Will someone please tell me what Jay Leno did that is so awful?

[Haole Girl]

I know he was asked by NBC to go back to his original time slot.

With the major quake in Haiti, I'll be honest, I didn't really follow the late night comedy drama...

why is everyone angry at Leno?

:shrug:

[AwakeAtLast]

1. This is how I see it

He is the one who wanted 10:00, so he got it. The show is tanking ratings-wise, so he wants to go back to his old time slot knowing that Conan has it. Leno wants it back anyway no matter what. This leaves Conan out in the cold, or Conan can do the same thing to his replacement. Conan decided to hold NBC to the contract that was signed, NBC decided to buy him out instead. Leno gets his time slot back.

[oregonjen]

3. Not to mention all of Conan's people relocated to LA for this

A lot of people will be out of work after just moving out there from NY. Leno did this all for money. He has plenty, doesn't need to ruin so many livelihoods.

[jobycom]

7. Weren't they going to give him his old time slot back?

If he was worried about his people, he could have just taken that time slot back.

They all do it for money. As for the people, he'll get a new job and take most of them with him. If he can't, then it's because he can't bring an audience, and his people would be out of work soon, anyway.

I saw a couple of minutes of Jimmy Fallon by accident the other night. That slot should be open again soon.

[blue_onyx]

8. Leno didn't want the 10 pm timeslot

He was pushed out of the Tonight Show because NBC wanted a host who appeals to younger audiences. In order to prevent Leno from going to another network, NBC gave him the 10 pm show.

[WolverineDG]

19. He wasn't pushed out

Do you honestly think that NBC would offer a contract to Conan in 2004 which said he would take over the Tonight Show in 2009 if they hadn't cleared it with Jay first? Please include a link to any interview with Jay where he says he was forced out in 2009.

dg

[blue_onyx]

21. Jay is an employee.

NBC doesn't have to clear anything through him.


"And yet on Monday, Mr. Leno will begin his 10 p.m. show on NBC — a remarkable turnaround that has seen him go from a late-night discard to the lynchpin of the network’s prime-time fortunes. Asked in an interview here how the idea of leaving “The Tonight Show” was broached, Mr. Leno said: “Broached? I was told.” The changeover was set for June 2009."

As Mr. Leno tells it, it might have been even worse. “Actually, they wanted me out in three years,” he said. “I had to argue to get the other two. Oh, yeah. I said: ‘Let’s make it five. You want me out? I’ll do five.’ ”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/12/arts/television/12leno.html

[WolverineDG]

22. Yeah, right

poor powerless Jay.

dg

[blue_onyx]

23. You asked for a link proving it

and I gave it to you. Clearly, your opinion is made up and no facts are going to change it.

[WolverineDG]

29. It's what he's saying now

completely different to what he said then.

dg

[Bucky]

25. He seems to think he was fired, as per his comments last week.

He made a joke about being fired now for keeping his same ratings numbers (didn't mention they were the same despite moving from 11:30 to 10), but that's not as bad as being fired seven months ago for increasing the ratings numbers.

Of course a lot of show biz people seems to like taking shots at him. Personally I don't see why non show biz people on the internet get so passionate about it. The job normally goes to the guy with the highest ratings, but people seem to sympathize more with Conan.

[AwakeAtLast]

32. I didn't realize that

However he did accept a different time slot and didn't have to. He could have done all kinds of other things.

[blueamy66]

2. He was born.

And he stole all of Stern's stuff.

[jobycom]

4. People are mad because he stole something from the NBA commissioner?

[blueamy66]

41. ha ha

you funny

[jobycom]

5. I don't get it, either. Not that I watch late night.

It just looks to me like Conan wasn't getting the audience, and Leno wasn't working in his new slot, so they moved him back to his old slot. Happens all the time in the real world--a company promotes someone who can't handle the new job, so they move him back to the old job, where his replacement wasn't working out anyway.

I mean, if Conan was any good, they would've kept him and dumped Leno. And if he is any good, he'll get a spot somewhere else making more than he was, anyway, to go along with the 30 mil they gave him to leave.

I'll hand it to Conan, he's played this brilliantly from a marketing standpoint. He's created a buzz around him, created a sympathetic audience, and made himself a household name. He's the Lane Kiffin of Late Night--yeah, he sucks at his job, but he's still going to get another job just because people know his name better now.

[grace0418]

12. Well all the local news affiliates were complaining that Leno was tanking their ratings.

So if Leno was causing folks to switch to a different channel for the local news, it seems to me that would have an effect on Conan's show just after the local news. So if you switched off Leno and started watching the news on CBS, then you might just end up watching whatever came on afterwards. Especially with all the scandal Letterman has been dealing with over the past few months.

