Lets say before the deal with leno had been signed and Carson had asked for his last contract extension he had stated that he be allowed to choose his successor. What would Leno and Letterman do and to make it interesting what if both Leno and Letterman did not know that.
shareThat's a lot of what if because 1) there's no way Carson would have kept that a secret from Letterman and 2) there's no way NBC would have let him have that in the contract. NBC owns the franchise and no way would they give up control of the future of their franchise to Carson. They would rather he quit than agree to that.
But if that miracle were to have happened neither one of them would have to do anything different till Johnny retired. Letterman was Carson's protege from day one and Letterman knew that. Letterman would have hosted the Tonight Show and Leno would have gone to another network. It would have been announced that Carson would choose his protege and Leno would know he didn't have a chance.
George Carlin: It's all bullsh-t and it's bad for ya.
there's no way NBC would have let [Carson] have that in the contract. NBC owns the franchise and no way would they give up control of the future of their franchise to Carson. They would rather he quit than agree to that.
Dave owns his show 100%. CBS does not own a sliver of it. You think he didn't learn a little lesson at NBC? But CBS can decide to discontinue "Late Show" and create their own franchise which I have a feeling they will do when Dave retires.
George Carlin: It's all bullsh-t and it's bad for ya.
CBS can decide to discontinue "Late Show" and create their own franchise which I have a feeling they will do when Dave retires.
You never know though. Letterman may have been able get that in his deal. Everyone (except NBC) was willing to give him the world at that time. CBS gave him ownership of his show and the 12:30 time slot. It seems unlikely but I wouldn't be surprised.
George Carlin: It's all bullsh-t and it's bad for ya.
You guys don't seem to realize that since Craig Ferguson had his new deal on Late Late Show, he had what is in essance, a "prince of wales" clause put in. Basically, whenever Dave decides he's had enough, if Ferguson is still under contract at that point (still working at CBS), Ferguson gets Dave's chair. But only when Dave decides to leave. However, when that will be is anyone's guess but Dave. It was discussed in Bill Carter's last book that Dave saw how much it hurt Johnny Carson to get up and not have a show to do anymore. Dave has repeatedly said that he's only happy that one hour when he does his show. Aside from his family/son, do you think he's going to give up that one thing that makes him happy? I don't think so. Not until he has to start worrying about coach pitch/kid pitch baseball games for his son, or whatever else family thing and feels he's too old to continue. He has also stated that like a famous aging NFL quarterback said, "I love to play the game. I just hate the practices."
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since Craig Ferguson had his new deal on Late Late Show, he had what is in essance, a "prince of wales" clause put in. Basically, whenever Dave decides he's had enough, if Ferguson is still under contract at that point (still working at CBS), Ferguson gets Dave's chair. But only when Dave decides to leave.
Yes, this was basically Jay's deal, too then when he turned down CBS in exchange for "TTS" upon Johnny's retirement. I do remember it reported that Ferguson said he wasn't interested in inheriting Dave's show. But, of course, there was a time Dave actually said he wasn't interested in "The Tonight Show" either. All just a form of false modesty for public consumption. They never want to admit they have ambitions like any other human being.
It was discussed in Bill Carter's last book that Dave saw how much it hurt Johnny Carson to get up and not have a show to do anymore. Dave has repeatedly said that he's only happy that one hour when he does his show. Aside from his family/son, do you think he's going to give up that one thing that makes him happy? I don't think so. Not until he has to start worrying about coach pitch/kid pitch baseball games for his son, or whatever else family thing and feels he's too old to continue.
Another thing he'll never admit is he probably wants to outlast Jay; they both seem to want to equal or beat Johnny's record of hosting til he was 67.
The only way Ferguson would take over Letterman's timeslot is if he could have the free reign that he has now. He doesn't do pre-interviews and he rarely lets his guests plug. That just does not fly anymore at 11:35. He did a show in which he interviewed Steven Fry for the entire hour with no audience. No FRIGGIN' way would he be able to do that at 11:35. Ferguson is different in that he didn't grow up worshiping Carson or Letterman like every other talk show host did. So it's not the dream come true for him. He could easily go to another network or stay at 12:35 as long he gets to do the show his way.
