Layoffs at Tonight Show, Leno takes pay cut

Rumor is 24 laid off. Leno takes a pay cut of between $5-$10 million to prevent more cuts.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_NBC_TONIGHT_SHOW_CUTBACKS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

 

More on the Comcast-caused cuts.

http://www.deadline.com/2012/08/tonight-show-cuts-latest-in-wave-of-nbc-layoffs-cost-trims-imposed-by-comcast/

 

Conan - whom I like as a comedian and a person - can love this all he wants. He simply wasn't an "11:30 performer". Leno is a comedian about 25 years past his prime but he is Subway. Conan makes a far better sandwich but the great unwashed like Subway.

Never confuse the box office with the reviews.

 

I honestly don't get his show. Why does he do a monologue? Why? He's not any good at it. He's good at some things, but not that. He's not much of an interviewer, either. I'll try his show for a couple nights, and it just doesn't do much for me. The show's too conventional, and he isn't.

About the only thing I consistently watch is Leno's Headlines segment, for obvious journo reasons. I'm not sure I've ever watched a full night of Leno.

 

Conan's monologue has always been unwatchable.
Of course, Leno's entire show is unwatchable.

 

According to Leno himself, he lives entirely off of his standup income. Tonight Show money goes into a bank account he never uses or even looks at.

 

He just needs to do commercials for the Garden-Weasel.

 

On a related note, Barrett-Jackson just took caviar off the spread at the company Christmas party.

 

"Headlines" is must-see TV in our house, but my wife & I are both either current or former journos. Jaywalking is a tired bit, but it provides me some good fodder for my history classes.

Leno's monologue is OK, but he's a horrendous interviewer.

Conan's monologue, I've never found funny, but his bits are tremendous.

Count me in the "I never really got Conan" camp, but to each his own.

 

So you wonder how many jobs a $5 million salary haircut would save on Leno.
They cut about 10 percent of the 200 person staff.
Leaving 190. Figure 50 at $100k per?

 

The best interviewer these days is Craig Ferguson. Conan O'Brien remains the funniest host. Jimmy Kimmel is affable and right behind Ferguson as an interviewer. And Jimmy Fallon has The Roots.

David Letterman and Jay Leno can't match any of those guys for quality of programming.