I didn't watch any of the shows regularly, but I like Conan a lot. He's well-respected by other comedians, he's smart, he gives lots of comedians and musicians great exposure on his show, and more often than not he's funny. Leno, not so much. I think Leno was at one point marginally funny but he's gotten really stale. And I think his show is a big reason why Conan struggled.

[jobycom]

13. Yeah, that makes sense.

:shrug: I guess the station execs didn't want to take the chance on losing Leno and finding out Conan still tanked.

I've never found him that smart. He does some offbeat stuff, but it always looks to me like he thinks he's more clever than he is. But I haven't watched him much, and that was long ago, so I could be all wrong. I agree Leno is stale.

[grace0418]

14. He graduated from Harvard with honors, not that it guarantees that you're smart

but most folks who aren't children of hugely prominent families have to be pretty damn smart to get into Harvard. He headed up the Lampoon and later wrote for the Simpsons. He's a pretty sharp guy. Some of his stuff doesn't work but I like the fact that he takes chances rather than rehashing the same old lowest-common-denominator jokes like Leno does.

Did I mention that he and I share a birthday? So I guess that makes me a wee bit biased but what the hell. :)

[jobycom]

15. Hey, you've done good.

You've got me curious about him now, and wanting to give him a second chance. :thumbsup:

[grace0418]

17. Then my evil plan has worked.

;)

[fishwax]

43. his father was a Harvard prof

"but most folks who aren't children of hugely prominent families have to be pretty damn smart to get into Harvard."

I'm not saying that means he's not smart or that he only got into Harvard because of his father, just that he wasn't an unaffiliated applicant.

[stray cat]

6. He is older than Conan?

[Bucky]

26. Maybe, but I think he's also younger than Letterman, who also has more online fans

I think it has more to do with how sarcastic & edgy each comedian is. Leno's bland comfortable humor simply pulls in a bigger audience. Snark is always gonna be a niche market among tv viewers. People watch tv to be comforted, not challenged.

[blue_onyx]

9. I dont understand it either

Leno got pushed out of the Tonight Show so Conan could take over. Now, Conan has been pushed out for Leno. I don't really see what Leno did that's so wrong.

[Alexander]

10. I remember Leno promising to retire, and backing down from that pledge.

Had he retired last year as he promised, he would be remembered for consistently trouncing Letterman in the ratings, and left on a high note.

But Leno just couldn't leave well enough alone.

Leno stabbed Letterman in the back when Letterman was Johnny Carson's preferred replacement in 1993, and now he's doing the same thing to Conan.

Even if Leno gets The Tonight Show back, or gets back his old timeslot, I think the number of viewers will decline sharply.

[MadBadger]

42. Thats because he didnt want to retire

NBC for some strange reason was forcing him out because they didnt want to lose Conan at the time. Thats why finally they created the 10PM thing

[Alexander]

45. Then he should retire now instead of screwing over Conan O'Brien.

Jay went out on his own, sans-Tonight Show, and struck out. Swing and a miss.

At this point, he should just ride quietly into the sunset. A lot of people, including myself, never found him funny to begin with, except for maybe during the early 80s.

Since then Leno has had a nasty habit of using jokes long past their shelf life. I really got tired of hearing OJ and Monica Lewinsky jokes from him long after those events had passed.

Conan hasn't even been given a full year at the helm of The Tonight Show, and already he's getting pushed out.

As I recall, Leno wasn't a huge hit either in his first few months. I doubt he would have beaten Letterman in the ratings for years had his show been called anything other than The Tonight Show.

Just like in 1993 when Leno screwed Letterman out of The Tonight Show when Letterman was Carson's preferred replacement, Leno is now doing the same thing to Conan. NBC could just dump Leno and let him tank on another network, but because Jeff Zucker has some kind of personal vendetta against Conan, they decided to screw over Conan, who was funnier to begin with.

[UTUSN]

11. He is a stooge for management and his fortune, backstabs to carry it all out

He did it to Dave back then, but had a manager who was said to be the malevolent one, and then she got fired and LENO seemed to be the good guy. Now he's doing it to Conan, and it's all HIM doing it. Why didn't he leave NBC when they wanted Conan there and do a show somewhere else and compete from over there, a forthright way, instead of going along then reneging? Instead, everything is poisoned.

But related, ZUCKER appears to be carrying out animus-vendetta against Conan. (Is it obvious which side I'm on by whether I use their first or last names?!1) Z and Conan were at Harvard together and Conan worked the humor publication and performed a prank on ZUCKER's publication and ZUCKER called the police on him. I used to discount things as being "high schoolish" or "junior highish," but apparently things from back when really *are* that serious. Rosebud.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

16. His show. It's awful.

As bad as Leno is, the real problem is the sad sacks of shit who watch his show and thus keep him on the air.

