What Is Behind Kevin Eubanks' Split From Jay Leno?

By Denise Warner Posted Feb 17th 2010 10:00AM

Kevin Eubanks plans to part ways from Jay Leno. But why does he want to quit now? Is it because of the ratings struggle that left Conan O'Brien out of a job and killed Leno's image?

Eubanks has been with Leno since 1992 and has led the band -- first 'The Tonight Show' band and then the Primetime Band when Jay moved to the short-lived 10 PM show -- since 1995.

Although the jazz guitarist plans to return with Leno to 'The Tonight Show' on March 1, he ultimately wants to leave the series. "Kevin has expressed interest in pursuing personal touring and recording opportunities," an NBC source told Inside TV.

We don't really believe this. In his wishes, Eubanks sounds like a politician -- he needs "a change," so he's moving on. But like a politician, in most matters, Eubanks must have an ulterior motive.

When Conan O'Brien took over 'The Tonight Show' in 2009, Jay Leno moved to primetime with 'The Jay Leno Show.' But bad ratings from both O'Brien and Leno lead NBC to cancel Jay's show and announce they were moving Leno back to 11:35, pushing Conan's 'Tonight' to 12:05 AM.

Unhappy with the turn of events, O'Brien negotiated a deal to exit the network, lambasting Leno along the way. "And I just want to say to the kids out there watching -- you can do anything you want in life, unless Jay Leno wants to do it too," Conan said during one of his last monologues.

Everyone turned on Leno -- from critics to his peers alike, blaming the funnyman for ousting O'Brien, even though NBC pulled the strings. Perhaps Eubanks doesn't want to be associated with Jay now that he is a television pariah.

Kevin may want to stay away from Leno, since he looks like the bad guy who left poor, defenseless Coco out of a job. Perhaps the bandleader fears a waning audience and ultimate cancellation, leaving him looking for work. This way, he goes out on his own terms.

Max Weinberg, O'Brien's bandleader, often tours with Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band and has arranged to work both jobs. Even when Weinberg uprooted to the West Coast, his schedule was organized so that he could make as many dates as possible -- with his son taking over on drums for Springsteen when he couldn't.

If Eubanks' only goal was to tour and record, couldn't a similar arrangement be made if he wanted to stick with Jay? In a word? Yes.

Furthermore, the musician has put out 12 albums since 1992, all while presumably being employed with Leno. Eubanks has also appeared on other TV shows and gone on tour during his 'Tonight Show' tenure. Therefore, we must assume he wants out because he no longer wants to be the sidekick to the "evil" Leno -- not simply to pursue other opportunities.

Eubanks probably no longer wants to be known as "the guy with the guitar who laughs at everything," as he was dubbed by David Letterman during the recent late night struggle. Maybe he's just sick of being lumped in with Leno.

And what will Jay do next? It seems that no one would want to be associated with Leno's bad karma, which could leave him without a bandleader. (And without anyone to laugh at his sometimes stale monologues -- as Kevin could always be counted on to do.)

Of course, Leno could always steal The Roots from Jimmy Fallon. Problem solved.

Tags: conan obrien, david letterman, jay leno, kevin eubanks

Comments

(357)

Wednesday 17 February

By diney j. saurer

Highest Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

Why is everybody blaming Jay for this mess. It was NBC that screwed up. And as far as Conan goes, his ratings were in the toilet. It's just business folks. If you don't do well, you go. NBC has a big management problem. A lot of people including me don't even watch network TV anymore because it is so bad, but I do watch Jay. I don't watch anything else on that network.

