Jay Leno back to old timeslot?

[mpal2]

Well pardon me for actually trying to sleep at night instead of paying attention to the drama or Leno. I always did my best to stay away from anything Leno which makes it pretty hard to know that kind of "common knowledge".

If Leno was the kind of guy that didn't want to stay where he wasn't wanted he sure did a piss poor job of staying away.

[shan]

Did anyone notice that Guy Fieri (Food Network) has one of the 10 pm replacement shows? I just can't see how it fits in that time slot, or on network tv....

"Minute to Win It" follows rock and roll chef Guy Fieri as he pits contestants against each other in tackling games involving household items. Universal Media Studios and Firday TV produce.

[pixie cut]

Well pardon me for actually trying to sleep at night instead of paying attention to the drama or Leno.

Then why are you on this thread?

I didn't love Leno, but I liked him well enough. I liked him better than I like O'Brien. I will gladly watch either of them and Letterman as well if they have a guest I like. I don't watch the monologues. That's when I'm getting ready for bed. At midnight I turn it on and see who the guests are. If I like the guests, I watch. If not, it's lights out.

[mpal2]

Then why are you on this thread?

I'm in this thread because I care that Conan is gone now and I'm reading for news of where he might end up. The common knowledge of how Leno left the show isn't common knowledge for those who stopped watching it because he was hosting. It isn't common knowledge if the only news some cared about at the time of his supposed retirement is just that he was gone. I'll be back to not watching the show again now that Leno is back.

I wish that they had left Conan on until after the Olympics. If the timing of the broadcasts is anything like Torino I'm sure I'll be stuck seeing some of Leno's inane crap again.

[pixie cut]

I am fairly certain O'Brien will be back on the air come September, which I believe is when his contract allows.

While I prefer Leno slightly, I feel badly that NBC didn't stand behind O'Brien 100%. Once they picked him to host The Tonight Show they should have given him full support and let Leno try his luck elsewhere. But I can only feel so bad for someone paid millions and millions and MILLIONS of dollars to simply go away.

[bobalina77]

Well if they had stuck behind O'Brien they wouldn't have had to pay him millions of dollars to go away. It'll be interesting to see what the ratings of the Tonight Show will be now that all is said and done and Jay takes over.

[pixie cut]

Well if they had stuck behind O'Brien they wouldn't have had to pay him millions of dollars to go away. It'll be interesting to see what the ratings of the Tonight Show will be now that all is said and done and Jay takes over.

We will never know how O'Brien could have done had he not been saddled with Leno at 10 PM. I don't think he would have equaled Leno's numbers, but it would have been better.

I don't think Leno will recapture what he had before he left. If he does, it will take quite some time for the stench of the 10 PM show to subside.

[numbers123]

Sadly the biggest loser in this whole situation will be the NBC affiliates as they struggle to regain their news audiences.

[stanhope]

Sadly the biggest loser in this whole situation will be the NBC affiliates as they struggle to regain their news audiences.

Sadly, the biggest loser is NBC, not just the affiliates. This situation has left such a bad taste in my mouth that I'm switching to a different network for everything (news and late night) except for The Office. Sure, I'm just one person, but I think the way NBC has treated Conan has really come off badly to a lot of people.

[uyeahu]

Leno's numbers will continue to decline because his appeal is primarily to an older audience. Conan's strength is that he appeals to a younger audience and therefore has the larger potential for growth. NBC's decision is somewhat shortsighted in that regard.

Late night television on the whole is going to have a declining audience simply because there are so many more options available to people now than in the past. Cable channels have more and more original programming competing at that hour and young people are just as likely to look online for programming as to look to their televisions.

If 30 Rock weren't on NBC I'd have zero reason to ever watch it. I certainly haven't and won't be watching the Tonight Show in future. I've always found Leno incredibly annoying and smug.

[laurenjm]

Bets on when the Tonight Show will be canceled outright?

Within the year would be my guess!

[deltask8er]

Where do you get this from? So far I keep seeing this mostly coming from you and not anyone else. If you got it from an article please link it. Also a current article about the past isn't so trustworthy. He has reason to rewrite the past given all the controversy. I'm more interested in what he said at the time he quit the Tonight Show.

Leno keeping NBC up at night
'Tonight' host is said to be unhappy about his planned exit in 2009.
October 15, 2007|
Meg James, Times Staff Writer

http://articles.latimes.com/2007/oct...ness/fi-leno15

As part of a high-stakes gambit engineered by NBC Universal executives three years ago, Leno agreed to step down in 2009 as "The Tonight Show" host to make room for Conan O'Brien. Afraid that O'Brien, whose talk show airs after Leno's, would bolt to a competing network, taking his desirable young audience with him, NBC locked up his services by promising him "The Tonight Show."

