What would have happened if, after Johnny Carson retired, The Tonight Show went to Jay Leno instead of David Letterman? I don't know how this would happen, maybe Johnny doesn't say anything on the topic or Letterman isn't as forceful, but I just want to know what happens if Letterman, probably my favorite talk show host ever, doesn't get his dream job. What happens to Leno's Tonight Show? Where does Dave go? And what happens to Conan O'Brien and Arsenio Hall in all this?
 
I can imagine Conan would still eventually get Late Night, NBC is not stupid enough to just get rid of him.
 
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I gotta wonder if the same thing that happened in OTL would occur. Leno gets into a management fight and gets fired, just as he did with the NBC higher-ups while hosting Late Night in '98, then runs off to ABC to do According to Jay, which runs for six or seven seasons.

At the very least, given what's available about Leno's private life, he doesn't have to admit to a series of workplace affairs that become public during the Clinton impeachment the way Letterman had to. There's probably some value in that: not fun having to tell your kids that their favorite late-night funnyman and the President have an active sex life.
 
It is as ironic that Letterman took over The Tonight Show from Johnny Carson as he was quoted in the 70's saying "I have no desire to be the next Gene Bartow".

Edit: Damm spellcheck
 
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Gene Bartow became the Head Coach for UCLA basketball after John Wooden and had a middling record, all this shows is how old I am.

Edit: Damm spell check again
 
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Gene Bartow became the Head Coach for UCLA basketball after John Wooden and had a middling record, all this shows is how old I am.

Edit: Damm spell check again

Ah.

Well, I think Letterman did pretty good. Leno's the one that got the bum end of the deal... I mean, According to Jay did reasonably well for a pretty extreme concept at the time, I guess, but it's obvious that the monologue and then what was basically his "Jaywalking" skit for an hour, with minimal interviews, kind of wore thin over time. Funny enough for a while, but after the fifth season, I thought it was limping along. I'm a Letterman fan, though, so I'm probably biased.
 
What would have happened if, after Johnny Carson retired, The Tonight Show went to Jay Leno instead of David Letterman? I don't know how this would happen, maybe Johnny doesn't say anything on the topic or Letterman isn't as forceful, but I just want to know what happens if Letterman, probably my favorite talk show host ever, doesn't get his dream job. What happens to Leno's Tonight Show? Where does Dave go? And what happens to Conan O'Brien and Arsenio Hall in all this?

Letterman was a hot commodity at this time. His show attract a large audience and (importantly for potential advertisers) a younger audience than Johnny Carson or ABC's Nightline. If he doesn't get the Tonight Show AND decides to leave NBC in protest, I could see CBS making a play for Letterman. CBS has just never had luck with late-night programming, we all know the list of flops and failed concepts: Pat Sajak (several years before this would have gone down), CBS NewsNight, prime-time rejects and cancelled show burnoffs, Bill Maher, Jon Stewart, and many others . . .

Letterman likely would have provided the big draw CBS needed to finally become a competitive player in the late-night race, but unfortunately CBS at the time was very cheap and probably would not have paid him enough money to jump ship.

Alternately, Fox could pick up Letterman. Fox was looking to secure their position as a major broadcast network and was not afraid to throw massive amounts of money around to make it happen. Airing Letterman would have been yet another major coup for the upstart network - in fact, I think that's where Letterman is far more likely to end up (as opposed to the frugal, struggling CBS).

Conan O'Brien probably still succeeds Letterman on NBC's Late Night (regardless of where Letterman ends up) and, stay there until Leno inevitably gets the boot for fighting with the network (Leno's ego issues being well-documented), then he likely gets the Tonight Show. O'Brien has mentioned in several interviews that his ultimate dream job would be to host the Tonight Show, so I doubt he would down the opportunity if offered.

Arsenio Hall is tough to call though. He had a steady audience in syndication at the time and could certainly stay there for at least several more years. But . . . if Leno gets the Tonight Show and Fox poaches a spurned Letterman, I could see Hall's ratings dip considerably due to the more competitive late night environment, possibly dooming his show to cancellation in short order.
 
OOC: Who would be the Tonight Show host currently in this universe? I thought it would turn out to be Conan, but now I'm really seriously considering saying something that would imply John Mulaney took over. I would like to do a Tonight Show TL, but I think it would be difficult to structure such a project and probably one with too esoteric a subject matter, so if anybody has any suggestions or ideas, I'm looking for anything.
 
I find it quite hard to believe that NBC would turn a plum like The Tonight Show over to a no-talent, goofy-looking hack like Jay Lino. I don't think this could have ever happened in real life. Can't imagine being deprived of the brilliance of Letterman...practically erased Paar and Carson from our memories, he was so, so good.
 
I don't know, a Tonight Show with Leno ?

Of course maybe he could have kept Chevy from the #1 spot (how many years now has he been on top ?)
 
Seriously, when NBC tapped Leno to take the chair, I felt they had pretty much back-stabbed Letterman. But, by then, I was a little out of the conversation. I had fairly loyally followed Steve Allen and Jack Paar, and really enjoyed early Carson, but at some point, Carson began to get on my nerves. Hadn't paid any attention to the show in some time, felt sorry for Letterman, but, not earth shattering. On the other hand, I knew people...inbound asteroid, Ragnarok, end times...nothing could be as bad as what NBC did to Letterman. Mildly amusing at the time, funnier over the years!
 
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