Why Letterman won't retire: He fears diminishing like Johnny Carson

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"The Late Shift" author Bill Carter says David Letterman was "a little bit shocked" and "alarmed" when he visited with Carson years after he retired from "The Tonight Show." Carter tells ESPN's Bill Simmons that the retired Johnny Carson "found himself with an emptiness that he found hard to fill. In fact, people a couple years later said the timber of his voice changed because he did not stand up and perform every night. He radically, radically changed from not being on TV." Carter points out that Letterman doesn't know what he'd do in retirement. "He only feels fully alive that one hour a day," taping the show, says Carter, who adds that CBS boss Les Moonves doesn't want to push a TV icon out of his job.

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I wish the idiots at NBC had the same respect for Leno that CBS does for Letterman.

[AKA]

Originally Posted by catsrule

I wish the idiots at NBC had the same respect for Leno that CBS does for Letterman.

Despite his milquetoast on-air demeanor, Jay is a cutthroat snake who would gladly throw his own mother under the bus if there was something in it for him. He deserves no respect.

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Originally Posted by Brad

Despite his milquetoast on-air demeanor, Jay is a cutthroat snake who would gladly throw his own mother under the bus if there was something in it for him. He deserves no respect.

I couldn't disagree with you more. Jay is hardly a snake, this is twice now the idiots at NBC have forced him out when he was in 1st place. I know you're a bitter Conan fan but Conan never should have stolen the Tonight Show from Jay in the first place.

[AKA]

I'm not a "bitter" anything, but thanks for the armchair psychiatry. I have a history of disliking Leno that started way before 2010. He hasn't been funny since he was a legitimate standup comedian in the '70s and '80s, before he toned down his act and made it safe to appeal to soccer moms and flyover states.

Also, Conan didn't "steal" anything. Using your logic, one could accuse Leno of stealing The Tonight Show from Johnny Carson (who was rumored to have been forced into retirement by NBC due to the threats of Helen Kushnick), David Letterman (long considered by many, including Carson himself, to be Carson's heir apparent) or Conan O'Brien.

NBC chose in 2004 to give Conan the show because Fox was courting him for an earlier show. They didn't want to lose him like they lost Dave, and right or wrong, they saw Conan as their future in late night. Jay agreed, and seemed gracious at the time about passing the baton:



It wasn't some sort of coup. NBC gave The Tonight Show to Conan O'Brien, and Jay Leno publicly blessed the transition. You can't steal that which is given to you.

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The Tonight Show was never Letterman's to keep, he just wrongly assumed he would inherit the job. Letterman's career has hardly suffered.

[AKA]

You're correct in that there was never anything legally promising The Tonight Show to David Letterman, but even in the cutthroat world of show business, there's something to be said about loyalty. When a guy spends eleven years hosting the hit 12:30 show immediately following the storied 11:30 franchise, it's not unreasonable to assume he'll be chosen over the regular guest host to succeed the departing 11:30 host. In addition to spending 13 years at NBC, Mr. Letterman had a great relationship with Johnny Carson, who produced Late Night with David Letterman and didn't think highly of Leno.

Of course, a successor was ultimately NBC's decision, and not Carson's. But they chose safety and mediocrity over a man who spent more than a decade paying his dues at the network, turning 12:30 and Late Night into a profitable empire. Admittedly, that decision has paid off handsomely for NBC, as Leno has been number one since 1996, but at the cost of integrity and critical favor.

By the way, while Jay Leno threw Conan O'Brien under the bus, David Letterman didn't do the same to Leno when given the opportunity 17 years earlier: in an effort to prevent him from defecting to CBS, NBC offered The Tonight Show to Letterman in late 1992 when Leno's ratings were in the toilet. Letterman, of course, chose to go to CBS, but for a short time a little over 20 years ago, the show was almost Dave's "to keep."

[Marvo301]

Originally Posted by Brad

You're correct in that there was never anything legally promising The Tonight Show to David Letterman, but even in the cutthroat world of show business, there's something to be said about loyalty. When a guy spends eleven years hosting the hit 12:30 show immediately following the storied 11:30 franchise, it's not unreasonable to assume he'll be chosen over the regular guest host to succeed the departing 11:30 host. In addition to spending 13 years at NBC, Mr. Letterman had a great relationship with Johnny Carson, who produced Late Night with David Letterman and didn't think highly of Leno.

