The Tonight Show

If I remember correctly, Leno said he was asked to step aside this time, but he wasn't given a choice when they gave it to Conan. Of course, it seems fairly likely that it wouldn't have taken long for being asked to transition into being told. They just gave him the opportunity to act like he had some say in the matter this time around.

 

Still have no reason to believe Leno's gone for good, especially with the way Conan got stabbed in the back.

 

Leno's legacy is that he made the position of Tonight Show host much smaller than it had been in the past.

By 2000, it was just another job. Some of it on his watch, some of it the reality of the times. Carson and, later, Carson/Letterman were the only stores on the street. Once Letterman moved to CBS and provided a credible opponent (even if Leno won the slot year after year), Daily Show followed with Kilborn and then Stewart and it was a free for all.

 

On a smaller scale, many would have a hard time arguing that Leno isn't a joke thief. He's been accused of ripping off other people's material repeatedly.

http://gawker.com/oh-yeah-and-there-was-also-the-time-that-jay-leno-ripp-1517609141/@gabriellebluestone

 

Conan O'Brien got like $40 million when NBC had to fire him again. On top of whatever TBS is paying him. One hell of a raw deal.

 

I don't see a real future for the show. In the short-term, sure, but everyone knows the only reason Leno dominated that slow is because of his age and the fact that people his age are watching. It's why Conan didn't work. I guess on NBC's level it makes some sense to throw Fallon in there because young people do know who he is and watched him since his SNL days. He's also constantly pulling in celebrity guests and what not, so that works for bringing in younger people.

People my age (26) don't watch network late night. We wait for our kids to go to bed and watch Netflix or torrents on our laptop.

Anything late night I see is usually off YouTube the next day, and fwiw, Kimmel is 10x funnier than all of them.

 

Kimmel is good.

He is not 10 times funnier than Fallon.

 

Chances of that happening are ZERO.

 

Kimmel is my favorite, but Fallon is very funny.

 

Funniest guy in late night is Ferguson... it'd be hard to see that humor at 11:35, but his show can be an absolute scream to watch at times.

Saw Jay's last few minutes on video just now. First time I ever saw him get emotional like that.

 

I remember when his mom died during his first season. That was one of those "damn" moments...

 

I tivoed both, but Kimmel's show last night was freaking hilarious with Matt Damon on again... Best fake feud in Hollywood.