The Late Night Wars, Take 2
Saturday, January 16, 2010 at 5:44PM 
As somewhat of an insomniac or someone who rarely wants to go to sleep when he should, I've seen my share of late night television over the years. I don't watch it every night mind you, but often I catch one or more shows at least a couple of times a week. I don't actually dislike any of these guys, but I have my favorites.
I would say Leno is my least favorite, but that doesn't mean I don't like him. His humor is just a bit white-bread in my mind. I did not like Conan O'Brien at all when he took Letterman's place back in '93. But he grew on me. His humor is weird while Letterman's humor is odd. Yes, there is a difference, and I simply like Letterman best.
I've watched Letterman since his daytime show which only ran for one year, I think around 1980. I was a kid, and he was on television about the time I crawled out of bed during summer vacation. I watched him while eating cereal. As a teenager, I stayed up late to watch him many nights with the television turned way down so as not to get into trouble for being up so late.
Most agree that Letterman got a raw deal in 1993. Carson had chosen him to take over the Tonight Show, but the folks who owned NBC, General Electric, didn't want him because he'd made fun of their company one too many times. So Leno was in the right place at the right time, and wound up with a deal of a lifetime. With Letterman moving to CBS, Fox tried its hand with a late night show hosted by Chevy Chase. I watched a few of those, including the first and the last episode, and it was simply a disaster. Chase was so nervous the first night, he was sweating on camera. Far different from the characters he played in movies like Caddyshack and Fletch.
What's been really different this time around is that all of those involved are talking about it on camera. In 1992, there was a lot of shuffling going on behind the scenes, but we were privy to very little of it until the movie, The Late Shift came out a few years later. This time around, they're all talking about it quite publicly. They all have contracts and the networks—especially NBC in regard to Leno and Conan—don't have the nerve to try to censor any talk in an already tense and embarrassing situation. Our society is now more public about things anyway. Celebrities air and have aired their troubles on television everyday anyway, so why should this be any different?
It's been interesting to watch all three of the major players this week, Leno, Letterman and O'Brien, make jokes about the situation. Letterman who felt he got a raw deal from NBC a decade and a half ago seemed downright giddy the past few days. Of course, this time it's Conan who has received the short end of the stick. While it's not final at this writing, it looks like he'll get a settlement and then start his own show—probably on Fox—sometime later this year. Of course, the latest number I heard on his settlement puts it at around $46 million, so that kind of short stick is not too much to cry about.
This is just my opinion, and you can feel free to disagree in the comments. But really, I think that if anyone were to do the "right" thing, Jay Leno should simply walk away from all this. He already got lucky in '93 receiving a show he didn't deserve. Now's he's essentially taking his old time slot back from Conan who's had very little say unless he wants to move his show back half an hour. Yes, I know it would still be called the Tonight Show, but by moving it to 12:05, it becomes the show really in name only. So, Leno's first time was by luck, but the second time is more like force. If anything Leno's pushing his luck. I think this looks bad on him, and it will be interesting to see whether he can get his audience back.
As for me when the dust settles, I'll mainly be watching Letterman as always.
Reader Comments (2)
Rick, in my opinion, Jay should walk away as well - not because I like Conan, but because I like Jay.
For years, Jay has been a very large union supporter, appearing all over the country for the rights of workers, etc... and even supported the strikes in various ways. Now, when his job is on the line, well, he doesn't seem so worker friendly now.
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thanks,
chris terry