Leno's farewell Tonight Show 5/29/09

[TerryH]

Tonight is another milestone in TV and the Tonight Show is losing another icon. Not respectfully to retirement like Johnny Carson, but just pushing him aside to make room for the next cool cat that NBC decided was heir apparent.

Leno has been offered another venue (prime time) to keep him from running to the competition, but I hope this entire debacle backfires for NBC. Who the hell fires the guy that wins his time slot year after year after year?

[rattlsnak]

He was fired? I read he just wanted to retire and they made him a sweet deal to stay on and do prime time. But anyway, I love Leno and Conan, but Jimmy Fallon, just plain SUX... which is good, because it turned me on to Craig Ferguson who is Awesome!

[TerryH]

Originally Posted by rattlsnak

He was fired? I read he just wanted to retire and they made him a sweet deal to stay on and do prime time.

What do you expect him to say? It's not like he was given a choice. I don't think he's happy about leaving at all.

Anyway, my first attempt at a poll.. seems like it worked.

[gtc]

They announced all this quite a few years ago.

[TerryH]

Originally Posted by gtc

They announced all this quite a few years ago.

Everyone realizes this except those living in caves, but tonight the curtain is dropping, so it seemed poignant.

[nostatic]

You need an "I don't watch any of that" choice.

[m21sniper]

I felt like Leno was a joke in the position, and Letterman got royally screwed over. I never thought Leno was funny, entertaining, or good enough to have the job.

I welcome his departure.

[gtc]

Originally Posted by TerryH

Everyone realizes this except those living in caves, but tonight the curtain is dropping, so it seemed poignant.

Gotcha... I wasn't quite sure what you were getting at.
I like Conan, and I hope that NBC doesn't try to tone him down. I worry that some of his material, such as the Triumph bits, might get axed.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Can't say I really care, but I never found Leno funny. His humor is "pie in the face" obvious, call it comedy for the lowest common denominator. Conan is much funnier, but I expect the hand-wringing ninnies at the network will pretty effectively neuter him.

[rammstein]

I haven't watched Conan in years, now that I have to get up in the morning. That being said, he was always the funniest by a long shot. BUT- a lot of their humor was based on them being self-deprecating as they were in teh 'late' slot, so they'll lose that. Also, they were EXREMELY immature, which I hope as others have said doesn't get toned down. They need to keep the masturbating bear, triumph, etc. That's why I used to watch.

I've never been able to watch any of the others.

[red-beard]

I welcome his move to 10PM. It means that I can go to sleep by 10:30.

[TerryH]

Originally Posted by nostatic

You need an "I don't watch any of that" choice.

... but that choice is available. You simply ignore this poll.

[m21sniper]

The only late night guy i like at all is Craig Ferguson, the Scotsman.

He's actually quite funny.

[sammyg2]

Letterman is a clown. Never thought he was funny or clever.

Leno is a real guy.

O'brian bugs me. I can't take more than a few minutes of him before I reach for the remote.

This will mean the slow, painful death of the tonight show.

[the]

I was curious about the details of this, but couldn't find much. It seems that Leno last did his contract with NBC in 2004 or 05, and it ran through 2009. For whatever reason, several years ago, NBC entered into a contract with O'Brien, giving him the show in 2009.

So, because of that, NBC has no choice at this point. Although I guess they could buy O'Brien out and re-sign Leno.

I wonder why NBC entered into the contract with OBrien several years ago? It may have been because Leno said he was going to retire in 09, I don't know.

Given that Leno is apparently the highest rated late night show, I'm sure NBC would like to keep him there if it reasonably could.

Also, from what I hear, Leno's show will be on 5 nights per week at 10 pm, and will follow a very similar format to what it currently is. being on at 10 instead of 1130 certainly could have some advantages for him, although hard to predict.

[Zeke]

IIRC, it was Leno himself that had the contract end with some options that I wouldn't know about. I think he was thinking by the time 2009 rolls around, he might want to be somewhere else. He also could have changed his mind somewhere along the way and taken the so called "prime time" gig.

The LA Times reports that he likes to work and that he does stand up almost every weekend somewhere. If that's the case, retirement might have scared him.

[911pcars]

Originally Posted by milt

IIRC, it was Leno himself that had the contract end with some options that I wouldn't know about. I think he was thinking by the time 2009 rolls around, he might want to be somewhere else. He also could have changed his mind somewhere along the way and taken the so called "prime time" gig.

The LA Times reports that he likes to work and that he does stand up almost every weekend somewhere. If that's the case, retirement might have scared him.

Milt,
That's my recollection as well. Leno wanted to retire, then changed his mind some time later. This left NBC with one of two alternatives; keep him or let him go to a competing show. The smart money decision was to keep him, but in another time slot.

Win-win.

Comedians are like music preferences. Change the channel.

Sherwood

[Tim Hancock]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

letterman is a clown. Never thought he was funny or clever.

Leno is a real guy.

O'brian bugs me. I can't take more than a few minutes of him before i reach for the remote.

+1

[pwd72s]

What do I know...I still think Johnny Carson was the best late night host...ever.

[nota]

best car guy on TV