The end of "The Tonight Show"

[CosmicBills]

The whole situation with Leno's craptastic 11pm show has blown up in NBC's face, and now in an effort to appease Leno, they are proposing moving the Tonight Show back to 12:05 and letting Leno do his "comedy" show at 11:35. Ugh.

 

Here's Conan's response:

People of Earth:

 

In the last few days, I've been getting a lot of sympathy calls, and I want to start by making it clear that no one should waste a second feeling sorry for me. For 17 years, I've been getting paid to do what I love most and, in a world with real problems, I've been absurdly lucky. That said, I've been suddenly put in a very public predicament and my bosses are demanding an immediate decision.

 

Six years ago, I signed a contract with NBC to take over The Tonight Show in June of 2009. Like a lot of us, I grew up watching Johnny Carson every night and the chance to one day sit in that chair has meant everything to me. I worked long and hard to get that opportunity, passed up far more lucrative offers, and since 2004 I have spent literally hundreds of hours thinking of ways to extend the franchise long into the future. It was my mistaken belief that, like my predecessor, I would have the benefit of some time and, just as important, some degree of ratings support from the prime-time schedule. Building a lasting audience at 11:30 is impossible without both.

 

But sadly, we were never given that chance. After only seven months, with my Tonight Show in its infancy, NBC has decided to react to their terrible difficulties in prime-time by making a change in their long-established late night schedule.

 

Last Thursday, NBC executives told me they intended to move the Tonight Show to 12:05 to accommodate the Jay Leno Show at 11:35. For 60 years the Tonight Show has aired immediately following the late local news. I sincerely believe that delaying the Tonight Show into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting. The Tonight Show at 12:05 simply isn't the Tonight Show. Also, if I accept this move I will be knocking the Late Night show, which I inherited from David Letterman and passed on to Jimmy Fallon, out of its long-held time slot. That would hurt the other NBC franchise that I love, and it would be unfair to Jimmy.

 

So it has come to this: I cannot express in words how much I enjoy hosting this program and what an enormous personal disappointment it is for me to consider losing it. My staff and I have worked unbelievably hard and we are very proud of our contribution to the legacy of The Tonight Show. But I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction. Some people will make the argument that with DVRs and the Internet a time slot doesn't matter. But with the Tonight Show, I believe nothing could matter more.

 

There has been speculation about my going to another network but, to set the record straight, I currently have no other offer and honestly have no idea what happens next. My hope is that NBC and I can resolve this quickly so that my staff, crew, and I can do a show we can be proud of, for a company that values our work.

 

Have a great day and, for the record, I am truly sorry about my hair; it's always been that way.

 

Yours,

 

Conan

 

Full Variety article here: http://www.variety.com/article/VR111801364...sp&nid=2854

[Chef Jim]

To me The Tonight Show ended May 22 1992.

[Steely Dan]

The whole situation with Leno's craptastic 11pm show has blown up in NBC's face, and now in an effort to appease Leno, they are proposing moving the Tonight Show back to 12:05 and letting Leno do his "comedy" show at 11:35. Ugh.

 

Here's Conan's response:

People of Earth:

 

In the last few days, I've been getting a lot of sympathy calls, and I want to start by making it clear that no one should waste a second feeling sorry for me. For 17 years, I've been getting paid to do what I love most and, in a world with real problems, I've been absurdly lucky. That said, I've been suddenly put in a very public predicament and my bosses are demanding an immediate decision.

 

Six years ago, I signed a contract with NBC to take over The Tonight Show in June of 2009. Like a lot of us, I grew up watching Johnny Carson every night and the chance to one day sit in that chair has meant everything to me. I worked long and hard to get that opportunity, passed up far more lucrative offers, and since 2004 I have spent literally hundreds of hours thinking of ways to extend the franchise long into the future. It was my mistaken belief that, like my predecessor, I would have the benefit of some time and, just as important, some degree of ratings support from the prime-time schedule. Building a lasting audience at 11:30 is impossible without both.

 

But sadly, we were never given that chance. After only seven months, with my Tonight Show in its infancy, NBC has decided to react to their terrible difficulties in prime-time by making a change in their long-established late night schedule.

