Letterman Takes On 'Conniving' Jay Leno (VIDEO)

David Letterman has been clear about one thing in the mess over at NBC: don't blame Conan.

His Late Show has also been pretty clear about that "conniving Jay Leno," in this look back at the history of Letterman's longtime rival.


WATCH:

Comments

[arabianway]

03:04 PM on 01/24/2010

Why blame Leno for this? He is just a pawn in the game. What was he supposed to do?

If I watch late night TV at all, I pick the show with the most interesting guest.

[Winthorpe]

03:56 PM on 01/24/2010

How about retiring from the Tonight Show as a gentleman, and if he wanted to host another show, do it at another network? Hovering over his successor and waiting to take the job back was not a classy move.

[Bennet Herbison]

09:03 PM on 02/06/2010

He was supposed to say no when they offered him to take conan's timeslot.

Except it was HIS idea! he was saying in November 09 how he was just "putting it out there" that he wouldnt mind his 1135 timeslot back, which is going back on his word and stabbing conan in the back after he said 6 years ago and again on his last show that he would make the transition to conan's tonight show as smooth as possible.

Open your eyes and quit defending jay leno out of pure ignorance.

[Minnehaha]

11:11 PM on 01/23/2010

Jay is smart he always comes out on top. He's a winner and a gentleman.

[Ward7]

04:03 AM on 01/25/2010

He took a deal that royally crapped out, fell to the bottom of the ratings, lost both the Tonight Show AND his 10pm cringe factory, had to go crawling back to his old gig, and knifed O'B on his way there and back.

So if a dumb deal is 'smart!' and losing in the ratings is 'coming out on top!' and losing TWO major shows in a row is being a 'winner!' and screwing honest hard-working people like O'B is being a 'gentleman!' then by God, we are on the same page here friend!

[greenwren]

09:44 AM on 01/25/2010

A gentleman honors his word. Not to mention his contract.

He already has all the money he could possibly spend in his lifetime, so why not go out with some class?

[Loveforlife]

09:11 PM on 01/23/2010

Yawn. I'm glad my old schedule is back. I think Conan has a bright future ahead of him. He's funny. I like Jay and Kevin and the old show.

I wish Conan well. Letterman. Bleh.

[jdoeremi]

09:09 PM on 01/23/2010

I was a fan of Leno, Letterman, and O'brien (even Ferguson, Kimmel and Lopez are often amusing) until they started getting personal. I even consider them my frequent source for entertainment and light-hearted humor. I say "was" because I am not sure anymore. Lately, these guys were anything but funny particularly when their spouses are being included to get cheap shots as if they were trying to get each other where it hurts. I suppose I can always do what I did when a pair of friends fought ugly. I don't stick around and go elsewhere.

[PresidentRobertBooth]

12:40 PM on 01/23/2010

Hilarious stuff.


Letterman has been awesome throughout this whole debacle on NBC

[CindyInIndy]

10:24 PM on 01/22/2010

c/o CBS Mailbag

Dear David Letterman,

Please have Conan O'Brien as your ONLY guest on Jay Leno's first night back (March 1st).

Love ya,
Cindy

[CindyInIndy]

11:02 PM on 01/22/2010

p.s. Dave, sorry. I just read about Conan's "nondisparagement clause"... aka gag order. Oh, well.

[MadelineL]

12:59 AM on 01/23/2010

But Dave doesn't have that clause, does he? bring Conan on and Dave can say what Conan can't - at least for now...

[Andy Harris]

08:25 PM on 01/22/2010

A love song to our beloved Coco!

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/e6285080a3/hey-there-o-brien-coco-s-song

[JimR]

06:30 PM on 01/22/2010

Dave, Dave, Dave... I love ya, but you really can be a bitter old @#$% sometimes.

[Theatrixnyc]

06:26 PM on 01/23/2010

If only he could master screwing people over with a smile on his face the way Jay does.....

[JimR]

07:39 PM on 01/23/2010

Jay didn't screw anybody over. That's just fantasy for Leno haters.