[wickerwoman]

18. Not sure it's totally Leno's fault

but NBC canceled a lot of promising shows like Kings and Southland, and threatened others like Chuck, to make room for Leno every night at 10:00. And everybody who has ever watched Leno knew that his new show would tank. He's just not that funny... and what people will put up with at 11:30, they won't put up with in the hyper-competitive 10:00 slot up against real shows.

So NBC screwed the pooch but Leno isn't exactly a hero in all this either. He comes off as kind of self-absorbed. A lot of good shows died to put a few more vintage cars in his garage. I think that's what people are pissed about.

[A-Schwarzenegger]

20. Be not funny since 1986.

[JVS]

36. +1, that and he sold Doritos

[TrogL]

24. He's completely, utterly, unfunny

He's a right-wing tool and couldn't tell a joke to save his life. He sucks up to most of his guests and treats the rest like crap.

[JVS]

37. He was able to be funny, he's just turned it off and that's what's really messed up

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coacWEhWT50&feature=related

[LostInAnomie]

27. He's agreeing to be complicit in a screw job for the second time.

Leno might not have wanted to retire in 20009. He might have even had hard feelings about it. But, he's had a great career, he's made a lot of money, and he's gotten to do a dream job for 17 years. If Leno felt he was screwed over by NBC execs, then he should be very sensitive to when others are being screwed. He shouldn't agree to take part in the screw job and benefit from it.

[Taverner]

28. I have thought Leno got burned by this all too...

He came out on the side of Coco at first - what happened?

[LostInAnomie]

30. He's getting his old show completely back.

Conan is out of a job.

[Taverner]

31. Yes - which is fucked up

So yeah I get it

[Haole Girl]

33. **Thanks for all of the responses**

Just got home a little while ago.

Didn't know all that about Leno. He sure did mess things up, it seems. :-(

[LeftyMom]

34. He's less funny than terminal cancer.

I don't always get Conan, but I don't want to punch him in the mouth every time he tries to tell a joke.

[Common Sense Party]

39. Leno tells jokes?

Is THAT what they call it?

[huskerlaw]

35. Hollywood is upset with NBC

because when they decided to move Leno to 10:00 they got rid of 5 hour-long dramas in the process. They did this solely to save money, as paying Jay's salary is far cheaper than the money it takes to create 5 different shows. But by getting rid of 5 hours of prime time dramas, that's 5 less shows to employ actors, writers, directors, cameramen, hair/makeup, prop people...you get the idea. So Hollywood NEEDED Leno to fail, as only then could they ensure that the other networks wouldn't follow suit.

Leno failed for many reasons, one of which being the fact that he's not funny. But then, he's never been funny and his ratings before weren't that bad. The real reason Leno failed is because a large percentage of Hollywood boycotted his show. Kinda hard to book guests when they want you to fail, isn't it? Sure, NBC could force its talent to go on Leno's show, but NBC only has so much talent (less and less all the time, it seems). And we only want to see the cast of The Office so many times, you know?

As for the Leno vs. Conan thing, I don't know exactly what happened there, but a big reason that Leno is being vilified is because Hollywood hated NBC (and by extension, Leno) for moving the time slot and potentially screwing up the future of prime time dramas. I was in agreement with the boycott, I wanted Leno to fail, and I'm glad it did. But Conan's agent should be fired for not writing a time slot guarantee into his contract.

[Ptah]

47. This explanation is the most insightful I have read on this subject.

Thanks for adding the perspective of the actors, writers, etc.

Well done, huskerlaw

:thumbsup:

[donheld]

38. Who?

:D

[krispos42]

40. Ratings for NBC's 11pm news shows tanked as well

The local affiliate news at 11 had a serious ratings drop comparted to before Leno's new 10pm show opened up, and that drop in viewers also affected Conan (in Leno's old time slot). So the affiliates are cranky about that, the executives are cranky about the ratings losses on the 10pm and 11:35pm shows, and their hope to replace 5 prime-time scripted, acted, network shows with cheap prime-time comedy also failed.

So now they have 5 hours a week more of prime-time TV to fill with something, which means 5 new dramas of some kind or 10 sitcoms, or some combination thereof. How many "Law & Order" franchises can NBC make???


Even if Leno goes back to The Tonight Show the ratings might not recover for quite a while, especially if hastily-thrown-together crap leads into the 11 o'clock news.





Not that I watch prime-time TV (I work nights) but that is the gist of what I've heard.

[pokerfan]

48. NBC is killing television, one show at a time

How many "Law & Order" franchises can NBC make???

You really don't want to know...

[Pool Hall Ace]

49. Thank you for the laugh!!

:rofl:

[Amerigo Vespucci]

44. He shot a man in Reno, just to see him die.

No, wait...that was THIS guy.



Never mind.

[MilesColtrane]

46. He's a scab who crossed the picket line during the WGA strike.

But, what's worse, he's not funny.

[ashling]

50. Driving a comedy show while unfunny