It is a terrible idea. Who even watches late night talk shows anyway?

Howard Stern is saying the same thing (Leno will fail.)

@TheFuzz53: obviously an awful lot of people, given the revenues they generate and the fact that they're still on-air.

One on my fav shows will prob get the Ax from Leno .. Life ... Booo

While Leno and Letterman currently show at 11:30 Eastern many Americans in the west are used to seeing them earlier at 10:30 Mountain. 10pm could work. It all depends on what CBS will offer at 10.

@jonthomasdesigns: Isn't it confirmed that Life is canceled?

Am I the only one who actually likes sitcoms? Yes, I have bad taste.

I don't mind political talk during the morning commute, but at night it just gives me a headache.

The thing is that Leno is cheaper than actual scripted programs. NBC had been trying to do stuff on the cheap and just pissing people off. Just look what they did to WNBC.

@IfThenElvis: What EST sees at 10-11 pm, we folks in the MST see at 9-10pm. Leno will be MST at 9PM against the same things it is up against in the EST.

@Raekwon: Yes, it was confirmed on Monday.

@jonthomasdesigns: Well isn't that some poop

@ncpeters: Well, dang. I liked that show. Although it was hard getting used to Donal Logue in that role - I know he did some rougher stuff, but I was used to Grounded for Life and The Tao of Steve Donal...

I think that Leno at 10 pm will be a good thing. A lot of my friends and I are getting tired of all of the Law and Orders, NCIS, and CSIs and want something happy to watch, not gross and upsetting crap like scripted murder and rape investigations.

@TheFuzz53: I used to watch Conan quite a bit before he left for the Tonight Show. I usually was up anyway, and there's not a whole lot on that late anyway.

Here is what is going to happen.

Leno will be a great success - which means all the other networks will bring talk shows to prime time until there is too much, and the public stops watching.

The damn networks do this over and over again.

Game shows - Who Wants to be a Millionaire was a success so all the networks brought game shows until there was way too much.

Reality shows - a couple do good, and *poof* all the networks bring out reality shows.

HEY NETWORK PEOPLE - LISTEN: We want a variety of shows. Just because another network is having success with one type of show DOES NOT MEAN that is all the public wants.

I can't look at Leno without thinking "The Dorito Guy". I never heard of Leno growing up, never heard of him until he was offered the position on The Tonight Show.

I'll always remember him as a Dorito shill from Saturday morning cartoons, dressed in full biker leather and/or the worst suits known to man, eternally chiming "Crunch all you want. We'll make more."

I've never been able to take him seriously because of that.

I haven't watched a show on NBC since I stopped watching ER over 8 years ago. CBS, on the other hand, has three of my favorite shows:

CSI:
CSI: Miami
The Big Bang Theory

Sounds like CBS has my demographic nailed down: mid 20's, crime-drama-loving, nerd.

Not to be picky, but if you times 5 mil by 11 mil, it's not 55 mil. You want to times it by 11... :-)

And Leno will do fine, they need a show like that on tv at that time.

@Preyfar: He's a comedian. By definition, you are not supposed to take him seriously.

@IfThenElvis: I think it might actually work in Leno's favor. I'm a fan of late night talk shows, but haven't been able to watch them in years because I have to get up early for work.

I think it's a bad move on NBC's part, so ABC, Fox, and CBS stand to clean up on NBC's folly. I think that Leno's only there because NBC offered the paycheck.

Really Leno could squat out the same mediocre television he's been doing for the last 15 years and he could do it here or anywhere. He'll be around so long as someone's willing to cut a check.

It was NBC being afraid of losing the power of his banal, yet strong ratings to another network that made NBC pull this stunt, and now for the first time, they'll pay for it in the ratings. No one wants late night comedy programming like this, this early in the evening.

Soon it'll be an SAT question... Pat Sajak = Arsenio Hall is to Chevy Chase = _______?

@TheFuzz53: i watch jimmy kimmel sometimes before i go to bed.

Is Leno's new show more of a variety show or is it still the same format? It's hard to tell based on the commercials I've seen.

To me, this kinda reeks of NBC being afraid of pulling the trigger on Conan. Kind of like they are keeping Leno around 'in case'.

I liked how, in a bit on Jimmy Fallon's first show, Conan made that face as he mentioned to Jimmy that Leno would still be around. :D

@Riff-Raff:
Not a fan of The Office and 30 Rock? That plus Southland has me hooked on NBC Thursday nights.

@TheFuzz53:

Letterman and Ferguson are 2 of very few reasons my TV ever comes on...

@coan_net: hey random internet people: if we wanted your honest opinion, we'd pay nielsen a buttload of money for spreadsheets that prove your opinion is what we want it to be.

seriously though, completely agree.

