On July 1, 2010, Variety reported that only six months into its second life, Leno's Tonight Show posted its lowest ratings since 1992. By September 2010, Leno's ratings in the adults demographic had fallen below those of O'Brien when he had hosted The Tonight Show. NBC ratings specialist Tom Bierbaum commented that due to the host being out of late night television for a period of time and the subsequent 2010 Tonight Show conflict, Leno's ratings fall was "not a surprise at all". In October 2010, David Letterman beat Leno's program in the ratings, for the first time since Leno returned to hosting The Tonight Show.
By May 2011, Leno's Tonight Show regained the lead and has held it since then. However, by August 2012, The Los Angeles Times was reporting that The Tonight Show was in serious trouble for a number of reasons, most notably that NBC has been losing money. While Leno offered to take a pay cut, at least 24 members of his staff were laid off.
On May 13, 2013, during its fall "upfronts" presentation, NBC confirmed Fallon would take over as host of the Tonight Show beginning on February 17, 2014; Seth Meyers, in turn, would leave Saturday Night Live and take over Fallon's time slot. Johnny Carson retired from The Tonight Show on May 22, 1992, and was replaced by Jay Leno. David Letterman wanted to move into the earlier time slot from his late night spot after The Tonight Show, and he was also considered by many as the natural successor (despite Leno having been Carson's permanent guest host for several years).
Carson always favored Letterman; notably Carson, who had been interviewed by Letterman, made two appearances on Letterman's rival CBS show, made no mention of Leno during his final shows and regularly sent Letterman monologue jokes in his final years. With his heart set on the earlier time slot, Letterman left NBC in June 1993 and joined CBS that August. The Late Show with David Letterman, airing in the same slot, competed against The Tonight Show for the remainder of Leno's run. Leno would outdo Letterman in ratings for the majority of the show's run. Conan O'Brien slid into the late night time slot vacated by Letterman in September 1993.
We're talking, of course, about what they watch on late night television. It triggered a lot of bad publicity for NBC, an outpouring of public support for O'Brien, and some of the best late night jokes in a decade. Following the September 11 attacks, The Tonight Show was off the air for about a week, as were most similar programs. The first post-9/11 episode began with a still image of an American flag and a subdued opening without the usual opening credits. Leno's monologue paid tribute to those who lost their lives and to firefighters, police and rescue workers across the US. He also told a story about himself as a 12-year old Boy Scout, which Leno said he was not a very good one because of his dyslexia.
His scoutmaster gave him the task of being the "cheermaster" of the troop, in which Leno told jokes to the troop to keep their spirits up. Senator John McCain and the musical group Crosby, Stills, and Nash were featured guests. Leno also organized an auction for a Harley-Davidson motorcycle signed by celebrities (he signed his name on-stage), with the proceeds going to 9/11 support organizations. For an extended period after the attack, a short clip of a large American flag waving was shown in between the announcement of the musical guest and Leno's introduction during the opening montage.
Which may explain, as much as anything, why NBC is comfortable replacing TV's top-rated late night host with the guy who got President Obama to slow jam the news. Jay Leno's late night television ratings domination included two decades as the host of the #1-rated "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" – he never lost a ratings year in which he served as host. After 17 years as the host of "The Tonight Show," Mr. Leno's final show on Friday night, his 3,775th, was much like many of the others, filled with monologue jokes and some of his signature comedy pieces. He presented highlights of many of those pieces during his last week, but saved perhaps the most popular, "Jaywalking," for the finale. The segment consists of Mr. Leno asking basic questions of people in the street, who come up with mind-boggling answers. In the May 2011 sweeps period, all of NBCs late night programming had increased viewership.
The Tonight Show received a 15% increase in viewership compared with the first 36 weeks of last season. In that process, it outlasted rival late night talk shows Jimmy Kimmel Live! Both of Leno's lead-in, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and Last Call with Carson Daly, also received increased viewership. For the season, in the 18–49 demographic, The Tonight Show had 4 million viewers, compared with Late Show, which had 3.5 million, and Jimmy Kimmel Live! Nightline, though, still beat Leno in the May 2011 sweeps, with 4.4 million viewers. This marked the first time that a sitting President of the United States appeared on a late night talk show.
