I don't ask this question because I've watched David Letterman a lot more and think he's better than Leno (though I have and I do). This isn't about quality, it's about what exactly we're saying goodbye to.When Johnny Carson left The Tonight Show in 1992, it was major news because ... well, jeez, he was Johnny Carson. He had hosted the show for 30 years and we probably weren't going to see him on television again (and we didn't, except for an appearance on Letterman's show).
When Letterman left Late Night, it was a big thing that he was saying goodbye because he was not only leaving the network, he was moving to another time slot to compete head to head with Jay. When Conan left Late Night earlier this year, it was a big deal because he was moving across the country to another location, and he was taking over the most iconic late night talk show in history.
But Jay? Not only is he not leaving the state, he's not even leaving the network. He's going to stay on NBC, he'll just be on an hour and a half earlier. That's the only change he's making (and no, I'm not counting whether he'll have a desk or not).
Earlier this week, Lyle Lovett was on Leno's show. When he finished his song at the end of the show, Leno walked over to him and shook his hand and thanked him for doing a little tribute to him in the song. As they were shaking hands, Leno leaned over and asked Lovett, "You're going to come over and see us on the new show, right?"
And I thought to myself, exactly. Right there, Leno summed up why I think this really isn't the "longtime host is leaving his late night show" big news story that it seems to be at first.















Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
5-29-2009 @ 9:18AM
Jamie said...
Letterman better than Jay? What in the heck are you smoking? Letterman is a washed up..has been...almost never was.... annoying, intoxicated, moron. He is worse than Conan.
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5-29-2009 @ 9:21AM
Josh said...
Dear Bob Sassone,
If you dislike Leno why are you the only one to review him. Leno is the hardest working comic on Late night. He does the best and longest monologue of any comic even during the writers strike he had great material. Now I know that comedy is a subjective art but why are you doing all the story of him. From what I can tell the new show will not be the same format they will just be keeping some segments. This is a big deal because the tonight show is a comedy staple in america.
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5-29-2009 @ 9:54AM
Ken said...
Leno's monlogue is awful. It consistently has the cheesiest jokes. I used to enjoy him when I was 12, but now I anticipate him stretching out his tie or hearing Eubanks tap the drums after the delivery of each cheesy joke. I'm not a big Letterman fan either but that could be because I'm too young. Kimmel and Conan are able to transition between the questions they are supposed to ask and friendly banter with such ease it's like watching improv. Leno is useless and I'm guessing he will get no ratings on his primetime show.
5-29-2009 @ 12:45PM
miller980 said...
I love how people complain about the "loss" of 5 hours of primetime on NBC. Nobody was watching the expensive shows they were putting there. Can you blame them? Too many people think networks exist solely to provide them with the shows they want. Guess what, it's a business and you can twitter and frequent Subway all you want, unless more people watch Chuck, it's going to be quickly canceled.
P.S. Kudos to Josh - that is exactly what I was thinking as I read yet another post slamming Leno.
5-29-2009 @ 9:49AM
mosbutnotall said...
I just don't see how this can work. Even with NBC's dismal ratings Leno will never beat a decent selection of regular programming, admittedly he might make up for it in lower productions costs. He will probably reduce the audiences for later shows though. Let's assume people watched Leno & Conan, maybe they'll do the same now, but they're hardly likely to then watch Fallon as well, that's 3 hours of talk shows a night, if anything people will actively go to other channels either when Leno is on or later. I don't see Leno & Conan viewers just watching Conan & Fallon and ignoring Leno, they'll just miss one of them and possibly go elsewhere for the rest of the time.
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5-29-2009 @ 9:52AM
Vince said...
I couldn't care less about Leno. I've always like Letterman. I even watched his short-lived morning show so many years ago.
I care that five hours of prime time are being handed to Leno. I think it's an enormous waste.
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5-29-2009 @ 10:18AM
Chrysee said...
I think the five lost hours of prime time would be a waste no matter who was on the show. I just don't think we need that many talk shows. However, if the format were something different (god forbid a retro variety show), then maybe it would find a niche.
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5-30-2009 @ 12:20PM
mike said...