 

Last Thursday, NBC executives told me they intended to move the Tonight Show to 12:05 to accommodate the Jay Leno Show at 11:35. For 60 years the Tonight Show has aired immediately following the late local news. I sincerely believe that delaying the Tonight Show into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting. The Tonight Show at 12:05 simply isn't the Tonight Show. Also, if I accept this move I will be knocking the Late Night show, which I inherited from David Letterman and passed on to Jimmy Fallon, out of its long-held time slot. That would hurt the other NBC franchise that I love, and it would be unfair to Jimmy.

 

So it has come to this: I cannot express in words how much I enjoy hosting this program and what an enormous personal disappointment it is for me to consider losing it. My staff and I have worked unbelievably hard and we are very proud of our contribution to the legacy of The Tonight Show. But I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction. Some people will make the argument that with DVRs and the Internet a time slot doesn't matter. But with the Tonight Show, I believe nothing could matter more.

 

There has been speculation about my going to another network but, to set the record straight, I currently have no other offer and honestly have no idea what happens next. My hope is that NBC and I can resolve this quickly so that my staff, crew, and I can do a show we can be proud of, for a company that values our work.

 

Have a great day and, for the record, I am truly sorry about my hair; it's always been that way.

 

Yours,

 

Conan

 

Full Variety article here: http://www.variety.com/article/VR111801364...sp&nid=2854

 

Great response. NBC is really making a huge mistake here. Leno's show at 11:35 won't do very well and then they'll move the Tonight show back to 11:35 after causing a lot of damage.

[Dan]

Is Leno the Favre of late night TV? I think Conan should have Triumph interview him.

 

I never quite understood why the took Leno off the Tonight Show, just to give him the exact same show only earlier. And they wonder why Conan's show isn't doing as well? Well, duh, how many of those variety, talk show type programs can you watch in a night? If you're getting your topical jokes and dumb skits from Leno at 10, why watch Conan at 11:30 and get it all over again? Is it just me, but I think NBC was stupid to think that their programming could have 3 talk shows with dumb skits and jokes in a row every night.

 

 

Damn fine letter by Conan, btw.

[Phlegm Alley]

Conan is definitely getting effed in the a over this. NBC is totally bending over to accomodate Leno, even though Conan signed the contract 6 years ago to take over for Leno because of his retirement.

 

I heard Conan was in talks with Fox to do something over there if he can find a way out of his contract with NBC.

[Astrojanitor]

it was a drag NBC has been neutering his show for the last few months (I'm bitter--I miss the insanity of Late Night) but this is total bs. Why bend over backwards to accommodating Leno's giant pile of bland? Leno gambled and lost--time to set that lunkhead out to pasture.

 

I really don't understand that guy's career. How is reading wacky headlines comedy? Or trying to get dumb people to answer basic questions? I mean there's really just nothing there.

[Cugalabanza]

Leno is a very nice guy. He is friends with everybody who is anybody in comedy. He has worked very hard to get to where he is. He has only one serious flaw: He is not funny. At all.

 

Conan is funny. Very funny.

 

That's all you need to know.

[Chef Jim]

Leno is a very nice guy. He is friends with everybody who is anybody in comedy. He has worked very hard to get to where he is. He has only one serious flaw: He is not funny. At all.

 

Conan is funny. Very funny.

 

That's all you need to know.

 

I'm with ya on that.

[ajzepp]

I definitely respect the way that Leno preserves the art of stand-up comedy, cause I'm a huge fan of that form of entertainment, too. But like others have said, Leno just isn't all that funny. I can't remember a single time when I tuned into the Leno Tonight Show because of Leno. I don't often watch it anyway, but there are plenty of times when I check the line-up for the show. With Conan it's different....I've been a fan of his since his very first show in 1993 and I'll watch his show without having any idea who his guests are. I love humor that can have elements of both wit and childishness, and he's a master of that.