President Obama came under fire for a remark made about the Special Olympics, which he made in reference to Leno's congratulations to Obama's low bowling score. Neither O'Brien's version of the program, which premiered June 1, 2009, nor The Jay Leno Show generated the ratings NBC had expected. The network decided to move a condensed 30-minute version of Leno's show to O'Brien's time slot, and O'Brien's Tonight Show a half-hour later. This decision met with opposition from O'Brien, whose stint on The Tonight Show ended January 22, 2010, after which he began his own talk show, Conan, on TBS. The Tonight Show with Jay Leno then began its second incarnation, the sixth of the franchise, on March 1, 2010.
Leno left The Tonight Show for good on February 6, 2014 and on February 17, was succeeded by Late Night host Jimmy Fallon, at which time the series returned to New York for the first time since 1972. Where other countries may indulge in Ovaltine, US television has late night talk. And particularly its longest-running institution, The Tonight Show, which has been putting America to bed since practically the beginning of television – or at least 1954. Once the 38-year-old Fallon takes over the Tonight Show, he and ABC's Jimmy Kimmel will present a relatively youthful face for two of the three late night network talk shows.
Older fans of the 62-year-old Leno – meaning age 50 and up – might head for the guy with the most seniority , especially when Fallon starts uncorking gags based on Twitter hashtags and rap songs. Leno's final show will feature Billy Crystal, his first "Tonight" guest, and Garth Brooks. For a stand-up comedian whose high school guidance counselor suggested he drop out of school, Leno has come a long way. Born in New Rochelle, New York, in 1950, he grew up in Andover, Massachusetts - where he ran into the guidance counselor. Instead of dropping out, he went on to Emerson College, earning a bachelor's degree in speech therapy and starting a comedy club. In the 1970s, he landed mostly minor roles in several television series, but his big break came in 1987.
Rumors had spread that comic Letterman was next in line for Carson's throne. On November 18, 2010, former President George W. Bush made his first appearance on a late night talk show since leaving office. But late-night TV has changed from a place where comedy careers are made to a landscape where viral videos are born. Huge chunks of the audience for The Daily Show, Fallon's Late Night, Kimmel's ABC show and the others come from viewers who watch the show's bits the next day online.
Leno, currently produces and is host of the CNBC Television series "JAY LENO'S GARAGE" now in its fourth season. "Jay Leno's Garage" explores the world of cars, never forgetting that it's the people behind the wheel who provide the real stories. The series debuted in October 2015 and delivered CNBC's most-watched first season in network history. New episodes of "Jay Leno's Garage" can be viewed on CNBC throughout the year.
Long-time US television host Jay Leno has taped his final episode of The Tonight Show, with help from a few celebrity guests. Both Leno's "Tonight Show" and Fallon's "Late Night" are going out on top, with Leno seeing his best overnight ratings since Conan O'Brien's tenure, and Fallon experiencing a 17% ratings increase to date. Leno has been winning the late night ratings battle each night, trumping the "Late Show with David Letterman" on CBS and "Jimmy Kimmel Live! NBC hopes Fallon can keep up the winning streak, attract younger viewers and keep rising star Kimmel at bay. Leno and Fallon have kept any rumors of a new late night "feud" at bay, speaking graciously about each other to the press. Whatever happens, the world of late night television just got a whole lot more interesting.
Once the change is made, two of the three big late night network talk shows will be based in New York City. That could help the Hollywood-based Kimmel, who will have closer access to the showbiz universe's official capital. Unfortunately, Leno's new show, which aired at 10 p.m., failed to attract much of an audience. The ratings for The Tonight Show also declined after O'Brien took over as host. NBC planned to move Leno's program to late-night, subsequently pushing O'Brien's Tonight Showto after midnight. When O'Brien refused to accept the scheduling change, the network eventually decided to put Leno back behind the desk at The Tonight Show.
