. First taking over Late Night AFTER Dave, nw The Tonight Show AFTER Leno.
 
My predictions for the "surprise" guest:

1. Bette Midler (guest on Carson's last show)
2. Hugh Grant (one of Leno's popular guests, and whose appearance on the show helped him surpass Letterman in the ratings, and hasn't looked back)
3. Rush Limbaugh (just because)
 
Just my opinion but I don't see Letterman making a guest apperance on Leno's Tonight Show finale.

What would he gain out of it?

Besides, from what I've read, Letterman still is ticked off at NBC for giving Leno the Tonight Show after Carson retired. There is no way Letterman wants to boost NBC's ratings anymore than they will on Leno's last night as host.

Also take into account that Letterman's employer, CBS, wouldn't be too happy having him appear on a competing network.
 
Funny, I wondering the same thing last night, but I have a feeling that if Letterman were to be a suprise guest, we would have heard about it by now. Still could happen, who knows...
 
Mark_Giardina said:
Just my opinion but I don't see Letterman making a guest apperance on Leno's Tonight Show finale.

What would he gain out of it?

Besides, from what I've read, Letterman still is ticked off at NBC for giving Leno the Tonight Show after Carson retired. There is no way Letterman wants to boost NBC's ratings anymore than they will on Leno's last night as host.

Also take into account that Letterman's employer, CBS, wouldn't be too happy having him appear on a competing network.
Click to expand...

I guess the appearance would make Letterman look like a good sport - but really, he has nothing tangible to gain, and would give the Tonight Show and the changeover to Conan (his competition, in other words) more publicity.
 
Garrett said:
...but I have a feeling that if Letterman were to be a suprise guest, we would have heard about it by now.
Click to expand...

Assuming Leno still tapes at 5:00pm in Burbank, any "leaks" might start springing
a little after 6:00 PT.
 
Mark_Giardina said:
Just my opinion but I don't see Letterman making a guest apperance on Leno's Tonight Show finale.

What would he gain out of it?

Besides, from what I've read, Letterman still is ticked off at NBC for giving Leno the Tonight Show after Carson retired. There is no way Letterman wants to boost NBC's ratings anymore than they will on Leno's last night as host.

Also take into account that Letterman's employer, CBS, wouldn't be too happy having him appear on a competing network.
Click to expand...

Gonna disagree on this one. He would gain and CBS would be quite happy to see him there.

Look, everyone knows this show will get pretty big numbers. If CBS can have some of their talent on there in a positive way, they would be thrilled.
It's not like people are going to tune away from Letterman's show tonight to see Leno. People are already going to be watching Leno regardless.
Furthermore, if Dave and Jay buried the hatchet, I think the viewing public would feel better about both men.

Letterman may still be ticked off at NBC for the way things were handled 17 years ago, but he's still made an appearance on Conan's version of his former show on NBC. I could see this happening if Conan kind of acted as a go-between.

I actually think the best surprise might be to get Leno, Conan, Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon and Craig Ferguson on stage at the same time as a way to bury the hatchet and also to pay tribute again to Johnny Carson. All of those men owe their careers to Carson and the Tonight Show. If he hadn't been the host of the Tonight Show, late night talkers simply would not exist today. The fact that his departure created such tension and turmoil at NBC was a real heartbreak to him. Bringing closure to that would be a nice way to wrap up 17 years for Leno.
 
Pretty much went as the link above stated:

-intro and huge ovation from the audience and the band
-monologue
-best of Jaywalking
-Conan
-James Taylor
-Jay at desk thanking everyone: Us Presidents/viewers/Exec Producer Debbie Vickers/writers/director/booth/his assistant/NBC/Warren Littlefield/executives/Jeff Zucker/publicity/Kevin Eubanks and the band/John Melendez/his wife Mavis/staff/union staff

-Jay then brought out 17 year old Hannah (daughter of bandmember), who was born 3 days after they all started.

