Tappress - Jay vs. Conan – The Late Night Debacle

 

February 8, 2010

Jay vs. Conan – The Late Night Debacle

By: Erin O’Brien

Tappress

The continued downward spiral of NBC’s late night comedy lineup in recent months has led network executives to attempt to turn the clock back on The Tonight Show a full year.  They are reinstating Jay Leno as the host of The Tonight Show and firing Conan O’Brien desperately hoping that this will bring back ratings and make the affiliates happy. 

This whole mess started six years ago in 2004, when NBC’s lineup consisted of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Late Night with Conan O’Brien both of which were the highest rated late night comedy shows on the air.  At this point, when everything was going so amazingly well, NBC decided to make a shocking change to their late night lineup.  Starting in 2009, Leno would retire and O’Brien would replace him as the host of the widely coveted Tonight Show. 

Leno was fired as the host of the Tonight Show though he would later claim on the air as per NBC’s request that he was retiring starting in 2009.  At the time, fans were baffled as to why NBC would try to experiment with the lineup that keeps them #1 in late night comedy. 

What many did not know, was that Leno never actually wanted to retire then, nor did he plan on it.  NBC network executives made the decision to force Leno out of the position after finding out that O’Brien was receiving offers from other networks that he was considering taking once his contract with NBC went up. 

NBC even decided to ask Jay Leno to return to the network to host his own hour long comedy show at 10 PM, during prime time television.  They were no doubt strongly encouraged by the fact that even though viewers were aware of Leno’s pending departure, The Tonight Show continued to be the highest rated show in late night television up until the day he signed off as its host. 

At first, things went according to NBC’s plan and the transition was smooth.  O’Brien started out in June of 2009 with great ratings and all seemed to be well with the world of late night.  Leno’s new show, The Jay Leno Show, also debuted, in September 2009, with great ratings. 

However, both shows quickly took a turn for the worst.  Critics and fans alike bashed and abandoned the shows leaving them to flounder. The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien lost about half of its audience since the host change over.  Leno’s show did about the same, but was to be expected given its established prime time drama competition. 

NBC’s reaction was to try and reorder their late night roster. The Jay Leno Show would be moving back into The Tonight Show’s traditional 11:35 PM time slot  for a half hour and The Tonight Show would move to 12:05 PM. 

Leno agreed to make the move, but O’Brien vehemently refused.  He stated that The Tonight Show starting at 12:05 PM would not be The Tonight Show; it would be the “tomorrow show.” 

NBC decided to cancel both The Jay Leno Show and . The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien.  Conan O’Brien was released from his contract and paid $45 million dollars.  He will be able to begin working with other networks as early as September of 2010. 

Leno, who also had asked to be released from his NBC contract, on which he had two years left, was denied.  When NBC offered him his old job as the host of The Tonight Show back, he gladly accepted, saying that the position was always his “dream job.” 

The only remaining question seems to be after all the changes NBC has made to their lineup are said and done, will the network be able to return to its former late night glory