The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that initially aired from May 25, 1992 to May 29, 2009, and resumed production on March 1, 2010. The fourth incarnation of the Tonight Show franchise made its debut on May 25, 1992, three days following Johnny Carson's retirement as host of the program. The program originates from NBC Studios in Burbank, California, and is broadcast Monday through Saturday at 11:35 PM in the Eastern and Pacific time zones (10:35 PM Central/Mountain time). Unlike Carson or his predecessor Jack Paar, Leno only once utilized a guest host, preferring to host the series by himself.

On April 26, 1999, the show began broadcasting in 1080i HDTV, becoming the first American nightly talk show to be shot in high definition. The show is shot in 16:9 aspect ratio.

The series, which followed the same basic format as that of his predecessors (an opening monologue followed by comedy routines, interviews and performances), ran until May 29, 2009, after which Leno was succeeded by Conan O'Brien.^[3] NBC signed Leno to a new deal for a nightly talk show in the 10:00 p.m. ET timeslot. The primetime series, titled The Jay Leno Show, debuted on September 14, 2009,^[4] following a similar format to the Leno incarnation of Tonight.^[5][6][7]

Both O'Brien's version of the program, which premiered June 1, 2009, and The Jay Leno Show, did not generate the ratings that NBC had expected, and decided to move a condensed 30-minute version of Leno's show to O'Brien's time slot, and O'Brien's Tonight Show a half-hour later. This decision met with opposition from O'Brien, whose stint on The Tonight Show ended January 22, 2010, after which he began his own talk show on TBS. The Tonight Show with Jay Leno then began its second and current incarnation, the sixth of the franchise, on March 1, 2010.

History

Succession from Carson

Johnny Carson retired from The Tonight Show on May 22, 1992, and was replaced by Jay Leno. David Letterman not only wanted to move into that earlier time slot from his late night spot after The Tonight Show, but was also considered by many as the natural successor (despite Leno having been Carson's permanent guest host for several years). Carson himself had always favored Letterman; notably Carson, who had previously been interviewed by Letterman, made two appearances on Letterman's rival CBS show, made no mention of Leno during his final shows and regularly sent Letterman monologue jokes in his final years.^[8] Having had his heart set on the earlier time slot, Letterman left NBC and joined CBS. Late Show with David Letterman, airing in the same slot, has been competing head to head against The Tonight Show ever since. Conan O'Brien slid into the late night time slot vacated by Letterman.

First end of Leno on Tonight

On September 27, 2004, the 50th anniversary of The Tonight Show's debut, NBC announced that Jay Leno would be succeeded by Conan O'Brien, in 2009. Leno explained that he did not want to see a repeat of the hard feelings and controversy that occurred when he was given the show over David Letterman following Carson's retirement.^[9][10]

It was announced on July 21, 2008 that Jay Leno would host his final episode of The Tonight Show on Friday, May 29, 2009 with Conan O'Brien and James Taylor as his guests.^[11] O'Brien took over hosting duties commencing the following Monday, on June 1, 2009.

On December 9, 2008, it was announced that Jay Leno would be hosting a new nightly show in September, 2009, which aired at 10pm EST, during the network's prime time period. The Jay Leno Show ended after a short run on February 9, 2010.^[5]

Second incarnation

On January 7, 2010, multiple media outlets reported that effective March 1, 2010, The Jay Leno Show would be moved from the 10pm (Eastern/Pacific Time) weeknight time slot to 11:35pm and O'Brien's The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien would be moved from 11:35pm to 12:05am.^[12][13][14] On January 12, 2010, O'Brien publicly announced in an open letter that he intended to leave NBC if they moved The Tonight Show to 12:05AM ET/PT in order to accommodate moving The Jay Leno Show to 11:35PM Eastern/10:35PM Central.^[15] After several days of negotiations, O'Brien reached a settlement with NBC that allowed him to leave NBC and The Tonight Show on January 22, 2010.^[16]

On January 21, 2010, NBC announced that Jay Leno would return to The Tonight Show. Jay Leno began his second tenure on March 1, 2010, after the 2010 Winter Olympics.^[17] The show now originates from Studio 11 in Burbank, the former home of The Jay Leno Show, with a similar set and theme song of The Jay Leno Show. Tonight Show bandleader Kevin Eubanks announced on April 12 he would be leaving The Tonight Show on May 28 after 18 years with Jay Leno.^[18] Eubanks' replacement is former American Idol musical director Rickey Minor.^[19] Minor composed a new main theme when he took over.

