Jay Leno on Oprah

[MaumeeMom]

I've never been a fan of either Leno or Conan - I've always watched Letterman.

One observation that I have is that Leno's crappy ratings led to people tuning out of NBC so the late news ratings went down and those numbers impacted Conan. There was no retention because so few people were actually watching Leno.

In other words, if the Leno show at 10pm had been strong then some viewers would have been retained to watch the NBC affiliates news and then stay tuned in to Conan.

It was the NBC affiliates who ultimately pressured NBC to pull the plug on Leno.

The NBC execs that made the Conan/Leno deal 5 years ago were the ones that screwed up, IMO.

 

[minnie56]

I like Jay Leno..I think he's being hung out to dry...he fits the Tonight Show.
Conan never did...

I thought he gave a good, honest interview

 

[hellokitty86]

One observation that I have is that Leno's crappy ratings led to people tuning out of NBC so the late news ratings went down and those numbers impacted Conan. There was no retention because so few people were actually watching Leno.

In other words, if the Leno show at 10pm had been strong then some viewers would have been retained to watch the NBC affiliates news and then stay tuned in to Conan.

I think that is exactly what happened....

 

[FredSilberman]

We recorded this - finishing watching it now - Oprah is an idiot!

Conan's ratings stunk, he was going away either way... Jay's new show wasn't doing as well as it was supposed to - NBC offered Jay the Tonight Show - a job offer he accepted.

From what I was getting from Oprah, she thinks (maybe not her thoughts, but from her online survey) he should have turned down the TS offer - the net result would have been the same for Conan, someone else would have been the host of the TS!

If Conan was "going away either way," they wouldn't have offered to move him to 12:05 first. What happened is that Jay Leno agreed to a deal that caused trouble between his employer and his co-worker. Then the employer asked Leno if he'd take back his old job so the troublesome co-worker could be fired. One of these guys was going to be on at 11:35. There was absolutely zero chance of your "someone else" appearing out of nowhere to host The Tonight Show if Jay had done the right thing and honored his word. Of course, he stated to Oprah that his word (the unfortunate 2004 retirement announcement) was a blatant lie, so at least he's consistent.

 

[AndyLL]

I wonder how Jay would have done if Johnny Carson had decided not to retire and just put a show on an hour ahead of The Tonight Show when he took over. I think the network should take most of the blame but Jay didn't help the situation much.

Carson retired... Jay never retired.

It was not Jay's decision to leave the TS. Conan was promised it in his contract years ago.

The network removed Leno when he was #1 in the ratings.

There was absolutely zero chance of your "someone else" appearing out of nowhere to host The Tonight Show if Jay had done the right thing and honored his word. Of course, he stated to Oprah that his word (the unfortunate 2004 retirement announcement) was a blatant lie, so at least he's consistent.

What are you talking about?

Leno was removed from the TS because it was given to Conan in his contract years back. Leno only 'retired' because he was forced to.

 

[FredSilberman]

What are you talking about?

Leno was removed from the TS because it was given to Conan in his contract years back. Leno only 'retired' because he was forced to.

I'm talking about "Jay's 2004 Announcement" that's all over the Internet. Now he's saying he was forced out against his will. Those gracious sentiments were just a fabrication, which means Jay Leno's reputation is so bad that his best defense is to characterize himself as a liar. But it's all the same to me. Either his word is worthless because he doesn't mean it, or it's worthless because he has no problem tossing it aside if he changes his mind. You say he never retired, but on what do you base that? Are we supposed to trust him to tell us when he's lying?

 

[Minnie824]

I don't really care for Leno. The first part of the show is ok, but his interviews were boring. I think it is mostly the networks fault, but when Leno's new show wasn't working, he should have moved on, not gone back to what he had, when it is now someone elses job. Conan should have said 'no givesies backsies'. No one gave Conan a chance. I think he's a lot better than Leno. And when asked, why should Conan moved over to do a 1/2 hour show just because Leno's show is failing. Too bad for Leno, thats not Conan's fault. I just stopped watching the tonite show w/all of this and probably won't watch w/Leno back now.

