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O'Brien to replace Leno on 'The Tonight Show'

Monday, September 27, 2004 Posted: 8:07 PM EDT (0007 GMT)
LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Jay Leno will hand over the reins of NBC's "The Tonight Show" to "Late Night" host Conan O'Brien - - but not until 2009, the network announced Monday.

"In 2009, I'll be 59 years old and will have had this dream job for 17 years," Leno said in NBC's written statement. "I felt that the timing was right to plan for my successor and there is no one more qualified than Conan."

"Plus, I promised Mavis (his wife) I would take her out for dinner before I turned 60," Leno said.

O'Brien, 41, has signed a contract to stay in his current job at 12:30 a.m. ET for the next five years and then take over the top- rated late-night show when Leno retires.

"Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien continue to be the most successful combination in all of late night," said NBC senior vice president Rick Ludwin. "We have locked in the future ... for years to come."

It's not clear just how long O'Brien is "locked in." NBC would not say how long his new contract lasts, nor how much he and Leno are to be paid.

The early announcement avoids a replay of the early 1990s, when the retirement of veteran host Johnny Carson touched off a behind-the-scenes battle between Leno and then- "Late Night" host David Letterman over who would be Carson's successor.

That feud ended with Letterman going to CBS to compete head-to-head with Leno. Letterman took an early lead in the ratings, but Leno has been consistently ahead for the last nine years.

O'Brien, in the statement, called "The Tonight Show" "one of the great franchises in television" and said he is "thrilled to get this opportunity."

"I am thankful to everyone at NBC -- which has been my home for the last 11 years -- and I am particularly grateful to Jay for all the generous support and kindness he has always shown me," he said.

The announcement leaves an upcoming vacancy in the 12:30 a.m. time slot, a position that catapulted both Letterman and O'Brien onto TV's lucrative A-list.

Leno, a stand-up comic, was Carson's guest host before taking over full-time. O'Brien was a writer for "Saturday Night Live" and "The Simpsons" before landing the "Late Night" job in 1993.

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Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 09-27-2004, 10:49 PM:
 
WOW! Thats really planning ahead . Perhaps by 2009 Conan will actually be funny and others other than he will think he really is. We can only hope and pray.

Mark
 

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Posted by Dustin Mitchell (Member # 372) on 09-27-2004, 10:55 PM:
 
Personaly I like Conan better than Leno, though Leno is funny.
 

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Posted by Jason Black (Member # 684) on 09-27-2004, 11:49 PM:
 
The sad thing about this???

Letterman is funnier than either of these two dolts..
 

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Posted by Daryl C. W. O'Shea (Member # 1303) on 09-27-2004, 11:56 PM:
 
The sadder thing is that one of the reasons Kilborn left is that he figured Conan was going to get Letterman's job.
 

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Posted by Jason Black (Member # 684) on 09-27-2004, 11:59 PM:
 
We can all be Thankful as well that it wasn't offered to John Stewart. Be *very* Thankful...
 

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Posted by Darryl Spicer (Member # 711) on 09-28-2004, 12:07 AM:
 
The best thing is Kilbore...I mean Kilborn is gone. Conan is much more funnier than he ever was.
 

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Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 09-28-2004, 12:10 AM:
 
That absolute saddest thing about all of this is that nobody has given me $10 million for no reason. I think Conan and Jay could afford to give me some cash and not miss it.
 

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Posted by Jason Black (Member # 684) on 09-28-2004, 12:16 AM:
 
And neither would be funny while they gave it to you..
 

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Posted by Bill Enos (Member # 440) on 09-28-2004, 12:33 AM:
 
Blue screen would have more on screen personna than O'Brian--UGH The nearest to nothing to disgrace the wonderful world of late nite TV
 

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Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 09-28-2004, 12:42 AM:
 
Well put Bill ! The only person that thnks Conan is funny is Conan. The only funny thing I've ever seen on Conan was the guy that dredded up like Peter Pan.... he was funny that night but Conan wasn't.

