alternatehistory.com

This is a Late Night War thought experiment. In the OTL, NBC gave the Tonight Show to Leno instead of Letterman, who was Johnny Carson's heir apparent. Letterman made the decision to leave NBC and go over to CBS. Such was a very bloody and controversial war in late night, and one which destroyed Letterman's and Leno's friendship. Facing a popular late night entity like Letterman cost Arsenio Hall his CBS affiliates and helped that show's downfall. Letterman would oversee the creation of "The Late Late Show". And to replace Letterman in "Late Night", NBC brought in an untested writer named Conan O'Brien. In short, the Carson succession crisis set the stage for the state of late night ever since.

So what if Letterman had assumed the Late Night crown of NBC after Carson, and CBS snatched up Leno to compete with NBC in Late Night?
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