Conan Just Quit (The host not the barbarian)

[Hector]

Both Letterman and Kimmel are making fun of Leno's chin/jaw...they must really hate him...lol.

Leno might never recover from this fiasco.

[Hector]

That Letterman video skit...Law & Order...hilarious...

[saildog]

If Carson hadn't gotten old, retired, and then died....well, this wouldn't be an issue. Nobody has even come close to Carson (yes, I realize times were different when he was King).

I remember, at Carson's retirement, the announcement of Leno vice Letterman as the replacement. I was P to the power of O POed. "Letterman paid his dues and that punk-arse Leno got the free lunch". Hell, they made a movie out of that drama The Late Shift (1996) (TV) (up 197% in popularity this week...I wonder why?)

Didn't take too long, in the scheme of things, for Leno to consistently kick the crap out of Letterman (ratings-wise) and he did it for the duration. Maybe, they knew what they were doing.

Leno is not a guy I can easily hate. By all accounts he is a nice Dude and he seems like someone I would like to hang out with, but he has had his day and promises were made to Conan. No need to repeat the past to give the same Dude the same due you already gave him once.

Jay has had his day. Initially, he had it at the expense of Letterman, but he made good on it. No harm no foul, really.

This time, it would be completely different. In this scenario, for Jay to "WIN"...well, EVERYONE would lose.

[Mikey]

I still wonder how Leno originally got the Tonight Show to begin with.

Before that, I only knew him as the Doritoes guy.

He must have been bl__ing somebody real high up to get the Tonight Show gig from the start.

[cjefferys]

I still wonder how Leno originally got the Tonight Show to begin with.

Before that, I only knew him as the Doritoes guy.

He must have been bl__ing somebody real high up to get the Tonight Show gig from the start.

Well, he was one of Johnny's regular guest hosts before he got the permanant job, so he was already a contender, it's not like they just hired some guy out of the blue (unlike what happened when Conan took over for Dave on Late Night. "What?! Who???" )

And as far as I'm concerned, The Tonight Show died when Carson retired. No offence to Leno or Conan, but it's never been the same show to me and I have very rarely watched it since Johnny, so I don't really care what happens with this mess now.

[saildog]

Before that, I only knew him as the Doritoes guy.

You don't remember the McDonald's commercials?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AG9eiLVT2Rc

[Mikey]

You don't remember the McDonald's commercials?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AG9eiLVT2Rc

Good ole Mac Tonight

[cjefferys]

I can see this turning into a Made for TV movie
Sammy

"The Late Shift Part 2"?

[ODBJBG]

I still don't see how anyone could NOT see Leno as the villain.

He agreed to retire. He sat the timetable. He said he was retiring. It wasn't until a year or so ago when he floated the notion that he might head to ABC. Which is why NBC renewed him and gave him the 10PM show.

Imagine if Johnny Carson had said he was retiring, gave Jay Leno the Tonight Show, then started the Carson show on ABC to run opposite Tonight... That's more or less what Jay threatened to do.

Now Jay's show failed. NBC had no choice but to pull the plug. So Jay wants his old timeslot back. That's a bunch of crap. Jay agreed to the 10PM thing, he's the bad guy because he's fighting to take back the spot he gave away.

Whether or not he was ratings king or if he wasnt really rady by 2009 is a moot point because he agreed to retire gracefully. Leno escaped the first Tonight Show war mostly pretending that he was some lucky doofus and that his producers were the villains, but the reality is that Leno has always been a greedy limelight hog. I don't know how it could be more evident than now.

It's not like NBC asked Leno to take back over the Tonight Show. Leno has threatened to destroy the Tonight Show brand if they don't give him that time slot. NBC is more afraid of Leno than they are Conan (which makes sense in the grand scheme of things) and are going to back this unsufferable *** instead of who they and Jay promised the job to.

And what the hell is going to happen when Leno does really retire in a couple of years? No way they're plugging Fallon into that spot.

Leno wants the money, the time slot and the fame and the hell with anyone he steps on in the process. He doesn't care what he wreckes (Including the whole of NBC) until he gets what he wants.

[saildog]

I still don't see how anyone could NOT see Leno as the villain.

It's hard for me to call the guy a villain. The Network is the Villain.

However, I think Leno is the one who needs to "do the right thing". That would put the whole debate to rest.