Lets face it. All of the late night shows are starting to die out. When you switch to Letterman from Leno its like moving over to the old farts club... and Lettermans show has absolutely ZERO class any more. He used to be the best but now there is no "Best" night time show. I'd rather watch re-runs of "Leave It To Beaver"..... Eddie Haskell and Lumpy are alot funnier than any of them.

Mark @ CLACO
Live On Vacation!!
 

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Posted by Daryl C. W. O'Shea (Member # 1303) on 09-28-2004, 12:46 AM:
 

quote: Darryl Spicer

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The best thing is Kilbore...I mean Kilborn is gone. Conan is much more funnier than he ever was.

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Conan was a lot better when Andy Richter was still on the show. Kilborn's interviews, IMHO, were better than any of the other shows. Classier too, I think. At 12:35am, I'm not really looking for great comedy, just the odd chuckle, while still being entertained. Kilborn was good at that.

I usually decided which show to watch by seeing who was on both (Conan & Kilborn) and then picking one to watch. It was easy to do since Kilborn started about a minute later than Conan, so you'd watch the opening to Conan, and then flip to the opening of Kilborn. I usually ended up watching Kilborn.

Now I'm back to watching Conan once in a while, who I respect for pissing off Quebec.
 

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Posted by Dustin Mitchell (Member # 372) on 09-28-2004, 12:55 AM:
 
"I can smell your crotch from here."
 

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 09-28-2004, 01:16 AM:
 
Letterman rocks. And he can be serious if need be. You can learn more about politics from the Letterman show when he has a politician on, than you can from any of the talking heads on the news shows. It's because he asks regular-guy questions.

Leno is just dorky.

O'Brien is pretty good, better than Leno. I don't know if he'll be a good fit for the Tonight Show though.

I agree with most here, Kilborn won't be missed much.
 

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Posted by Mike Williams (Member # 1140) on 09-28-2004, 08:15 AM:
 
I heard that John Stewart was in the running to replace Conan when he goes to the tonight show. He might do pretty well there.

Somebody will have to revive this thread in about 5 years once the switch has been made.
 

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Posted by Thomas Procyk (Member # 1170) on 09-28-2004, 10:23 AM:
 
I never liked Letterman. If he spent less time laughing at his own jokes, maybe he would give other people a chance to laugh. Oh wait, that would mean his jokes have to be funny.

"This show is so great, tonight it's being televised!"

Holy shit! That one puts me on the floor every week I hear it!! Way to go, Letterman, what would we do without your wit??

Leno is only funny when people make fun of him. He has that little weasel laugh of his that's a hoot. When other people try to mimmic it, it's downright hillarious. The "Headlines" and Jay-Walking segments are funny, and the monologue has a few gems, but when he gets to the guest interviews, it's less funny than Larry King.

Conan, on the other hand, is my favorite of the three. Conan seems to strike a chord with my generation for some reason. The content of his show is OK, but it's his delivery which really makes it funny. I liked how he made fun of Leno's Headline segment by making fake headlines and insisting that "You just can't make this stuff up!!"

2009 is too far away anyway. By then there might not be any TV.

=TMP=
 

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Posted by Rich Granata (Member # 2285) on 09-28-2004, 10:27 AM:
 
Hey you guys forgot about Jimmy Kimmel. I am just joking of course. I thought for sure that his show would be cancelled wihin a week. Jimmy Stuart isnt funny, maybe his writers are...but not him IMO.

Conanne the O'brien is my favorite. If only Andy Richter was still around....2009 is far away
 

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Posted by Aaron Mehocic (Member # 15) on 09-28-2004, 11:14 AM:
 
Leno is better at the monologue than Letterman, thats for sure. What I'm interested in is when will CBS announce Letterman's replacement? Anyway ... Conan isn't bad, but I'm affraid his comedy might not be on par with many of the Tonight Show's loyal viewers. As mentioned previous in this thread, Letterman used to be "classic", but following his 1993 move, he just became, well, stupid. Perhaps the same may happen here: A solid late-late night performer who is probably capable of an earlier slot finally gets his chance ... only to mess it up with piss-poor comedy routines and bad jokes.

