Shame on NBC (It appears Conan is leaving the Tonight Show.)

[misha]

I think the only bright spot here is maybe it means NBC will return to making good TV shows instead of taking up a time slot with a garbage talk show (see Life).

I liked 'Life'. Too bad it was canceled.

[celticsclay]

Jay Leno is not funny....

[LarBrd33]

that's stupid.  I'd say they need to give Conan more time, but honestly I think they just screwed over their own show by putting Leno on before him.  Having Leno on at 10 just completely undermines the Tonight Show.   People can't take Leno seriously, because it's some weird time slot... and people don't watch Conan, because he's just the guy on after Leno.  It's a losing situation for both of them.   I think giving Conan time would make sense... but I can't see that show ever really flourishing until Leno is gone and NBC puts their full weight behind The Tonight Show again.    What the heck did they expect?   For Conan to suddenly get Leno numbers at 11:30 and for Leno to keep getting Tonight Show numbers at 10??  Moronic.

[Donoghus]

NBC really screwed themselves on this.  They signed Conan to a pretty ridiculous contract a few years back that pretty much guaranteed him the "Tonight Show" in 2009 or they would have to pay a ridiculous buy-out "penalty" to Conan.  For whatever reason, the NBC execs thought that Leno would be ready to move on at that point and they didn't want to revisit the whole Carson/Letterman/Leno fiasco again.  Unfortunately, Leno wasn't ready and they were stuck between a rock and a hard place.  They gave the "Tonight Show" to Conan rather than pay the buyout and came out with this ridiculous "Jay Leno Show" that in produced in-house for NBC so it's relatively profitable however it is killing their affiliates as a lead-in to the late news. 

NBC tried to cover their butt and it back-fired bigtime.  It's too bad because I like both Leno and Conan but I can't see them to continue to coexist on NBC.  Not sure where this is going to lead....

[guava_wrench]

I would imagine that the first half hour of Conan's current slot is tough with the far superior lineup on Comedy Central.

I have always found Conan entertaining. Much more than Leno.

[Tnerb02]

I would love to see Conan go to FOX and compete directly against Leno. That would be great and he would destroy Leno in the ratings.

[OriginalODb]

I would love to see Conan go to FOX and compete directly against Leno. That would be great and he would destroy Leno in the ratings.

Unfortunately this is probably not the case. I love Conan but I think Leno appeals to a wider audience and will crush both Dave and Conan in the ratings. Check Tvbythenumbers and you will find that Conan has been trailing letterman but Leno was destroying Dave when they both were at 11:30. The problem with Conan and Dave being on at the same time is that their styles are too similar and Leno fans probably are not going to like Conan and Dave fans won't jump ship to watch Conan so he is screwed until Letterman retires

[freshinthehouse]

Wherever Conan ends up, I hope he can recreate the magic he had on Late Night.  I haven't seen many episodes, but his stint on the Tonight Show was a bit too stale. 

[feckless]

The Tonight Show (Leno's Show) at 10pm was just a really stupid idea and whoever made that decision should be fired--kind of like new Coke.

I liked Life also--also prefer Letterman--Conan is being beaten by Nightline  not even the Ted Koppel Nightline the new irrelevant Nightline?  Says to me that Conan is for the insomniac audience.

[twinbree]

Wow I know it's all about the bottom line these days but still NBC is not being fair at all. I hope they're looking hard to find a resolution that works out for everyone but I'm not holding my breath.

[Finkelskyhook]

I find it amazing that a network who's most accurate, legitimate, and ethical news report is Weekend Update gets any ratings at all.  I find it amazing that anybody thinks that a network who has been screwing their viewers for decades with their slanted, manipulative and inaccurate news team would treat their employees any different than they treat their viewers.

That said, Conan, Leno, and Letterman are a complete waste of program space.

This format went away with Carson.

[crownsy]

I think the only bright spot here is maybe it means NBC will return to making good TV shows instead of taking up a time slot with a garbage talk show (see Life).

I've lost all faith in NBC's ability to put on anything compelling.

30rock is ok, but overrated. LAw and order was great, but it's all they have been clinging to for the last 10 years. mabey they can do a 5th law and order spinoff, and call that new programing.

CBS and ABC are far superior in terms of programing. NBC is a reality TV cess pool, and conan should leave and let them flounder.

[crownsy]

I would love to see Conan go to FOX and compete directly against Leno. That would be great and he would destroy Leno in the ratings.

Unfortunately this is probably not the case. I love Conan but I think Leno appeals to a wider audience and will crush both Dave and Conan in the ratings. Check Tvbythenumbers and you will find that Conan has been trailing letterman but Leno was destroying Dave when they both were at 11:30. The problem with Conan and Dave being on at the same time is that their styles are too similar and Leno fans probably are not going to like Conan and Dave fans won't jump ship to watch Conan so he is screwed until Letterman retires

Why do you suppose this wide, supposedly loyal audiance can't be bothered to tune in an hour early?

Jay was a good talking head, but NBC's ratings at that time slot were a product of him steering the ship alright and getting good guests, something conan is not doing.

If jay leno the person was such a draw, he wouldn't have lower ratings than Iron chef reruns (look it up, iron chef america beat him two weeks ago)

This move won't wrok for NBC either btw, people will see it for what it is, a complete and utter panic move to try to cover up Leno's failure.

NBC is by far the worst network on television, unless you want to watch a trashy reality TV show. Viewers know it, and will stay away.

[Bahku]

I RARELY watch the "major" networks anymore ... while there are a couple of good shows, the general quality of programming there has gone down the tubes. If it's not "reality" or a vulgar sitcom or a cop show about making light of someone's death, they just don't see the value of it ... sadly. 

[bdm860]

I'm not big into these late night programs, but definitely the way the whole thing was/is being handled by NBC is stupid.

The Conan contract - stupid.  Leno is only 59, Letterman is 62.  Leno had the show for 17 years, Letterman will reach 17 years in a few months.  Carson was host for 30 years and till he was age 66-67.  Did they really expect Jay Leno was just going to leave and do something else?

The Leno Show - stupid.  Like LarBrd said, did they expect Leno to get Tonight Show numbers at 10, and Conan to get the same numbers at 11:30?  They're screwing Conan, all they really did was move Leno's show up an hour and a half, and move Conan up an hour.  It seems like NBC was putting all its best resources into the 10pm show.

Changing hosts when you have the #1 rated show - stupid.  I'm not 100% sure on this, but Leno usually always beat Letterman in ratings right?  Why would you mess with this?

I rarely watch any of these late night shows, but have always preferred Leno over Letterman.   I have no idea how Leno beats Letterman in the ratings, because it seems that everyone I know always seems to prefer Letterman (and I think this can also be seen in the sentiment in this thread too).