Jay Leno 2004 Announcement
The people over at Funny Or Die went looking through their archives this weekend and found this clip from Jay Leno back in 2004. It was the night he said he was giving the Tonight Show to Conan O'Brien in 2009. Want to know what Jay said?
"I don't want to see anybody have to go through that again [The Dave and Jay controversy]. You know, this show is like a dynasty -- you hold it and then you hand it off to the next person, and I don't want to see all the fighting and all the 'Who's better?' and nasty things back and forth in the press. So right now, here it is, Conan, it's yours. See you in five years, buddy."
What he should have added was this, "And seven months after I give it to you I am going to want it back."
Jay's 2004 Announcement - watch more funny videos
32 comments:
i read somewhere that jay never wanted to leave the show, but NBC wanted him to. is that true? because all this time i thought he was retiring because he wanted to.
actually, i don't really give a shit since i don't watch these late night shows anyway. just curious since he's been the bad guy in pretty much every story i've seen.
I've never understood why he was made out to be the bad guy in all of this, anyway. I thought this was all NBC's doing? Can someone please explain?
For me, eventhough this buggery was NBC, Jay's acceptance and ultimate return make him the "bad guy". He should have declined. Loudly.
I agree with Majik, after that speech he should have said no thank you. Is he afraid to leave because he won't be relevant anymore?
Most of these celebs. don't need the money but they can't handle being rich and normal. Look at Barbara Walters this woman clearly needs to retire but she won't. I bet Oprah would rather die on television than retire quietly.
Same thing with Jay they just can't let go.
My wish is for Jay to wait until the Conan exit deal is signed then refuse to return to The Tonight Show. He should be getting money from the early cancellation of his 10:00 show, so he wins financially.
NBC can then look to their executive decisions to find why this situation did not work. They can't blame it on the talent. Jay and Conan are the same as before (lousy), and as expected by many, neither worked in earlier time slots. Maybe no one at NBC understands talent and programming.
Craig Ferguson is my favorite, and I hope he stays around for awhile.
Jay Leno is the Brett Favre of late night television.
Good one, chopchop. I'm always up for a good Favre dig.
Jay Leno is well known for being a total douchebag -- ask Howard Stern, Rosie O'Donnell, David Letterman. Ugh. I hate him.
I think my favourite commentary in all of this was Jimmy Fallon on Leno. "Jay, Conan and I have families. All you have are cars. Leave our shows alone!"
Leno has totally not been a class act in all of this. Let it go, dude, and let Conan have his own legacy.
The explanation is in Jay's own words. He gave an interview right around his retirement, mentioning that he NEVER wanted to retire, that he got bored if he doesn't work all the time.
It felt like a hint when he said it.
Then, after Conan premiers and Jay's interviewed about his 10PM show, he casually mentions that he would do the Tonight Show again in a second. Jay said it in more than one interview as Conan was slipping. It was gross.
Personally, I think the Daily Show/Colbert, the DVR, and the internet queered the deal for everyone. Conan's demo is generally not a Tonight viewer. But that is NO excuse for NBC to chicken out on him so quickly. NBC was no doubt comforted by Jay's subversive lil' comments about taking the show back. NBC panicked and took Jay up on his offer.
The fact that Jay took the show from Dave to begin with, and now so 'innocently' took it back from Conan, this is why I know he deserves some of the blame.
Beware of the 'nice' guys.
(I think Conan would have done fine in time, to let younger people find him. It's not his fault no one under 55 usually watched NBC at that hour when Jay was on.)
ITA with you who said Jay should have walked away. His 'good guy' rep (that made him super-rich) demands it.
Jay Leno is a 100% douche. Here's the story. Yes, he wanted to retire back in 2004. In 5 years. Then, as he said on the video, NBC came to him and said what do you think about Conan taking the spot? Jay said Great!
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno took three years to do well in ratings and it did because of a fluke. Hugh Grant happened to be booked on the show the day after the whole hooker story came out. Before that the show was in the basement ratings wise. He held onto the ratings because of two things: NBC used to have good shows. That held viewers until their local news(where local stations make most of their money) and then those viewers would stick around for the Tonight Show. It's called "having a good lead in".
