Jay Leno--The End of an Era

by Michele Cheplic | More from this Blogger

06 Jul 2008 08:35 PM

Mark your calendars for Friday, May 29, 2009.

According to NBC, that will be the last time you will see Jay Leno host the "Tonight" show on the peacock network.

Conan O'Brien will take over hosting duties the following Monday, June 1 - and what happens to late-night Leno is anybody's guess.

And so begins a war of words (of sorts) between NBC and Leno's camp.

According to insiders, NBC is angling to keep Leno with NBC Universal but the late-night king has shown signs he's ready to jump ship to rival ABC or other networks. In the last few months there has been a slew of rumors that Leno was being wooed by ABC brass to host a late-night talk show there and overpower O'Brien and top-rated "Tonight."

Bigwigs at NBC are brushing off the rumors for now, saying talks aimed at keeping Leno within NBC Universal post-"Tonight" are continuing. At the same time (out of the other side of their mouths) network brass say they stand by their decision to hire O'Brien to replace Leno and remain confident that the show's ratings would not be affected.

Technically, it's not NBC's fault that they are in this heated battle of words. After all, they made a promise nearly four years ago that O'Brien would succeed Leno after he announced he planned to retire in 2009.

In recent days Leno joked that he had been offered a job to host a fifth hour on NBC's "Today" show. But, later remarked that his current situation is no laughing matter.

Shortly after Leno announced his retirement plans, NBC bigwigs chose O'Brien as his successor. Subsequently, Jimmy Fallon is poised to take over O'Brien's "Late Night" in March or April of 2009, but not before he gets his feet wet hosting a series of episodes on the Internet.

Meanwhile, O'Brien will wrap his "Late Night" run sometime in the first three months of 2009, with exact dates to be determined. Show producers say O'Brien reruns will fill the gap until Fallon takes over.

Learn more about Michele Cheplic

Michele Cheplic was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, but now lives in Wisconsin. Michele graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Journalism.

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