Jay Leno moving back to the Tonight Show?

[JaneAusten]

Honest to god really. This is why while replacing Leno when he was still at the top was stupid, I'll never buy his aww golly shucks good guy schtick. No one gets to the top and stays there as he has without being smart, tenacious, and willing to put yourself ahead of everything else.

[bellcurve]

They should have let his ass tank at ABC. Really called his bluff.

[Juliajms]

Right. It all started off with that poor decision. "Well, you are number 1 Jay, but you might not be forever and Conan might be the next great thing to come along, so we'll replace a proven number 1 with someone who might be stiff completion on another network. Maybe. Someday." I very much prefer Conan's style of humor and have for a long time, but if you have someone at #1, why mess with that until you have to? I'm glad Conan is getting his 32 million and I hope he lands somewhere else. I'm not really glad that Jay is getting $150 million when he is getting a better job out of this deal and yet NBC is so dumb they deserve to pay it.

Conan said he was offered a spot on "Dancing with the Stars" (no joke). I would actually watch that show again if he takes them up on it.

[Sylph]

Like I said: "shocking twist"!

1. Correct.

2. ? Translation?

3. Correct.

[bellcurve]

Leno(on doing a half hour of the show before Conan's Tonight Show): "But what would Conan think about all this?"

Leno: "I don't have an agent or a manager. I do all my deals with handshakes."

Leno: I'm doing it out of loyalty to the company.

Leno(via a planted, totally untrue New York Post story): I may just leave NBC anyway! Both me and Conan got screwed.

Child PLEASE!

He's so damn fake. And his idea of wit is resorting to low blows with that hick Terry Bradshaw and repeating the same damn thing about Letterman's affairs over and over again.

I can't wait to see Leno bomb when he returns to the Tonight Show. The great thing about all this is that his fans who read all the stuff about him on the internet and actually watch his show for stuff other than Headlines and Jaywalking will see him for who he really, truly is.

And I love Edd Hall for doing that voiceover for the "Return" of The Tonight Show for Letterman. Letterman is LOVE! The more he picks on Letterman, the more you can tell it kills him that Letterman is continuing to expose him for the insecure buffoon that he is.

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[JaneAusten]

Translation. Jay is the good guy and obedient employee just doing what his employer wants him to do nothing else. That's to me how he tries to come across. It all started for me when he claimed he knew nothing about what his manager was doing trying to bag Carson back in 1991 and when he allegedly continued to plead ignorance to what she was doing to guest stars on his show, threatening to bag them if they appeared on Arnsenio's show. Are people really to believe he's such a dupe? No he's a Hollywood star who used these opportunities to his advantage. Kudos to him for playing the game so well and having the general viewing public fooled.

[JaneAusten]

Oh that was a thing of beauty by Letterman. You know I had forgotten all the Leno bits that were actually taken from bits Letterman and Stern did. And the 10 at 10 I think is close to some bit Kilborn used to do.

And I love Letterman why? You know I know people say he should stop being bitter and get over this. Letterman is a major egotistical ass. I won't argue that. But he really makes no pretense of being anything different. He's an ass, he knows it, and uses it.

[Sylph]

Oh, yes!!! Definitely!

That's what I was saying the whole time!

He really slapped people - bellcurve too - and even if his second stint flops, $150m are there.

P. S. 1., 2. and 3. refer to separate bolded parts, for those who didn't get it.

And Letterman is a sad old goat. Who couldn't beat Leno so he does these "funny" bits. Both of them are equally insecure and suck strenght out of attacking the other part. Pathetic.

[bellcurve]

His second stint will flop, but there is no way in hell they will get rid of him at this point with the $150Million Pricetag, especially if the Comcast sale is approved. No matter how badly Leno is doing in the ratings, he's safe until his contract is up. Then he can eat Quaker Oats with Wilford Brimley on the RTN.

The only thing I could see happening is affiliates programming that hour and pushing Jay back if he proves to not bring the ratings right then. And, at this point, I think NBC/Comcast would agree to let affiliates play with their latenight because I don't think they will care. Especially considering Leno cost them so much in primetime anyway.

[Juliajms]

Yeah, but none of these guys seem to be in it solely for the money. Clearly something else is driving them. If I were Leno I would take my $150 million and go sit on a beach (which is one of the many reasons I'm not Leno). Hell, if I were Conan, I'd take my 32 million and go live a quiet life of luxury with my family, but I bet he won't either.

[JaneAusten]

I have found Dancing with the Stars as boring and redundant as I find American Idol now. I am not a Conan fan, but he just might make it worth tuning into the show again.

[bellcurve]

Oh yeah! You are totally right about that. LOL.

[JaneAusten]

I don't know if he'll flop. I mean the internet population is clearly on Conan's side for the most part but really how many viewers does that translate to. Now the question is are the viewers who are now watching Conan, Letterman, Leno, Kimmel seeing the same things most of us see? I just don't think most really care that much. And those who left period, are probably not even paying much attention to any of this.

That said, I don't think it's a slam dunk for Leno. Yeah he was number one when he left but how many of those who just left as viewers when he did are invested enough in him to return. The latenight audience is differnt. Carson knew this. And maybe the tired boring redundant bits and his lame comedy and lack of creativity that his primetime "Tonight Show" exposed, play better on late night.

[Juliajms]

He's not going to flop and now that he flopped out of the 10:00 spot, I don't need him to flop at 11:35, although I admit I wouldn't shed any tears. All I really care about is Conan landing ok and now that he got that 30 million payout, I think that's going to happen whether he gets a new gig or not. This whole debacle has served to remind me that I really did miss Conan, so he has me back as a viewer if he lands on a new show. Dave and Conan are the only two I've ever watched regularly. Jay just doesn't make me laugh.

[Sylph]

But wait.

Then I didn't understand correctly. Doesn't that article state that he gets the $150m now because his 10 PM gig flopped?