I've known Jay Leno since forever. Our wives are friends. He knows my children -- and they both adore him.
So when my little guy saw all the TV-hub-bub this week, he was concerned. "Why are there all these pictures of Jay in the paper? What'd he do?"
The presumption was that if your mug is in the paper, you're probably in trouble.
I said. "He didn't do anything. They're just talking about maybe moving the time of his show again."
"Why?"
And suddenly I was in the absurd position of trying to explain the politics of the entertainment industry to a nine-year old.
"Um, because the show used to be on at a different time, and now not as many people are watching it, so they wanna maybe move it back to where it used to be."
"But why'd they move it in the first place?"
Good question.
"Well, the television company was trying something. They thought all the people who love watching Jay would maybe like to watch the show an hour and half earlier."
"And did they?"
"No."
"Why not? It's still Jay, right?"
"Yeah, but it's like lunch. If someone said 'Instead of 12:30 would you mind eating at quarter to 10?' -- you might not want to, right?"
"Cause you're not hungry yet."
"Exactly. Sometimes, people like keeping things the way they're used to."
This seemed to make sense.
"So can they just put Jay's show back where it used to be?
"Well, they may, but it's a little tricky because there's another really funny guy who has a show where Jay used to be, and they promised him he could have a show there too."
"What's gonna happen to him?"
"Not sure. Either he'll do his show at a different time, or... if he doesn't want to play anymore, they're gonna give him a lot of money -- sort of to say, 'Sorry we messed you up.'"
"How much money are they gonna give him?"
"A lot."
"Like how much?"
"Forty million dollars."
"Wow! I want that job!"
"What would you do with $40 million?
"Buy video games and Bakugan and junk food."
"Forty million dollars worth?
"And some Dr. Pepper."
"Well, maybe someday you can get that job. But first you have to be that funny and that good."
I watched my little genius try to get his hands around the whole thing.
"So... they want to put Jay back where he was because they like what he does."
"Exactly."
"It's not like Jay failed?"
"No, not at all."
"He was actually helping them out."
"That's right."
And -- here I felt the need to editorialize.
"You know, the extra amazing thing about Jay is -- whenever they ask him to try something, he almost always says 'Sure.' They asked him to step down and make room for the other funny guy, he said, 'Sure.'
They asked him to put his show on earlier at night and he said, 'Sure.' Then they said, 'Oh, boy, I think we made a mistake -- would you mind going back to where we had you in the first place? That would really help us.' And you know what he says? 'Sure.'"
"Wow."
"Yeah. And how about the fact that while all this craziness is going on, Jay just shows up to work every day and does his job. He doesn't complain, he doesn't get upset... He just does what he's supposed to do: he makes people laugh. That's not easy, you know."
He thought about it.
"Jay's a really good guy, huh?"
"Yes he is. "
It becomes more upsetting if you take the time to read leno interviews from 1992, when nbc was indecisive between him and letterman, and he very principledly stated that nbc "should not frag its own soldiers" and how he refused to take a job hosting at 1230 am "out of omaha". Leno is a dishonest, selfish hypocrite and you should not, as other posters have warned, allow your child to learn his values from leno. Jesus would maybe be a good role model, but in God's name I hope your child does not end up like jay leno.
Anyways, you rule paul!”
He knew he was to leave THE TONIGHT SHOW after five years. He never said he was quitting show business! NBC executives didn't want him to get a show on another network opposite Conan, which is why they offered him the 10 pm slot.
So given a choice of seeking another at 11:35, which would hurt Conan, he chose to take the 10 pm show. And don't give me the "poor lead-in" argument, either. That doesn't explain why the Tonight Show numbers dropped to half of what they were. People have remotes. They knew where to find Conan's show if they wanted to watch it.
The Late Shift Letterman, Leno and the Network Battle for the Night By Bill Carter Illustrated. 299 pages. Hyperion. $24.95.
In it you'll find the backstage tale of backstabbing by Jay Leno, who schemed, eavesdropped on executives from a closet!! in his bid to steal the Tonight Show away from the infinitely funnier Letterman, who was Carson's choice. It has a happy ending -- if you're Leno's pal. For the rest of us, it's pretty nauseating, and speaks loudly about the man's character, in direct contradiction to his carefuly crafted public personna of 'the nice guy.'
And to all those who continue to defend Leno's stellar character, despite manifest examples of scummy behavior, I'd like to suggest that not only is he a stale and unfunny comic, whose real accomplishment appears to be mocking people of lesser intelligence while acquiring a multi-million $$ collection of cars. If he's ever given back, I've not seen any indication of that. Mostly, he appears to hoard and covet.
Good times.
CLEARLY you're the expert here.
Just because someone is friends with Jay doesn't mean he takes the time to research Jay's pattern of hypocritical, dishonest public statements designed to keep himself in the public eye, making the most money possible, no matter whether he keeps his word or not or tramples on the hopes and dreams of anyone who is inconvenient to him at the time. It doesn't matter who "knows" Jay Leno the best when his lying and pattern of bullying is a matter of the public record. We shouldn't have to do your research for you when you are the most opinionated person on this blog.
