Jay Leno's Final "Tonight Show" Guest To Be Conan

[HD MM]

LOS ANGELES — In a neat bit of promotion, Jay Leno's last guest on the "Tonight" show will be the man who's taking over for him _ Conan O'Brien.

James Taylor will perform on Leno's May 29 finale, the late-night host told a teleconference Thursday. And surprises are in store, he said.

O'Brien, who turned NBC's "Late Night" over to Jimmy Fallon in March, becomes "Tonight" host on June 1. Next fall, Leno will begin a daily 10 p.m. EDT show on NBC.

The big names making the cut for Leno's final week of "Tonight" include Mel Gibson, Prince and Billy Crystal _ who was Leno's first guest when he took the show over from Johnny Carson in 1992.

Personally, I'm not a big fan of Jay Leno at all, but I absolutely love Conan. I'm excited to see what he can do to reinvigorate the Tonight Show, starting June 1st.

 

[Rey]

Personally, I'm not a big fan of Jay Leno at all, but I absolutely love Conan. I'm excited to see what he can do to reinvigorate the Tonight Show, starting June 1st.

I feel the exact same way. i always found conan better than leno. i'm excited too about this move. when i'm able to stay up i'll be tuning in.

 

[Skyhi]

I love Conan. He hasn't been quite the same since Andy left, but that won't be a problem anymore.

 

[Neutron]

Sucks that they couldn't move the show to the same NY studio he did Late Night from.

 

[cosmo_kramer]

I feel the exact same way. i always found conan better than leno. i'm excited too about this move. when i'm able to stay up i'll be tuning in.

C'mon Rey, that's why Al Gore invented the DVR!!

 

[Rey]

C'mon Rey, that's why Al Gore invented the DVR!!

true,true.....

 

[Ramy]

Personally, I'm not a big fan of Jay Leno at all, but I absolutely love Conan. I'm excited to see what he can do to reinvigorate the Tonight Show, starting June 1st.

I feel just the opposite. I like Jay, but when Conan takes over it will open up a DVR spot for something else.

 

[yaz96]

Sucks that they couldn't move the show to the same NY studio he did Late Night from.

I'm sure the Late Night studio is way too small compared to Leno's. But it would have been nice to bring the show back to NY in a larger studio.

 

[cybok0]

I always felt Letterman should of took over for Carson instead of Leno. Letterman is better.

 

[riffjim4069]

I always felt Letterman should of took over for Carson instead of Leno. Letterman is better.

Perhaps Letterman was better back in 1985, but there is a reason Leno has won the late-night ratings for something like the past 14-years. Letterman has been retired while still on the air.

 

[cybok0]

Leno annoys me.

 

[SamCdbs]

Leno got the Tonight Show for the same reason that NBC is dumping serious programming to give him the 10 slot. Money.

Back in 92, NBC had the choice of paying Letterman fair value, in which case it would have dominated late night as it had with Carson, with no serious competiton. Or taking Leno, knowing the Letterman would go elsewhere and split the audience. But it got Leno cheap. It went for money over quality.

Now NBC is giving up on the 10 slot. Again it understands this will not be a high rated show, but a Leno talk show is far cheaper than five filmed dramas.

I do agree that Letterman has ROAD for the last few years. Perhaps its a measure of his age. His frat boy humor just does not work for a man in his 60s, and his foray into political humor on an unfair basis (unlike the "old" Letterman or Carson, who were always even handed), just tarnishes his legacy.

 

[Paul Wozniak]

Leno annoys me.

They both annoy me.