Jay Leno Defends Conan's Ratings Troubles: "Exact Same Thing I Went Through" (VIDEO)

Jay Leno defended his "Tonight Show"successor in an interview with Tavis Smiley Monday.

Leno said that the attention to Conan O'Brien's ratings woes is "the exact same thing I went through when I took over from Johnny [Carson]."

"Whoever has the job goes through this," Leno said. "It's all part of the growing pains. [Ratings go] down for a while and then [they come] back up again. And I don't think it's fair to judge Conan on what's happened in a month or two....I got beat up for four or five months, and you still go out with your chin up, fight the good fight."

Since taking over from Leno, Conan has seen the "Tonight Show" ratings go from first in the late night ratings to third, behind both CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman" and ABC's "Nightline."

"Conan was number one for 17 years in a row in his spot," Leno said. "OK, he moves to another spot, it takes a while to find yourself, and that's what hes going through.

Watch:

Comments

[jayjay4142]

If you define funny as goofy then I suppose Conan has it. Personally I like funny.

[Promisin1]

Jay you have more chin to take hits on than Conan has.

[polaris12]

I'm sure Leno must be feeling just a tiny bit of schadenfreude given his obvious pique at how he was treated by NBC.

[MIKEinNYC]

Conan lags in the ratings because he's not funny. At 12:30 the competition was weak and sparse. At 11:30 it's another story.

Jay's just being nice.

[PHM]

Come on Jay...just face it...Conan is OK if you're 9, but anyone over 9 just can't tolerate the guy...Colbert and/or Letterman have it all over Conan...

[BobQueuePublic]

I understand where your'e coming from, my wife shares your sentiments, PHM. But I'm 50 and I find Conan to be the only - only - on-air personality who can consistently make me laugh out loud.

If you only want to be entertained angry or mock-angry political comedy, sure go to Jon Stewart or Colbert. I like both of them a lot, as well as LEtterman, who seems to have lost some of the joy of being dadaesque that he used to have.

Conan, on the other hand, is a gift that keeps on giving to the 9 year-old in all of us. Just my counter-opinion, respectfully offered.

[shirleyfeeney]

Conan's ratings are down because he's not funny. Jay, stop trying to save NBC. They screwed you (and that's coming from a Letterman fan!). You don't owe them anything.

[Maanu]

Conan is that dude. One Word: LOOKWELL. Youtube it, you won't be sorry.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBQ3HbB0c8Y

[chavo]

The best thing about Conan moving to 11:30 was now I don't have to choose between him and Craig Ferguson. They are both the two funniest at this job and I like them equally.

Conan will be fine. He has the younger audience, and no offense meant towards those that are a bit on the older side...but the 20-30 year olds will be here 20-30 years from now. A good portion of Leno's audience won't be. So it was a natural change.

[dlarocca]

I agree... I think the move was made mainly with the younger viewing audience in mind... it will take some time in the short run but in the long run it was the right move

[countfloyd]

This works until CBS brings in a younger fresher host.

[Deesel]

These comments are full of old.

[chin075]

These comments are indeed full of old, as all these people are defending Jay Leno, the most overrated comedian of all time, and using ratings to justify their bashing of Conan. As if popularity was indicative of quality or other great attributes...

[countfloyd]

Actually the 17 years Conan has been on the air works against him. Leno had been on for a short time before he started making changes and locked down his style. At this stage O'Brien isn't going to change who he is or re-do the show to fit a wider audience. Conan waited too long to make his move. He could have jumped to ABC and moved up to number one when Leno left. Instead he will be back in his old spot following Leno trying to pick up the scraps.

[siri2k]

i hope so!!!
dump Conan and bring back Jay.
PERIOD!

[gabbahey]

Philistines!! Conan is the funniest man alive and his reign will last for 1000 years. I you watch a little thing called the Simpson's, you can thank Conan! It is a generational thing, Gen X and before are struck on the old 'n' busted whereas the younger folks are focused on the new cool. I'll be 90 years old and watching Conan and the young'uns won't understand either.

[mredder4]

The Simpsons is the best/worst example, because it has pretty much gone down the tubes since Conan left.

[shirleyfeeney]

So because I'm over 40 I don't "get" Conan? And he's not the creator of The Simpsons, he was just a writer.

When Conan was tapped to take Dave's place (and he didn't ever do that) I was in a "key demographic" 17 years ago, one that NBC was hoping would keep watching at 12:30 (as it was then) even after Dave was treated so poorly by The Tonight Show. I didn't find Conan funny then, and I don't find him funny now. I think the "younger" crowd doesn't "get" Dave because he's so much like his comedic heroes, like Ernie Kovacs, Steve Allen and others.

Guess the pendulum swings both ways...

[gabbahey]

Conan didn't create the Simpson's but he was responsible for giving it its first shot in the arm. (Monorail episode? Yeah!)

I have some Steve Allen records and old tapes, he is a funny man and his non-cynical humor more matches conan than dave - with a huge dose of weird added. Just my opinion. Still, steve clowned on a young frank zappa and that is unforgivable.

[rocketman19]

conan is a twerp.

[volta600]

Conan is genuinely funny, but I think there are some writers on his staff that are NOT funny. That was my gripe with Leno; his writing staff is just really weak and don't write good jokes. the best thing is when conan takes a camera and interacts with people on the street, when it's some sort of skit that was written then the funny plummets.

[MyIrishEyes]

Conan basically sucks!

[Purveyor]

People just are not watching that much prime time tv anymore. In fact its more than likely that many people are not watching tv at all.