In a just world, Letterman would be hosting The Tonight Show tonight,

[Rabrrrrrr]

and Leno would be left out in the gutter where he belongs.

So far, a nice tribute to the master, the genius - but Leno has no right being the guy in charge of the tribute.

Fuck him. He's a nothing. Letterman is the true heir to Carson!!

And in a just world, Letterman would be hosting the Tonight Show tonight.

[RagingInMiami]

1. In an even more just world

Jon Stewart would be hosting the Tonight Show

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

2. Have you been listening to Ed McMahon on Larry King the past two nights?

He said after Carson retired, if he thought up a good monologue, or act, he'd call Lettermen with it...in fact, McMahon mentioned Letterman several times over the past couple nights...barely a word about Leno..

[Rabrrrrrr]

4. Ha ha! That's wonderful!!

I'm glad to hear that.

That was pure bullshit when NBC gave it to Leno.

[Leilani]

3. Johnny Carson always said that

Letterman was his true heir.

NBC blew it bigtime when they gave the show to Leno.

[msgadget]

12. Anyone remember why Leno beat out Letterman?

I can't.

[BrklynLiberal]

14. Because Letterman was not into politicking with the local affiliate reps

He is a loner who just wanted to go and do his job on the stage. Leno was more of a glad-hander, hand shaking kind of guy who would talk to the locals affiliate people.
Carson never had to do that because he was established long before it became necessary.

[theboss]

17. The suits just thought Dave was too weird

And to be honest, from a money-making standpoint, they were right.

I love Dave and feel he should have gotten the show. But in the early 90s, Jay was the permanent guest host and was matching if not beating Carson's numbers. Dave was the Late Night guy who was popular with college kids and stoners, but wasn't considered very mainstream by the NBC execs. He was also next to impossible to control while Jay was a company man.

However, the big reason Jay got the job was because his manager Helen Kushnik pushed the issue with NBC. Dave respected Johnny so much that he thought it was rude to ask for the job until Johnny retired. By the time it happened, Jay was pretty much locked in.

So part of the decision was taste and the other part was political manuevering. As I said, it's worked out fine for NBC from a monetary standpoint. Jay draws bigger ratings than Dave.

Oh, there was one other factor. Letterman would have demanded part owenership of the show, like Johnny had. (Johnny made a fortune on those DVD sales). Jay had no ownership interest. Of course, he's probably worth $200 Million now.

[msgadget]

25. Ding, ding, ding!

Helen Kushnik, the ferocious agent, I remember now!

I preferred Dave but, no, he wouldn't have appealed to Carson's entire audience. Now it's coming back to me...

Thanks to both of you.

[Dookus]

5. sigh

no fucking kidding.

I can't bear to watch the Tonight Show now. I've seen it exactly twice since Carson retired. But I will watch it tonight (while Tivo'ing Letterman) to see how they handle it.

I think picking Leno was a travesty. I was glad to hear Johnny agreed.

[rockymountaindem]

6. Letterman is a rerun tonight.

I guess they're still planning something.

[Dookus]

7. ah, thanks for the info

Letterman is as private as Carson was. I think they really understood each other. I don't think Letterman will do a big tribute... I just wanted to hear him say something.

[Dookus]

8. aww...

McMahon just mentioned that he and his wife are raising their 16-year old niece. Must be a sad story behind that.

[ironflange]

9. I heard this evening that Johnny really missed doing monologues

So he regularly called up Dave to give him jokes to use. When Letterman did use them, he'd send checks to Johnny, who would always return them uncashed.

[tcfrogs]

10. In defense of Leno - DUCKING

He was really funny as a stand-up, and was great on the old Letterman show. I saw him in concert in the late 80's and laughed my ass off.

His Tonight Show stuff pretty much stinks, though.

[elperromagico]

15. Because he's gone the safe, corporate route.

Letterman has too, of course, but not to the same extent.

Yes, Leno was good. But he basically let the network recreate him - producing the bland, "didya ever see," "didya ever wonder" humor he puts out on The Tonight Show.

[theboss]

19. Leno was once really really good

He actually had some edge to him. But he's figured out a way to keep the people of Middle America mildly amused five nights a week and has become a very rich man, because of it. To be honest, my biggest problem with Leno has never been his comedy; he's still a much better standup than Dave. It's that he simply can't interview. All he can do is either kiss a guest's ass or force them into being his straight man. And he can't ad-lib to save his ass.