"This show is like a dynasty - you hold it and then you hand it off to the next person. So I don't want to see all the fighting and the 'who's better?' nasty things back and forth in the press. So here it is: Conan, it's yours. See you in five years, buddy."
http://www.zimbio.com/Jay+Leno/articles/gZuUGU3AX_v/Oh+Irony+Relive+Conan+Jay+Cringeworthy+2004
Now did Conan cause a drop off for Tonight Show? Probably since his form of humor turned off older viewers. But placing all the blame on Conan is wrong. If Jay's lead-in caused a huge drop off in the News Affiliates ratings than why wouldn't a similar reduction in News Ratings lead to a drop off at the 11:35pm hour?
Jay is getting blamed because of the Letterman scandal, and the fact he had agreed to step down than changed his mind. You could tell 24 months prior to his retirement date that he was changing his mind. NBC didn't come asking him to stay, Jay made it known he wasn't ready to leave.
I'm a long term viewer of both Leno and Conan. I agree Conan should have changed his show to better suit The Tonight Show. But due to the way Conan has been treated and the pettiness both NBC suits and Leno have shown, I can not watch Leno ever again.
It's called having principles---something those parties lacked.
There have so many lies spread on here about Leno, it's sickening.
I am sickened by the fact that you think it's sickening that people said Leno said he was retiring.
get your facts straight: http://www.zimbio.com/Jay+Leno/articles/gZuUGU3AX_v/Oh+Irony+Relive+Conan+Jay+Cringeworthy+2004
Jay Crossed the picket line during the writers' strike.
Now this.
Jay go away.
"...This is not tomorrow, it’s five years from today and I want to say I don’t think there’s a better choice. Because when I took this show over, boy there was a lot of animosity between me and Dave and who was going to get it, and quite frankly a lot of what I thought, well, good friendships were permanently damaged. And I don’t want to see anybody have to go through that again. Because this show is like a dynasty: you hold it and then you hand it off to the next person. And I don’t want to see allthe fighting and who’s better and nasty things back and forth in the press. So, right now, here it is- Conan, it’s yours. See you in five years, buddy."
Jay does nothing but WHINE and throw TANTRUMS about being thrown away. NBC agrees to DESTROY their prime-time lineup to assuage him. Jay cuts an average of 12 MILLION viewers from weekdays, obliterates ad revenue for local news affiliates and undermines Conan's lead-in for his show. SHAME on you Jay, and shame on you, Paul, for glossing over your friend's actions.
Leno guest-hosted the Tonight Show over 300 times before he was given the show. NBC thought he was a better fit for the program than Letterman. It was NBC's decision to make, since they owned the show. Leno was consistently beating LEtterman in the ratings, so it appears NBC had bet on the right horse.
If Conan had not threatened to walk to another network, and instead had bided his time until it was time for Jay to retire (59 is too early), then none of this would have happened.
Conan created his own mess. Good riddance.
I'm quite tired of the small, petty mean-spirited people on this board who get ugly when other people's opinions differ from theirs. There's an awful lot of anecdotal, recorded evidence of Leno's manipulative, selfish behavior -- read the Late Shift and learn that he was not the first choice for the Toinight Show, not the smarter or funnier man, but he bullied his way into the job (my fave: Leno hiding in the closet, eavesdropping to give himself the edge. Classy.) The now apparent gulf between his gosh-golly act and his ruthless behavior has turned many people off. We've all reponded to Reiser's rather absurd defense. We're allowed.
I also find Leno's humor mean-spirited -- mocking people on the street for their ignorance of world events: cheap shots. A wide majority of people on the board have expressed their dislike of his act, a desire to see him go, the opinion -- opinion -- that he should've bowed out, as planned.
The man is a mulit-millionaire, has done the same thing for too long, and could've stretched himself, found a refreshed outlet, instead of doing a 10:00 show that was lame and enervating. Conan's initial statement was pure class. Then he got snarky; I would've been 2X snarkier, considering.
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,702402,00.html
I understand Paul's loyalty to his friend and ultimately this entire debacle lies at the feet of the incompetent NBC executives. I believe they're making a mistake by not giving Conan a chance to find his audience. If they had any idea what they were doing, they'd leave Conan alone and sign Jay to host an American version of the BBC hit program Top Gear.
I had heard that too, in fact in numerous interviews with Leno when the news first came out. Also NBC promised "The Tonight Show" many years back to Conan and whether Jay was told to mention the "retiring thing" or not.
The point is Rickthescribe makes some very valid points.
Neither did he say he wanted to spend more time with his wife; he said his CARS.
Leno jumped the shark with his 10PM fiasco, and will forever be remembered as a hanger on who destroyed The Tonight Show. I suppose it was time anyway.
This whole incident itself is ludicrous. Let's hope Comcast shows Jeff Zucker the door.
Conan, take the 30 mil and think how many millions of people play MegaMillions twice a week hoping and praying for a score like yours.
Or...I have an idea! NBC could put Jay in the 8pm slot against MSNBC: Jay vs Keith! Or put them on THE SAME SHOW! Comedy about politicians and comedy about politics!
Jay Leno was the only one I saw who just kept it up. Week after week, into the months. It was an easy laugh, but at Hilary's expense. That was just rude. I'm not a Hilary fan, but that was just NOT ok. I've never bothered to watch Leno since.
And, especiallly when it comes to Clinton, what our country had to endure at the hands of some conservatives spending millions and millions of our tax dollars trying to impeach him on ANYTHING, I thought that we just didn't need Leno going after him night after night, month after month. Limbaugh did enough of that for year after year!!