Jay Leno is a pathetic former beauty queen who, heavily made up and spilling out of an old gown, teetering on old high heels enters the ballroom oblivious to the toll of the years and the laughter of the audience who recognizes mutton trying to pass for lamb.  His refusal to take the money and disappear is all too reminiscent of how he got the job in the first place when Johnny retired: he was a sneak!!  And now he’s doing it again.  I have always found him a useful alternative to laxatives—if I happen to turn him on I immediately go “uggghhh” and relieve myself.  Letterman is so much more inventive and risk-taking and now with Craig Ferguson on CBS, the game is over.  This man is erudite, audacious and a joy to watch plus his interviews of the stars-de-jour make all look wonderful.  Mr. Zucker et.al.—have you ever watched CBS late night?  You could learn a lot!!!

Pop culture is very important!  Why even Obama changed the date of his State of the Union address so that it wouldn’t pre-empt “LOST”——that’s how important pop culture is!!!

How unimportant this all is.  I hope both Conan and Leno donate a few million dollars to Haiti.

ThatDeborahGirl…

You sound like a Conanhead!  You may or not be right, but what caused Conan’s poor ratings is immaterial.  NBC has no choice but try to resurrect it’s 11:35-12:35 dominance with Leno.  Once CBS moves Ferguson into Letterman’s time slot——it’s all over for the rest of them.

Maani & Blackspear really need to get a clue. That Conan’s numbers were down was mainly due to Leno. Ask all the local affiliates who were ready to pull Leno’s show because it was a sucky lead in to the 11 pm news.

What Leno did would be the equivalent of Bob Barker saying he’s going to retire, leaving Drew Carey with “The Price is Right” and then, instead of Wayne Brady hosting the new version of “Let’s Make a Deal” Bob Barker decides to do it again and at 10 am right before Drew Carey is on.

Uh, duh….I love Drew but I’ve been watching Bob Barker since I was four years old? Who do you think I’m going to watch. Drew is like my endearing, but annoying older brother, Bob is the rich uncle I wanted and never had.

Leno went back on his word. Leno is not funny. Leno usurped on Conan’s brand new territory and NEVER gave him a chance. Leno bombed terribly after Carson retired and it took an entire retooling of the show and TWO YEARS to get him back to a point where people could stomach him.

Leno is the past. Conan is the future. When people show up in the rain for you for no other reason than they love you….seriously…do you see anyone clamoring for Leno’s return like that? No. And the whiny people who do support Leno can only point to Conan’s low ratings without looking at the larger picture and pointing the finger of blame, squarely where it belongs…at Jay Leno.

By the way - What is up with TruthDig lately? I swear…this place gets more and more right wingish every day….an article on what Massachusetts got “right”? Geesh…..

Maani——you’re absolutely correct——Conan’s rating were way down and once you lose an audience to another competitor for too long a time it’s hard to get them back.  NBC just wants to cut their loses hoping Leno can rejuvenate the Tonight Show.

Yea RLE, Leno SHOULD be ashamed at himself, but he hasn’t shown the slightest hint of that.  Luckily, I don’t watch the late night talk shows but I would occasionally switch over to catch an O’Brien monologue or sketch.  Hopefully, NBC pays him well and he takes [adultswim] up on their (humorous) offer.  The money wouldn’t be as good, but he could focus on the comedy!

An interesting take:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/18/business/media/18carr.html?sq=conan&st=cse&scp=1&pagewanted=print

Peace.

Maani:
I’m not crying for Conan O’Brien.  His buyout is $30 million…if they bought ME out for that I’d retire the day the check cleared!

Notwithstanding NBC’s recent history of bad business decisions, you STILL haven’t answered my point:  If the TS ratings are lower for O’Brien than they were for Leno, then this is a business decision.

BTW, I gave up on those shows decades ago.  Who wants to watch an actor or actress sound like a dim-wit while hawking their latest movie? If I can make it through the monologue, that’s an accomplishment—and they re-run it the next morning anyway on the morning news shows!

So I’m disinterested.  I have no particular affection for any of them, except when Letterman got into politics about McCain and Palin.

ITW:

I think you miss the point.  O’Brien’s ratings on his own show were huge.  This is why NBC chose him to replace Leno - believing that O’Brien’s audience would follow him (which they did), and that a large portion of The Tonight Show audience were loyal to the TS, and not just to Leno.  However, as RLE points out, the second assumption was wrong.

In fact, NBC was clearly and deliberately hedging its bets: on the one hand, it hoped that a large potion of the TS audience would remain loyal to the “brand” rather than the person (Leno), while on the other hand they hoped that a large portion of the TS audience would follow Leno to the (untried, untested) 10pm slot so they didn’t end up with egg on their face (which is exactly what happened).  So, in fact, they deliberately put O’Brien in a no-win position - and now they want to cry “foul” over it.  How obnoxious.

Peace.

Um, why DID NBC hire O’Brien in the first place?

If his ratings on the Tonight Show suck, where’s the wrong in firing him?

To add to RLE’s comments, isn’t it funny (not!) how, all of a sudden - THREE DAYS after this situation became public - NBC started blaming the whole thing on…Conan?  I.e., that the “reason they are doing this” is because viewership figures for The Tonight Show dropped when Conan took over?

But as RLE tacitly notes, how could it be otherwise when Leno took much of the audience with him?

The fact that NBC is using a “technicality” in order to force Conan off (i.e., that his contract does not state “absolutely” what time The Tonight Show will air) says it all.

Leno has acted like an arrogant jerk and NBC has all but destroyed The Tonight Show name, while Conan has maintained a quality of character rarely seen in TV personalities these days.

My advice to Conan?  Take the $30 million (or whatever NBC offers to buy out your contract) and forget about going to Fox (Yikes!).  Take the money and live a good life - you deserve it!

Peace.

hello. i had the money, and my computer prematurely sperm-ed it all over the blogosphere.
  I wanted to be the host of the Tonight Show. it is all i ever dreamed of. my timing on the monologue is perfect. i have hometown charm and charisma, with undertones of sophistication. I can work with a real straight man, and not a musical stand-in (whom i would use for vacations, and when people are vomiting). i would love working with bosomy bimbos on skits, and cut off my Slausen! I could do odd stunts, and pet cute animals. I can interview and promote in the same sentence. i can tell you what has been sitting all afternoon on the stoop in a mayonaise jar. I always knew that if I give someone the nod to come over after their performance on the show -they would be a made star. i belong in that chair. I grew up wanting to be the host of the Tonight Show ALL of MY LIFE. [did NBC buy any of this yet?] thas a whole lotta lettuce. heeeeers thinking of you Johnny! God i miss his work.

Jay Leno should be ashamed of himself , when he decided to take the 10pm time
slot he doomed Conan and thousands of members of the entertainment industry.
Jay in his greed shut down equivalent of 5 one hour dramas. In addition doomed
Conan by poaching the Tonight show audience.
I for one , once Jay Leno fan will not be watching anything he is on .
Jay you are an ASS
Johnny is rolling over in his grave.