Leno’s Last "Tonight Show" To Air Feb. 6; Staff Paid Until September
by LISA DE MORAES, TV Columnist
Friday August 9, 2013


Jay Leno-hosted "Tonight Show" will air its last episode on February 6th, and, per terms of his show exit deal with NBC, the cast and crew will be paid until his contract expires in September.

"Tonight" ep Debbie Vickers made the announcement today to the staffers at the show, informed sources report. It’s unclear how many crew and staff were at the meeting at the show’s Burbank lot. At one point it was reported "Tonight" had about 170 staffers in total, including some contract workers.

NBC declined to comment on today’s news.





The announcement isn’t a total surprise. At NBC’s Upfront presentation to advertisers in May, the network officially announced that Jay Leno would end his 22-year run on "Tonight Show" during the week leading up to the 2014 Winter Olympics – which start February 7th.

NBC also announced Jimmy Fallon would replace him during the second week of the Sochi games, on Monday, February 24th, when ratings are at their highest, followed by the debut of "Late Night with Seth Meyers" at 12:30 AM.

Fallon’s "Tonight Show" will be broadcast from New York City; Lorne Michaels is exec producing, and Fallon’s "Late Night" writer Amy Ozols has been named producer.





Vickers’ announcement was made one week after NBC Entertainment chief Bob Greenblatt confirmed the network is having talks with Leno about “various ideas” for Leno after he ends his run on the late night show in February.

“Nothing would make us happier for Jay, a la Bob Hope, to have presence at the network, we’re really hoping to do that, post February,” he told TV critics at Summer TV Press Tour 2013.

Talks to replace Leno – this time – started when Greenblatt joined NBC at the beginning of 2011, Greenblatt said, adding that the timing after the 2014 Winter Olympics was decided “to give Jimmy Fallon the best chance of succeeding. We really believe in Jimmy Fallon.”





Leno has continued to dominate late night TV ratings — he clocked his biggest numbers with President Obama’s "Tonight Show" visit last night since his last visit to the show nine months ago. And, in his final May sweep before handing over the "Tonight Show" anchor desk to Fallon, Leno won the key ratings period from April 25-May 22.

"Tonight" bettered time-slot rivals "Late Show with David Letterman" at CBS and "Jimmy Kimmel Live" at ABC in every key sales category, and matched its highest margin of victory over Letterman in the 18-49 viewers in nine years.

Against Kimmel, Leno grew its 18-49 lead compared with the February sweeps from 12% to 30% in 18-49 and from 39% to 42% in total viewers.





But, NBC is having no second thoughts about the transition, according to Greenblatt, who dismissed the numbers as something NBC predicted it would see when the network announced it would be Jay’s final year.

“The same happened with Johnny Carson — and Jay’s previous final year,” Greenblatt said.

http://www.deadline.com/2013/08/lenos-last-tonight-show-to-air-feb-6-staff-paid-until-september/

I absolutely never warmed to Jay as the host of this show. Liked him in his early stand up years, and he's obviously a very smart guy and a shrewd businessman, but I don't think he ever really possessed the warmth or the "Everyman" quality that Carson captured so well.

And I visibly cringed whenever he would interview someone; he was much more interested in them setting up his jokes than he was in whatever they were saying.

I absolutely never warmed to Jay as the host of this show. Liked him in his early stand up years, and he's obviously a very smart guy and a shrewd businessman, but I don't think he ever really possessed the warmth or the "Everyman" quality that Carson captured so well.

And I visibly cringed whenever he would interview someone; he was much more interested in them setting up his jokes than he was in whatever they were saying.


Not sure if this is because the writers are different from 2001/2002/2003 but Jay's Monologe is not as funny as it was 10 years ago

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/foxs-greta-van-susteren-encourages-her-bosses-to-hire-jay-leno/

The Fox News star thinks NBC is making a big mistake. "I think Fox Broadcast should sign him up and compete against his old network," she wrote on her blog.
Read more at http://www.hitfix.com/tv-tattle#kIh6EDOhehPs94XT.99

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/foxs-greta-van-susteren-encourages-her-bosses-to-hire-jay-leno/

The Fox News star thinks NBC is making a big mistake. "I think Fox Broadcast should sign him up and compete against his old network," she wrote on her blog.
Read more at http://www.hitfix.com/tv-tattle#kIh6EDOhehPs94XT.99


I'm sure he will be doing something else on another network since he is way to young to just go home and retired from TV alktogether

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/foxs-greta-van-susteren-encourages-her-bosses-to-hire-jay-leno/

The Fox News star thinks NBC is making a big mistake. "I think Fox Broadcast should sign him up and compete against his old network," she wrote on her blog.
Read more at http://www.hitfix.com/tv-tattle#kIh6EDOhehPs94XT.99

Leno is 63, which isn't "old" by my definition, but it is the age at which most Americans start strongly thinking of retirement.

Leno is 63, which isn't "old" by my definition, but it is the age at which most Americans start strongly thinking of retirement.



Not in the TV Business

Not in the TV Business

True...but it's hard to think of what he could do next. Jay's crowd is an older one, I think, and I don't believe he'd do that well in a primetime show at this point.

My guess is he'll produce some sort of talk show and go back on the road; he loves doing stand up. I have to say though, that stand up might seem like a come down from being the long time host of the Tonight Show. Maybe he'll headline in Vegas or something?

True...but it's hard to think of what he could do next. Jay's crowd is an older one, I think, and I don't believe he'd do that well in a primetime show at this point.

My guess is he'll produce some sort of talk show and go back on the road; he loves doing stand up. I have to say though, that stand up might seem like a come down from being the long time host of the Tonight Show. Maybe he'll headline in Vegas or something?