Then:

curtain came up on the 68 kids born to Tonight Show staff members who have met and married on the show....

then quick thanks from Jay who asked us to support Conan

and pics of staff members over closing credits.

The End.
 
Mark_Giardina said:
Also take into account that Letterman's employer, CBS, wouldn't be too happy having him appear on a competing network.
Click to expand...

I could be totally blowing this, but I could almost swear there was one episode of Late Show with David Letterman where Conan was a guest. It could have been a dream fueled by Nyquil, though, as I can't find anything online that indicates that actually happened.
 
tested said:
It's not like people are going to tune away from Letterman's show tonight to see Leno. People are already going to be watching Leno regardless.
Furthermore, if Dave and Jay buried the hatchet, I think the viewing public would feel better about both men.

Letterman may still be ticked off at NBC for the way things were handled 17 years ago, but he's still made an appearance on Conan's version of his former show on NBC. I could see this happening if Conan kind of acted as a go-between.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure that Leno and Letterman are the enemies folks think they are. Granted, they're not friends, but they're not vicious rivals. I think both men have long gotten over any personal issues, as the split eventually worked out for both of them.

Then again, to this day I still haven't seen The Late Shift so I could totally not know what I'm talking about.
 
Nate Wesley said:
I could be totally blowing this, but I could almost swear there was one episode of Late Show with David Letterman where Conan was a guest. It could have been a dream fueled by Nyquil, though, as I can't find anything online that indicates that actually happened.
Click to expand...

I don't remember Conan being on the Late Show, but definitely on Letterman's Late Night shortly before he left NBC for CBS. However, Letterman would appear on Conan's Late Night a year or two later. I saw clips of both episodes of Late Night on youtube a couple months back. The whole thing is pretty surreal if you ask me.
 
Classy sendoff.

Another guess for the "surprise" guest could have been Edd Hall, showing up in ragged clothes holding a "will work for Conan for food" sign...

So who qualifies as the "surprise" guest here, James Taylor or that 17-year-old - or the 69 total children at the end of the show? I didn't watch the finale, but the way it went out, sounds like an Eight is Enough reunion. Campy... but classy.
 
Mark_Giardina said:
Just my opinion but I don't see Letterman making a guest apperance on Leno's Tonight Show finale.

What would he gain out of it?

Besides, from what I've read, Letterman still is ticked off at NBC for giving Leno the Tonight Show after Carson retired.
Click to expand...

I would hope by now Letterman would have figured out what would have happened had he been given The Tonight Show.

IMHO CBS would never have persued a late night talk show, that was done for Letterman and wouldn't have been given to anyone else including Jay. That being the case ABC would not have moved with their late night show either. This leaves only two shows on NBC: The Tonight Show with David Letterman and Late Night with Conan O'Brien (assuming they'd still go for Conan). No late-night wars and IMHO a lamer Tonight Show.

Also, Letterman would have moved to Los Angeles and not been allowed to stay in New York. I'm guesssing that as Conan is here by mandate and not by choice.

And, on the last Leno Conan said he was taping test shows at Universal. Is this to get his show in line with the Tonight Show tradition? Would Letterman have liked tuning his show to the "Tonight Show" flavor as opposed to doing his old "Late Night" on CBS? I'll have to watch The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien to see if that's true.

IMHO back in 1993 there was a choice who would get the late night talk show spot, Leno or Letterman. In the end they both won. Leno got The Tonight Show and Letterman got a tonight show, his late night show, from the Ed Sullivan Theater in his New York City.
 
There was no surprise guest. I assumed there would be when Jay mentioned the night before that there would a special surprise at the end of Friday night's show.

With all of his thank yous at the end of the show, you'd think he MIGHT have mentioned Edd Hall and Branford Marsalis.

Conan won't be taping his show from NBC. He'll be taping at a newly constructed studio at Universal a couple of miles away.

Nate, I'm not sure if Conan ever guested on Dave's Late Show but Dave did guest on Conan's Late Night not all that long after Conan took over that show. It was probably in 1993.
 
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