Leno made his first appearance on The Tonight Show in 1977 and became a regular on the variety show The Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. In the mid-1980s, Leno hosted his first comedy special on TV,Jay Leno and the American Dream. Around this same period, he made numerous successful appearances on late-night TV, particularly onLate Night with David Letterman. In 1987, he signed a deal with NBC that made him one of two permanent guest hosts of The Tonight Show, a position he soon claimed solely for himself.
Beginning his stand-up career while in college, comedian Jay Leno moved to Los Angeles in the 1970s and wrote for television. He became a guest host of The Tonight Show in 1987 and took over as permanent host after Johnny Carson retired in 1992. Leno stepped down to launch a prime-time show in 2009 but soon returned to The Tonight Show for another four years.
During Mr. Leno's final week as the host of "The Tonight Show," the ratings were up each night by about 21 percent on average over his ratings this year. His second-to-last show, with a special song tribute from Billy Crystal, was up 33 percent. Despite the controversy, Leno soon earned a reputation for his cordial, easygoing manner, strong work ethic, and knack for connecting with his audience.
Under Leno's leadership, the program garnered four Emmy Awards (1995–97; 1999), and Leno was awarded numerous accolades, including a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame in 2000. By 2008 the show was attracting more than five million nightly viewers, nearly one and a half times as many as its nearest rival, the Late Show. In Portugal, the show was first shown on SIC Comedia until the channel was off the air by the end of 2006.
The show was switched to SIC Mulher until Leno moved to prime-time. Sic Radical used to broadcast The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien following the demand from their target audience to O'Brien's humor, after Jimmy Fallon took over Late Night. The contract that both NBC and SIC had was not expired by the time The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien got cancelled, so the network received the rights to exhibit The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. For at least six weeks following his return to The Tonight Show, Leno's program beat Letterman in the overall ratings each night, though with a reduced lead in comparison to his first tenure.
By mid-2010, The Tonight Show was receiving its lowest ratings since 1992, an average of 4 million total viewers, though he remained ahead of Letterman, who experienced a coinciding decline in ratings. In September 2010, The Tonight Show posted its lowest numbers on record, with Leno averaging 3.8 million viewers. This was a 12% increase in total viewers over O'Brien at the same time the previous year, but still 23% below O'Brien in the coveted 18–49 demographic. For the first time in almost 15 years, the show slipped to second place in its time slot being consistently beaten by Nightline. In October 2010, Letterman beat Leno's program in the ratings, for the first time since Leno returned to hosting The Tonight Show. On January 24, 2005, Leno had a special episode that paid tribute to Tonight Show predecessor Johnny Carson, who had died the day before.
During the opening credits, the guests of that show were simply announced using pictures from when they were on Carson's Tonight Show, and the monologue simply gave condolence to Carson. There were no segments used; however, Leno played clips from The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson before commercials. All the guests were people who had worked with Carson, and had been on his show, including Ed McMahon, Drew Carey, Don Rickles, and Bob Newhart. It was announced on July 21, 2008 that Leno would host his final episode of The Tonight Show on Friday, May 29, 2009 with O'Brien and James Taylor as his guests. O'Brien took over hosting duties commencing the following Monday, on June 1, 2009. Sixteen years later, Leno got NBC to let him essentially export all his best Tonight segments to a 10 p.m.
Time slot before Conan O'Brien's Tonight Show and there was a sense the Old Jay had struck again. When ratings cratered for both shows and Leno had his old job back after the dust settled, few people in show business were surprised, other than O'Brien. On Friday, January 22, Conan hosted his final episode and said goodbye.
"Walking away from The Tonight Show is the hardest thing I have ever had to do," he said. "Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get, but if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen." Much as this signals the ascension of Fallon, who has progressed from uncertain host to a confident late night voice for the Millennial generation, this transition marks another coup for Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels.
