The Tonight Show with Jay Leno is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the fourth and sixth installment of The Tonight Show. Hosted by Jay Leno, it aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009, replacing The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and was replaced by The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. The show returned from March 1, 2010, to February 6, 2014, replacing The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien and was replaced by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
The fourth incarnation of the Tonight Show franchise debuted on May 25, 1992, three days after Johnny Carson's retirement as host of the program. The program originated from NBC Studios in Burbank, California, and was broadcast Monday through Friday at 11:35p.m. in the Eastern and Pacific time zones (10:35p.m. Central/Mountain time). Unlike Carson or his predecessor Jack Paar, Leno only once used a guest host, preferring to host the series in person.
The series, which followed the same basic format as that of its 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. NBC signed Leno to a new deal for a nightly talk show in the 10:00 pm ET timeslot. The primetime series, titled The Jay Leno Show, debuted on September 14, 2009, following a similar format to the Leno incarnation of Tonight.
Neither O'Brien's version of the program, which premiered June 1, 2009, nor The Jay Leno Show generated the ratings NBC had expected. The network 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, Conan, on TBS. The Tonight Show with Jay Leno then began its second incarnation, the sixth of the franchise, on March 1, 2010. Leno left The Tonight Show for good on February 6, 2014, and on February 17, was succeeded by Late Night host Jimmy Fallon, at which time the series returned to New York for the first time since 1972.
History
Succession from Carson
Johnny Carson retired from The Tonight Show on May 22, 1992, and was replaced by Jay Leno. David Letterman wanted to move into the earlier time slot from his late night spot after The Tonight Show, and he was also considered by many as the natural successor (despite Leno having been Carson's permanent guest host for several years). Carson always favored Letterman; notably, Carson, who had 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. With his heart set on the earlier time slot, Letterman left NBC in June 1993 and joined CBS that August. The Late Show with David Letterman, airing in the same slot, competed against The Tonight Show for the remainder of Leno's run. Leno would outdo Letterman in ratings for the majority of the show's run. Conan O'Brien slid into the late night time slot vacated by Letterman in September 1993.
First end of Leno on Tonight On September 27, 2004, the 50th anniversary of The Tonight Shows debut, NBC announced Leno would be succeeded by O'Brien, in 2009. Leno explained he did not want to see a repeat of the hard feelings and controversy that occurred when he was given the show over Letterman following Carson's retirement.
It was announced on July 21, 2008, that Leno would host his final episode of The Tonight Show on Friday, May 29, 2009, with O'Brien and James Taylor as his guests. O'Brien took over hosting duties commencing the following Monday, on June 1, 2009.
On December 9, 2008, it was announced Leno would be hosting a new nightly show in September 2009, which aired at 10 pm ET, during the network's prime time period. The Jay Leno Show ended after a short run on February 9, 2010.
Second incarnation
On January 7, 2010, multiple media outlets reported that effective March 1, 2010, The Jay Leno Show would move from the 10 pm (Eastern/Pacific Time) weeknight time slot to 11:35 pm and O'Brien's The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien would move from 11:35 pm to 12:05 am. 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 12:05 am ET/PT to accommodate moving The Jay Leno Show to 11:35 pm Eastern/10:35 pm Central, due to poor ratings. 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.
On January 21, 2010, NBC announced Leno would return to The Tonight Show. Jay Leno began his second tenure on March 1, 2010, after the 2010 Winter Olympics. The show moved to Stage 11 in Burbank, the former home of The Jay Leno Show, with a similar set and theme song of The Jay Leno Show. The Tonight Show bandleader Kevin Eubanks announced on April 12 he would be leaving The Tonight Show on May 28 after 18 years with Leno. Eubanks' replacement was former American Idol musical director Rickey Minor. Minor composed a new main theme when he took over.
