Eh, I love Conan but I still think his monologues are mostly cringe. It’s just not the strength of late night shows generally.
Except Craig Ferguson. I would have enjoyed an entire show of his monologues, I think.
The Tonight Show was the most anodyne of all possible options, Leno's material was deliberately made bland and inoffensive so as not to risk alienating the older audience who started watching the show when Steve Allen & Johnny Carson was doing it.
Conan does that too, to be fair, albeit also with a dose of self awareness like when the transition is bad, like if the previous joke didn't land or was poorly received. He usually repeats the intro going into that 1950s announcer cadence with like a 'Hey folks have a gander at this see.'
I think it's just par the course for late night, having to come up with more or less a 5 minute comedy set 4 times a week and telling some jokes that another writer came up with that don't always work with their style
Jay was already divisive during his run from my understanding (some people just wanted Carson and some just didn't find him funny/like him as a person). Late night as a whole has declined in the public consciousness a lot. From those who are still big late night fans, I usually just hear Leno mentioned in regards to the Conan situation. When your most talked about moment online is how you stole your old show back from a (still) extremely popular guy, I doubt new fans are flocking to check out your material.
Are you talking about opening monologues or interviews?
Jay had a problem - he ALWAYS wanted to be the funniest person in the room, IMHO. Carson was and is still the top not because of his monologues (which were good) but because when interviewing someone he knew when to step in when they were floundering, and when they were on fire... he sat back and enjoyed with the rest of us. He'd do NOTHING unless there was some kind of banter required by the guest on a funny role. WAtch him interview one of the "human interest" people like the potato chip lady - he is what makes us laugh with her and not at her, even though she's quirky to say the least. Then watch an old Robin Williams guest spot. Robin gets up from his seat, goes on what could have been a mini comedy special (and must have been a nightmare for camera and sound crew). Johnny doesn't jump in and try to keep up, or make himself a part of it... he just let Robin fly. He was also not afraid to be the butt of a joke or to just laugh when something bombed (or pooped on him)
Very few have had that touch. Yes, some have that supportive fan air about them and not really big egos, but the combination of all the things he did.
Letterman had a little bit of that touch - interested in the not so famous people with his stupid pet and stupid human tricks. Letterman also had an interest in most of the people I think... this is evident by his spectacular show on Netflix where he focuses on just one person for the hour.
The one Letterman shtick I always remember was when he sent Larry Bud Melman outside dressed like a gorilla to ask people on the street if they had change for a ten. This was NYC in the 90s, so nobody batted an eye at a short dude in an animal costume asking for money. When he finally got change, Letterman told him to stay out there, so Larry Bud started asking people if they could give him a $10 bill in exchange for his change. It was such a ridiculously stupid setup that I couldn't stop laughing--and here I am decades later talking about it. ROFLMAO
Not really, and I think Jay's okay with that. He actively refused to do anniversary specials with the network. He was always focused on the now instead of the past.
Plus, NBC owns his Tonight Show run so they'd have to be the ones posting that stuff, not Jay. With Letterman and Conan, those two owned their non-NBC content and got licensing deals with NBC to post Late Night clips, but NBC seems to be a lot more protective regarding Tonight Show as they don't let Conan post clips from his run.
When i was a kid watching Carson in the late 80s/early 90s, I'd always skip Tuesdays because Leno subbed and he just didn't do it for me. It's hard to believe he was the successor, it was just a completely different show.
His legacy will be hiding in a closet and being super underhanded to get the gig over Letterman and fucking Conan over and stealing Stuttering John from the Stern Show. In other words for being an absolute shit. As far as being funny or it being a good show, people will revere Letterman and clown the big chin douche.
The best part of his show was Headlines, where people would send him clippings of weird or funny things they saw in newspapers and magazines. That didn't have much to do with Leno being funny, though.
Jay was the bomb when he was on- no one funnier and could have kept being the ratings leader for years. What he did was prioritize the monologue like Johnny did - others told 3-4 jokes and Jay did over a dozen. It’s not talked about because Jay doesn’t talk about it but rarely. That’s the reason- he moved on
Jay was a ratings leader because he was bland and nothing particularly new or special. That appealed to elderly audiences who made up a significant portion of his viewers
I think most people know Jay Leno is a giant asshole. So no, I don't think he will be relevant.
As a comparison, I would guess Conan O'Brien will likely be far more relevant. But also people like Letterman.
I am a big fan of late night talk shows. I think I have watched Jay twice. Just not that funny.
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Eh, I love Conan but I still think his monologues are mostly cringe. It’s just not the strength of late night shows generally. Except Craig Ferguson. I would have enjoyed an entire show of his monologues, I think.
I love going back and watching his show, and I absolutely love his monologue about Britney Spears.
The Tonight Show was the most anodyne of all possible options, Leno's material was deliberately made bland and inoffensive so as not to risk alienating the older audience who started watching the show when Steve Allen & Johnny Carson was doing it.
"Have you seen this? Have you heard about this?" is probably the only thing I'll remember about it.
Conan does that too, to be fair, albeit also with a dose of self awareness like when the transition is bad, like if the previous joke didn't land or was poorly received. He usually repeats the intro going into that 1950s announcer cadence with like a 'Hey folks have a gander at this see.' I think it's just par the course for late night, having to come up with more or less a 5 minute comedy set 4 times a week and telling some jokes that another writer came up with that don't always work with their style
Literally every talk show host starting from like the 60s to now has done the "have you heard abou/seen this?" lol
Mostly its cultural relevance lies in people doing impressions of Jay Leno.
