I know this is old news, but is anyone else as floored as I am about the whole Leno/Conan debacle? The whole thing was and IS totally ridiculous and I don’t believe for an instant that Jay Leno will ever FULLY recover as an entertainer now that America has seen his true colors.
He was playing dumb just like he did with the whole Letterman thing years ago. “I have no idea what’s going on”… “You know what NBC stands for? Never believe your contract… Har-Har.” No, if Jay Leno had an ounce of dignity he would have taken his licks, moved on, and supported Conan… as he did before his 10pm experiment failed.
No, instead Jay simply played dumb until the smoke cleared and jockeyed to get his old job back. Throughout the ordeal, Leno referred to himself as being “fired” from his old job as Tonight Show host. On one occasion, addressing the cancelation of his Prime Time show, Jay said something like, “They fired me from that other show and now they’re firing me from this show”.
This quote really bothered me because Jay was not fired from the Tonight Show. He retired. In fact, he announced his retirement in 2004. At which time, to avoid embarrassment similar to the Letterman debacle, NBC announced Conan as his successor. That’s right, 2004!
The truth is this. Back in 2004, ABC wanted to enter the late night talk show market. Not only did they want to compete with Leno and Letterman, they wanted their show to appeal to a younger demographic. Conan ultimately turned this offer down and the show went to Jimmy Kimmel. Why did he turn it down? Because NBC promised he could take over the Tonight Show in five years.
Follow me? When NBC caught wind that Conan might leave… they scrambled. NBC had invested 10 years in Conan and saw him as Leno’s replacement… however; Conan was obviously ready to move on to a better time slot. So, NBC executives went to Leno, explained the situation and asked one very simple question, “how much longer do you see yourself hosting the Tonight Show.” Leno said, “No more than 5 more years.”
In the end, Conan decided it was worth waiting 5 years to host the Tonight Show… and the deal was made and Leno even announced his 2009 retirement date publically.
But he changed his mind. Can you say “bait & switch”?
The version of the story I shared with you was the version shared in 2004. However, as you will see below, Jay Leno is telling a different version of the story today:
And here is a very interesting rebuttal on the situation from David Letterman:
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