On July 1, 2010, Variety reported that only six months into its second life, Jay Leno's Tonight Show posted its lowest ratings since 1992.^[20] By September 2010, Leno's ratings had fallen below those of Conan O'Brien when he had hosted The Tonight Show.^[21] NBC ratings specialist Tom Bierbaum commented that due to the host being out of late night television for a period of time and the subsequent 2010 Tonight Show conflict, Leno's ratings fall was "not a surprise at all".^[22] In October 2010, David Letterman beat Leno's program in the ratings, for the first time since Leno returned to hosting The Tonight Show.^[23][24]

Production

Format

The show follows an established six-piece format. After the announcer announces the opening credits for the show, the first segment is a long, ten minute monologue by Leno, with quick one-liners about current events and brief comedy sketches occasionally mixed in. The second segment is a full comedy sketch, often a mini-documentary by a "Tonight Show correspondent" (e.g., Ross the Intern or Mikey Day), or a trademark of Leno's, like "Headlines."

As the nightly broadcast approaches midnight, the first guest appears. The interview is divided into two segments, then followed by the fifth segment, which is the interview of the second guest. The sixth and final segment is almost always a musical performance, but occasionally, a stand-up comedian will perform instead.

Immediately following the last performance segment, Leno walks on camera to thank the performers, bid farewell to the audience and recommends watching Late Night which immediately follows The Tonight Show. As the closing credits roll on-screen, the closing theme, composed by bandleader Rickey Minor plays the show off the air. Minor composed a new opening and closing theme when he began his reign as bandleader on June 7, 2010.

Bandleader

Branford Marsalis was the original bandleader of the show from 1992–1995, leaving the show after feeling displeased with his role on the show, what he called being an "ass-kisser".^[25] Kevin Eubanks, who was the guitarist in Marsalis' band, moved up to bandleader and remained with The Tonight Show and The Jay Leno Show until 2010, leaving the show for unclear 'personal' reasons.^[26] Rickey Minor, former American Idol music director, replaced Eubanks.

Announcer

Edd Hall served as announcer on The Tonight Show from 1992 unitl 2004. Hall occasionally appeared in skits during the opening monologue. These skits often involved slapstick injury to Hall (by using a stunt double, dummy, or film clip), such as vehicles running him over in the studio parking lot. Unlike his predecessors on Tonight (i.e. McMahon with Carson, Hugh Downs with Jack Paar), Hall did not serve as a sidekick for Leno during his tenure on Leno's incarnation of The Tonight Show.

Hall was controversially replaced in 2004 by The Howard Stern Show staff member John Melendez in what many perceived as a thinly veiled attempt to attract a younger demographic and nonsensical considering his 'stuttering' moniker. The hiring of Melendez, which was carried out by Jay without Stern's knowledge, prompted a rift between Stern and Leno. Stern tiraded on his show for weeks on end, touting how Jay was "ripping him off", citing previously 'lifted' material from his show such as "Jaywalking" ripping off Stern's 'homeless game' for example stating "To an 18- to 25-year-old male, Jay Leno is gay. He might as well put a dress on."^[27] Since the move to The Jay Leno Show, Melendez was replaced as announcer, but remains on the writing staff.^[28] Wally Wingert has served as the off-camera announcer since the start of Leno's second Tonight tenure, carrying over his duties from The Jay Leno Show.