I think Jay Leno appeals to the over-40 crowd (of which I'm a member.)

The over-40's generally go to bed earlier and are more likely to skip the 11 o'clock news. But they are also more likely to watch networks vs. cable or other choices (DVDs, internet streaming, etc.).

So if NBC can get the advertisers behind Leno's appeal to older Americans, they could have a real coup on their hands. But if the advertisers bail, it's not going to matter what kind of ratings he gets.

This is a gamble for NBC but I think it's going to do better than "another crime show" or "another medical drama".

Too bad they aren't banking on Jimmy Fallon to fail. That would be a better bet and make me much happier.

This will probably get me watching Leno more. I like him a lot, partly for his car enthusiasm, party because, unlike Phil here, I find him to be pretty darn entertaining. I just usually don't stay up that late, and am not really interested in watching tv if I am up that late on weekdays.

I like the 10pm... first I dont have to wait anymore until 11:30pm, can bypass these crappy local news, and will not fall asleep after 20min. BIG WIN!

a lot of people have been waiting for a LONG time for Leno to fail, . . . I think they're going to keep on waiting.

This is just anothe example of corporate America trying to milk/sell a particular brand to death. In this case it's a pop culture icon.

@TheFuzz53: Does anyone ever watch the entire shows though? I will occasionally watch the first 15 minutes or so of Letterman, then as soon as the first self-promoting celeb comes out, I go to bed.

@TheFuzz53: It always confuses me that people who don't do certain thing (watch late-night tv, for instance) assumes everyone else is like them and doesn't either.

I think the ratings would contradict your statement, though. They wouldn't keep them on if no one watched.

@Riff-Raff: CBS used to be the network no one watched, and now they have a ton of great shows. I like Criminal Minds, too, and How I Met Your Mother. And The Mentalist. Jees, it's all about CBS lately!

....

Dear NBC:

CHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK.

That is all.

Love and Kisses,
Ashley

@aloe vera: Stern has a permanent axe to grind with Leno for stealing his bits, sneaking around to hire away Stuttering John (which, if you listened at the time, you'd have thought Howard would GIVE him away).

You guys are missing the point of putting Leno's show in prime time. NBC knows the show will not dominate the ratings. However, because it is cheaper to produce than a drama such as ER, it'll make more profit even with the lower ratings.

Sure, CBS' ratings will increase, but NBC will be laughing all the way to the bank.

@Harry Pothead: Yeah, it could work out very well for them. It's a cheap show to make too, a lot cheaper than locations and actors. And Jay likes to work, so it might be on year round, and the other networks will be showing filler and re-runs in the summer.

I was thinking it really kills variety in programming on NBC, but that's been missing for a few years anyway.

I used to watch Conan before I realized his shows are exactly the same everything with regurgitated jokes. But, really, if you're on that much, how can you not tell the same jokes over and over and over?

@Riff-Raff:
You should give 30 Rock a chance. Only show that I watch on NBC every week.

@TheFuzz53: Maybe people don't watch because they're on at 11:30... If only they were on at an earlier time, like, say 10:00...

@cc82: 30 Rock is good, but I think you really need to start off from the first season and watch the shows in order. I tried watching 30 Rock mid-Season 3 and hated it. Started it from the first show on, loved it.

@GMFish:
From a financial sense it is screamingly cheaper. One show five nights a week has to be cheaper than five separate shows that each have to have their own cast, stars, crew, etc.

Part of me is interested to see how this shapes out. Do they go more variety or talk show? Leno was much for skits but who knows? And maybe there are always musical acts to fill time.

@coan_net: This makes a lot of sense.

@Benjamin Arrowood: The problem is that we will have Law and Order on, what 5 nights a week, 2 or 3 CSIs, an NCIS (which is essentially a CSI), and about 100 other crime dramas, and we will also have nearly the same amount of talk shows (Leno, Conan, Kimmel, Carson Daily, Letterman, Ferguson, Daily Show, (and probably a bunch more that I have missed) most of whom have the same guests who are making the talk show rounds, and the rest of the time is filled with "reality" television. Very little originality in any TV programming. With few exceptions, I am watching more video podcasts and live streaming content, and entertaining/educational shows on Discovery.

Damn you networks, why can't you bring back the 1970's cult classic EMERGENCY!

@FranktasticVoyage:

If they came on earlier in the evening, I wouldn't know they existed. I'm doing stuff until at least 10:30 every night...I have not the slightest idea what "prime time" is since I can't imagine anyone wasting that part of their day watching TV.

@TheFuzz53:

Alcoholics, the unemployable, angry loners...