I just hope history doesn't repeat itself.
 

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Posted by Dean Kollet (Member # 1789) on 09-28-2004, 12:24 PM:
 
I've always loved Letterman, and he works in that time slot. Conan is my favorite, but I don't know if he will work in Leno's timeslot
 

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Posted by Jesse Skeen (Member # 586) on 09-28-2004, 02:23 PM:
 
Bring back Johnny Carson!
 

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Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 09-28-2004, 02:36 PM:
 
Ditto everything Aaron said.

Letterman is a waste! But what do ya expect? It's CBS!

Leno: I only watch the 1st 1/2 hour ...the monologue and the shtick, then on to better things.

>>> Phil
 

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Posted by Brian Michael Weidemann (Member # 2243) on 09-28-2004, 05:04 PM:
 
NBC is just announcing this to get Conan, whose current contract is up soon, to renew so that they can hold on to him. Down the line, I'm sure there could also be some "Oh, Jay is still getting such-and-such ratings, so he decided he won't be leaving until 2012" hoopla.

I mean, good for Conan, but five years is a long time for anything to happen. Too early to tell.
 

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Posted by Bill Enos (Member # 440) on 09-29-2004, 12:23 AM:
 
I think the biggest difference between Carson and these assholes on today is Carson's show was about the guests snd Johnny knew when to shut up. These Jerks ( O"brien, Letterman----) programs are about them and MUST revolve about them, the guests are incidental and interruptions to the so called host
 

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Posted by Pravin Ratnam (Member # 1417) on 09-29-2004, 01:24 AM:
 
Man a lot of grumpiness on this thread. Letterman was the man when i was in college until the early 90s. But I gotta admit, Letterman has been boring in recent years.

Conan has been the best talk show host on network TV. The bits he does in the first half hour are usually better than what SNL offers us in a 90 minute segment. Triumph the insult dog, pimpbot, the andy richter days, the bear who loved himself too much, the monitor skits where politician heads appear and usually someone like Smigel speaks for clinton or bush - too funny. THe Daily Show is the only other talk show i watch and that is on cable.
 

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Posted by Ron Yost (Member # 1850) on 09-29-2004, 12:21 PM:
 
Yeah, at least the Conan show puts a little thought and effort into a little actual production value and being entertaining. Some of the 'bits' are really funny. The 'monitor' bits back during Clinton's Monicagate were some of the funniest things I've ever seen on television! The dog is good too .. wonder why they don't use it more often? $$$, no doubt.

I used to like Letterman .. at NBC. He just seems old and tired these days. Almost as if he's irritated to even be there on most nights. Maybe his health isn't good .. I don't know. I'll bet he's a real asshole to work with these days.

Can't stand Leno. Complete showbiz phoney pimping himself and others of the same type. Arrogant prick. Nuff said.

Ron Yost
 

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Posted by Jennifer Pan (Member # 2035) on 09-29-2004, 12:36 PM:
 
I choose to just watch the guest.... if they even have decent guest on. I like watching how nervous they get or how dumb they act. And you get the occasional smarty pants. I don't care about anyones monologue, its just a bunch of laugh tracks put on high. I want Arsenio back, he was awesome.

I watched a bit of Leno the other day and he was talking about how he was leaving in '09. Saying he was still going to be in the business. Bla bla.... (tear)... What's really getting to me is... when is that black patch on the top of his head going to turn grey. Most likely he'll prolong it until the day he leaves late night.
 

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Posted by Ian Price (Member # 14) on 09-29-2004, 01:34 PM:
 
I still don't have a TV. It's been 18-months! And I don't know what the fuck I will be doing in 2009.
 

