Leno returned to 11:30pm time slot

Letterman is just about as old as Leno, so I can't explain the 18-49 appeal factor of Letterman over Leno, if your stats are correct. But we all agree Leno > Letterman in overall stats.

Yes, I agree that in about 5 or 10 years from now, whichever company (FOX?) has O'Brien will rule supreme in the 11:30 p.m. time slot. By then, Letterman and Leno will probably have been retired. It'll be interesting to see the 3 go head-to-head if and when O'Brien returns in Sept. (again, w/ FOX?). I think O'Brien will be a distant 3rd (outside of the first couple weeks when he'll obviously be #1 due to the newness) but year by year, he'll chip away as the older crowed dies off (that sounds sad, but I'm keeping it real) and new younger crowd latches onto O'Brien.

I don't dislike any of them (despite Letterman's sleeping around), so I'll find something good to watch on that time slot regardless.

...I never said he wasn't. Both will need to be replaced soon, Letterman has already been rumored to be ready to step down. The point remains, who does NBC view as a viable replacement. A complete nobody? That has to go up against Conan on another network. They've shot themselves in the foot chasing a couple more years of ratings at best, and not thinking about the long term.

That's a damn lie, why do you believe what Leno told you when it's in direct contradiction to what he himself has said in the past?

NBC wouldn't let Leno leave. They would have paid him any number he asked because they know he'd ruin any program they had that competes against him. What's so difficult to comprehend there?

That's a damn lie, why do you believe what Leno told you when it's in direct contradiction to what he himself has said in the past? When Leno signed his last 5 year contract in 2004 for $100M, it was already a few months AFTER the announcement was made that Conan would take over in 2009. He was going to be out of his contract after that. He signed a NEW contract, SPECIFICALLY for the 10pm show, AFTER that. He could have WALKED as of December of 2009 and gone wherever he wanted, but he agreed to do this 10pm show. His show failed, and NBC fired him. He was under no obligation to go back to 11:30, his contract was for 10pm. They had to pay him or buy him out. He got a NEW contract to go back to the Tonight Show, and he happily signed it because he's a backstabbing weasel, and he has been for decades. David Letterman, Howard Stern, and now Conan O'Brien all agree. He's left an all-star team of broadcasters in his wake, none of whom he can match in raw talent.

It's not a matter of how old they are, it's a matter of how old their target demo is. Older folks don't really like Letterman. He's too risque. The thoroughly enjoy Leno presenting typos in newspapers as if they were the funniest thing ever though.

If Leno is a backstabbing weasel, then why did Letterman do a commercial with him and Winfrey last month during the Super Bowl?

NBC will do well to find someone who will leave their political views at home. Nobody wants to watch FOX NEWS or CNN at the end of the night. People want to see funny animals, headlines, and interviews with celebs about movies, kids, funny stories. Very few people can do political/race/sex jokes and have everyone laugh and nobody get offended. One of the few that comes to mind is Don Rickles. He can say what other's can't without pissing off groups.

The next host of the Tonight Show should be someone who could just as easily host the TODAY show. Carson could easily have done the morning news. Leno could do the morning public interest stories. They are laid back and make people comfortable, they're happy to see everyone that comes on. If a comic could not host the Today show and make it interesting, they probably aren't the right person for the Tonight Show.

Someone like Jerry Seinfeld would be the safe choice, although he is about as old as Leno.

If NBC wanted to take a chance on a guy who worked the comedy clubs and had his own comedy show, three names that come to mind are Ben Stiller, Dave Chappelle, and Chris Rock. They're all about 15 years younger than Leno. Or they could try and get Sykes, although I think she is about to have a hit on FOX and might get a big contract there before Leno leaves. I just realized that of the 4 people I listed, 3 are black. I can't really think of any white comedians born in the late 1960's who are funny and either not offensive or can get away with it. Even Wanda Sykes, who has some very polarizing political views, doesn't use her FOX show to speak about those issues. She doesn't chase away people with different political views.

If Leno is a backstabbing weasel, then why did Letterman do a commercial with him and Winfrey last month during the Super Bowl?


Headline news is one of the funniest bits done on late night, outside of O'Brien's "If They Mated". Letterman doesn't have any funny bits ... "Will It Float" was a bust. Fallon's "Lick It for Ten" is a bore.

Well that says it all right there. I agree it's the funniest thing he does, and I also think it's just not that funny. Of the dozen or so he presents, maybe one of them is genuinely amusing. And by genuinely amusing, I mean I smile and say "hey, that's amusing", I don't actually laugh. If that's your idea of high comedy, then you'll love Leno. But the 18-49 demo does not love Leno, and he'll lose his audience as they age further.

Ratings? He was promoting his own show, it would be stupid to not accept what would obviously be a highly talked about commercial that's promoting your own show. Would Letterman have gone to NBC to do it? Unlikely. Leno did it to try to repair his image.

Well that says it all right there. I agree it's the funniest thing he does, and I also think it's just not that funny. Of the dozen or so he presents, maybe one of them is genuinely amusing. And by genuinely amusing, I mean I smile and say "hey, that's amusing", I don't actually laugh. If that's your idea of high comedy, then you'll love Leno. But the 18-49 demo does not love Leno, and he'll lose his audience as they age further.

I fall in the 18-49 category and by far, Headline News gets me laughing. Well, also Jaywalking, occasionally. Nothing Letterman does makes me laughs, other than his interviews (sometimes). (Best interview ever was the one he did w/ Madonna about 15 years ago.)


The point is if Letterman really hated Leno, he wouldn't want to be associated with him at all no matter whom the commercial was for. There goes your theory, unless you're saying Letterman is a hypocrite.

curious where you get your numbers from?
from friday:
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1.2 rating in adults 18-49) led the time period over CBSs Late Show with David Letterman (0.8) and ABCs Nightline (0.9) in fast national live plus same day ratings from Nielsen Media Research. The Tonight margin over Late Show in fast-national adult 18-49 rating is 50 percent.

For the week:

* The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1.5 rating in adults 18-49) led the time period over CBSs Late Show with David Letterman (1.0)

http://tvbythenumbers.com/categor...late-night

granted these are a little soft with leno re-premiering, but its all we have to go off..

I can't find historical data now, it was fairly well-known that Letterman was more popular with the younger crowd out of the two of them. That's one of the reasons it's made such a big deal of now that Leno has edged him out in that category upon his return.