 

Anyway, I hate that NBC has completely BOTCHED this transition. Conan deserved a chance to build his own legacy with the Tonight Show, not have the carpet pulled out from under him less than a year into his reign. I hope Conan finds a way out of NBC and can go to a medium (cable?) where he can be fully appreciated. I know not everyone likes Conan, but I do, and there are many others who feel the same....tv without him would not be the same!

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

I definitely respect the way that Leno preserves the art of stand-up comedy, cause I'm a huge fan of that form of entertainment, too. But like others have said, Leno just isn't all that funny. I can't remember a single time when I tuned into the Leno Tonight Show because of Leno. I don't often watch it anyway, but there are plenty of times when I check the line-up for the show. With Conan it's different....I've been a fan of his since his very first show in 1993 and I'll watch his show without having any idea who his guests are. I love humor that can have elements of both wit and childishness, and he's a master of that.

 

Anyway, I hate that NBC has completely BOTCHED this transition. Conan deserved a chance to build his own legacy with the Tonight Show, not have the carpet pulled out from under him less than a year into his reign. I hope Conan finds a way out of NBC and can go to a medium (cable?) where he can be fully appreciated. I know not everyone likes Conan, but I do, and there are many others who feel the same....tv without him would not be the same!

 

Conan is brilliant. I survived on Conan when my daughter was an infant and couldn't sleep through the night.

[ajzepp]

Conan is brilliant. I survived on Conan when my daughter was an infant and couldn't sleep through the night.

 

 

wow, that must be a very cool set of memories for you, man...good stuff

[shrader]

I have never heard one person say that they are a fan of Jay Leno, so I've never understood why his show got the ratings it did. To me, Letterman and Conan have always been miles ahead of him.

 

Anyway, I'd love to see Comedy Central somehow become a player in this. Conan would have a ton of freedom on a cable channel and a Daily Show/Colbert/Conan block could really clean up. Sure, it would never be the same as network ratings, but there's so much potential there.

 

Speaking of ratings, does anyone know how those shape up right now? Is Letterman absolutely cleaning up now? Personally, that's something I think he deserves, but it's too bad an idiotic situation like this was necessary to bring it about.

[Realist]

To me The Tonight Show ended May 22 1992.

Same here. I haven't really watched a full Tonight Show since then.

[KD in CA]

This is hysterical. NBC is now 2-for-2 in creating a gigantic clusterf--k when trying to transition the host of the Tonight Show. If you never read or saw the movie 'The Late Shift', I highly recommend it. Great retelling of the Leno-Letterman debacle (NBC promised both of them the job post-Carson) back in the early 90s.

 

Conan is definitely getting effed in the a over this. NBC is totally bending over to accommodate Leno, even though Conan signed the contract 6 years ago to take over for Leno because of his retirement.

 

This is really the crux of it. Apparently Leno thought he'd be ready to retire by now but has changed his mind and NBC is trying to keep him. Or did Leno never commit to retiring and NBC just blew smoke up Conan's ass back then to prevent him from leaving? Either way, NBC should know that trying to split the baby now isn't going to make either guy happy.

[shrader]

And how many Law and Order repeats will we be seeing at 10PM for a couple months?

[KD in CA]

And how many Law and Order repeats will we be seeing at 10PM for a couple months?

 

They'll be plenty of Dateline too.

[Chef Jim]

They'll be plenty of Dateline too.

 

Glad I go to bed early.

[Mark Vader]

To me The Tonight Show ended May 22 1992.

Same here, no offense to Jay or Conan, but the night Johnny retired, I lost all interest in The Tonight Show.

[The Dean]

Same here, no offense to Jay or Conan, but the night Johnny retired, I lost all interest in The Tonight Show.

 

 

Ditto.

 

Jay was acceptable as a sub, but his act gets old quick.

 

Conan may be a terrific comic writer, but he sucks at delivery and is a horrid interviewer. He doesn't mangle the humor as bad as, say, Colin Quinn, but he kills enough of it that I don't find him funny in any way.

 

Fallon is awful, too.

 

I don't watch Letterman any more, but he's still the best of the bunch, IMO.

[WVUFootball29]

Jimmy Fallon getting his own show was the nail in the coffin for late night comedy.