Well, jump forward to 2009. Jay Leno's show is doing so poorly that local NBC affiliates contacted the powers that be and said they were going to stop carrying the show as it was killing their local late nights new ratings. Nobody was watching Jay, so no one was watching the local news (and therefore not watching the new Tonight Show). So what it boils down to is the guy who was tanking and making affiliates threatening to stop carrying him was rewarded by stealing his show back from the guy who is 100 times funnier and was given only 7 months to make it click , as opposed to Jay Leno's 72 months.
Jay Leno should have turned down the show for the second time and just bowed out. But he's a selfish prick who screwed over Conan. Fun Fact - he has never spent a single dime of his Tonight Show money but lives off of his live act earnings. Meaning he has about 800 million in the bank.
If Jay had any class, he would have bowed out this time around, having already kicked Letterman in the nuts so many years ago. Conan is so much funnier, or more accurately, wittier and more intelligent than Jay. He needed time for the older viewers to catch on. I hope Jay absolutely tanks, but you can bet the ratings will be good at first because people love tuning in to a train wreck.
If Jay had any class, he would have bowed out this time around, having already kicked Letterman in the nuts so many years ago. Conan is so much funnier, or more accurately, wittier and more intelligent than Jay. He needed time for the older viewers to catch on. I hope Jay absolutely tanks, but you can bet the ratings will be good at first because people love tuning in to a train wreck.
Most people have already said it. Jay has no class or GRACE.
now i get it. thanks to all who clarified what happened. i can't stand leno. he's not funny. and the tonight show should've been dave's, IMO.
Some more Jay Leno fun facts:
Johnny Carson personally picked David Letterman as his successor - he never liked Jay. And in fact, continued to write and send jokes to Letterman for years after.
During the writer's strike (was it in 2008 or 2009?) both Conan and Letterman quietly paid, out of their own pockets, their writers full salary for the duration of the strike. Leno only starting doing so after he was publicly ridiculed for not doing the same.
I myself believe Conan is being kicked to the curb like a soon-to-be ex-girlfriend, but could not find any evidence that Jay was pushing to get the Tonight Show back. I was speaking to a friend about this debacle and he pointed out that Jay never insisted on getting the Tonight Show back.
Libby- I would like to know if you or anyone else could find that interview where Jay said he would take the Tonight Show back in a second.
Up until this point, I was putting all the blame on Jeff Zucker and others in the NBC brass that created this mess to being with. Conan would have had higher ratings had he had the strong 10 o'clock dramas Jay had when he hosted the Tonight Show.
FUCK THE CHIN, SAVE THE HAIR.
oh..and what Miranda said!
Nice avatar, Jax. :)
Before all this happened, I thought Jay Leno was nice but unfunny. I have read way too many things about this whole thing (I'm semi-obsessed) to still think this. Just look at how industry people are reacting. Leno is shady and like a snake in the grass.
They should have given Conan more time. I am so sad this is his last week. WTH am I going to watch at 11:35pm now????
I really wish I knew what was going to happen to Conando....
Oh and another thing I was going to say is that since The Jay Leno Show WAS such a colassal failure, maybe he didn't want to go out on a BAD note and that is why he wanted to re-claim The Tonight Show. Since the ratings were better (????) there.
Conan should have left when they reneg. his contract probably...
I forgot that Jay loves to work. Now I can see why he jumped at the opportunity to return to the Tonight Show.
Yes it's selfish but a little more understandable.
This looks like quite a mess but I'm sure in a year we'll be discussing some other tragedy.
They'll work it out eventually.
Oh come on people. Jay Leno is still a normal human being and he loved his job. A job that he was forced out of. People in normal jobs would do the same thing if they were offered back a job that they loved that they didn't want to leave. He is not the villain, he did not go after the job and he shouldn't be expected to just refuse the offer. Most normal people wouldn't in his position and just because he's famous doesn't mean he should be expected to act more nobly than everyone else.
He didn't get this ball rolling and he isn't the one forcing Conan out. He's just taking back a job he never wanted to leave in the first place. And people in any other job, most of you included, would do the exact same thing. It doesn't make him a bad person, it's just life.
Leno's is the bad guy, he is the cause of Conan leaving a job because Leno failed in his time slot at 10pm there was a smaller lead in for Conan, then Leno's show was being canceled and he wanted his old late night gig back.
