Despite consistently being number one in the late night ratings wars, it seems that Jay Leno is never far from some controversy about who should be hosting his show. Jay took the chair from Johnny Carson in 1992 after a wild struggle with David Letterman for the gig. Eventually, Letterman would become Leno’s primary late night competition, until the current crop of late night hosts emerged to signal a changing of the guard. And now, it seems, Jimmy Fallon is slated to be the long-term heir apparent to Leno on The Tonight Show.
Of course, we all thought the heir apparent was going to be Conan O’Brien, but that arrangement didn’t work out so well for NBC or either host. Now, Conan’s got his own show on TBS and Jay’s back in control of The Tonight Show. But it’s clear that Jay is nearing the end of the line as the show’s host. Even though it is still the top-rated late night program, Jay seems to have lost that little bit of pep that kept him engaged with the audience and viewers.
Jimmy Fallon, on the other hand, is currently at the top of his game. Fallon has managed to craft the hippest of the late night shows, with many of his sketches and interviews going viral via social media and YouTube. But Conan also had a pretty rabid fan base before he took over for Leno - and the ratings were terrible.
It will be interesting to see what NBC has learned from the Conan debacle and how they will handle the transition to Fallon as host. The fact that there are so many stories flying around about Leno’s departure might be an indication that NBC is already fumbling its second attempt to replace him. Or maybe this is just part of the plan.
Of course, we all thought the heir apparent was going to be Conan O’Brien, but that arrangement didn’t work out so well for NBC or either host. Now, Conan’s got his own show on TBS and Jay’s back in control of The Tonight Show. But it’s clear that Jay is nearing the end of the line as the show’s host. Even though it is still the top-rated late night program, Jay seems to have lost that little bit of pep that kept him engaged with the audience and viewers.
Jimmy Fallon, on the other hand, is currently at the top of his game. Fallon has managed to craft the hippest of the late night shows, with many of his sketches and interviews going viral via social media and YouTube. But Conan also had a pretty rabid fan base before he took over for Leno - and the ratings were terrible.
It will be interesting to see what NBC has learned from the Conan debacle and how they will handle the transition to Fallon as host. The fact that there are so many stories flying around about Leno’s departure might be an indication that NBC is already fumbling its second attempt to replace him. Or maybe this is just part of the plan.