Michaels, a longtime backer of Fallon and executive producer of his Late Night show will now executive produce the Tonight Show as well, giving him control of all NBC's most important late night programs. Leno compares the new show to the JayWalking segments from The Tonight Show. He also plans to bring back some other favorites, like Headlines, along with a short monologue of jokes. Leno also hosts and produces the CNBC series Jay Leno's Garage, which is in its' fifth season exploring the world of automobiles, and hearing stories of the guests behind the wheel. This new opportunity is proof he plans to continue entertaining audiences for years to come. The former host of "The Tonight Show" and his longtime bandleader will co-host a reboot of the classic comedy show "You Bet Your Life".
They are guests on the "1on1 with Jon Evans" podcast talking about what viewers can expect to see when the show debuts in September. At the end of January, Leno opened up to Winfrey in his first major interview about NBC's late night shake-up. He said that while he felt bad for O'Brien during the whole process, he also felt bad for himself. The finale came two days after his surprise Super Bowl commerical, in which he and his former late night rival, David Letterman, flanked Oprah Winfrey at a pseudo-Super Bowl party. Letterman spearheaded the creation of the commercial, thinking viewers would find the odd trio funny.
On January 2, 2008, The Tonight Show (along with Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Late Night with Conan O'Brien) returned to air without writers, with the WGA still on strike. This was in response to the deal by David Letterman's production company Worldwide Pants and CBS Paramount Television with the WGA to allow Late Show with David Letterman and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson to return with writers. Leno's guest that night, Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, was criticized for crossing the WGA picket line to appear on the show. On July 20, 2006, as Colin Farrell was being interviewed by Leno, Farrell's stalker, Dessarae Bradford, evaded security, walked on stage as cameras were rolling, confronted Farrell, and threw her book on Leno's desk. In front of a silent, stunned audience, Farrell escorted her off the stage himself, told the camera crew to stop filming, and handed her over to security. As Bradford was led out of the studio, she shouted "I'll see you in court!" Farrell's response was simply, "Darling, you're insane!" Outside the studio, NBC security handed her to Burbank police, who eventually released her.
While waiting to begin filming again, a shocked Leno sarcastically called for "a round of applause for NBC security" from the audience. After Farrell apologized to the audience, describing Bradford as "my first stalker," the show then continued filming and the incident was edited out of the broadcast aired that night. Farrell later requested a restraining order in court against Bradford. NEW YORK - Jimmy Fallon will take over from veteran Jay Leno next year as host of the NBC flagship talk program "The Tonight Show," NBC said on Wednesday, bringing a younger feel to the competitive late-night landscape on U.S. television. Jay Leno (The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Jay Leno Show, Jay Leno's Garage) is an American comedian, actor, writer, producer, television host and true legend. Jay sits down with the Armchair Expert to discuss his early years as a comedian, he recounts the moment Rodney Dangerfield had a stroke on his show and he deems Letterman a master wordsmith.
Dax is stunned by Jay's car knowledge and he commends Jay's ability to reach out a helping hand to those in need. Jay tells the story of how he tricked his dad into buying a souped-up car when he was young, he remembers a time when he turned a bad situation into a positive one with the help of Taylor Swift and he pinpoints the sole moment he got nervous before performing. However viewers have flocked to Leno ahead of his departure, with his final full week drawing the programme's largest audience in four years. Jay told his fans he was retiring, and in May 2009, he passed the torch to Conan as planned. Then, in an unprecedented move, NBC decided to keep Jay on the network and created The Jay Leno Show, which aired in a coveted primetime slot, five nights a week. Leno landed the first ever interview with a sitting president on a late-night talk show when President Obama visited in March 2009, just a few weeks into Obama's first term.
Obama has been on the "Tonight Show" twice since, as well as "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon" and rival "Late Show With David Letterman" on CBS. After 40 performances in 32 cities in the U.S. and Canada, the tour will wind up next month at Radio City Music Hall in New York, right next door to NBC's corporate headquarters where this whole late night fiasco was cooked up. Leno's first farewell was in 2009, when he was simply known as the guy who took a job away from David Letterman rather than the guy who took away a job from David Letterman andConan O'Brien. Way back when, I actually attended one of the shows in Leno's final week. I was interning forPeoplemagazine and had been sent to cover Mel Gibson's appearance on the show.
