Jay Leno Returning To Where He Belongs

From the Emails 011510

Hey folks,

Happy Friday to you. Yes. I have more important stuff in the Emails. I will get to some of them this Sunday. I have little time this morning as to the fact I have to leave here VERY soon and head off to the Doctors for some follow up tests.

"What do you think of all this? I love Leno. I like Conan. But I think it was a mistake to destroy the number one show for, well, I don't know why."

I hear ya MBR. I really do. I have no idea why they made the move to begin with either. I knew,,{Tapping fingers on desk}How do I say this? {Sigh} I am really not trying to be rude or hurtful here. {Tapping fingers on desk} OK. Let's try it this way. Conan was great for the Conan O'Brien Show. I tuned in from time to time, but Conan is just a little to, uh, {Sigh} a little to goofy for me. He just is. He is not "Tonight Show" Material. I'm sorry. I KNEW this was going to fail.

I grew up on the Tonight Show. I LOVED Carson. When Jay took over, it was a new beginning. I knew him from Stand Up, some not so great movies, but there was something about him that I wanted to give a chance. He could be silly. But he was funny. Actually funny. However, he could also be dead serious. He was a natural with the audience, and he created a new set of shoes. No one will ever fill Carson. He created his own.

Conan? I already KNEW what Conan was all about. He is just goofy. He TRIED to be funny way to much for me. A natural he is not. So when NBC announced that Conan was taking over the Tonight Show, I DREADED the transition. I was right. The "Tonight Show" was no longer the Tonight Show. It was the Conan O'Brien Show at 11:35pm.

I was happy when I heard Leno was coming back. Then I heard, 10pm? That will never work either. Granted, gone are the days of ER, and other 10pm staples, but there is still SUV, L&O, and some local news. Some new stuff coming. Why would the "power that be" in NBC take the Number one Late Night Show and destroy it in this manner? One can only guess. But it looks as though they may be trying to repair their mistakes. Here IS, the From the Emails for Friday 011510

Jay Leno set to return to "Tonight Show" unless Conan caves

Jay Leno is set to return to "The Tonight Show" at 11:35 p.m. unless Conan O'Brien has a last-minute change of heart about hosting the show in a later time period.

On Tuesday, Conan announced he would refuse to host "The Tonight Show" at 12:05 a.m., which is where NBC announced it's moving the franchise when its coverage of the Winter Olympics ends in late February.

Two days earlier, NBC Universal Television Entertainment chairman Jeff Gaspin had told a couple hundred members of the press the network was bailing on its Jay Leno-hosted 10 p.m. program. Gaspin said they were throwing in the towel on their experiment with programming to margins at 10 p.m. weeknights with Leno's show because TV station executives in large enough numbers had started threatening to preempt the show after getting their ratings for the November sweep, showing them how much damage Leno's show had done to the ratings on their late local newscasts.

On Sunday, Gaspin announced Leno would be moved back to 11:35 p.m. to host a half hour show, followed by the Conan-hosted "Tonight" at12:05 a.m., and Jimmy Fallon's show "Late Night" at 1:05 a.m.

At that time, Gaspin said he fully expected all negotiations to be wrapped up by the time NBC's coverage of the Games began.

"I can't imagine we won't have everything in place before that" he said.

But, NBC started talking to Leno about Plan B when Conan put out his statement Tuesday, which he addressed to "People of Earth" on Tuesday, in which he said " 'The Tonight Show' at 12:05 simply isn't 'The Tonight Show'..."I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction."

Now, ironically, it looks like "The Tonight Show" at 11:35 p.m. may have been saved.

NBC denied Thursday that a deal with Leno to return to "The Tonight Show" at 11:35 p.m. had been struck.

But, if you haven't yet caught Conan O'Brien hosting "The Tonight Show," you won't want to miss next week , which will probably be your last since "Tonight" was already scheduled to go on hiatus the following week while NBC covers the Winter Olympics.

Conan's pulling out all the stops to book A-list talent for next weeks show. He's already landed Tom Hanks for Tuesday - very symbolic and kumbaya-ish, in that Hanks was Conan's first real big "get" when he took over "Tonight" seven months ago. Technically Hanks appeared on Conan's second show because, his first night, Conan was saddled with guest Will Ferrell, who came on to plug NBC Universal's latest bad flick idea, "Land of the Lost."

Meanwhile, the network is maximizing its assets as it plugs the gaping holes in its primetime schedule left by the demise of its Jay Leno Experiment.

Jay's best night was usually Tuesday, following the two hour "The Biggest Loser" and NBC has given that plum 10 p.m. slot to its new drama series "Parenthood," from Ron Howard and now starring Lauren Graham, among others.

"Law & Order: The Mothership" is taking on CBS's "CSI: Miami" and ABC's "Castle" on Mondays, which was usually Leno's weakest night.

"Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" takes 10 on Wednesdays, against ABC's "Ugly Betty" and CBS's "CSI: NY" - neither of those competitors being the biggest guns in those networks' arsenals.

Jerry Seinfeld is returning to NBC's Thursday lineup - this time as executive producer and occasional celebrity commenter on his new comedy-reality series "The Marriage Ref."

And an expanded "Dateline" absorbs the 10 p.m. hour Fridays.

All these primetime moves will occur after NBC's coverage of the Winter Games in Vancouver.

Link - The Washington Post - The TV Column

"What do you think of all this?" I think Jay Leno is returning to where he belongs.

Off to the Doctors. See you all Sunday. Have a GREAT Weekend.
Peter

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