Jay Leno’s not feeling sorry for himself. Speaking to reporters today in anticipation of his May 29 “retirement” from The Tonight Show, Leno said he doesn’t expect to be emotional in those final hours before Conan O’Brien assumes his old chair. “It will be a smooth transition,” Leno promised. “It’s not like I’m leaving show business or leaving the network or leaving the lot. I’m just going to another studio on the other side.”
That cross-lot studio is where Leno will prepare for his new Monday-Friday show on NBC this fall. He’ll bring along some old Tonight Show favorites, like his signature monologue and “Jay Walking” segment, but he admits his challenge will be to keep the funny in the second half-hour of his nightly show. “My job is to give a good lead-in to the 11 o’clock news, that’s really where the local affiliates make their money.”
Speaking of which, Leno said he understood the frustration of Boston affiliate WHDH, which briefly considered whether to run Leno’s show out-of-pattern so it could air a local news shows of its own at 10, instead. “He was fighting for that long before I came on board,” Leno told reporters, referring to station owner Ed Ansin. “I had a nice talk with him.” The issue was resolved less than two weeks later.
Leno did hint about how he almost jumped to an 11:30 p.m. timeslot on a competing network like ABC (Fox was also reportedly wooing the NBC star). “I almost went there,” Leno said. “It’s sort of nice to have people flirt with you, but I didn’t get John Edwards close.” But 10 p.m. on NBC was far more alluring to the veteran comedian — even though he’s now competing against scripted dramas, not fellow comedians. Leno seems unfazed. “10 o’clock is the new 11:30 p.m.,” Leno said. “I hear people saying that I’m taking work away from dramatic writers. Look at FX and USA and all the other cable networks. There is more drama than there ever has been before. If people want to go there, they can go there. We’ll be at 10, where there are no laughs.”
The show should also save NBC some cash, Leno argued. “This was an economic decision as well. You can do five Tonight Shows for less money than showing one 10 o’clock drama.”
Leno’s final week on The Tonight Show will include lots of vintage clips and guests like Mel Gibson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Wanda Sykes and Billy Crystal. O’Brien will be his last visitor on the couch on May 29. “It’s a celebration,” Leno said. “Then I’ll be off the air for less time than during the writer’s strike. I’ll come back in September with something a little bit different.
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I like Leno, but as I’ve said many times this show will kill an already hurt NBC. One man cannot save a network. This will flop big time.
http://tvdonewright.com/2009/05/13/tv-tonight-thursday-may-14th-2009/
He totally stole Conan’s thunder. I really don’t think people will watch his show. NBC should work on placing a good drama in that time slot. Why would they just give up. The other networks seem to be able to churn out good dramas.
I’ll be watching. I love Leno. Even if it dosen’t make it because of ratings he can still then go to Fox or ABC for ll:30pm.
It is going to be one of the biggest flops in television history. This will get cut from five times to once a week by mid winter. They will then be forced to leave it on until they can get some replacements for fall.
D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R
Interesting comments. Everyone seems very opinionated about this. Having read the article as well, it sounds very thought-out to me, offers a smooth hand-off, a real alternative to gritty crime dramas, etc. So far it seems brilliant to me… not sure why everyone is so convinced this is a mistake.
They aren’t eliminating the gritty crime dramas, though. They’re giving them timeslots that belonged to great shows like “Chuck.” I wouldn’t mind if they gave him one hour a week of prime time, but FIVE? No way in heck will I be watching that.
Unfortunately 10 will be the new 11:30. Why should the big guests promote their new projects at 11:30, when they can promote their stuff during prime time?
i will be watching… leno will be the one to save nbc..
finally they are trimming the crap, and losing those recycled old shows that people didnt watch the first time around, and will have something decent on for those of us who have to go to work the next morning..
for all those who complain, and stay up to watch late late shows? stop cashing those welfare checks and get a job.
I like Leno but I am sure the 10pm show will get bored really fast and it will kill NBC!
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Won’t watch and won’t even consider watching out of pure spite. It’s taking away a prime time hour every night and it’s already screwed over my fave Chuck. I wish he’d gone on another network, ya know, one that isn’t drowning in the ratings game. It’s really stealing Conan’s thunder, but I’m still uber-excited to see him take over. He’s much funnier anyway.
As some people have stated before, I won’t be watching this out of principle (although I was never a huge Leno fan to begin with). If Leno wasn’t taking a full five hours of primetime a week, Chuck coming back would have been a no brainer. Now, it’s on the bubble? Sorry, I don’t care how much cheaper his show is to produce if it comes at the cost of losing quality shows like Chuck.
Conan is already history!
Leno will be back.
Who cares about this CHUCK guy… Leno is funny it’s good that he’s on later. Honestly most the dramas on NBC are pretty sorry except Law & Order. It will be good to see Leno Then Watch Some News then get some Conan to watch. Conan won a Stony award so that’s always good!!
NBC fighting to take away ABC’s crown as the least watched network. Good Luck NBC!!! You really f’d up with this decision. Shouldn’t surprise a single person – look at the imbecile still programming NBC. Nice way to take the wind out of Conan’s premier at 11:30. This is sure going to help Dave’s ratings.