Leno just won't go away, and if anyone thinks Leno is going to get numbers after doing this to Conan, it's wishful thinking. The damage Zucker did to NBC is going to show up in all sorts of ways. If I was a stock holder I would be pissed but I would dump the stock tomorrow.
Leno's a greedy chump.
Lizz - give you head a shake. Leno is a colossal self absorbed ass. Johnny Carson said it best when he said when you retire you should stay retired. Leno wasn't forced out of anything. Conan has been. And any regular Joe who would conduct themselves like Leno would get their asses kicked at work and probably have staff walk out.
Oh christ, people come out of retirement all of the time. It's not the end of the world and it doesn't make you a bad person. And yes he was forced out in 2004, he did not choose to leave the show.
And it's ridiculous to blame Conan's low ratings on Jay. If so many love him and think he's great, they would watch anyway. I LOVE Craig Ferguson and watch him every night, despite what comes on before his show.
And maybe I am biased, because I've met Jay before, and he was nothing but gracious and kind. He in no way acted like a self-absorbed ass. Perhaps your experience with him was different.
Well, Leno kept saying last night (?) how all of his staff will keep their jobs. All 175 of them. Yep, 175. I heard it on the radio this morning when they were talking about it. Okay, 175 people will keep their jobs, but what about all of the staff with Conan who MOVED FROM NEW YORK for their job?! What are they supposed to do? Is this even pilot season, where it could be easier to get a job?
I agree with Lizz. This is not his fault. He never wanted to leave in the first place, but 4 or 5 years ago, NBC announced that Jay would retire in 2009 and Conan would replace him. NBC was unfair to both Jay and Conan. And I still think Jay is a much better human being than Letterman.
Fact - Leno is a selfish dick. He has screwed countless numbers of people over in his lifetime and career. Anyone who, even for a nanosecond, feels bad for Jay, thinks he was forced to retire or that he hasn't played a huge part in this debacle truly does not know the facts about this situation or this man and how he has conducted himself time and time again.
And yes, one CAN blame Conan's poor ratings on Leno. It's called a lead in and Leno destroyed that lead in with his terrible 10:00 show. You may have have met him once and he was kind to you - great. But he's a dick through and through.
Let's Try This Again - This article will help.
Part 1
Seeing as how we’ve been reading reports of how NBC is letting Jay Leno down and how we have even seen the sweaty, grotesque Leno supporters belch a revised version of history that makes our skin crawl, we feel it is our duty to set the record straight.
Exhibit a.
Jay Walking
Source, Entertainment Weekly. Sep 27, 2004:
”In 2009, I’ll be 59 years-old and will have had this dream job for 17 years,” Leno said in a statement. ”When I signed my new contract, I felt that the timing was right to plan for my successor, and there is no one more qualified than Conan. Plus, I promised [my wife] Mavis I would take her out for dinner before I turned 60.’”
Jay Leno decides with his last contract that he will retire from his post at the Tonight Show and pass the mantle to Conan O’Brien. Unlike what you’ve read from Leno supporters, he was not forced. He was not canceled. He was not beaten up by NBC goons while he signed away his late night birth rite to Conan while Conan cackled in the distance. Unlike Jay Leno in 1992, Conan was selected on a 5 year plan to have a clear succession per Leno’s admitted desire to step down.
Exhibit b.
Leno May Switch to Fox
Source, Newsmax.com March 4, 2007:
According to the New York Post, the “Tonight Show” host is unhappy about NBC’s plans to replace him with Conan O’Brien in 2009. But Leno’s unhappiness may mean smiles all around Fox.
Clearly, between 2004 and 2007, Jay Leno had a change of heart. Either the cost of buying thousands of shitty muscle cars was more than he thought it would be, or the idea of actually taking his wife Mavis to dinner was so unnerving that Jay Leno decided to use his ratings clout and Tonight Show seat to openly lobby other networks for a show. NBC was put on notice. Deal with Jay Leno because he wasn’t going to actually retire like he said, or else. He had made his intentions known.
Exhibit c.
Jay Leno Hints At ABC Future
Source, Huffington Post. July 15, 2008:
“…on Monday’s “Tonight Show,” Jay Leno hinted at a possible future with ABC while reading the popular segment, “Headlines.”