Recurring segments

Notable episodes

• On July 10, 1995, Hugh Grant appeared on the talk show, in public for the first time after his monumentally publicized arrest on lewd conduct charges the previous month. Leno infamously asked him "What the hell were you thinking?" In answer to those charges, he told Jay Leno, "I think you know in life what's a good thing to do and what's a bad thing, and I did a bad thing...and there you have it." The appearance is notable as it resulted in the first episode in which Leno beat CBS rival David Letterman.^[29]
• On November 30, 1995, Howard Stern, who had made two previous highly rated appearances in 1992 and 1993, made an infamous appearance in which he appeared with two bikini-clad women (porn stars Nikki Tyler and Janine Lindemulder), attempting to show 'the Tonight Show's first lesbian kiss' and encouraging Jay to spank one of them. Stern and the two lesbians stayed on the show during Siskel and Ebert's segment, who were also guests on the show that night, where he began to suck one of their toes, to raucous applause and behavior from the crowd. Jay was visibly uncomfortable during both segments, repeatedly telling Howard "it will all be edited out", and hastily trying to conduct the Siskel & Ebert interview while the crowd was going wild at Howard's antics. During the broadcast Jay ended the show early by walking off the air, which was edited out when it aired a few hours later, as revealed by Stern when he went on the air (on the Howard Stern Show) the following morning.^[30] Despite the situation Leno called into the show that morning claiming that Howard had "gone beyond the acceptable standards". Howard said Jay shouldn't have "been so uptight" and that he had a 'real' reaction to the situation which was great. Howard recounted how Jay had yelled at his producer Gary Dell'Abate saying Howard had "'s-d' in his house" and supposedly 'grabbed his crotch' and yelled "Pussy, Pussy, Pussy! That's all it is with Howard" which Jay denied but agreed he had been angered by Howard.^[31]
• In September 2000, with California in an energy crisis that forced power outages, Jay Leno did an episode in the dark using only candles and flashlights known as "The Tonight Show Unplugged" in response to California's power crisis.
• Following the attacks of September 11, 2001, The Tonight Show was off the air for about a week, as were most similar programs. The first post-9/11 episode began with a still image of an American flag and a subdued opening without the usual opening credits. Leno's monologue paid tribute to those who lost their lives and to firefighters, police and rescue workers across the US. Leno had questioned whether a show that regularly poked fun at the government could continue after the attacks, but in his monologue he explained that he saw the show as a respite from the grim news of the world, akin to a cookie or glass of lemonade handed to a firefighter. Senator John McCain and the musical group Crosby, Stills, and Nash were featured guests. For an extended period after the attack, a short clip of a large American flag waving was shown in between the announcement of the musical guest and Leno's introduction during the opening montage.
• On August 6, 2003, actor Arnold Schwarzenegger appeared on The Tonight Show and confirmed he would be running against California governor Gray Davis for the California recall election. Schwarzenegger won the election on October 7.
• On May 12, 2003, Leno and Katie Couric swapped places as a publicity stunt, with Leno anchoring The Today Show and Couric guest hosting The Tonight Show. This was the only episode during Leno's tenure to feature a guest host.^[32] The guests were Mike Myers and Simon Cowell that day.
• On January 24, 2005, Jay had a special episode that paid tribute to Tonight Show predecessor Johnny Carson, who had died the day before. During the opening credits, the guests of that show were simply announced using pictures from when they were on Johnny's Tonight Show, and the monologue simply gave condolence to Carson. There were no segments used, however, Leno played clips from The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson before commercials. All the guests were people who had worked with Carson or had been on his show, including Ed McMahon, Drew Carey, Don Rickles, and Bob Newhart.^[33]
• On July 20, 2006, as Colin Farrell was being interviewed by Leno, Farrell's stalker, Dessarae Bradford, evaded security, walked on stage as cameras were rolling, confronted Farrell, and threw her book on Leno's desk. In front of a silent, stunned audience, Farrell escorted her off the stage himself, told the camera crew to stop filming, and handed her over to security. As Bradford was led out of the studio, she shouted "I'll see you in court!" Farrell's response was simply, "Darling, you're insane!" Outside the studio, NBC security handed her to Burbank police, who eventually released her. While waiting to begin filming again, a shocked Leno sarcastically called for "a round of applause for NBC security" from the audience. After Farrell apologized to the audience, describing Bradford as "my first stalker," the show then continued filming and the incident was edited out of the broadcast aired that night. Farrell later requested a restraining order in court against Bradford.^[34]
• On January 2, 2008, The Tonight Show (along with Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Late Night with Conan O'Brien) returned to air without writers, with the WGA still on strike. This was in response to the deal by David Letterman's production company Worldwide Pants with the WGA to allow Late Show with David Letterman and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson to return with writers. Leno's guest that night, Republican Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, was criticized for crossing the WGA picket line to appear on the show.^[35] Huckabee would go on to win the Iowa caucuses the very next day.^[36]
• On July 24, 2007, the monologue was animated, and was not hosted by Leno, but Homer Simpson. Simpson gave a boring monologue to the audience (who were also animated), and was "kicked out" by Leno. This sketch was to promote The Simpsons Movie.
• On June 13, 2008, Leno delivered the news of Tim Russert's death to his audience during his monologue, and set aside some time in it to remember his old colleague. Leno then stated that he would continue the show as normal afterwards.

