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Leno will retire in '09

Sinclair

Moderator
Leno will retire in \'09

I was surprised when I read that Jay Leno will be done with the Tonight Show in '09 when his contract is up. Even more surprising is who will be replacing him.

The story.
 
Re: Leno will retire in \'09

Not that I watch the Tonight Show, mostly because I find it rather unentertaining except for occational Headlines, the thought of Conan O'Brien replacing Leno is yawn-worthy. Conan's show is even less entertaining to me than Leno's show. So, the change in hosts definitely won't get me watching.
 
Re: Leno will retire in \'09

I use to dig Conan in college, back when Andy Richter was on. I just don't dig talk shows anymore, except for The Daily Show.

How many people would have imagined Leno would have a 17 yr run?
 
Re: Leno will retire in \'09

Well, I agree. :)

Leno is too safe and generic. Extremely hokey. Carson was, too, but he did it with a bit of cleverness and charm.

They say you can split the world into Elvis people and Beatles people. I think you can do it with Leno and Letterman. I'm definitely a Letterman person (though I haven't watched him in ages, either).
 
Re: Leno will retire in \'09

I love Conan even though I don't watch him as much as I used to. You do wonder how some of the stuff will translate to an earlier time period. Will 11:30 be too early for a masturbating bear?
 
Re: Leno will retire in \'09

Quick point: in Tucson at least the show comes on at 10:35 pm I believe. Although I think a repeat of Conan comes onto the Comedy channel in the afternoon. Is it safe to assume the repeated version is heavily edited then?

I have never seen his show. It has been many years since I've seen Leno, either, or Letterman.
 
Re: Leno will retire in \'09

Not that I watch the Tonight Show, mostly because I find it rather unentertaining except for occational Headlines, the thought of Conan O'Brien replacing Leno is yawn-worthy. Conan's show is even less entertaining to me than Leno's show. So, the change in hosts definitely won't get me watching.

The Tonight Show has really gone downhill in recent years, but replacing Leno with Conan will just make it worse. I only watch Conan's show when he has a guest on the show who I want to see. I never tune in to see Conan. The guy is just too damned annoying. Ditto for Kilborn.

GKarsEye: "I just don't dig talk shows anymore, except for The Daily Show."

Same here! Now, if Jon Stewart was taking over for Leno and doing some sort of Daily Show/Tonight Show combination, that'd be different. That, I'd watch!
 
Re: Leno will retire in \'09

Leno is too safe and generic. Extremely hokey. Carson was, too, but he did it with a bit of cleverness and charm.

Nah, Carson was neither safe (beyond what was required to not get yanked off the air in the era in which he was working) nor generic (although his accent was enough of a generic Midwestern to make him a difficult subject for impressionists to do recognizably).

He was very sweet and gentle, even a little protective, whenever his guest was a "civilian" (non-entertainers who had gotten on the show because they grew a potato that looked like Richard Nixon or who had won a state fair bird call contest) or a child (like the 6 or 8 year old Drew Barrymore).

However, with the pros (who were theoretically practiced in being in front of audiances and being interviewed) he had a very quick and cutting wit, which he wouldn't hesitate to use on the air. Of course, some of his best lines, being more than a little risque, were edited out of the broadcasts and were only seen years later on "Best of Carson" anniversary shows. Letterman has yet to use a facial expression to the camera, as a non-verbal reaction to something a guest has said, that Carson didn't use before him (plus Carson had a few more that I've never seen Letterman use).

No, Carson was no more a Leno-like safe and generic entertainer than the members of the Rat Pack were. Carson was truly a classic. Unfortuantely, people who aren't old enough to really remember watching him a fair amount will probably never truly "get" Carson; working in the 4 or 5 night per week format forced too much of his material to be tied to his time and the quick highlight clips can't really capture the whole tone and feel.

Of coarse, the same thing is true of Letterman. In 20 or 30 years the younger people won't understand what it was that made him such a big deal once upon a time.



Funny, I had always heard that dichotomy as Beatles / Stones, not Beatles / Elvis. Oh, well; not really important.
 
Re: Leno will retire in \'09

Why is everyone making such a big deal about this? The man will be on for 5 more flippin years! It's not like he announced that he's leaving immediately because he's gay and he wants to become a Reverend Moon groupie! :rolleyes:

Besides, Leno isn't funny.
 
Re: Leno will retire in \'09

Why is everyone making such a big deal about this? The man will be on for 5 more flippin years! It's not like he announced that he's leaving immediately because he's gay and he wants to become a Reverend Moon groupie! :rolleyes:

Besides, Leno isn't funny.

Good point. I actually question their logic in signing someone 5 years in advance. The show's ratings could tank to the point it should be replaced. Plus, who's to say 4 years from now, Conan will be as popular as he is today (Although I personally don't know what his popularity currently is anyway) or there could be a breakout personality in 4 years time, that could have the possibility to send ratings through the roof.
 
Re: Leno will retire in \'09

Leno's monologue and sketches are somewhat amusing. It's his interviews, a good half the show or sometimes over, that are just downright sleep-inducing. Conan's monologues could use some work, his sketches are good, but his interviewing is very well done. He can take the most uninteresting person and make them very humorous. Plus, you have all those memorable characters and things: The bear, Pimpbot (as mentioned, they NEED to bring him back), In the year 2000, Satellite TV, Actual Items (Crack research team, NOT a research team on crack), and more recently, his obsession with Walker: Texas Ranger clips, not to mention if they mated (not a huge fan of this one), among others. Conan's got the goods, but the real question is, will he "fit" in that time period? He's got a good show, but the Tonight Show seems more refined and less crazy, and Conan definitely falls under crazy.
 
Re: Leno will retire in \'09

I think you have the wrong Steve Allen in mind, RW. :confused:

Steve Allen is an old-timer. One of the un-scariest people I can think of, actually.

Or did you mean the cloning bit was scary. :eek:
 
Re: Leno will retire in \'09

I know the Steve Allen Hyp is referring to, and the one Jade most likely is referring to, but what Steve Allen are you referring to RW?
 

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