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Posted by Jennifer Pan (Member # 2035) on 09-29-2004, 01:51 PM:
 
Aww... You're not missing out on much. But you are welcome to watch TV at my place any time. Also, don't expect me to have an HDTV... I won't be beat down by the man. Actually, I just don't have money to buy one.

What's up with Conan... like he's had plastic surgery or is pulling the Mary Kate routine.
 

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Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 09-29-2004, 04:07 PM:
 
I don't care for Leno's style, but the man himself is a prince to work with. Very easygoing and professional backstage, as opposed to some of the other "talents" I used to deal with at Caesars Palace, MGM (before it became Bally's), and the Las Vegas Hilton.

Wonder when Conan will get around to renaming the "In the Year 2000" bit?

Letterman's OK by me, though I too think he's not quite what he was. We should all look and sound so good after bypass surgery.

Already miss Kilborn.

Jimmy Kimmel? He needs to surround himself with some producers that know the basics of showmanship. I take it the show is supposed to be young and "edgy" but it comes off as incredibly inept in execution. It's evolving as its producers reinvent the wheel, discovering for themselves what more experienced people already know, as far as what works and what doesn't on stage or in front of a camera. But the learning seems to be going very slowly. ABC must be hard up to fill that slot--can't believe the patience they're showing while the show goes through its agonizing adjustments. In its present state the show, though improved, is a waste of bandwidth.
 

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Posted by Brad Allen (Member # 470) on 10-01-2004, 12:59 PM:
 
Conan is the most annoying person on televsion, as well as the most rediculous. Can't believe he wasn't canceled in the first week.
Jay is just not funny, except for Jay Walking. But I can get that anytime by watching Street Smarts.
Letterman rules, altho he was better in the NBC days.
 

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 10-01-2004, 04:38 PM:
 
Street Smarts is kind of fun, but that host is the most annoying guy on TV since Chuck Barris.
 

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Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 10-01-2004, 05:57 PM:
 
Letterman used to be the funniest thing on TV back in his NBC days. Now watching him just serves as a reminder we're both getting old and tired. Leno can be funny but he's never been in the same league as Letterman was in his glory days at NBC. I like Conan, but man, I don't know if he can carry that earlier timeslot. Conan was definitely better with Andy Richter.
 

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 10-01-2004, 09:07 PM:
 
Richter will have time to flop in a few more TV shows by 2009, so maybe he will come back and do the sidekick thing. "Tonight" would be a classier gig than "Late Night," for sure. (Wonder if Conan will bring Max Weinberg along for the ride?)
 

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Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 10-01-2004, 09:10 PM:
 
I would hope so, as the Max Weinberg 7 is by far the best late night band around. The worst is (again, by far) Paul Shaffer and the CBS Orchestra. They sound horrid, uncomposed, sloppy and all around bad. Kevin Eubanks and the Tonight Show Band is a bit better than Paul Shaffer, but not too much.
 

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Posted by Bill Enos (Member # 440) on 10-02-2004, 12:17 AM:
 
Conan O'brien and Paul Schaffer, There are double zeros is there ever were. Put'em on the same show and there would be NO talent or watchability at all. Then 100% of the entertainment would be from the guests which is the wzy it should be.
 

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Posted by Pravin Ratnam (Member # 1417) on 10-02-2004, 01:52 AM:
 
Grumpy, grumpy.

CONAN RULES!

SMIGEL RULES!

MAX RULES!
The question is not if COnan deserves 11:30. Does the 11:30 bland time slot deserve the talent of Conan?
 

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Posted by Paul Cassidy (Member # 951) on 10-07-2004, 01:37 PM:
 
I was just watching our New season of "American Chopper" and they were doing a Bike ( Old School ) for Jay Leno , as usual they did not finish the Bike on this night , but I don't want to wait till next thurs to find out how they did ???? did Jay Leno like what they did
 

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Posted by Daryl C. W. O'Shea (Member # 1303) on 10-07-2004, 07:38 PM:
 
If the expression on his face when it was unvailed on the Tonight Show is accurate, not really. Of course, he said he liked it, though.
 

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