Jay Leno may regain 'Tonight Show' perch (Updated)

Could Jay Leno get his old job back?

According to sources familiar with the situation, the network is in discussions about putting the comedian back on at his original 11:30 p.m. perch, either as a lead-in to "Tonight Show" host Conan O'Brien or replacing him altogether.

NBC officials declined to comment on that specific scenario, the latest of a flurry of rumors to leak out of the peacock network today.

The television industry website FTVLive kicked off a series of reports today about Leno’s future in a post that said NBC had decided to cancel the show. Such a move would amount to a major retreat by the network, which has insisted that stripping Leno’s comedy show across the week has been a success financially, even if the ratings have been lackluster.

Leno's late-night replacement, Conan O'Brien, has not performed well either, and now apparently the network wants to put Leno back at 11:30 and slide O'Brien to midnight, according to people close to the situation. The news that NBC was considering bumping O'Brien out of his time slot was first reported by TMZ.

[Updated 4:50 p.m.: NBC just released a statement regarding O'Brien's future. "We have the best comedy team in the business. We remain committed to keeping Conan O’Brien on NBC. He is a valued part of our late-night line-up, as he has been for more than 16 years and is one of the most respected entertainers on television."]
 
NBC has felt tremendous pressure from its affiliates over Leno's performance and have been pushing the network to return to scripted programming. This season NBC has averaged 5.34 million viewers at 10 p.m., a 29% drop from the same period last season.

[Updated at 5:20 p.m.: Leno addressed the rumors head-on during his monologue tonight, joking that NBC stands for "Never Believe Your Contract." Read more details on our Showtracker blog.]

-- Joe Flint and Matea Gold

Comments

[Barry O'Brien]

Hmmm, I wonder. NBC responding to affiliate complaints? NYC, Chicago, DC, Philly, SF, LA, Miami. Those cities make up a large percentage of the total US tv audience and their NBC stations (suffering drop in Late News ratings) are all NBC owned and operated so this 10PM "experiment" is proving VERY costly to NBC Universal bottom line on more than one level.

[Dirk]

NBC botched this from the get-go.

Funny enough, I used to watch both shows in the past, but have barely watched either of them lately. Both Leno and O'Brien just haven't jelled in their new digs.

Instead, I've been a regular viewer of Fallon's 'Late Night'. It just seems more fun.

[Kim]

To all the people that think Jay is so great.....why are his ratings so bad? Why aren't you watching him at 10? There are obviously too few of you to make a difference.

Whether you are a Conan fan or not, what NBC and Jay are doing to him is wrong.

[leo O'Brian]

Talk shows are over rated and not funny any more, those times when people wanted to see clowns interviewing actors do not exist anymore NBC needs to look for a new and more fresh approach.
I think these type of shows are just like news papers, won't be around for too long.

[Steve]

As long as CBS has Letterman and Ferguson who cares what NBC does

[angkasuwan]

keep conan on ts please

[CS]

If NBC makes these changes, I will NEVER watch another show on their channel again!!!!

[Ms. Taylor]

Jay Leno was fantastic out doing Letterman ratings why make the change in the first place? The only good thing about Conan is the Insult Dog, Let him host the show. When Jay Leno and Jimmy Fallon were back to back (when Conan was off preparing for the new show)I thought that worked really well. Put Conan on after both! Jimmy Fallon is a joy to watch and Jay Leno has done it so long people enjoy him!

[DonPV]

All I can say is thank goodness I have about 275 original Johnny Carson Tonight Shows in my library. Each passing year, as we watch NBC do its best to bury this once-invincible franchise, reinforces how superior Carson was, and how there will never be another that can touch him. As for Leno, once a week would have been better. Some may recall that after Jack Paar left the Tonight Show, he did two seasns of a weekly one-hour 10pm talk show on NBC.