But as the date has drawn closer, Leno has become frustrated, reluctant to retire from late night.

"It's almost unprecedented in television for someone as successful as Jay has been to have his departure planned several years in advance," TV historian Tim Brooks said.

I found it in an archived thread from 2007:

http://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/showthread.php?t=53350

And Leno made a million jokes about being forced to leave his job before he wanted to.

[Civic]

Call me an old fogey but I haven't been able to get into The Tonight Show since Johnny Carson retired. Neither Jay nor Conan measure up, imo.

[pixie cut]

Call me an old fogey but I haven't been able to get into The Tonight Show since Johnny Carson retired. Neither Jay nor Conan measure up, imo.

Johnny Carson was an extraordinary host and force in the entertainment industry. But he retired in 1992 and died five years ago (two days ago marked the anniversary of his death). So we have to move on.

I don't think The Tonight Show will be cancelled. I don't think it will ever be what it was before Jay Leno was forced out, but it will eventually recover somewhat. In another two or three years, the search will go out to replace Leno. Maybe it will be Jimmy Fallon or maybe the time will finally be right for a woman. Chelsea Handler has slowly but surely built a fan base over at E! Not ready for the big time yet, but maybe by 2012.

[deltask8er]

Apparently one can spell 'irony' with NBC .

Conan O'Brien is getting "Justice" at NBC after all.

Days after the network severed ties with O'Brien as host of "The Tonight Show," it picked up an hourlong pilot from O'Brien's production company, Conaco [currently entitled 'Justice'].

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/...2b5391dfe7e656

[smurfy]

Did anyone see Jay being interviewed by Oprah. He seems a bit clueless to me. Not sure whether to believe what he said. I think he was and if so, he is a bit clueless, which is suprising. He said gigs on tv are not sure things. Excuse me, how many years were you on the Tonight Show? I think he does feel bad, but just not aware of how he fits into it.

[numbers123]

I don't think The Tonight Show will be cancelled. I don't think it will ever be what it was before Jay Leno was forced out, but it will eventually recover somewhat. In another two or three years, the search will go out to replace Leno. Maybe it will be Jimmy Fallon or maybe the time will finally be right for a woman. Chelsea Handler has slowly but surely built a fan base over at E! Not ready for the big time yet, but maybe by 2012.

I agree that it will eventually recover not to the previous viewership level but it was NBC who made the error in judgement by forcing Leno out.

As much as I love Chelsea and would like her to be a host of a network late night show, she will have to clean up the vagina references a lot. DH can not stand to watch her because he finds her offensive and tells me that if a male comedian made references to his penis constantly I would not watch them. Jimmy Fallon has become more comfortable over the last couple of months, but at this time he is not strong enough to host the main show.

Chelsea would be a failure in the same sense that Conan was...prime time stage is not ready for her sense of humor.

[smurfy]

Things have just changed so much in tv, something like the tonight show will never be what it was with Johnny.
I saw Ken Jennings, of Jeopardy Fame talk at a book signing when he had a book a few years ago. He said something that made so much sense. The changes in tv with the number of channels we do not have the common knowledge of back when there were only 3 main channels. The networks/channels need to find their niche, whether it is old/young etc, and people will seek out what they want. Some like Jay, some like Dave, some like Jon Stewart. Just lots of choices for us.

[mag]

Things have just changed so much in tv, something like the tonight show will never be what it was with Johnny.
I saw Ken Jennings, of Jeopardy Fame talk at a book signing when he had a book a few years ago. He said something that made so much sense. The changes in tv with the number of channels we do not have the common knowledge of back when there were only 3 main channels. The networks/channels need to find their niche, whether it is old/young etc, and people will seek out what they want. Some like Jay, some like Dave, some like Jon Stewart. Just lots of choices for us.

I agree with this. Another huge change was the invention of the remote. Let's face it, it is easy to change the channel from the couch, especially when you add in the on screen guide. When you had to find the TV Guide and then get up and actually turn the knob you were more likely just to keep it on one channel. When I watch TV, but the end of one show I have the screen minimized in the corner to see the end of the program while I'm scrolling through the guide on the rest of the screen. I also use the "last" function to flick during commercials. Obviously I'm not a terribly loyal watcher.

[deltask8er]

Did anyone see Jay being interviewed by Oprah. He seems a bit clueless to me.

Kimmel talked about it Thursday night, especially when Oprah asked about Kimmel's appearance on the Leno show (Kimmel said earlier "Oprah said my name! " )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujo9FRh8nf0