TVSquad

I'm sure I'm not alone in wanting Leno to simply bow out gracefully and realize that his time is up. Go away, Leno.

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This is a real scoop by the NY Times - if correct. Assuming it is, there are many NBC shows I've always thought of as 10 pm shows by their nature, as far back as Hill Street Blues. I suppose equivalent shows will be on cable from now on. On the other hand, there will be no more Friday-at-10 purgatory for shows NBC wants to kill (such as Star Trek's third season and much of the run of Homicide).

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So what happens to the shows on at 10 like SVU?

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Isn't SVU a little too "mature" to be on at 8 or 9?

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Well, my question is this. Leno certainly skews older. Why are they ALL OF A SUDDEN interested in the older citizens? Did they watch Boston Legal last week, by chance? I think it's a very quick way for Jay Leno to fade into the dark and to never return.

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so leno, conan, fallon and carson? 4 talkshows

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Um, did they think about SVU when they decided this?! It's a terrific show, and Mariska Hargitay and Chris Meloni are great actors. It's also NBC's highest rated show:

>>>Over the course of the first 10 active weeks of the television season that ended right before Thanksgiving, SyFy Portal tracked nearly 50 select scripted programs on all the networks. NBC's highest-rated show, based on overnights, was "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," which came in at 16th place with a 6.4/11.

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One of the reasons NBC is doing this is because Law and Order: SVU is probably going to end next season. There have been rumors flying that Mariska Hargitay wants out, and Chris Meloni reportedly won't do the show without her.

Personally, I don't think having Leno at 10:00 is that bad of an idea. My mom used to religiously watch Jack Paar at 10:00 Central time when she was in high school. I know it's not the 60's, but Leno at 10:00 might work better than people realize.

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Leno does have a large following with older people who probably go to bed early... I think this is a good thing for NBC to do.

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Wow... NBC are such massive losers! I mean, giving up on the entire premise of providing three hours of programming per night is such a weak move, but I guess their crap ratings warrant it. Their season-to-date ratings have only one show in the top 20, and that's Sunday Night Football. Last weeks ratings didn't give them any shows in the top 20. Not one!

Their total seaon-to-date ratings have them tied with Fox, which only has two hours of programming as well, so I guess NBC is just saying "screw it".

Financially, though, this is a brilliant idea. Even if the ratings for Leno are lower than his current ratings (which is unlikely, given the timeslot), the show is still much cheaper than five nights of five different shows, so the profitability on this move is going to be very high. But still... this is the TV Executive equivalent of George Costanza's sweatpants:

Jerry: Again with the sweat pants?

George: What? I'm comfortable.

Jerry: You know the message you're sending out to the world with these sweat pants? You're telling the world: "I give up. I can't compete in normal society. I'm miserable, so I might as well be comfortable."

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That's nuts. If NBC wants Leno to host a talk show so bad, why not keep him with the tonight show and put Conan at 10? I'll believe this when I see it.

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Speaking as one of those older people who loves Leno, I have to say I think the idea stinks. Who wants to watch a talk show at 10:00? Not me. The kind of talk show Leno or Letterman does comes on after the news and is part of a nightime ritual. I think Leno made a huge mistake staying with NBC, assuming this is true. I doubt I'll be watching.

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If anything, it makes Jay more vulnerable to cancellation. He won't survive at 10 pulling down 11:30 numbers.

If it gets him off the air sooner, I'm all for it. Though I will miss SVU.

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Conan O'Brien sucks. I don't see why anyone watches his show or why NBC wants to move him up to the 11:30 pm slot. He's such a dork and not even slightly funny. Johnny Carson was and always will be the best. RIP Johnny!

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I've always been in the minority on this board in liking Leno. I'm not surprised that they decided to put Leno on at 10. Jeff Zucker just said that NBC's financial situation may require them to cut back on programming. This seems to be a win-win for them. They will save a fortune in costs not paying for scripted dramas, and, I believe, they have a good chance for far higher ratings than they currently do in that time slot. I'll confess I wish Leno had told NBC to take a hike, gone to another network, and cleaned Conan's clock, but, unlike me, Leno is far to classy to screw over the network the way they screwed him over.

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It certainly took NBC a l-o-n-g time to think outside the box and move Jay forward into primetime, ahead of the news and the other late night comics. These days, 10 p.m. is television's twighlight zone. This is a good move that should kickstart the late night lineup. Bravo NBC!!

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I like Leno....not as much as Craig Ferguson, but more than Letterman. I've been pretty bummed out at the notion of Conan taking over his spot - who, in my opinion, is the worst.

I think this is a money decision - Leno is super popular and NBC realized if they let him go that somebody else would pick him up for something and they'd lose those viewers. Most of the NBC 10 pm dramas cost a lot of money to make, and with ER going out after this season, they'd really only have to relocate SVU (which, by the way, is super good) - and replace those 10 pm shows with something that costs a whole lot less to produce.

I'm certainly not going to watch Leno's 10 pm show over a drama or comedy that I enjoy, but I can say that I'd rather watch that than some stupid reality show. It'll be my fallback when there's nothing else I'm dying to watch. Sort of like it is now.

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I'm okay with Jay at 10pm. This was supposed to be Law & Order's last season too. Just as long as it's the reality shows that go bye-bye as well. I'd love to have a nice LONG season of Medium next year, beginning in the FALL.

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