George Carlin: It's all bullsh-t and it's bad for ya.
He doesn't do pre-interviews and he rarely lets his guests plug. That just does not fly anymore at 11:35. He did a show in which he interviewed Steven Fry for the entire hour with no audience. No FRIGGIN' way would he be able to do that at 11:35.
I've watched Craig several times over the years and I regret to say that, for whatever reason, his humour just doesn't do it for me. I do wish I could get into his groove though because any host that doesn't let the guests plug their movies, books and colognes is a very rare bird indeed. Props to Craig for that.
I agree. I don't find him that funny. But he's very talented and the way he conducts his show is interesting. He's moving to a bigger studio which suggest he could be taking over for Letterman. I just don't see how it would work.
George Carlin: It's all bullsh-t and it's bad for ya.
That makes sense MrBlond. However, every late night tries to make their show different from everyone elses and this is his way of putting his own stamp on it, like his robot sidekick (great idea about that BTW). True, he didn't grow up idolizing Carson or even Letterman, but he's become a professional at doing what he does with a show that has a very limited budget compared to Dave's. At least I think. I'm only going on what he himself has said about it, but when I think about it, he has a such a small set that he has to push the desk and chairs out of the way in order to do his monologue in the opening of the show.
Could he temper his own act in order to fit the broader audience base at 11:30? From what I've seen, I would say no. But, the NBC folks thought Dave couldn't broaden his act when he wanted to move up and they were wrong about that. (Yeah, yeah, still down in the ratings...what can I say? I'm a Letterman fan not a Leno fan). A bigger budget and a chance to do stuff earlier...I don't think he would be jumping up and down with excitement at the opportunity, but he's a professional. He knows the same jokes that work at a college campus wouldn't fly in front of say, the retirement home crowd. NBC was thinking the same thing about Conan for a while when he was still getting his feet wet when he took over TTS. I'd like to think that Craig could adjust.
I think the difference is that Letterman learned at the feet of the master. Letterman worshiped Johnny Carson and Carson help mold his follower to be an 11:30 host. NBC underestimated both of them. Ferguson really kinda fell into this job, didn't grow up watching Carson, and doesn't seem that motivated by ratings. He doesn't come off as wanting to do this for the rest of his life. So I doubt he would put himself in such a situation especially at his age (50). He says he doesn't get any network pressure but I imagine that would change if he moved to 11:30.
George Carlin: It's all bullsh-t and it's bad for ya.
And no network has ever weaseled out of a contract with a late-night host.
There's a reason why Letterman and Conan are no longer on NBC. They had "ironclad" contracts that were vetted by their teams of lawyers. Letterman had it in his contract that he take over The Tonight Show. Whoops, there was an escape clause that was easy to pay out. Conan had a contract to host The Tonight Show. Whoops, forgot to say what time The Tonight Show airs. If they wanted, CBS' shark lawyers could force Letterman to relinquish the time slots.
And unless I also don't seem to realize that Letterman is a vampire, yes, I think he will give it up eventually.
George Carlin: It's all bullsh-t and it's bad for ya.
And no network has ever weaseled out of a contract with a late-night host.
Although they did try when Bob Wright, despite promising the show to Jay if he didn't jump to CBS, got cold feet at the 11th hour and offered "TTS" to Dave if he'd stay at NBC.
There's a reason why Letterman and Conan are no longer on NBC. They had "ironclad" contracts that were vetted by their teams of lawyers. Letterman had it in his contract that he take over The Tonight Show. Whoops, there was an escape clause that was easy to pay to out.
Yup. One Million Dollars, which in one scene they have Letterman saying he was a sucker to have agreed to. And NBC production head John Agoglia said that before Johnny announced his retirement Dave never even asked him about taking over "The Tonight Show". Dave just assumed he'd get it, which allowed Brandon Tartikoff to say things to Dave and to Jay that made it sound like they were both at the top of the list to replace Johnny. NBC sure knew how to manipulate the situation in their favour.