Jay was poised to jump to ABC, but by then NBC became so fearful of losing him that they concocted the idea of the 10pm show and sold him on it. Of course, in hindsight he should've just gone to ABC but, anyways, you're right that it was Jay's strong lead-in for 11 years that helped make Conan's show so successful. Conan had all the sympathy and good will in the world going for him when he launched his new TBS show, and yet for the last 3+ years he's been just gettin' by. It's the relative youth of the audience he attracts that keeps "Conan" in production, but it seems he just doesn't have the appeal to be successful in the 11:35 network arena.
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jonathanstatsny
11 years ago
You just don't kick out the guy who is #1 on late night. They should have never done this to Leno - twice. The Tonight Show has some mystique about it that no other show can compare to. To be doing the same show Johnny Carson was doing is an honour and even going to ABC would have never been the same. Leno WAS the Tonight Show. Even seeing him at that 10pm slot just felt weird. He didn't belong there. It would be like Peyton Manning being a back up quarterback.
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