These clips today have shown how brilliant Carson was at getting something unique out of guests. He was also probably the second greatest ad-libber of all time behind Groucho Marx.

[Zomby Woof]

11. I am laughing and crying

Madeline Kahn's phobia... the baby leopard making him run into Ed's arms... the Carnac skits...

[elperromagico]

13. IIRC, NBC offered Letterman the job,

but only after something like a 10 month probationary period (of sorts) with Leno. So they wanted Letterman for the job - but only after they'd tried someone "safe" like Leno, who they apparently thought would flop.

But Letterman bolted and went to CBS. Can't say I blame him - who wants to be standby equipment?

The rest is history - and Letterman's still great as far as I'm concerned.

[BrklynLiberal]

16. I believe they only offered Letterman that standby position after he said

he was leaving. CBS had made him a great offer. NBC upped the ante, and supposedly Letterman called Carson and asked him what he would do. Carson told him to take the CBS offer.

[elperromagico]

18. Yes, I think your version is correct.

But the implication is clear - even NBC wanted Letterman over Leno.

[theboss]

20. Not exactly

NBC wanted them both and weren't quite sure what to do. Letterman was making them a fortune in a time spot that was once considered completely useless. They didn't want to lose that. And The Tonight Show is pretty much always going to be a license to print money. It was nice a combination.

Jay's first year as the full-time host was rocky. The ratings were just okay, the critics were harsh, and the executive producer was utterly insane. The execs were beginning to second-guess themselves and wanted protection. The nightmare for NBC was that Jay tanks, Letterman leaves, and the Tonight Show dies. They were trying to keep Dave around until Leno either proved himself or imploded. The offer to Dave was pretty jive.

[elperromagico]

21. When you put it that way, it is a definite insult to Dave.

After Dave's departure, NBC really started focusing in on Leno's show, overproducing it and turning into the bland muck it is today.

[theboss]

24. Yea, NBC really jerked Dave around

First, they basically inked Jay without even giving Dave a chance. Then they tried to lock him into Late Night forever. Then when they got worried they offered him a contract which basically still gave Jay 18 months to get his act together. Under the contract Dave was offered, he wasn't going to be hosting the Tonight Show until about 1994 and only if Jay ran it so far into the ground that it become unsalvageable.

You should read "The Late Shift" (or at least check out the movie). It's a really fascinating story. Everyone forgets how many late night shows there were in the late 80s and early 90s and how many of them tanked. Joan Rivers went to Fox in the 80s and bombed. Then Arsenio came out of nowhere and nearly took over everything. But his was a relatively short burst. Pat Sajak bombed on CBS before Letterman. Jon Stewart had a really funny show that was way, way, way too strange. Chevy Chase had his horrible show in there at some place. Dennis Miller bombed horribly. It actually says a lot about Jay and Dave (and Conan too) that they all survived.

[bettyellen]

27. ABC was going to give him Koppel's Nightline slot......

just a few years ago. it was supposed to be a very nice offer.
Dave turned it down. he didn't want to be party to dumping Ted.

[SoCalDem]

22. The first leno show mentioned Johnny Carson's name ..ZERO times

Leno just showed up, did the show, and never even mentioned Johnny.. I have never been a fan since that night.:(

[hickman1937]

23. Jay Leno had the agent from hell.

Thats why he got the tonight show. She was willing to wine, dine, and get guys laid. Letterman thought it was in the bag, and so did Carson, but they basically got repuked by her. Leno fired her after a couple of years for being such an asshole. I don't remember her name, and I'm not going to google her because, from everything I ever read about her, she was kkkarl rove in a skirt.

[bettyellen]

26. Kathy Bates played her in the cable movie the Late Shift.......

and she's really good.
i remember an awful scene where Leno hid in an office and evavesdropped on private business calls with an affiliate so as to out manuever Letterman in negotiations.
i thought it was pretty funny, you should see the maroon who plays Leno. he's just one big fucking chin.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116835/

[hickman1937]

28. Ya thats her, Helen.

she devoted her whole life to lies, hatred, and spew, to get her guy elected, sorry, ahead. Time not well spent. She died in obscurity. She should have become a fundy spewer.