MovieChat Forums > The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992) Discussion > Will Jay surpass Carson in episodes?

Will Jay surpass Carson in episodes?

posted 11 years ago by staffan_strand
17 replies | jump to latest

This is the current score, according to Wikipedia:

4,531 (Carson)
4,429 (Leno)

I sure hope Leno will be able to surpass Carson, as icing on the cake for him and his career. Funnier comedian too.

[–] a_l_i_e_n 11 years ago

And that shows you how much harder Jay worked than Carson. I mean, when you consider it's only taken 21 years for him to come within a hundred or so of matching Johnny's 30 years worth of episodes. Well, Jay's got 5 more months to claim the record.

[–] feelingsoalive 11 years ago

I think he will. He should be there for 30 years or at least a few more years and then he truly would surpass Carson.

[–] Benihanahasnofunflare 11 years ago

Hope so.

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] a_l_i_e_n 11 years ago

I sure hope Leno will be able to surpass Carson, as icing on the cake for him and his career.

Has he done it yet? Jay has twelve shows left.

[–] tmclaughlin11 11 years ago

Wikipedia says yes, he has, having hosted 4,587 episodes as of 12/20/13. It would seem that Johnny took a whole lot more vacation time than Jay has (the Conan hiatus notwithstanding).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tonight_Show_With_Jay_Leno

[–] a_l_i_e_n 11 years ago

Wow. How about that, eh?

Thanks for the info.

[–] sjbradford 11 years ago

Oh yeah. By the early 80s, Carson was only hosting four shows a week, with a rerun on Monday. And he took something likes 8 weeks of vacation per year. When Leno became permanent guest host in 1987, Carson cut down to three new shows a week, with Leno on Monday and a rerun on Tuesday.

[–] a_l_i_e_n 11 years ago

Yes, it should be no surprise really that in not quite 22 years Jay was able to surpass a record that took Carson 30 years to achieve. Guy's a workhorse.

[–] sjbradford 11 years ago

The flip side of that is that NBC was able to try out guest hosts while Carson took time off, and Jay was battle tested when he took over, because he had hosted so many times.

I wonder if this count includes Jay's guest hosting episodes from 1986-92.

[–] a_l_i_e_n 11 years ago

The flip side of that is that NBC was able to try out guest hosts while Carson took time off, and Jay was battle tested when he took over, because he had hosted so many times.

Yeah, I suppose. But then Allen, Parr and Carson ably demonstrated a comedian/broadcaster didn't need years of guest hosting duty to be a great talk show host. Anyways, NBC's definitely switched to the idea that 12:35 is the extended audition for 11:35, so good luck Seth.

I wonder if this count includes Jay's guest hosting episodes from 1986-92.

A good question. It seems like it probably should seeing as he was still providing this service to "The Tonight Show".

[–] what-ever 11 years ago

Most of Carson's shows were 1-1/2 hours (and the earliest shows were 1-3/4 hours), so Carson probably has more time on air.

Seriously, Jay has NOTHING on Carson, who will ALWAYS AND FOREVER be the KING of late night. (I learned to capitalize from mega-fawner).

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] a_l_i_e_n 11 years ago

Most of Carson's shows were 1-1/2 hours (and the earliest shows were 1-3/4 hours), so Carson probably has more time on air.

Oh, details, details. Jay still showed up for more shows than Johnny.

But WHAT! You're back!!!

Where on earth have you been?! I expected you last April when they first announced that NBC was dumping Jay again. You've been missing all the action.

Seriously, Jay has NOTHING on Carson, who will ALWAYS AND FOREVER be the KING of late night.

(lol) That's the what-ever I remember!

[–] Hank_McCoy 11 years ago

It wasn't just vacation time, Carson did not host five nights per week. Jay hosted two nights per week in Carson's final years with the show and at least once per week starting in 1987. Before that Joan Rivers hosted regularly.

He hates these cans!

[–] a_l_i_e_n 11 years ago

Yes, and Carson (in addition to all the vacation time he took) cut the length of the show back from 90 to 60 minutes. If it'd been up to Jay "The Tonight Show" would probably still be an hour and a half long.

[–] cold_sky 11 years ago

quantity over quality, eh? I guess people want Leno to be good at something.