The final 'Tonight Show w/ Jay Leno' on NBC HD - 5/30/09

Got a near five-minute standing ovation at the outset.....

I've watched Steve Allen, Jack Paar, Johnny Carson, Leno... (did I leave someone out?) but I doubt that I'll be watching O'Brien.

Great thread! I am DVR'ing it, so I can watch it without commercials.
Hopefully no negative things will come from this thread. ha

Edit: I'll be starting my DVR recording in a couple minutes.


I grew up with Jay Leno, as my user name states, I was not around for Jonny.

Wow... how messed up was JT's voice?

While will the Tonight Show be on on Saturday?

It sure took Leno a long time to get off the late night shift and on to prime time.

Which is made more interesting as NBC was aligned with Panasonic for so many years.

Can't wait for Conan!

I also can't wait for Conan. I hope his Late Night material isn't toned down for the Tonight Show crowd. Nice final segment showing all of the children of the Tonight Show staff.

You better be prepared that it will be. The Masturbating Bear? Forget it.

Conan will have alot of his B#lls cut off to please uptight middle America.

Can't make them mad.

Maybe/Maybe not. It's possible Leno's fans will follow him and as well for Conan. Baby boomers are getting older and will probably go to bed earlier.

I think we are at a transitional point. The middle of the country has been doing this an hour earlier forever.

I'm a baby boomer and I love Conan O'Brien. I think you mean the generation that came before me. Baby boomers are the ones that pushed the envelope. Saturday Night Live comes to mind.

This is my first post. I have gained a lot of knowledge about consumer electronics reading posts on AVS. Many thanks to all that contribute.

I dunno what your "uptight middle America" comment is referring to. Carson was funny without losing respect. Are you angry that there are lots of people who will not watch something disgusting just because a teenager thinks it is funny? I don't want to watch Jackass. I'd rather watch PBS.

The tribute to Rodney Dangerfield was nice. He was one of America's great comedians. Can anyone imagine what the Tonight Show would be like if he was the host?

Glad we were able to help a citizen from the fine city of... (looks up profile)... XANADU??!!

I think if Leno hadn't been so milquetoast the contrast would be less apparent.

If I were spitballin' how this will shake out, I'd say after the initial few weeks (new circus in town factor) Conan's numbers will be down from Leno's, Dave's numbers will go up some in so much that he's the only adult in the room now, but he's not going to get a lot of Leno's people (unless they get over the 'I don't like Letterman' preconception and find they like the more mellow Dave)

Kimmel may see a small bump that may slowly increase over time. He really does a pretty nice program and may pick up some "Conan sold out" demo's.

Net/Net - NBC < / CBS => / ABC => and maybe >>

Place your wagers, the windows will soon be closing...

Me too but I'm looking forward to Conan. What did he do to you?

Letterman's getting beat by Nightline, so I'm sure he'd like some of those Leno viewers. My guess is the biggest benefactor of Leno's departure will be Kimmel. Fortunately for Letterman Kimmel's show doesn't start at 11:35.

The real question will be whether anyone keeps sticking around for Jimmy Fallon. Even though he's improved, the opening to last night's show was a bomb.

Absolutely CBS would love some of them Leno eyeballs and I think they'll pick a few up. You're also right about Fallon's show... a frikken train wreck!

I'll ever go out on this limb... Kimmel shows enough of an increase that by 2010 Nightline gets whacked.

Or Don Rickles? Man, it would've been a zoo every night!
(BTW, I did see Fallon for the first time last night; he needs to find his niche quickly!)

I'm really hoping for the opposite. I hope Conan keeps it somewhat authentic to how he was on Late Night. It would be awesome if Conan emerged as someone AGAINST the "uptight middle America". We need a new crusader to protect comedy TV and save us from a world of sappy, saccharine Disney style shows!


I think you know damn well what it means. The people who freak out over every little thing on TV. Rather than just changing the channel, they become a PITA to the networks until the networks change to suit THEIR wants. The people who badger FOX over Family Guy, the people that whined about Dexter on CBS, the people that complained to the FCC over Janet Jackson at the 2004 Super Bowl.

How about Don Rickles AND Rodney Dangerfield as co-hosts????

Dynamite.

Rickles could interview and tell jokes. Dangerfield could tell jokes and make fun of Rickles.

Perfect combo.

(Yes. I do miss Rodney. And, aging is not being kind to Don. )

People complained about Dexter? Color me uptight, but Dex on CBS was fabulously compelling; couldn't turn it off (but I do despise toilet-humor animation, though).

I loved Dexter on CBS too! It was the PTC-Parents Television Council, the same people behind all three: Janet Jackson, Family Guy and Dexter. And I'll bet these people(or a similar group) were also protesting for the vchip back in the 90s.

Did Don Rickles ever fill in for Johnny Carson?

If you watched the last Conan O'Brien episode he almost broke down in tears and said he's not going to change for anyone and he's going to be the same person at 11:30. He already retired the masturbating bear though, so you old people don't have to worry about seeing that.

Unsure. From memory, the regular subs were Coz, Joan Rivers, McLaine Stevenson; and possibly David Brenner among others.

They won't be getting these eyeballs. I think Letterman is a condescending ass. I also can't stand his band leader.

I know it's the "hip" thing to hate on Leno, but I liked him. But I also like Conan, so I'm okay with the switch. Hopefully he won't have to tone down his show too much, or at all.

Still, Ferguson > *.