1)I've always thought it'd be fun to have a return of variety series to TV, The reality will be tough, because I don't think you'll consistently get big name talent on a daily basis. The outlook here is grim. I think I'd rather see a once a week extravaganza.
2)Leno vs Letterman: Hey I watched Letterman since the morning show and through Latenight and loved it, but ever since CBS, he's become Andy Rooney with a 10 on the crotchety scale. Leno's just more fun to watch at this point, case closed. Leno really doesn't get his due.
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5-29-2009 @ 11:22AM
Joyce N. said...
I'm looking forward to the earlier time slot with Leno. I like his blue-collar humor and admire his long-standing work ethic. Leno's fans will follow him.
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5-29-2009 @ 11:51AM
fullbug said...
Wow Joyce N, I thought I was the only one on this site who liked Leno, who knew?
I'm looking forward to his new show, and am kinda bummed out its going to be 3 months before I can watch Headlines again....
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5-29-2009 @ 12:06PM
Wii60 said...
Even though I'm not a Leno guy, I'll watch it. It is important, just not as big as the moves in recent history.
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5-29-2009 @ 12:26PM
Gene Cowan said...
If it wasn't Leno taking the 5-days-a-week slot it would have been reality shows. I don't watch either, so I don't really give a damn.
When Leno took over from Johnny Carson, he immediately alienated a huge segment of the audience from the get-go -- including me, and I'm not a 60-something senior watching before bed. Still, this is what NBC wanted, an influx of younger viewers from the Fox generation. I guess that demographic is now getting old and can't stay up until 11:30 these days, eh?
I may watch Conan's take on Tonight and have a feeling that Johnny might approve. But the TV will be off during the 10-11 hour.
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5-29-2009 @ 12:58PM
Ian said...
I watched Letterman way more than Leno, but it still is a big deal. Not as big as Carson leaving, but certainly bigger than a beloved cast member leaving SNL.
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7-15-2009 @ 2:35AM
tony DiMeo said...
jay leno is the hardest working comedian in showbiz, unlike other hosts he does not rely on his other writers to write jokes for him he is constantly working each night on jokes for his show, and he does stand-up when he's not doing the show that proves how much he loves working you don't get that impression of a hard work ethic from dave letterman. Plus people have been complaining about him going to primetime but it's nbc they got nothing good to put in those timeslots anyway. and i do think you should find someone on your site who is a FAN of jay to write about rather than someone who'd rather watch dave.
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5-29-2009 @ 1:30PM
MacGuffin said...
You can tell that Leno is scared that no one is going to watch or guest come to his 10 PM shin dig.
I'm not sure how NBC is going to fill 3 hours of Late Night content every night with interesting guests. At least Jimmy Fallon is in NY, which would make booking easier.
Conan and Jay are going to have a heck of time coordinating guest appearances since they are both in LA. Which show will win out? A prime-time show or the venerable Tonight Show?
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5-29-2009 @ 4:19PM
BobBaft said...
They need to bring back reruns of FRIDAY NIGHT VIDEOS.
5-29-2009 @ 1:36PM
ac said...
If he was retiring it would be a bigger deal for Leno. But this episode is probably more of a bigger deal for Conan who is metaphorically being passed the torch tonight. I'm DVRing the episode just because of that, not Leno. I have no problem with Leno he seems like a good guy. I like when he talks about cars, maybe he could turn his show into that failed American Top Gear spin off. The ads said he is getting the guests off the couch so maybe Jay could take them to his garage. Maybe then I'll watch his show.
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5-29-2009 @ 1:44PM
Jimmy said...
No.
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5-29-2009 @ 2:12PM
Jay said...
Coming from somebody that is generally annoyed by Leno all the time, this is important and we should care.
Like him or hate him, he held an important position and one that is very, very rare.
I'm talking Ted Koppel, Tom Brokaw, Dan Rather exclusivity for their genre.
Sometimes, Leno shows a side of soft humility that erases away some of my annoyances with him. But then when he gets on the Tonight Show, his annoying qualities somehow come out.
I think my problem is that he never showed his racier side or his cooler side, he always interviewed everybody as if they were a lovely old lady.
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5-29-2009 @ 4:30PM
Steve said...
Bob Sassone writes another unfavorable piece on Jay Leno. Should we care?
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