NBC's Jay Leno-Conan O'Brien swap prompts rumors

An orderly transfer of power: Is it possible? With the presidency, sure. But what about late-night TV? Despite lots of careful preparation, the Jay Leno - Conan O'Brien handoff coming next year smacks of ...

[Kyonk]

It's too bad in this entire story it isn't mentioned that Jay Leno is the unfunniest person around. Shoddy reporting.

[WHY]

So is Conan... I cant stand any of them really. Letterman is just not funny anymore either...

[Fran]

I get some laughs from Leno.

[The Predictor]

Conan will be cause of the Tonight Show's demise.

[The Predictor]

"the cause" - oops!

[carson players]

conan has been stale in his show for some time. the live show seems to be in constant repeats, same entry, same comments to the drum guy, same silly comments like 'that was weird' or 'that was scary". he will fall flat on his face or maybe his sidekick andy could save the day?

[The Real Late Night]

Watch Craig Ferguson if you want to laugh. TIVO if you can't stay up. He puts them all to shame.

[morey amsterdam]

they all are a disgrace to late nite entertainment,,nothing but stoopid

[tom]

Maybe we can get Johnny Carson re-runs for that pathetic David Letterman.
This guy's time has come and gone.
Letterman is not funny.

[Shirley from Mastic]

None of them are funny in the least. Granted, they get paid a pile of money but no one can consistently be funny night after night for years no matter who is writing the material. And as much as a fact of life that they are, the commercials really s u c k .11:30 = bedtime or sleeping to HBO.

[jfun]

Craig Ferguson is definitely the show to watch if you want see a complete disaster in action. Conan was frequently stale and unfortunately the few funny bits came from his insane, self-important Smigel bits. Leno still has the charm and while I wouldn't say he's great, he's heads and shoulders above the rest, including Letterman who has been stale for a very long time. Sadly, Colbert would probably make a far better host and, as much as I don't care for Kimmel, I'll give him points for being clever.

[that must be it]

i prefer jon stewart

[Bangkok Bill]

Conan is super boring.

[Teddy R]

The whole "Late-Late-Late Night' show concept jumped the shark long ago. Doesn't matter who the host is.

Carson was once the most entertaining thing on TV. A natural, when there were only 3 networks to choose from.

No longer.

The networks milked the "Late Night" show concept dry in the early 90s.

Time to move on. Try coming up with something fresh and original.

(Craig Ferguson is the best of the lot, btw)

[gone from LI]

Conan's beginning will be the beginning of the end of NBC's late night TV. He is stiff, boring, and a legend in his own mind. Not that Leno is Carson reincarnate but he has some special. Letterman is too sophmoreish for a 60 yr. old and his silliness doesn't get it done. Kimmel, maybe. At least he is somewhat irreveverant and humorous.
Best bet....let Leno continue and let Conan slip away and hide under a rock.

[Joe Moreno]

Jay Leno is the Best!!! It will be egg on NBC when Leno
goes. The Brass from NBC must be stupid, dumb and
blind for letting Jay go. Joe Moreno

[nojo]

Kimmel is the best of the bunch. Too bad ABC keeps him buried.

[Bob]

The Late Night era ended with Johnny Carson. Period. The rest are pretenders to that throne. That being said, I think that Jay Leno at least tries to be funny and entertaining and if he weren't, he still wouldn't be on the air beating Letterman every night. I never liked Letterman, never thought he was funny. He was smarmy, and a bit cocky, had some good jokes and some quick one-liners when something popped up, but he wasn't that good. Conan is okay at his best, but he quickly got old, and anything new he tries just looks bad. I prefer Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. They are funny, topical and usually right on point. All of the others you can throw into a tumbler and pull any of them out to do a show.

[Yankee Fan]

Steve Allen. Johnny Carson. Merv Griffin. May they RIP. You will never see the likes of them again. Superb entertainers.

[robert]

I think the best late night show is the late late show. Letterman and Ferguson need to switch time slots.