[pstfleur]

12:05 PM on 01/22/2010

I can't wait for Leno to come back and smash everyone in the late night ratings again..
Conan stans on huffpo will be furious!!! Lol!

[MikeDu]

02:42 PM on 01/22/2010

Leno's sure to better than Conan in the ratings, Leno isn't being forced to follow Leno.

[freethinking moderate]

03:27 PM on 01/22/2010

When I want to watch a show, I don't care what preceeds it. Conan has no excuses.

[Crappol]

08:22 AM on 01/22/2010

Boring.. that wasn't funny.. no humor. Letterman and conan make me switch channel to Comedy Central - John Stewart is the best comedian.

[ChrisDWard]

03:43 AM on 01/22/2010

IMO, all of the late-nite talkers are pretty lame and boring compared to Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert!!

[countfloyd]

09:31 AM on 01/22/2010

Stewart tried an hour long talk show awhile ago and wasn't very good at it. You can't compare what Stewart and Colbert do to grinding out an hour long show night after night, year after year. Letterman has been on the air for 28 years now.

[Genius]

08:49 PM on 01/22/2010

IMHO, If you haven't been watching Craig Ferguson you are way behind the curve. Jon is priceless with his quick but Craig has a lot more on the plate that Jon has to fill, and he does it with such charm. I just think he's great. Luv you too Jon...

[goodtomeetyou]

02:04 AM on 01/22/2010

Jay Leno's "retirement" announcement, 2004:

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/6d1caacad1/jay-s-2004-announcement?rel=player

[JimR]

08:19 AM on 01/24/2010

Yeah, so?

[goodtomeetyou]

11:48 AM on 01/24/2010

So? According to Leno, he told NBC he would "retire" "just to avoid what happened the last time."

He did neither. So there.

[veritas88]

01:45 AM on 01/22/2010

i've always been a fan of Letterman, Conan, Colbert and Jon Stewart (I like intelligent humor, and I'm a proud New Yorker).

I have NEVER been able to stand Jay Leno. But now, I've developed a Pavlovian type of response to Leno. just the sight of his smug visage or a second of his show on my tv screen makes me want to vomit. much like the garish graphics of Faux News.

I know its blatant schadenfreude, but I really hope the "new" TTS that re-debuts in March goes down in flames. I'm curious to see what kind of guests are booked. The whole show is tainted.

[eden4barack08]

03:37 AM on 01/22/2010

Boy do I agree with you 100%! Must be because I also like intelligent humor and am also a proud New Yorker.
NEVER ever could stand Leno, but what really sealed it for me was when Rushbo was one of his first guests on his new 10 pm show. After that, he could even have my beloved mother on his show and I couldn't watch. He's as good as de.ad.

[joceeco]

04:26 AM on 01/22/2010

I actually liked Leno, until he and NBC pull this BS on Conan. I know it doesn't matter to anyone else, but I will never watch Leno again, the backstabbing SOB!

[HLL]

09:19 AM on 01/22/2010

So agree veritas. Leno's face makes me sick. YUK.

The Tonight Show, its hilarity, wit and grace, ended in fact, when Johnny Carson left it -- but it would be so sweet if it went down in flames in March and Leno was finally and deservedly taken off the air. Agree agree agree.

[Majus]

08:38 PM on 01/21/2010

This video says it all to me: Letterman is running scared because his old nemesis is going to be back in town and Letterman's being quite mean-spirited and snarky about it. That fits perfectly with what I think the real Dave is like.

I watched Conan a few times but quickly realized he has little talent, is quite juvenile and just not funny at all. I'm glad he's leaving, but he isn't acting very professional about it. I would also like to add that I knew something like this would happen because when I first heard that NBC had agreed to give Conan the Tonight Show I knew they had made a serious mistake with such a commitment.

So that leaves me with Leno, who is funny at times and boring at others.