I been a fan for years but his monologue stinks now. It used to be so good in 2001/2002 that I would tell my friends to watch it. Now it's just not funny and not sure if that is because of new writers

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/jay-leno-60-minutes-i-673681

He also says that he hated being portrayed as the villain in NBC's spat with Conan O'Brien.
Read more at http://www.hitfix.com/tv-tattle#a2foOTqahvBK1IaA.99

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/jay-leno-60-minutes-i-673681

He also says that he hated being portrayed as the villain in NBC's spat with Conan O'Brien.
Read more at http://www.hitfix.com/tv-tattle#a2foOTqahvBK1IaA.99

LOL if Leno didn't want to be portrayed as the villian, then why the hell did he act like one??? Sorry to anybody who likes Leno but the man has proven not only once, but twice, on the biggest national stage that he's insincere, underhanded and self-serving at the very least.

For his own legacy and The Tonight Show's - and by extension NBC's - I truly hope this time the transition goes off without a hitch. If Leno can keep his distance and NBC can restrain themselves from meddling too much (although that's highly unlikely in this day and age) then all may be forgiven in the annals of TV history. I think Fallon can succeed with a little patience. He managed to successfully carry on with Late Night just as Letterman and Conan did before him so he deserves the chance at the Tonight Show they both should have gotten.

You know, who exactly is able to stay up late enough to watch these shows, anyway? I loved watching Johnny as a kid, but that was in the summer months, on Fridays, and on vacation periods. I cannot imagine any working person, unless they are on second shift, being able to stay up that late and still get to work in the morning!

Yeah, I know there's tons of unemployed folks out there, now, but is that audience large enough to support the shows? I think in the old days, folks would actually stay up late and deny themselves rest (!) just so they could see Johnny. I cannot imagine anybody doing this for Leno, Fallon, Conan, et al. They're talented guys, but not THAT good!

LOL if Leno didn't want to be portrayed as the villian, then why the hell did he act like one??? Sorry to anybody who likes Leno but the man has proven not only once, but twice, on the biggest national stage that he's insincere, underhanded and self-serving at the very least.

For his own legacy and The Tonight Show's - and by extension NBC's - I truly hope this time the transition goes off without a hitch. If Leno can keep his distance and NBC can restrain themselves from meddling too much (although that's highly unlikely in this day and age) then all may be forgiven in the annals of TV history. I think Fallon can succeed with a little patience. He managed to successfully carry on with Late Night just as Letterman and Conan did before him so he deserves the chance at the Tonight Show they both should have gotten.


Fallon is going to fail too

http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/topic/3034170-the-tonight-show-with-jay-leno/page-103#entry16266727

I can't say I'm sad to see Jay Leno leave the Tonight Show for hopefully the final time. It just feels like he's been going through the motions for most of the time since his return. He doesn't seem interested in the interviews unless the guest is a big get or a frequent guest. I just think he quit caring about doing a good show and creating new content sometime after his return. You would think with the buzz that Jimmy Fallon was starting to get with his sketches and musical performances that he would have stepped it up, but he didn't. He thought once he got it back it was his until he wanted to leave on his own terms. He didn't think that NBC may have different ideas, especially with the changes in viewing habits and revenue streams.

I was struck at how unprofessional his 60 minutes interview was. I get that he's upset about leaving but it doesn't excuse the fact he comes across as whiny and petulant baby. He also gave the interview to a rival network as well. It was interesting contrasting that interview to the one him and Jimmy Fallon did with Matt Lauer. It seemed very forced and uncomfortable for both of them. Fallon is proably estatatic about his new gig while Leno is acting like he's attending his own funeral. He wasn't forced out, he agreed to a contract and a succession plan and it's happening. I think the big difference this time is that Lorne Michaels and Jimmy Fallon insisted on a shorter transition time between the announcement and the handover so NBC couldn't allow Leno to try to break the deal or postpone the date.

Leno has already shown that he doesn't respect the integrity of the Tonight Show. His suggestion to move it to 11 pm CST during when Conan's ratings weren't acceptable for NBC showed it. Conan and Jimmy were the only ones in that whole mess who showed that they had any respect for the history and integrity of the show by refusing to make any compromises on their own accord for Leno until NBC stepped in and forced Conan's decison.

http://www.tmz.com/2014/02/07/jay-leno-nbc-name-erased-studio-11-day-after-finale/

The Peacock is wasting no time wiping away Leno's memory. PLUS: Leno was pretty weak (http://popwatch.ew.com/2014/02/07/tonight-show-without-jay-leno-essay/) in his final week.
Read more at http://www.hitfix.com/tv-tattle#00UFf8KbTs5UyAA2.99

I will miss headlines and that's all that I will miss.

http://ideas.time.com/2014/02/13/jimmy-fallon-is-now-an-enemy-of-the-state-of-california/

Fallon, says Joe Matthews is now an "enemy of the state." He says "The Tonight Show" offered Californians a national platform, especially through bits like "Jaywalking." He adds: "Neither Conan O’Brien’s nor Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night shows has big-enough audiences to replace the impact of Leno."
Read more at http://www.hitfix.com/tv-tattle#YjoqpW1f3eIjo2I1.99

http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2014/03/new-happier-letterman

After watching “The Late Show” this week, Bruce Handy says he found Letterman "acting as if he once again, maybe-sorta-kinda enjoys being in front of an audience. His smiles and laughs, at times, seem genuine, believe it or not, and he’s got a crazy-grandpa aspect now, as if at any moment he might say something outrageous or embarrassing. It’s almost sweet, even if what actually comes out of his mouth are lame monologue jokes about John Boehner having orange skin or husbands not knowing how to load dishwashers properly.”
Read more at http://www.hitfix.com/tv-tattle#v2oPc1Y5zppxjQYc.99