 

[JoanGirardi]

I wonder how Jay would have done if Johnny Carson had decided not to retire and just put a show on an hour ahead of The Tonight Show when he took over. I think the network should take most of the blame but Jay didn't help the situation much.

I totally agree!

 

[RadioNate]

I don't think people are so much anti-Jay as they are for-Conan because they realize how much NBC screwed over Conan.

NBC gave the Tonight Show to Conan and Jay had years to prepair for that. When the time came Jay, DID throw a hissy fit about not wanting to give it up. That is when they put the (lame) 10pm show on.

Jay's 10pm show bombed. And people are right when they say the affiliates hated it because it tanked the 11 o'clock news. On average, affiliates make 1/2 their money on their night news alone. 10pm tanks, news tanks, so obviously Conan tanks too. Don't underestimate the power of a good lead in.

NBC moving the "Tonight Show" back a 1/2 hour was nothing more than semantics. Conan's big mistake was his contract stated "Tonight Show" not time slot. Had he fought, he likely would have won because the Tonight Show has been at 11:35 for so many years. The 11:35 time slot was implied by using the Tonight Show name.

NBC screwed over Conan big time so they could put Jay back at 11:35...that makes Jay the 'bad' guy by association. Everyone knows Jay wanted that time slot and the Tonight Show back. He made no secret of not wanting to leave in the first place.

NBC has mishandled the Tonight Show starting with Carson's retirement ... why should they do it right now?

 

[tinkntraining]

Personally, I would take on any of their "problems" in a heartbeat.
Wouldn't you?

 

[AndyLL]

I'm talking about "Jay's 2004 Announcement" that's all over the Internet. Now he's saying he was forced out against his will.

What else would he say?

The decision had already been made that Conan would take over the show when Leno's contract ran out. Leno would not have recevied a new contract in 2004 if he did not agree to it.

It was not his decision to give up the show... it was the networks because they didn't want to lose O'Brian.

The did the same thing to Leno with Letterman. When Letterman's contract ran out they offered him the tonight show when Leno's contract ran out. Letterman did not accept.

It's a little amusing that Leno is now being publicly hammered for being gracious to the network after his show was given away twice. ( although I assume it was in his contracts that he couldn't badmouth NBC )

 

[babytrees]

I don't think people are so much anti-Jay as they are for-Conan because they realize how much NBC screwed over Conan.

NBC gave the Tonight Show to Conan and Jay had years to prepair for that. When the time came Jay, DID throw a hissy fit about not wanting to give it up. That is when they put the (lame) 10pm show on.

Jay's 10pm show bombed. And people are right when they say the affiliates hated it because it tanked the 11 o'clock news. On average, affiliates make 1/2 their money on their night news alone. 10pm tanks, news tanks, so obviously Conan tanks too. Don't underestimate the power of a good lead in.

NBC moving the "Tonight Show" back a 1/2 hour was nothing more than semantics. Conan's big mistake was his contract stated "Tonight Show" not time slot. Had he fought, he likely would have won because the Tonight Show has been at 11:35 for so many years. The 11:35 time slot was implied by using the Tonight Show name.

NBC screwed over Conan big time so they could put Jay back at 11:35...that makes Jay the 'bad' guy by association. Everyone knows Jay wanted that time slot and the Tonight Show back. He made no secret of not wanting to leave in the first place.

NBC has mishandled the Tonight Show starting with Carson's retirement ... why should they do it right now?

I think you are totally right!!

 

[DancingBear]

Conan's big mistake was his contract stated "Tonight Show" not time slot. Had he fought, he likely would have won because the Tonight Show has been at 11:35 for so many years. The 11:35 time slot was implied by using the Tonight Show name.

We don't know what Conan's contract said, but given that he got the big payoff my guess is he had a pretty good legal leg to stand on.

 

[RadioNate]

We don't know what Conan's contract said, but given that he got the big payoff my guess is he had a pretty good legal leg to stand on.

Several gossip sites have leaked copies of the contract. While we don't know personally with 100% proof, things like this don't get "leaked" unless someone wants that info out there.