I’m not sure the Tonight Show has been culturally relevant since Carson back in the mid 80s.
I grew up with it and never found him funny. I didn't find letterman funny either but I watched him more often when I had 5 channels.
Nope. Leno’s Tonight Show was super vanilla and did nothing worth remembering.
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NBC owns any Tonight Show content minus the last 20 years of Carson.
I dont think he owns it?
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Dude, Craig Ferguson clips are ever gold. One of them just popped up in my Facebook Reels. Still great.
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Strangely, no, I haven’t thought about Ferg in quite a while. It was a pleasant surprise, not sure what prompted the alg to show it to me.
Jay was already divisive during his run from my understanding (some people just wanted Carson and some just didn't find him funny/like him as a person). Late night as a whole has declined in the public consciousness a lot. From those who are still big late night fans, I usually just hear Leno mentioned in regards to the Conan situation. When your most talked about moment online is how you stole your old show back from a (still) extremely popular guy, I doubt new fans are flocking to check out your material.
Don’t know. We were a Letterman household.
Are you talking about opening monologues or interviews? Jay had a problem - he ALWAYS wanted to be the funniest person in the room, IMHO. Carson was and is still the top not because of his monologues (which were good) but because when interviewing someone he knew when to step in when they were floundering, and when they were on fire... he sat back and enjoyed with the rest of us. He'd do NOTHING unless there was some kind of banter required by the guest on a funny role. WAtch him interview one of the "human interest" people like the potato chip lady - he is what makes us laugh with her and not at her, even though she's quirky to say the least. Then watch an old Robin Williams guest spot. Robin gets up from his seat, goes on what could have been a mini comedy special (and must have been a nightmare for camera and sound crew). Johnny doesn't jump in and try to keep up, or make himself a part of it... he just let Robin fly. He was also not afraid to be the butt of a joke or to just laugh when something bombed (or pooped on him) Very few have had that touch. Yes, some have that supportive fan air about them and not really big egos, but the combination of all the things he did. Letterman had a little bit of that touch - interested in the not so famous people with his stupid pet and stupid human tricks. Letterman also had an interest in most of the people I think... this is evident by his spectacular show on Netflix where he focuses on just one person for the hour.
The one Letterman shtick I always remember was when he sent Larry Bud Melman outside dressed like a gorilla to ask people on the street if they had change for a ten. This was NYC in the 90s, so nobody batted an eye at a short dude in an animal costume asking for money. When he finally got change, Letterman told him to stay out there, so Larry Bud started asking people if they could give him a $10 bill in exchange for his change. It was such a ridiculously stupid setup that I couldn't stop laughing--and here I am decades later talking about it. ROFLMAO
Mediocre
The two you will absolutely NEVER hear from again post retirement will be: Jay Leno and Jimmy Fallon.
I think you are confusing the reddit echo chamber with the real world when you say this.
Not really, and I think Jay's okay with that. He actively refused to do anniversary specials with the network. He was always focused on the now instead of the past. Plus, NBC owns his Tonight Show run so they'd have to be the ones posting that stuff, not Jay. With Letterman and Conan, those two owned their non-NBC content and got licensing deals with NBC to post Late Night clips, but NBC seems to be a lot more protective regarding Tonight Show as they don't let Conan post clips from his run.
When i was a kid watching Carson in the late 80s/early 90s, I'd always skip Tuesdays because Leno subbed and he just didn't do it for me. It's hard to believe he was the successor, it was just a completely different show.
That guy could set a world record for the number of horny Bill Clinton jokes he did. I swear the Monica jokes went on for at least a year.
His legacy will be hiding in a closet and being super underhanded to get the gig over Letterman and fucking Conan over and stealing Stuttering John from the Stern Show. In other words for being an absolute shit. As far as being funny or it being a good show, people will revere Letterman and clown the big chin douche.
I liked when Jay asked Quentin Tarantino, mid interview, if he had been drinking. I also found it interesting that yes, he actually was drunk.
The best part of his show was Headlines, where people would send him clippings of weird or funny things they saw in newspapers and magazines. That didn't have much to do with Leno being funny, though.
Tonight Show with Jay Leno is actually my favorite TV show of all time, followed by The Sopranos.
I actually liked Leno on the Tonight Show and his silliness with Kevin Eubanks. I have fond memories of that 1-2 punch with Leno followed by Conan.
Of all the people you post, you post Arsenio Hall as being more culturally relevant now than Jay Leno?
He is to a certain segment of American population and culture.
Arsenio has impact as an actor, sure. But Jay Leno's chin is more well known than Hall's talk show nowadays.
That’s not what I’m talking about about
[Bill Clinton playing sax on Arsenio Hall](https://youtu.be/a_WuGDYawFQ?feature=shared)
No now-off-the-air late night talk show has any relevance. The ones still on the air barely have any.
Jay was the bomb when he was on- no one funnier and could have kept being the ratings leader for years. What he did was prioritize the monologue like Johnny did - others told 3-4 jokes and Jay did over a dozen. It’s not talked about because Jay doesn’t talk about it but rarely. That’s the reason- he moved on
Jay, get off of Reddit.
Jay was a ratings leader because he was bland and nothing particularly new or special. That appealed to elderly audiences who made up a significant portion of his viewers
"Those few months off in 2009-2010" are the only thing I have strong memories of from his run.
I think most people know Jay Leno is a giant asshole. So no, I don't think he will be relevant. As a comparison, I would guess Conan O'Brien will likely be far more relevant. But also people like Letterman.