Of course, a successor was ultimately NBC's decision, and not Carson's. But they chose safety and mediocrity over a man who spent more than a decade paying his dues at the network, turning 12:30 and Late Night into a profitable empire. Admittedly, that decision has paid off handsomely for NBC, as Leno has been number one since 1996, but at the cost of integrity and critical favor.

By the way, while Jay Leno threw Conan O'Brien under the bus, David Letterman didn't do the same to Leno when given the opportunity 17 years earlier: in an effort to prevent him from defecting to CBS, NBC offered The Tonight Show to Letterman in late 1992 when Leno's ratings were in the toilet. Letterman, of course, chose to go to CBS, but for a short time a little over 20 years ago, the show was almost Dave's "to keep."

Bringing in someone from the outside rather than promoting from within is alamost a daily occurence in the business world. And that's basically what happened when Jay got tonight instead of Dave. As for Conan he faoled to pull in the ratings and was let go . Again a common thing in the business world. Al Jay has done is gracioussly step aside when the network wanted to give Conan a shot on Tonight and graciously stepped back in to bail out the network when Conan failed to cut it. I can't see how that makes him a snake.

[AKA]

Originally Posted by Marvo301

Bringing in someone from the outside rather than promoting from within is almost a daily occurence in the business world.

It sure is. But it doesn't change the fact that for several years, Letterman was being groomed as Johnny Carson's heir apparent. While there was nothing in writing promising him the job, Letterman was told on numerous occasions by NBC executives that he would get The Tonight Show when the time came.

Originally Posted by Marvo301

And that's basically what happened when Jay got tonight instead of Dave.

Not necessarily. Leno wasn't an outside hire; he had been The Tonight Show's regular guest host since 1987, and worked on other projects for NBC during that time. He was in-house talent.

Originally Posted by Marvo301

As for Conan he failed to pull in the ratings and was let go.

Conan was given seven months. Leno had terrible ratings for three years (sixteen months of which there were no competing talk shows on network television).

Despite almost losing his job to David Letterman after eight months, Leno had almost an entire presidential term to turn his ratings around; Conan had less than a school year.

Originally Posted by Marvo301

Again a common thing in the business world.

Right. Like when NBC fired Leno's ass after Late Show with David Letterman beat him in the ratings during their first two years of competition. They didn't give him a chance to grow or turn his ratings around!

Oh, wait... it didn't happen that way, did it? But thanks for teaching this simpleton a thing or two about the business world, anyway.

Originally Posted by Marvo301

All Jay has done is graciously step aside when the network wanted to give Conan a shot on Tonight...

He was gracious on one side of his mouth and whiny and combative on the other. The reason Leno had that awful 10:00 show is because he threatened NBC: he let it be known that he'd start a competing 11:30 (or 11:00) show on another network once his non-compete clause expired. Instead of telling him not to let the door hit him on the chin on the way out, the network buckled and gave him The Jay Leno Show. In other words, "The 10 at 10" was the result of a whiny baby who threatened to pack up his tinker toys and take them to his other best friend's house.

Originally Posted by Marvo301

...and graciously stepped back in to bail out the network when Conan failed to cut it.

Yeah, that was gracious, wasn't it? He surely had the well-being of NBC on his mind when he slithered his way back into the 11:30 slot. It was gracious of him to potentially bump Conan to midnight, Jimmy Fallon to 1 am, and Carson Daly to... I don't know? DuMont?

What a gracious, selfless guy!

Originally Posted by Marvo301

I can't see how that makes him a snake.

In January of 2010, Leno could have chosen to be the man he portrayed himself to be in the 2004 video I posted above. He could have told NBC, "Thanks, but no thanks. I think Conan deserves the same shot I was given. Let's stand behind his show, promote it and give it a chance to grow and see what happens." He didn't. Instead, he used Conan's misfortune to his own advantage, reneging on a promise he'd made six years earlier—both onscreen and off.

I can't see how that doesn't make him a snake.