He got BIG money and NBC could have fought that ... so I agree that someone screwed up this deal in a big way!

 

[DancingBear]

I haven't seen the contract, just the TMZ report and others that seemed to feed off of that, saying "did not specify 11:35". Do you have a link to a copy of the contract?

 

[auntie]

I don't think the drama turned out all that bad for anyone involved really.

Sure, it was handled poorly. That being said, I don't think anyone involved is crying themselves to sleep at night.
NBC got Jay back. Which they wanted. Jay got the Tonight Show back...which apparently he wanted.
Conan's Tonight Show didn't have the ratings. He would have gotten the boot eventually. It came sooner than later. On the plus side...he got a HUGE amount of publicity. Many more viewers the last week of the show than they've ever had in the entire 7 months it was on. He's probably got more fans now than he had before. This will serve him well in his future endeavors. Likely by September he'll be on another network.
$45 million isn't exactly chump change. Jeeze..I think the guy will live.
Oh..and it gives us people here on the Dis something to talk about.
Win/win all around!


Letterman...he can go back to sleeping with the interns again. and no one will care.

 

[DisneyMomx7]

To sum up my feelings Jay Leno will NEVER be as good as Johnny Carson was on the Tonight Show.

The way NBC and Jay Leno handled it all leaves a sour taste in my mouth. It felt like Jay didn't want to do the show anymore, then he got bored and wanted a different show, then the new show didn't turn out the way he wanted so he wanted his old show back. Like the kids who takes the ball when he's not winning the game.

 

[Traveliz]

To sum up my feelings Jay Leno will NEVER be as good as Johnny Carson was on the Tonight Show.

The way NBC and Jay Leno handled it all leaves a sour taste in my mouth. It felt like Jay didn't want to do the show anymore, then he got bored and wanted a different show, then the new show didn't turn out the way he wanted so he wanted his old show back. Like the kids who takes the ball when he's not winning the game.

I don't know how anyone would think that - he has always said he wasn't ready to leave the Tonight Show - that this was a contract that was NBC's idea. Sure he did say he was going to retire but millions of people say that not meaning retire permanently - more retire from one project and go on to the next.

Liz

 

[auntie]

To sum up my feelings Jay Leno will NEVER be as good as Johnny Carson was on the Tonight Show.

The way NBC and Jay Leno handled it all leaves a sour taste in my mouth. It felt like Jay didn't want to do the show anymore, then he got bored and wanted a different show, then the new show didn't turn out the way he wanted so he wanted his old show back. Like the kids who takes the ball when he's not winning the game.

I understand you may feel this way..but I just haven't seen that explanation expressed by any of the hosts involved.
Was it handled poorly?..without a doubt.

 

[N.Bailey]

Jays ratings went down 14% the TS with Conan went down 48%!!!! The numbers say it all. I like Jay and Conan when I'm in silly mode and sleep deprived. I think his humor fits the late late night audience better.

Yeah, but go back and see the shows that Jay had as a lead in. Jay did NOT provide that type of lead in for Conan, thus his ratings really dropped. Moving time slots would have still had Jay running the lead in for Conan, and thus, Conan still wouldn't have had great ratings. NBC never gave Conan an honest chance.

IMO, they made the biggest mistake ever in allowing Conan to walk. It doesn't matter where he goes, he will have the audience because the country loves him now. Leno won't last long if Conan signs on to the same time slot elsewhere.

And we all know, Letterman should have become the host of the TS when Carson retired. We all know it! Carson would even send Letterman jokes to use on his show when he changed networks. Didn't he even appear on Letterman's show 1 time to show his own opposition to Leno taking over the TS after he retired?

Carson allowed Joan Rivers to host the show on Fridays, but when they wanted Rosie O'Donnell (and I don't like her, but that's beside the point) to take over a night, Leno downright refused to allow it even after NBC approached her. Leno is so selfish that he just doesn't care about anyone but himself. Rosie's story starts around the 2:25 mark for anyone interested.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZ2fZH2XqNw

NBC needs a complete overhaul, IMO.