Jay Leno Going Back to 11:30?

By PopEater Staff Posted Jan 7th 2010 04:50PM

Jay Leno will be back in his 11:30 p.m. 'Tonight Show' time slot very soon after his rocky venture into 10 p.m. territory, TMZ is reporting. Well that was quick ... and would make a lot of sense given our exclusive report from Rob Shuter a few weeks ago claiming NBC was looking to bounce Conan for Jerry Seinfeld. The switch hasn't been verified or denied by NBC at this time.

PopEater's Rob Shuter reported on December 17 that NBC was courting Jerry Seinfeld to replace O'Brien in the hopes of boosting the slot's sagging ratings. Unfortunately, NBC was unable to ink the deal according to Shuter.

At the time, NBC spokesperson Drew Shane called the claims "Completely false," adding that "Conan is the host of the 'Tonight Show.'" Oh really?

According to The New York Times, " the plan being discussed Mr. Leno would definitely shift back to 11:35 but in a half-hour format, while Mr. O'Brien would slide back his start time by a half hour and then produce an hour-long show."

In a statement obtained by EW.com, NBC is shooting down the shift rumors, saying (without denying any upcoming changes): "Jay Leno is one of the most compelling entertainers in the world today. As we have said all along, Jay's show has performed exactly as we anticipated on the network. It has, however, presented some issues for our affiliates. Both Jay and the show are committed to working closely with them to find ways to improve performance."

Leno himself also weighed in on the rumors, saying during his Thursday show: "I don't think there is any truth to the rumors ... See, it's always been my experience that NBC only cancels you when you're in first place. So we are fine. We are OK." He even joked "What does NBC stand for? Never Believe your Contract."

If the switch does indeed happen, TMZ reports it will likely take place in February after the Olympics.

NBC also said that they are "committed to keeping Conan O'Brien on NBC ... as he has been for more than 16 years and is one of the most respected entertainers on television."

Tags: conan obrien, ConanObrien, jay leno, jay leno show, JayLeno, JayLenoShow, tonight show, TonightShow

Comments

(86)

Thursday 07 January

By t

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i'm already boycotting fox. if they screw conan than i guess i wont have to watch nbc either

By allight5

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Maybe you should back to listen to radio, idiot.

By thejrm79

Why don't you learn how to write. Idiot. Leno sucks, he has no balls and is an unoriginal hack.

Friday 08 January

By Brody

There is NOTHING funny about Conan!!!! He should just go away.

By Thor

Maybe you should get a life.

By MonkeyCheez52

Way to go, "T", you've singlehandly brought FOX to its knees.

i didnt say i would bring fox to its knees, i just said i dont watch them anymore, jerk.

By bluvsul72

Boooooooooo!!!!

By Dave

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NBC should just bite the bullet, admit that they were wrong and put Jay back at the 11:30 slot. Conon is just dragging the show down and Jay, in that slot, would bring it back up. No contest.

By qqqqqqqman

Conan is too quirky and, uhhh, his show sucks. Long live Jay!

By Vince

He'a also too tall.

By pfo1

Really, they should just dump them both and find some new blood to fill NBC latenight talk show slots. I sas a fan of Carson for many years, and also watched Letterman in his time slot following Carson on NBC (Letterman was slated for seveal years to take Carsons place). Tried watching Leno, but found him to be too lame, and Conan is even worse. Letterman is numero uno in my book for late night talk shows. I really don't know why Leno had higher ratings as long as he did, and this doesn't say much for his viewers in the past. It was funny how Leno came up with this "new" show in a different time slot, but the few times I watched it, it seemed just like the "old" show.

By HARRY

JAY BEAT LETTERMAN BECAUSE MOST PEOPLE DIDNT WANT TO WATCH AND LISTEN TO LETTERMAN BECAUSE HE WAS A LEFTWING PATHETIC LOON.

By mikerat42

Move Conan to the 3:00 AM slot..

By Ben

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Jay will not go back to 11:30 slot, everybody will look really bad in this situation. Jay will look like the old guy who doesn't want to give up, which he is btw. Conan will look like a total failure, which in some ways he is.

So move Jay to the Carson Daly slot...

Monday 11 January

By freefallmaster

or just let jay go apparently not enough people want to listen to him

By Grrrr

Leno is such a horrible human being! He won't leave with dignity, he sabotaged Conan at every single freakin' turn and threw away hours of primetime programming that could have gone to scripted shows. The man is despicable.

By kevinbgood621

NBC screwed up moving Conan out west to quick . Finally the studio crowd is getting into the show and the writers are producing very funny stuff . I like Jay at Ten . Give these shows more time , NBC .

By debra Evans

jay leno sucks and i miss all my shows on nbc

By Vernon

I love Leno at the 10pm slot,sorry NBC Conan is lame,Sienfeld would be an excellent replacement for Conan, i like the way presents his show,please NBC no more reality shows, hospital,or CSI,EVERY CHANNELS ARE THE SAME THATS WHY PEOPLE GET CABLE!

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