Jay Leno was 'blindsided' by replacement, but thinks Fallon on 'Tonight' makes 'perfect sense'

Entertainment Weekly ^ | Jan 24, 2014 | Hillary Busis

[gooblah]

How did Jay Leno really feel in 2009, when NBC revealed its master plan to hand The Tonight Show over to Conan O’Brien? The comedian doesn’t mince words in an upcoming interview with 60 Minutes, telling Steve Kroft that the decision took him completely by surprise. “I was blindsided,” he says, according to CBS News.

[twister881]

They all suck, even Leno who can’t deliver a line without stumbling over his tongue. A bunch of leftists who savage conservatives and go easy on ‘RATS.

[chrisser]

That said, Leno adds, “it’s not my decision” — and he believes that bringing in “an extremely qualified young guy” like Jimmy Fallon, whom Leno likens to “a young Johnny [Carson],” makes “perfect sense.”

I don't watch a lot of late night TV, but I just don't see it in Fallon.

Maybe with the TS's writers he'll be different. But I doubt it.

[ontap]

I think Leno is the best on air but that's not setting the bar that high....his treatment of Ted Cruz was ridicules!!!

[Vision]

Fallon is king of the metrosexual pajama boys.

[sportutegrl]

HBO made a good movie about Leno ‘stealing’ the top job from Letterman: The Late Shift. I found myself rooting for Leno, because Letterman was portrayed as such a whiny idiot.

[lonestar]

I can't stand Letterman.

I think Fallon will attract a younger crowd that they're after, but he's too hyper for me.

[Slyfox]

Fallon can act, sing, play numerous instruments, mimic others to the point of amazement, and he is tremendously funny. He has a great writing staff who know what funny really is. I didn't really appreciate his talent until I saw him do his take on Downton Abbey. It was spot on.

Frankly, I am really looking forward to not having to wait until 11:30 to watch him.

[Understand the stimulus]

fallon will fail...hes not funny...he was selected by the alternative lifestyle Head of NBC...I will never watch Tonight after leno leaves...lets see if the 2% of the population can give fallon success...

[MD Expat in PA]

I agree. Fallon is quite talented.

[Vaquero]

expect to see Jay on Fox.

[X-spurt]

Letterman IS A WHINING IDIOT. Is he still on the air?

[SunkenCiv]

> How did Jay Leno really feel in 2009, when NBC revealed its master plan to hand The Tonight Show over to Conan O’Brien? The comedian doesn’t mince words in an upcoming interview with 60 Minutes, telling Steve Kroft that the decision took him completely by surprise. “I was blindsided,” he says, according to CBS News.

NBC did the same thing when it hired Leno and bypassed Letterman back when. Dana Carvey was being groomed to replace Carson before that. Fox tried Arsenio, it failed, Leno later hired Arsenio for those fake live remotes, now Arsenio is back on the air and worse than ever. O’Brien hit his very brief peak over ten years ago, and tried to blame Leno and NBC for his own failures at Tonight.

[onyx]

Late Night Libtard TV ... I don’t watch!

Much prefer Law & Order re-runs.

[bobby.223]

Agreed. Parr, Carson and Allen, (In no particular order of greatness), were favorites. The current group are a joke.

[fieldmarshaldj]

Yes, because he spews nothing but vicious ultraleft hate every episode, and the network loves it. He used to be entertaining until the ‘90s (when he was on NBC after Carson). After he had his heart surgery, he got real ugly, real fast. I don’t believe he’s right in the head. Going after Palin’s daughters was the final straw.

[OldNewYork]

I stopped watching the Tonight Show when Johnny Carson left.

[dfwgator]

Craig Ferguson is pretty good, and I like Kimmel too.

[BillyBoy]

>> How did Jay Leno really feel in 2009, when NBC revealed its master plan to hand The Tonight Show over to Conan O’Brien? The comedian doesn’t mince words in an upcoming interview with 60 Minutes, telling Steve Kroft that the decision took him completely by surprise. “I was blindsided" <<

The plan to hand over the Tonight Show to Conan O'Brien wasn't "revealed" in 2009, but in 2004, five years BEFORE it was scheduled to take place, and Leno said he had no problem with it at the time and was looking forward to seeing Conan take over permanently.

He seems to singing a completely different tune now than he was a decade ago:

"You know something – I don't want to see Conan go anywhere else. I'll be 59 years old...5 years from now, that's 12,000 shows, I'm not going anywhere tomorrow. And I said, You know, there's really only one person who could have done this into his 60s, and that's Johnny Carson. And I think it's fair to say, I'm no Johnny Carson.… Because you know, you can do these things until they carry you out on a stretcher, or you can get out when you're still, you know, when you're still doing good…. This show is like a dynasty. You hold it, and then you hand it off to the next person… So, right now, here it is: Conan — it's yours. See you in five years, buddy!"