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More 'Leno' reports: Back to late night?
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UPDATE 2: The New York Times is now reporting that NBC will give Leno a half-hour show at 11:35 p.m. and move O'Brien to 12:05 a.m. and "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" to 1:05 a.m. Still no timetable for the moves.UPDATE: Just as it's committed to improving the Leno show, NBC says in a statement that it's also committed to keeping Conan O'Brien around. The network's statement:
"We have the best comedy team in the business. We remain committed to keeping Conan O'Brien on NBC. He is a valued part of our late-night lineup, as he has been for more than 16 years, and is one of the most respected entertainers on television."
Which doesn't really say a whole lot about either show. NBC executives Jeff Gaspin and Angela Bromstad will be facing a lot of questions when they meet TV critics on Sunday.
Original post below.
NBC is thus far keeping quiet about a new report that says "The Jay Leno Show" is not long for primetime.
TMZ says that the network has decided to move Leno back to his old home at 11:30 p.m. weeknights, and that it's told both Leno and "Tonight Show" host Conan O'Brien about its plans. Still to be decided, the site says, is whether Leno will reclaim the "Tonight Show" desk or if his show will lead into O'Brien's.
The story follows a report earlier in the day from a site called FTVLive that Leno's 10 p.m. show was on the verge of cancellation. NBC issued a statement in response to that report saying it's committed to "find ways to improve the performance." NBC reps hadn't responded to requests for comment on the TMZ story prior to posting time.
The latest story says that Leno will go on a hiatus Feb. 1 -- 11 days before his show, and the rest of NBC's prime-time schedule, is sidelined for the Winter Olympics, which run from Feb. 12-28. He would move back to late night on March 1, according to TMZ.
Still unanswered is what would move in to fill the 10 p.m. slots on weeknights. NBC doesn't have much scripted programming in reserve -- its lone new midsesason drama, "Parenthood," is taking over for "Heroes," which ends before the Olympics -- and plugging in "Dateline" or other short-term fixes won't really do much to help the current situation.
If Leno does move back to "The Tonight Show," NBC would also owe O'Brien a whole lot of money.
We'll relay any updates from NBC as they come in.
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Report says 'Leno' is done, NBC denies it
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NBC continues to make poor decisions. They cancel every good show and keep shows that need to go. The new Leno show at it's current time is one of the better things to happen to late night in a long time. It's actually on at a reasonable time so people can watch it. Now they want to move it back an hour and a half again? I'm convinced someone on the inside at NBC has been trying to sabatoge the station. With all these poor choices.
@Brendan
This is not a poor decision. Leno is not performing well, and keeping him in prime time would continue to be a disaster for NBC. The poor decision was putting him on every night at 10pm in the first place.
Eveyone had said that NBC would regret this move, but they didn't listen.
I think this is the right choice. Leno performed well in his original timeslot and with his original format. He seems completely uncomfortable in his new show. I don't think it's his fault at all. I blame the network.
I think taking him off Tonight show and giving him five hours that could go to new non talk show programming was the mistake and honestly if they move Conan they have no respect for him or the legacy of The Tonight Show. Leno should have left like Johnny and let Conan have his time.
NBC screwed up royally.
Leno was king of late night and killing letterman in the ratings for over a decade every single night.
He should leave NBC, they disrespected him.
Who didn't see this coming, I predicted this exact scenario on this site.
NBC is F cked.
If Law & Order SVU was behind The Biggest Loser on Tuesday, it would have challenged The Good Wife, and potentially won the timeslot.
Thank Goodness, there are people working for NBC finally with some brains.
Not only did moving Jay Leno to Primetime kill, Primetime. It also killed their late night. It also proves Conan O'Brien can NOT defeat them, so letting him go is an OH WELL SITUATION.
Now NBC can become relevant at some point.
Leno need to bolt to ABC and Conanto Fox and Zucker and Bromstad and Telegedy need to be shown the door in a MASSIVE house-cleaning at NBC
So if The Jay Leno Show is condensed and moved to 11:35-12:05, then The Tonight Show would start at 12:05 the next day. Doesn't that also defeat the legacy of The "Tonight" Show? Alas, I'm glad to see NBC finally preparing to right their wrong regarding the 10pm timeslot.
Is "Last Call with Carson Daly" moving to 2:05 A.M. (EST)? NBC will then have four late-night shows. ABC could use a second late-night show to go on before or after "Jimmy Kimmel Live" if they want to take the risk. CBS has Craig Ferguson who's doing okay so they are no major changes needed, and then there's David Letterman. Letterman better start looking for a successor(Bonnie Hunt maybe?) because I don't see his contract getting renewed due to his behavior with the joke writing and the problems with his staff. Also, Conan's and Leno's raitings are always better than Letterman's raitings, and this is the key factor on why it's time for David Letterman to retire.
When NBC said it would air The Jay Leno Show, it said it would air it a full year regardless of ratings. So here's my suggestion: air the show for the full year until September, and in the meantime, let Jay talk to Turner about the possibility of moving TJLS to TBS (continuing to air it at 10:00) and pairing it with Lopez Tonight. It may not make sense to move the show to cable, but it would draw far less criticism plus it would mean TBS would have something to air alongside George Lopez's talk show.