• On March 19, 2009, Barack Obama appeared on the show. This marked the first time that a sitting President of the United States appeared on a late night talk show. President Obama came under fire for a remark made about the Special Olympics, which he made in reference to Leno's congratulations to Obama's low bowling score.^[37][38]
• On March 1, 2010, Leno made his return to The Tonight Show with a re-written version of The Jay Leno Show theme song and a renovated Stage 11. Leno's guests were Jamie Foxx, Olympic Gold medalist Lindsey Vonn, and musical guest Brad Paisley. Leno also did a segment searching for a new desk, an element which was not implemented into his primetime show.^[39]
• On November 18, 2010, former President George W. Bush made his first appearance on a late night talk show since leaving office.^[40]
• On November 23, 2010, former bandleader Kevin Eubanks returned to promote his new album Zen Food.
• On March 2, 2011, the 4,000th episode aired.

Critical reception

General critical consensus for Jay Leno's Tonight Show has always been largely negative due to his perceived mediocre interviewing style, his "safe" material and his "middle-of-the-road," "easy going," "blue-collar" humor that consists of "found humor".^[41]

Notably the show has been historically shunned from the Emmy Awards, having only been nominated for one Outstanding Variety Award in 1995 and no Outstanding Writing Awards.

Ratings

On September 22, 2006, Variety reported that The Tonight Show led in ratings for the 11th consecutive season, with a nightly average of 5.7 million viewers – 31% of the total audience in that time slot – compared to 4.2 million viewers for Late Show with David Letterman, 3.4 million for Nightline and 1.6 million for Jimmy Kimmel Live!. Two events helped Leno gain and keep the lead: a new set brought Leno closer to the audience and Hugh Grant kept his July 10, 1995 scheduled appearance, despite having been arrested for seeing a prostitute, where Leno famously asked Grant, "What the hell were you thinking?"^[42] The final telecast of the first incarnation of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno had the show's highest overnight household rating for a Friday episode in the comedian's 17-year run as host of Tonight, averaging an 8.8 rating in metered-market households.^[43]

For at least six weeks following his return to The Tonight Show, Leno's program beat Letterman in the overall ratings each night, though with a reduced lead in comparison to his first tenure. Notably, these ratings were significantly less in the key 18-49 demographic than Conan O'Brien's had been at the same period during his tenure.^[44] By mid-2010, The Tonight Show was receiving its lowest ratings since 1992, an average of 4 million total viewers, though he remained ahead of Letterman, who experienced a coinciding decline in ratings.^[45] In September 2010, The Tonight Show posted its lowest numbers on record,^[46] with Leno averaging 3.8 million viewers. This was a 12% increase in total viewers over O'Brien at the same time the previous year, but still 23% below O'Brien in the coveted 18-49 demographic. For the first time in almost 15 years, the show slipped to second place in its time slot being consistently beaten by Nightline.^[47] In October 2010, David Letterman beat Leno's program in the ratings, for the first time since Leno returned to hosting The Tonight Show.^[23][24]

