I'm sure NBC did that. When push came to shove and NBC figured WWP's would make an offer to Conan like that they wanted to do everything to keep it. If that ment pushing up Leno's retirement from what it may have once been set to, then so be it.

But Leno did get a raise when he re-signed his contract. So I'm sure that bonus was a nice little way of making things right or atleast making leno shut up in this event.

I heard this story on the 5:30 news today on my local NBC-owned station so they're obviously going to put a PR spin on it to protect any bad publicity for their parent company if they're trying to force Leno out, but they said Leno is leaving because "he wants to leave while the show is still on top in the ratings." Again, that's obviously the PR take on it.

I didn't think it was. It just struck me as an odd thing to say.

Conan's been on for nearly 11 years now. I doubt his style of humor is going to be completely revamped by 2009, and he's stayed pretty consistently "hip" for most of that time.

I don't follow The Tonight Show, so I can't comment on that.

Who cares about something thats 5 years away? An asteroid could hit earth or there might be some killer plague that wipes us all out by then.

Oh....and Conan is the man :D F Leno,my dad is funnier.

I'm glad NBC didn't shaft Conan like they did Letterman. Additionally Seinfield would have sucked as the host of the tonight show. Maybe Andy would be willing to come back and be Conan's sidekick again like the Carson tonight show had. I'm sure his sitcom will be cancelled by then.

I think that's great. Conan is the funniest on television, though I never really considered his humor frat boy humor. Might as well call the Simpsons frat boy humor (some of the best episodes were his).

Nonetheless, that's great. While I'm sure he'll water it down a bit for 11:30, he'll always have a massive catalog of shows to look back upon.

Plus, his personality is great. He's a lot of fun, and even in interviews is a blast. Leno is jsut kind of...drab.

Maybe if he moves to LA, Andy will come back as the sidekick again. :banana:

Did anyone see Leno's speech about this, midway through tonight's Tonight Show? Pretty convincing in saying he wanted to "go out while the show was at the top". :) Doing a daily show is a hard gig, maybe he's fine with it?

Either way, I like Leno, I like Letterman, I like Conan but not as well... the Tonight Show is kind of an institution in and of itself, so I'm sure it'll be fine.

I'm sure this came up during the talks when he resigned his contract. Which is why they gave him a nice fat bonus as well and set it to 5 years.

Either way, good speech, taking one for the team to keep NBC happy and to let them keep conan on the network.

I think you have confused Conan with Craig Kilborn. Craig's gone so you don't have to worry about that anymore. If you think Conan's too immature I would think he'll be a little different in 5 years from now. Letterman hasn't put on a velcro suit in years and they hardly ever smash stuff anymore.

I would've bet Dave would have been gone before '09, but now if there is a set year for Jay to leave I think Dave will stick around just to outlast him and maybe leave a season or two after that. Dave started Late Night in 82, so I wouldn't be surprised to see him try to go til 2011 to match Johnny's 29 years or just go for the nice round 30. He doesn't seem to mind using guest hosts if he needs to lower his workload.

I love Conan. Not a big fan of Letterman or Leno.

Leno wasn't a relative unknown when he took over the Tonight Show; he'd been guest-hosting once a week for at least 5 years. It's not like they plucked some comedy writer out of obscurity to take over the hosting spot (at least, not to take over Carson's hosting spot).

I never quite get the Leno bashers. Yes, Leno is bland, and yes, personally, I don't think he's as funny as Conan or Dave in his prime (but Current Dave? He's not so funny either). Carson was bland, too, though, and while his monologues and one liners were often hilarious (there's nothing funnier than watching Carson recover from a joke that bombs), does anyone really want to defend the humor in Aunt Blabby? Floyd R. Turbo? Art Fern? The Mighty Carson Art Players?

To all those saying Conan is too juvenile for the Tonight Show audience, let's do the math.

It's 2009. Let's say the average age of Tonight Show viewers is 60. That means that they were born in 1949. When they were 18, about the time you choose your "style" in life, it was 1967...the "Summer of Love". These people were hippies, folks. Conan will go over just fine with that age group.

I'm sure his next three sitcoms will be cancelled by then.

as long as kevin eubanks is gone, and conan brings max/joel and allen with him things will be more then all right

Fixed.

Seriously though... How is Conan's humor "frat-boy?"

It's not really frat boy humor. It's more low-brow stuff. Who cares what kind it is, though. He's funny, and the best man for the job. :up:

Agreed.

IN THE YEAR 2000, WILL NOW BE CHANGED TO "IN THE YEAR 2009".

The last Conan show will be on new years eve of that year. He will then take six months off to prepare for the tonight show.

Will Leno step aside in '09 for Conan?

Posted Mar 2nd 2007 6:11PM by Julia Ward

In today's New York Post Cindy Adams gets the story behind the story of Leno's quiet abdication of his late night throne to Conan. While it shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone, Leno had no intention of retiring in 2009. The decision to hand the 11:30 reigns over to Conan was made by network executives who were interested in capturing a younger demographic. NBC could hold on to Leno, but would owe Conan a major default fee.

Adams reports that ABC and Fox are both interested in scooping Leno up if NBC really does kick him to the curb in two years, which it probably will considering this move has been public for nearly three years now. Carson Daly and Jimmy Fallon have already thrown their hats into the ring for Conan's old slot. Things could get even wilder in late night if Letterman announces his retirement. Carson retired when he was 67. Dave turns 60 in April so he's got a few more years in him, but sooner rather than later, this playing field is going to be wide open. If Leno chooses to go to another network late night could get very crowded with Letterman, Leno, O'Brien all in the 11:30 timeslot.

That's like being the skinniest kid at fat camp.

Since 2004 -
"Quintuplets" was cancelled; "Andy Barker, P.I." is a mid-season replacement.

1 down, 2 to go!

If they do drop Leno (who I actually like) and Conan (I like Conan way better though) does take over the Tonight Show, I wish that they'd try and give Jimmy Kimmel Conan's current spot.

I hate Carson Daly so much, his show is just so horrible. It's an insult to late night TV that he is allowed to be called "Carson", even though that's his real name. I'll hear people say "so, did you watch Carson last night?" and it makes me cringe. I gave up on Letterman years ago. I used to like the guy well enough, but he's a complete and total douche now.

Kimmel is on ABC and contracted until 2010.