On July 1, 2010, Variety reported that only six months into its second life, Leno's Tonight Show posted its lowest ratings since 1992. By September 2010, Leno's ratings in the adults 18–49 demographic had fallen below those of O'Brien when he had hosted The Tonight Show. 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". In October 2010, David Letterman beat Leno's program in the ratings, for the first time since Leno returned to hosting The Tonight Show. By May 2011, Leno's Tonight Show regained the lead and held it since then. However, by August 2012, the Los Angeles Times was reporting that The Tonight Show was in serious trouble for a number of reasons, most notably that NBC was losing money. While Leno offered to take a pay cut, at least 24 members of his staff were laid off. By March 2013, there were rumors that NBC would have Jimmy Fallon, who had been hosting Late Night since 2009 when he succeeded O'Brien, become the next host of The Tonight Show when Leno's current contract ended in 2014 and NBC would move the show back to New York for the first time in over 40 years. On May 13, 2013, during its fall "upfronts" presentation, NBC confirmed Fallon would take over as host of the Tonight Show beginning on February 17, 2014; Seth Meyers, in turn, would leave Saturday Night Live (where he was the anchor of Weekend Update) and take over Fallon's time slot.
Leno's final episode of The Tonight Show aired on February 6, 2014. Per the terms on his deal with NBC, his staff was paid through September 2014. Leno wrapped up the night before the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, which began on February 7. Fallon took over The Tonight Show on February 17. Leno himself would later appear multiple times on Jimmy Fallon's version of The Tonight Show, such as a June 15, 2016, appearance in which Leno not only appeared as a guest, he delivered part of that night's monologue, commenting on the 2016 US election campaign. (Leno came out to do the monologue after Fallon faked an injury.)
Production From 1992 to 2009, the show was taped at NBC Studios' (now The Burbank Studios) Studio 1 and 3, and from the final episodes of its initial run in 2009, and again its revival from 2010 to 2014 in Studio 11.
On April 26, 1999, the show began broadcasting in digital HDTV 1080i, becoming the first American nightly talk show to be shot in high definition. The show was recorded in two channel stereo sound and shot with ten Sony HD cameras including four Sony HDC-700A, three Sony HDC-750A, and three Sony DXC-H10 point of view cameras in 16:9 aspect ratio in the year 2000. The show was directly fed to network affiliates through SBS-4 satellite and NTSC feed was sent to New York via AT&T fiber and was uplinked by New York to its affiliates.
Finances During the last year with Leno as host, The Tonight Show cost about $1.7 million a week to produce. With 45 weeks of annual production, that amounted to about $76.5 million, excluding the salaries for Leno and the show's "top producers".
In that same period, the show had been generating an estimated $30–40 million a year in profit, down from the $150 million a year the franchise once made."
Format The show follows an established six-piece format. After the announcer announces the opening credits for the show, the first segment is a ten-minute monologue by Leno, with jokes about current events and brief comedy sketches occasionally mixed in. The second segment is a full comedy sketch, such as a mini-documentary by a "Tonight Show correspondent" (e.g., Ross the Intern or Mikey Day), or a trademark of Leno's, such as Headlines.
The first guest appears, with the interview is divided into two segments, then followed by an interview with the second guest in the fifth segment. The sixth and final segment is typically a performance by a musical guest or stand-up comedian.
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.
Bandleader Branford Marsalis was the original bandleader of the show from 1992 to 1995, leaving the show after feeling displeased with his role on the show, what he called being an "ass-kisser". Kevin Eubanks, who was the guitarist in Marsalis' band, moved up to bandleader forming Kevin Eubanks and The Tonight Show Band and remained with The Tonight Show and The Jay Leno Show until 2010, when he left to concentrate on music, adding that his leaving was not provoked by any problems with Leno or NBC. Eubanks would later reunite with Leno as co-host of Leno's version of You Bet Your Life.
Rickey Minor, former American Idol music director, replaced Eubanks, forming Rickey Minor and The Tonight Show Band, staying until the end of Leno's tenure.
Announcer Edd Hall served as announcer on The Tonight Show from 1992 until 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 Leno without Stern's knowledge, prompted a rift between Stern and Leno. Stern launched into tirades on his show for many weeks on saying Leno 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." Since the move to The Jay Leno Show, Melendez was replaced as announcer, but remained on the writing staff. Wally Wingert would be the only off-camera announcer for Leno's second Tonight tenure, carrying over his duties from The Jay Leno Show.
Recurring segments
Notable episodes On May 25, 1992, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno debuted on NBC. Jay's guests on his first show as permanent host were Billy Crystal, Shanice, and Robert Krulwich.