[JAMES MILUM]

BRING JAY BACK!!!! JUST GET ANOTHER BAND!!! CONAN IS A DORK

[Just Dave]

Leno for just a half hour? Monologue. Commercial. One guest. Next commercial. No chitchat with the band. In fact, no band. A couple of quickies and then good night. Talk about desperation. Conan O'Brien is "one of the most respected entertainers in TV" who I've hardly ever watched. I wonder if the folks at Comcast are keeping track of all this. If I was the bozo who created this mess in the first place, I'd probably not wait around to find out. Live long and prosper, Mr. Letterman. And you too, Mr. Kimmel.

[Frenchy]

I like Jay AND Conan - NBC is stupid - they should just calm down and let the new show schedule sink in. Conan is funny and entertaining - if he wasn't why has he been with NBC for 16 years? I guess some people just aren't smart enough to recognize good humor.

[Rahim]

More signs of the general disarray at NBC. Are these clowns ever going to figure out how to field a respectable lineup of shows? Forget 'Must See TV.' It would be a miracle if these people could just get out of their own way. Let's see, Leno tanks, so your plan is to reward him with a better time slot? In the bass ackwards bizarro NBC world, that sounds about right.

[Bezdomny]

So, Andy1619, Conan is responsible for Leno's poor ratings and decision to "retire" but not retire? Oh, by the way, get over yourself.

[david]

The man just does not go away! No human being under 40 watches Leno. And if someone under forty watches, we should stop them from procreating.

[Rob]

Can Leno. His time has come and gone. Conan is a much funnier host right now than Leno has been for years. If Conan's ratings are low its because people change the station before he gets on because of Leno.

Even if they were to give Leno back the show it would be a giant slap in Conans face. I wouldnt be surprised if he left the network over that, I know I would

[rushlimpd]

So,
Jay took the Tonight Show to an earlier time slot and laughed as he looked back at a naked Conan try to save himself.
Jay is a total fake. All about the $$$$$. Please get the man off TV. He can ride off into the sunset in all his "great" cars with Dick Chenney as his driver.

[Allan]

The next head you see rolling down the hall will belong to an arrogant guy named Jeff Zucker, who made the awful, cocky decision to put Leno on at 10:00 in the first place!

[DUCHE IVORY]

I LIVE IN THE CENTRAL TIME ZONE AND I FEEL THAT THE JAY LENO SHOW AT 10:30 CST WAS A GOOD TIME. AS IT IS NOW, IT'S VERY AWKWARD TO WIND DOWN AT 9:00PM. PLEASE RETURN THE SHOW TO IT'S ORIGINAL TIME. I REALLY ENJOY THE SHOW.

[Bubba]

Leno is the macdonalds of comedy; bland, tasteless, appealing to every toothless yokel in middle america. I say good riddance and let conan take a multi season crak at it. Jay had years and never managed to be funny.

[Bobby Marks]

Letterman is better. Period. And, I'd watch Craig Ferguson over Fallon and that idiot O' Brien any day of the week. NBC should just bow to CBS and play reruns of better shows in their late night time slots.

[Donovan]

I love Conan. He's gotta stay.

[Bob's ur uncle]

Hey Andy, shut yer piehole, you assh@t. You know ZERO about comedy. Now take a hike before I fix yer azz.

[Steve]

Just about everyone predicted this. The only one of the three doing anything fresh and interesting is Jimmy Fallon, so it's ironic that his show is the one most in peril. Leno and O'Brian earned their positions with talent, but Fallon puts on the better show. The best thing for the network would probably be to put Leno back where he was and drop O'Brian completely. Too bad for O'Brian.

[ronson]

Bumping Conan off would be the worst thing ever. People would once again watch, but only for a matter of weeks, then the ratings would dip again. They just need some backbone, stick with conan, he'll build.

Maybe they should bring back some drama to lead conan in? Maybe not some terrible CSI ripoff, get someone with a track record to make a great drama, like how, you know, hbo, showtime, FX ect does it. Let somebody have a new idea, and stick with it for more then 4 episodes.