In the May 2011 sweeps period, all of NBCs late night programming had increased viewership. The Tonight Show received a 15% increase in viewership compared with the first 36 weeks of last season. In that process, it outlasted rival late night talk shows Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC, as well as Late Show with David Letterman on CBS. Both of Leno's lead-in, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and Last Call with Carson Daly, also received increased viewership.^[48] For the season, in the 18-49 demographic, The Tonight Show had 4 million viewers, compared with Late Show, which had 3.5 million, and Jimmy Kimmel Live, which had only 1.9 million. Nightline, though, still beat Leno in the May 2011 sweeps, with 4.4 million viewers.^[49]

The Tonight Show in other countries

Australia

The show was telecast in Australia by The Comedy Channel before being discontinued in July 2010, shortly after Leno's reinstatement as the host of The Tonight Show.^[50] The channel had been airing versions by the various presenters under the title Late Night Legends.

Brazil

From 1991 to 2000 the cable channel Superstation showed both "The Tonight Show" and "The Late Show" in daily bases, one week after airing in the USA. From 2011 the show is broadcast on Record News with Brazilian Portuguese subtitles at midnight (local time), one week after airing in USA.

Canada

Currently, the channel ctvtwo shows both the tonight show and late night with Jimmy Fallon at the same time as on NBC.

CNBC Asia

For many years, "The Tonight Show" episodes from the week ran back-to back on Saturday and Sunday on CNBC Asia, available to Brunei, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand - but since October 2011, they have been replaced by "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon".

CNBC Europe

CNBC Europe confirmed they would show The Tonight Show when Conan O'Brien, took over from Jay Leno in June 2009. After Jay Leno returned, they have been showing The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Since Monday 19 April 2010 CNBC Europe currently airs the show on weeknights from 12.00am CET in a one hour format, with double bill re-runs on Saturdays/Sundays from 9.00pm-9.45pm & 9.45pm-10.30pm CET. The show airs on a one day delay from original transmission in the USA.

India

The show is currently broadcast on Zee Café at local time 19:00 with a one night delay.

Israel

In Israel the show was aired during the 1990s on NBC Europe, which was included in Israeli cable (later called the "Hot" company), though this channel was pulled from cable in Israel towards the end of the 1990s. Soon after, The show began airing on the Israeli popular cable channel "Hot 3" (then simply called "Channel 3") until 1999. Since 2000, the show is broadcast in the Israeli satellite company "yes" (which launched in that year) in various channels, the current being "yes stars comedy".

Italy

In Italy (with Italian subtitles) from 2003 to 2007 when RaiSat Extra cancelled the program.^[51]

Philippines

In the Philippines, the channel ETC. broadcasted The Tonight Show from 2004 until 2007, when the show was turned over to sister channel JackTV and Talk TV.

Portugal

In Portugal, the show was first shown on SIC Comedia until the channel was off the air by the end of 2006. The show was switched to SIC Mulher until Jay Leno moved to prime time. Sic Radical used to broadcast The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien following the demand from their target audience to Conan's humor, after Jimmy Fallon took over Late Night. The contract that both NBC and SIC had wasn't expired by the time The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien got cancelled, so the network received the rights to exhibit The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Sweden

In Sweden, Kanal 5 started airing The Tonight Show every night Monday to Friday with a one week delay in 2000. In 2008, Kanal 5 chose to replace it with Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and moved The Tonight Show to their sister channel Kanal 9, with a rerun aired the next day on Kanal 5.^[52]

Finland

In Finland, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno is broadcasted by MTV3 MAX from Monday to Friday with a three night delay.

Turkey

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno is broadcasted by CNBC-e and e2 on weekdays at 00:00 with a one night delay.

References

External links

• The Tonight Show with Jay Leno at the Internet Movie Database
• The Tonight Show with Jay Leno at TV.com