LENO NBC Primetime - 10:00pm MON-FRI*

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/09/business/media/09leno.html?_r=1&hp

I can't seem to cut & paste the details (link is above).

 

He's leaving the 11:30PM spot?

 

Conan O'Brien takes over The Tonight Show sometime in 2009 (May?).

 

Yeah...this has been known for almost 5 years!

Seems like a weird move by NBC...they are losing "ER" and I guess it's cheaper than making new dramas but sounds weird...TV is going back to game shows and talk shows...cheap programming! I'm sure Conan can't be happy about this since his show is moving to LA and now he'll be competing with Leno for guests.

 

NBC is expected to announce Tuesday that it has signed its late-night star Jay Leno to a new contract that will keep him at the network in a new format that will give him the 10 p.m. time period each weeknight for a show similar to the one he has done on NBC’s “Tonight Show” show since 1993.


1992. Doesn't the New York Times have fact-checkers?

 

Makes no sense to "retire" from the 11:30 slot just to do the same thing at now 10PM.

Conan should be pissed.

 

I give it a year at the most...

 

Now Dave's gonna want to move to 10PM too.

 

Can't we get rid of Leno and let him do what he does best - touring with stand up comedy.

Leno's about 50 times funnier (IMHO) doing stand up where he can curse a little and not have to make fun of misspellings in small town newspapers.

 

It'll be 9PM in Utah and other "central / mountain time" states. At least I'd assume that since the current Tonight Show is on at 1030PM (approximately... actually seems to start about 7 minutes after that which is weird).

If we're lucky Conan won't like it and will quit, then Leno can have his show back. Conan isn't funny at all.

 

I read this as: "We made a mistake dumping Jay Leno, but if we drop Conan from the Tonight Show we'll have to pay a huge penalty. So instead we'll devalue the Tonight Show by giving Jay an identical show an hour earlier."

 

I guess that this move saves NBC money, which appears to be the prime motive in all of this. And now for five nights a week the network only has to present two hours of primetime scheduling. So on any typical night, we'll get a two hour "Biggest Loser" show followed by a clone of the tonight show. This makes NBC look like a second or even third tier network.

 

That link isn't useful at all. It seems to want you to sign up for something. That'll be a big pass. I'll wait until the story is posted elsewhere.

 

I'm so tired of Jay Leno.

 

And how many actors peddling their latest lousy movie can we stand?

The only good thing this may open opportunities for more bands.

 

Me too.

 

Hasn't Conan been around even longer than Leno?

 

That is how I've read it. Poor Conan getting crapped on. And he's got to move his show out to California too, which will ruin it especially being in Leno's shadow now. Im in the camp that has hardly ever found Leno funny on his show (yes he is very funny on his stand-up routine as someone here mentioned).

 

He. Just. Won't. Go. Away.

 

Here's an article you can just read. Don't have to sign up for anything:

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=155&sid=5024079

(the last paragraph is confusing)

 

Just like Fox.

 

I'm sure the other 2 networks will either do the same thing, or just show some syndicated repeats for an hour instead. Mash, Bewitched, I Dream Of Jeannie, My Mother The Car, Lost In Space, Mr. Ed....

 

Mmm-hmm. I hope Conan can stay in NY now.

 

This is the best move NBC could have made... I'm sure this trumped whatever the ABC offer was, so even though he's going to make BANK in this deal, the article is right - it's going to be cheaper all-in to produce than the alternatives...

Why consciously dump your biggest star if HE doesn't want to retire? And no matter WHAT Leno makes on this, Dick Wolf is still making more. It's simply a good move. Creatively, obviously, everyone has their own opinion, but business-wise? Very smart.

I do like Leno much more as a stand-up (and whatever he does in this "new" old format, I KNOW they'll keep his monologue as that is still by far the best of the current Tonight Show [they've already maxed out the amount of time he can spend on it where he is - it's a really long time for a monologue to go on, but it's his strongest suit]).

The Execs at NBC and the rest of the networks are telling their soap operan clients basically "take a pay cut or you'll be replaced by a talk show" - so this is NO surprise whatsoever.

Thankfully, no one has started an "impending SAG strike" thread yet - and I hope no one does!!!

NBC is losing the "weekly drama" battle - they are not losing the talk show battle. So what else could they do?

I actually think I'll be watching Leno more now - at least whatever the monologue becomes.

And they will keep SVU, so it's all good. The days of Friends and Seinfeld are long behind us now. We're in new territory.

Jay is genuinely a cool guy and much funnier OFF The Tonight Show - let's see what this similar but "new" format is... I must say I am intrigued. I may be in the minority on this forum, but I bet I'm not in the minority of the TV-viewing population.

I wonder if Warren Littlefield (former head of NBC) will be producing this new show... I wouldn't count it out. He deserves a lot of credit for Leno's post '92 success, and he's been looking to produce a show just like this...

If Littlefield becomes Leno's Freddie DeCordova, this could be a formidable time-slot for the other networks to take on. These are two VERY bright men...

Good move in all - whether it works or not, we'll see. I have a feeling Leno will do just fine... he's always seemed to want to be the new Bob Hope - basically the affabale and respected face of NBC. He's one feather in the peacock's tail away from succeeding.

Jeff