By Will C

Lowest Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

Yeah right, blame Conan's ratings for all of this. The thing most people don't remember is that Jay's rating were, as you so eloquently put it, "in the toilet" when he started out too. In fact, it wasn't until Hugh Grant's 1995 appearance on the Tonight Show that Jay finally took off. Up until then, David Letterman was ahead of him in the ratings. They gave Jay time to build up a following. All Conan had was 7 months before they pulled the rug out from under him. How is that fair? Not to mention that The Jay Leno Show was a terrible lead-in that had NBC bleeding viewers and ultimately affected Conan's ratings too. In the end, I blame both NBC and Leno - NBC for obvious reasons, and Leno for sleazing his way back in and snatching his old job back when his 10:00 gig didn't work out.

By tiredofthis

Also seem to remember someone angling for this job five years ago when Leno was No. 1 in the ratings -- and then still No. 1 when his time was up. Why wasn't Conan ripped and seen as the bad guy for forcing Leno out?

By waagtod

Hey will c. are you in an alternate universe or do just rewrite history to fit your needs? Jays ratings were not "in the toilet" as you put it until Hugh Grant's interview. They were neck and neck with Dave until then when he pulled firmly out into a large lead. They stayed that way until he left the tonite show, when CoCo drove them down by 50%. The show was actually losing money for the FIRST time ever!! So keep writing about things even if you are talking out of your ass.

By mo

Remember Jay's a big and powerful performer, he pretty much does what he wants at this point, he was going to retire and step down, hand it over to Conan. If he had been his word, we the audience would have heard little about Conan's ratings. Frankly I don't believe they were that bad. If Jay had been his word and moved on Conan's audience would have grown, he would have survived and he'd still be on today. NBC made a fatal mistake as I feel Jay is average at best and he's now lost a lot of his audience, can't wait for Conan to re-emerge. He's not only funnier/better, he's a good and caring man too.

By Gary

I agree diney and Kevin certainly added nothing special. Stooges are a dime a dozen.

By Jaze

Low Ranked Vote down Vote up Report this

Leno's a tool!

By sh91767

I ask the same question. What exactly did Jay Leno do? When Johnny Carson destroyed Joan Rivers for going to another network, no one blinked an eye. What is the big deal about Conan? If his ratings had been higher, he would have been the winner. His ratings only started going up, when he started dissing Leno. That's a one-trick pony that you can only ride for so long. Show business is ruthless, is that news to anyone.

By Paula Tilley

LENO WAS NOT TO BLAME FOR THIS PROBLEM. IT WAS NBC. THEY SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER THAN TO PUT LENO IN THAT EARLY TIME SLOT & EVEN PUT CONAN ANYWHERE. PEOPLE, GROW UP. THIS IS ABOUT THE RATINGS & WHAT TIME THE SHOW AIRS ON TV.

By elle

why is everyone forgetting that it was JAY, back in november, who in an interview whined that he wanted his tonight show job back! he was the one who started this whole mess, not nbc. they were just stupid enough to listen.

By Adam

Maybe Kevin Eubanks is simply as sick of Leno's lame, endlessly repeated material, such as his college-kids-deliberately-acting-dumb-to-get-on-TV skit "Jaywalking" and his predictable jokes (i.e. "are we getting so fat/lazy in this country that..."), as the rest of us are. I know it's a tough economy, but having to sit there and fake-laugh at Jay's "humor" EVERY NIGHT must be excruciating.

By Maestro

Vote down Vote up Report this

Max Weinberg Seven is much better than Jay's band with Keven, anyways!!!

By Don Pandanell

The person who wrote this article is a mean spirited ass.

By Andrea

Don Pandanell is right. These article prove nothing but the gossipy meaness of the writers.

By B

Yes, the writer is trying to influence the thoughts of his readers. True journalism does not exist on AOL...and not too many other places either anymore.

By Fred

The article is a joke. It assumes facts that are not and makes conclusions on fake ideas that are stupid. In short the author is not a true author but an ass.

By Jill

I agree!!

By Frank

DON,Andrea,Fred,B and Rich your just a bunch of losers like that dumbazz Jay, why dont you idiots do the world a favor and go play in traffic!!!!

By map

denise warner wrote the article and ur rigth she's an ass

Page 2 of 18