If his show ever gets moved to an earlier time, then I will watch the one and only truly intelligent and witty host, Craig Ferguson. Unfortunately that won't happen very soon because Letterman owns his show.

Soon this little episode will be history and we can all move on to complaining about other things, hopefully things more important.

[alsm9]

09:08 PM on 01/21/2010

"when I first heard that NBC had agreed to give Conan the Tonight Show I knew they had made a serious mistake with such a commitment."

Well it's too bad they didn't contact you first Majus. lol!!! You seem to know it all.

Here's a question; why would the man who owns World Wide Pants run scared from a hired hand for NBC? I doubt Letterman has ever cared about beating the Tonight Show regardless of when he was or wasn't. As you pointed out he owns his show...and the company behind it. LOL!!! The sponsers love Letterman, which means CBS loves Letterman....he's not scare of anything. He's just enjoying bad mouthing Jay...as do so many others it seems.

[gtt]

02:35 AM on 01/22/2010

Leno is such an easy target. He is a jerk

[freethinking moderate]

03:30 PM on 01/22/2010

alsm9,

Knowing Conan was going to fail at The Tonight Show was widespread and all one need be is a rational thinking person. Too many Conan fans desperately cling to validation. Its like talking to Mencia haters and seeing how they will never think on their own.

People want to laugh at night and don't care about the inside drama of millionaires.

[lakat]

10:05 PM on 01/21/2010

What you are expressing is personal preference not fact. I could express my personal preference by slamming your taste but that wouldn't be nice so I'll just let it be.

Mine: Love Dave, hate Jay and like Conan. Big whoop.

[Heathnyy5]

07:45 PM on 01/21/2010

David Letterman was supposed to succeed Johnny Carson, with Carson leaving at a time of his own choosing. Instead Leno forced him out (which is why Carson always supported Letterman's show, a fact that burned Leno until Carson died) to get the show first. It was shrewd but despicable, forcing out a legend just to burn (in Letterman) another one.

People don't realize when Jay beat Dave in the ratings the far harder job that Letterman had. Leno was handed the greatest franchise in late night television and managed to LOSE ratings in it...if Dave took it over, he'd have far destroyed Jay's ratings. However, Dave did something far more valuable for CBS, creating TWO late night franchises for them out of nothing. His Late Show and the following Late Late Show will go on long after he leaves the network, and even if they lose in the total ratings, they (Letterman's show certainly) wins the key demographics (which is why Dave makes so much more...he's much more valuable to CBS than Leno ever was to NBC). Leno could not have done what Dave did at CBS, NO ONE could have, which is why they told Letterman he'd become a signature star for them (and he did). Meanwhile Craig Ferguson's brilliant in the Late Late Show, and with Conan having left his Late Night show, I watch Ferguson every night.

Dave is the true winner...Carson knew it, CBS knows it, and Jay really knows it, too.

[Biffmeister]

11:29 PM on 01/21/2010

How do you know Letterman was supposed to succeed Johnny?

[xstevejx]

11:36 PM on 01/21/2010

It was 'understood' by many that Letterman would be offered The Tonight Show when Johnny decided to retire...but then NBC execs were worried about Leno possibly going to another network to compete w/ The Tonight Show (something Leno lied about to get the job).

[shirleyfeeney]

02:29 PM on 01/23/2010

Where have you been for the last 20 years?!

[Crappol]

09:03 AM on 01/22/2010

If Letterman was so great why did Jay's ratings were double that of Letterman? CBS knew they lost the battel; NBC knew they had a winner in Jay. Quit whining.. jay is far better than Letterman and Conan.

[firenumber9]

09:34 AM on 01/22/2010

If Leno was so great, why was he forced into early retirement?

[Heathnyy5]

12:14 PM on 01/22/2010

Leno's ratings didn't "double" Letterman's. And again, Leno took over a known product while Letterman created something new. Leno could not have done what Letterman did, although his threats to be ABLE to do it caused NBC to force Carson out and skip over Letterman, destroying their relationship with two legends to work with (in Leno) someone who will NEVER be one.