The Tonight Show died forever when Carson left. Please not another fucking Tonight Show. Were's the vote for The Jimmy Fallon Show with the Roots at 11:30pm?
Geez louise, I kinda forgot how much I hate Leno. I do - a lot.
Fallon is pretty damn funny and really kinda gets it...I would not say he's more clever than Conan but he is a lot more multi-talented. And I love, LOVE Conan.
The last classic late-night talk show was The Larry Sanders Show. That killed the category. Leno and Dave and the rest are basically holograms from the distant past.
Jay Leno will do whatever it takes to undermine Fallon while never actually directly confronting him. If NBC gives Leno the boot, he will be back on another network in a time slot that either directly competes with Fallon or is slightly earlier than Fallon, thus splintering the audience. When Fallon tanks, NBC will once again do everything they can to get Leno back.
My theory: Leno will go to E!, because Comcast owns that as well as NBC, which would allow him to jump straight back to NBC after Fallon fails.
Fallon possesses the mainstream appeal that Conan lacked for greyhairs. He'll succeed. I still prefer Conan (and Dave and Jon/Stephen), as Fallon's very much a simpering suckup in the interview chair (like Leno), but he's not weird like Conan.
When I was young, I used to regularly watch the 11:00 news, then a bit of Johnny Carson before going to bed. It was sort of a routine.
That routine was predicated on having only 4 channels to choose from, and having nothing really better to do or watch before settling down for the night. Now there are a bazillion channels on cable, and dozens of comedians to choose from, not to mention Tivo, the internet, Netflix or DVDs, game consoles, and any number of other electronic distractions.
I haven't watched Leno in years. But I don't regularly watch any of the others either—even those I like. I just occasionally watch clips of Stewart or Colbert or others online. The very idea of regularly watching any late-night comedian is completely anachronistic, and hasn't been relevant for 20 years. I don't know why any of them are still on the air.
Letterman tried to edge out Leno and failed, leading Letterman to create a big and dumb "real" version of his formerly small and smart funny anti-talkshow talkshow. This is what is called, driving the competition crazy.
I've always believed the reason Conan O'Brien failed on the Tonight Show was that he sucked. He's annoying, he's not funny, he's much too full of himself. In another life when I worked in radio, I was always told to remember that I was a guest in the listener's/viewer's home, and that the people who were successful in broadcasting were the ones people liked. Conan has never struck me as someone I'd want to hang out with...
Leno won't want to repeat the maneuvers that got him hated by so many; He'd try to look supportive of Jimmy in order to show that he's a swell guy. It might work (his audience is pretty dim), so I'd vote for what @2 says. Let Jimmy just move his show to 11:30 so it'd be clear that Leno killed the Tonight Show. That needs to be his legacy.
ALL THESE 'CARSON' REFERENCES CONFIRM WHAT HULK SUSPECT ALL ALONG! VERBOSE SEATTLE STRANGER COMMENTING KIBITZERS LARGELY COMPOSED OF BITTER, AGING, LONELY PEOPLE DESPERATE TO MAKE VOICE HEARD! CLING TO ELECTRONIC COMMUNITY, SIMULACRUM OF TRUE SOCIAL INTERACTION, FACADE OF AUTHENTICITY, FUTILE SEARCH FOR TRUTH, THE ILLUSION OF DANS LE VRAI... WHAT HULK SAYING?? HULK NEED TAKE NAP NOW, SLEEPY, SO SLEEPY... MOTHER? STOP TOUCHING ME THERE MOTHER! HULK SMASH!
"I haven't watched Leno in years. But I don't regularly watch any of the others either—even those I like. I just occasionally watch clips of Stewart or Colbert or others online. The very idea of regularly watching any late-night comedian is completely anachronistic, and hasn't been relevant for 20 years. I don't know why any of them are still on the air. "
They're still on the air because they still get ratings, and as much as people hate to admit it Jay Leno is still the #1 rated late night show in America. This is fact, and not open to debate.
WOW #17 GRACEY! PENT UP FRUSTRATION ABOUT THE UTTER DISAPPOINTMENT OF LIFE MUCH? CHILL THE FUCK OUT! HULK ONLY MAKING CRYPTIC GIBBY HAYNES REFERENCE FOR THE COOL KIDS!! BUT, ALAS, YOU PROVE HULK POINT PERFECTLY!! NO TROLLS INVOLVED!!! ONLY ĂśBER-UPTIGHT AGING SEATTLITES!!
@18: It has, but not by much. And I'm sure Letterman and Kimmel bring in younger viewers who are more valuable to advertisers. At this point in time it is questionable whether the Tonight Show is the most profitable show on late night.
I've never been so torn on a Stranger poll. Tie between options 3, 4, 5, and 7. I grew up watching Conan when I got to be old enough to stay up late at night (only on Fridays), so how older people feel about Carson, I feel about Conan. And I love his new show, but don't watch that regularly either; I pretty much only watch shit online.
Fallon is pretty damn funny and really kinda gets it...I would not say he's more clever than Conan but he is a lot more multi-talented. And I love, LOVE Conan.
My theory: Leno will go to E!, because Comcast owns that as well as NBC, which would allow him to jump straight back to NBC after Fallon fails.
My dial goes to 998. Do you mean like the SyFy network? They just renewed Continuum.
That routine was predicated on having only 4 channels to choose from, and having nothing really better to do or watch before settling down for the night. Now there are a bazillion channels on cable, and dozens of comedians to choose from, not to mention Tivo, the internet, Netflix or DVDs, game consoles, and any number of other electronic distractions.
I haven't watched Leno in years. But I don't regularly watch any of the others either—even those I like. I just occasionally watch clips of Stewart or Colbert or others online. The very idea of regularly watching any late-night comedian is completely anachronistic, and hasn't been relevant for 20 years. I don't know why any of them are still on the air.
They're still on the air because they still get ratings, and as much as people hate to admit it Jay Leno is still the #1 rated late night show in America. This is fact, and not open to debate.