On Oprah, Jay Leno Denies Taking Conan's Dream Job

By PopEater Staff Posted Jan 28th 2010 03:55PM

With all eyes on Jay Leno, he sat down with Oprah Winfrey for his first interview since the blow-up over NBC's late-night lineup. While he admits having some regrets, Leno's deepest scars seem to stretch back to 2004 when NBC first announced Conan O'Brien would be taking over the show in 2009. "It broke my heart. It really did. I was devastated," Leno said. "This was the job that I had always wanted and this was the only job that ever mattered in show business, to me.... It was just like, why?"

Later in the interview, Leno refused to take blame for taking away Conan's dream. "This is an affiliate decision. Affiliates felt that the ratings were low. This was the first time in the 60-year history of 'The Tonight Show' that 'The Tonight Show' would have lost money. And that's what it comes down to. It's really just a matter of dollars and cents."

Earlier this month, O'Brien walked away from the late-night institution when NBC executives announced that they wanted Leno to once again follow the local news and move O'Brien's 'Tonight Show' to 12:05 a.m. ET. Leno returns to 'The Tonight Show' March 1.

According to Leno, NBC came to him and talked about the ratings, saying Conan and Leno were both down. NBC executives then assured him that he was a "valuable asset" and they were "75 percent sure" Conan would go for the revised plan, which would have had Leno doing a 30-minute show at 11:30 p.m. ET.

Oprah grills Leno about why he didn't consult Conan before agreeing to the new plan. "It wasn't my place to call Conan," Leno said. "They made this offer to me. And I said, 'Do you think Conan will go for this?' And they said, 'We'll ask him tomorrow.' 'OK, let me know what happens.' And the next thingyou know, Conan had his article in the paper and that was that."

Blaming NBC for the late night debacle, Leno adds, "Anything they did would have been better than this... If they had come in and shot everybody. It would have been 'Oh, people were murdered,' but at least it would have been a two-day story. NBC could not have handled it worse."

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Jay Leno Snapshots

Jay Leno speaks during the panel for "The Jay Leno Show" at the NBC Universal Television Critics Association summer press tour in Pasadena, Calif. More Photos >>

Jay Leno Snapshots

FILE - In this March 19, 2009 file photo, host Jay Leno is shown on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" in Burbank, Calif. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, file)

Jay Leno Snapshots

FILE - In this Aug. 5, 2009 file photo, Jay Leno speaks during the panel for "The Jay Leno Show" at the NBC Universal Television Critics Association summer press tour in Pasadena, Calif. NBC Universal Television Entertainment Chairman Jeff Gaspin on Sunday, Jan. 10, 2010 said that Leno's nightly prime-time show will end with the beginning of the Winter Olympics on Feb. 12. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, file)

Jay Leno Snapshots

FILE - In this March 19, 2009 file photo, host Jay Leno is shown on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" in Burbank, Calif. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, file)

Jay Leno Snapshots

Winfrey repeatedly asked why he didn't just retire. Leno says his decision was an "agonizing" one. "Maybe I'm doing something wrong. This many people are angry and upset over a television show... My show got canceled. They weren't happy with the other guy's show. They said, 'We want you to go back,' and I said, 'OK.' And this seemed to make a lot of people really upset. And I go, 'Well, who wouldn't take that job though? Who wouldn't do that?'"

When media reports began turning Leno into the "bad guy" he felt cornered and confused, he told Oprah. "I never expected this to happen. People think you're behind the scenes, pulling strings," he added. "There's no strings to pull. I have a show that's been canceled. So why would I have any power to go, 'Oh, I want ['The Tonight Show']?

Leno admits NBC is all about ratings though. "Well, if you look at where the [O'Brien 'Tonight Show'] ratings were, it was already destructive to the franchise," Leno replied.

Leno also revealed that he hasn't been in touch with O'Brien since. "I haven't talked to him through all this. No. I haven't... it didn't seem appropriate."

Tags: conan obrien, ConanObrien, jay leno, jay leno show, JayLeno, JayLenoShow, oprah, oprah winfrey, OprahWinfrey

Comments

(88)

Friday 29 January

By bbimley

Vote down Vote up Report this

IF HE WAS ON 'OPRAH SHOW'....MAYBE HE COULD GET ON JERRY SPRINGER

Saturday 30 January

By Gloria Gerak

What Jay doesn't say is that HE had the bad ratings ... that led to bad news ratings ... that led to bad Tonight Show ratings.
It is all about the LEAD-IN ... and Jay was the LEAD-IN!

By l.

Leno has zero class, is a selfish, underhanded greed monster. LENO'S ratings were in the toilet, and because he cannibalized Conan's show, he brought Conan down with him. Having a talk show at 10pm makes no sense if you want people to watch (the same thing?) at 11:30. Leno knew what he was doing - he planned to jerk the Tonight Show away from Conan. Leno should have retired when he SAID he would- when Conan took over the Tonight Show. How would Leno have felt if Johnny Carson had dome the same underhanded bait and switch to HIM??? Johnny had class. Leno has NO class (or concience).

By Bea

My family loves Jay; Conan really never did anything for us. We were moving back to Dave if Conan was the NBC choice. I think all this Jay-bashing is unfair. NBC execs really messed up this time. What a fiasco! Or was it a ploy by execs to boost ratings?

By Debbie

The local affiliates were unhappy because the Jay Leno Show as a lead-in was losing their viewers. Consequently, Conan's Tonight Show was dropping in ratings. I think Leno sounded like a selfish, egotistical jerk on Oprah. I never watched him or Conan, but I lay the majority of the blame on Jay. I hope he tanks.

By MIchelle

Jay had his dream show taken away by Conan because NBC wanted a younger host. Since Conan didn't make good ratings for NBC, it was given back to Jay whom it was stolen from in the 1st place for no good reason except his age. Jay is not at fault for taking the Tonite show back when NBC cancelled his new earlier show and offered him his old job back. I love Oprah but felt that she was not fair to Jay asking him if he felt like a jerk stealing the show back from Conan that Conan took from him. I really thought she was too hard on him. I have seen her tiptoe around really bad guests who she is not tough enough on but she came after Jay with a vengance to please popular opinion that he stole his show back from poor Conan, who to me is a nerdy whimp-I have never found Conan funny and can't stand to watch him. Oprah, shame on you! Jay did nothing wrong-did you stand up for him when they jerked his show away from him because he was too old? I am for Jay but I am old enough to remember Johnny Carson and he was by far the funniest of the bunch!

By blah blah

if there was no jay leno show, more people would have watched conans tonight show. im pretty sure leno knew this, and would get his unfunny show back. it just means nbc is going to not be funny anymore. jays jokes arent even funny, he just says things people can agree with and clap for. yea i said it

By Nancy

I think it's ridiculous that people are blaming Jay Leno for wanting back what was taken away from him from the beginning. He loved the Tonight Show and kept it #1 against David Letterman for years. David Letterman was always angry at Jay because he wanted the Tonight Show to be his after Johnny Carson but NBC decided to give it to Jay. When Conan threatened to leave if he didn't get the job, NBC got nervous and promised it to him, fearing that eventually Jay would want to retire and then they wouldn't have Conan. Jay was told he had to leave! Now that both of their shows had poor ratings, NBC asked Jay to return. Well, that's show business. Jay did what anyone else in his position would have done, do what he loved in the first place, host the Tonight Show. What's wrong with that? Jay, I hope your ratings skyrocket again. You're a good guy and you deserve it! If any celebrities don't want to be on your show, it's their loss.

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