Leno held up a TVWeek cover that said “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno…starring Jay Leno on ABC.” Then, Leno joked, “It’s like a headline from the future!”
Less than a year before being ousted from the Tonight Show, per his arraignments, the stakes are raised. Of course, Leno knew full well NBC wouldn’t let him go. He had dug his claws in far too well with his over 20 years of conniving. Jay Leno might be an unfunny, humorless, watered down prick of a man, but no one has ever claimed he doesn’t know how to play the game. If he didn’t, David Letterman wouldn’t be at CBS right now.
Part 2
The rest is well known. NBC caved to Leno on the fear he’d take his huge chin and even larger stable of Hollywood guests that he’d sucked up to for years with him to a rival network. Instead of Leno knighting Conan with his black book for Hollywood’s elite, the same one Leno stole from Johnny Carson, Leno was going to take it to another network where the stars were soon to follow as they’d grown comfortable with Leno’s coddling of them, throwing them softballs, all these years.
Enter The Jay Leno Show.
NBC was terrified and so they cooked up a plan to allow themselves their chin-shaped cake, and eat it too. They decided to save some money, cut five scripted shows a week, and gave the hour to Jay Leno to pay his ransom. Everyone knew it was a terrible mistake. For the fourth place network, it was the death knell. By November 2009, less than 6 months after it debuted, the Jay Leno Show had ratings worse than two CW series. NBC, which used to air ER in Jay Leno’s time slot, was getting beat by the CW.
Of course, the real loser in all of this was the NBC affiliates. Some were never on board with this plan from the beginning. Others felt “only the egos of NBC executives are keeping Leno on the air.” No one was sticking around to watch The Jay Leno show, much less the Late Local News, which is the bread and butter for local stations across the country. Jay Leno, and NBC’s lack of a backbone, was destroying local TV stations.
In addition, without vaunted ratings winners like ER and Law and Order, shows which Jay Leno enjoyed as a lead in when he was hosting the Tonight Show, the Conan O’Brien lead Tonight Show was suffering as well. At this point, as the Jay Leno Show was circling the drains and affiliates were threatening to take matters into their own hands and just not air the show, Leno revealed his ultimate ploy, his desire to retain the Tonight Show and kick Conan to the curb. On November 2nd, 2009, he planted the seeds of deceit and asked for the Tonight Show back.
Jay Leno opened up in a new interview about the survival of his new 10 p.m. talk show, saying that he would have rather have stayed in his 11:35 timeslot, and that he’d go back to the “Tonight” show if asked.
Broadcasting and Cable interviewed the TV icon about the show, and critics who say that his show isn’t garnering high ratings.
About whether he would return to “The Tonight Show,” which is now helmed by Conan O’Brien, Leno said, “If it were offered to me, would I take it? If that’s what they wanted to do, sure. That would be fine if they wanted to.”
“Would I have preferred to stay at 11:30? Yeah, sure…”
And here we are, only two months later, and Leno is getting his wish. NBC finally, mercifully, declared the Jay Leno Show a failure, and set aside everyone’s ego to do what’s best for the affiliates and the network, one year too late. Their plan however, wasn’t to make Leno own up to his promise to retire, manly because they gave Leno an iron-clad two year contract that they can’t eat, by offering the collective heads of the NBC late night shows a plan in which Jay Leno would open after the late local news with a 30 minute show at 11:35, bumping Conan’s Tonight Show to 12:05, and Jimmy Fallon’s Late Night to 1:05. Somewhere Carson Daly is sobbing at the lack of anyone caring about his impending unemployment.
NBC clearly needs to get out of the Jay Leno business. Instead of trying to work past their mistake in letting Jay Leno renege on his decision to retire five years prior, they decided to tarnish the legacy of The Tonight Show by bumping it to the next day, screw Conan O’Brien by making him NBC’s late night second fiddle, completely ruin any shot Jimmy Fallon had to build an audience, and putting Carson Daly on suicide watch (admittedly, a happy side effect of abject failure on NBC’s part).
@ littleoleme
Thanks for that timeline and all the info! I learned some new things beyond what I had already found simply by Googling this whole debacle. I'm going to email my dear husband (a non-Conan fan) this so he'll stop telling me to stop blaming Leno b/c Conan just isn't funny.
The hair > the chin! Team Conan!!!
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