David Letterman vs. Jay Leno: The Battle for The Tonight Show

David Letterman vs. Jay Leno: Battle for The Tonight Show

Steve Allen & Jack Paar each hosted the Tonight Show for relatively short period of time. The third host, Johnny Carson held the chair for 30 years and made the Tonight Show the iconic program that it has become. When Carson announced his retirement, the intense battle to succeed him between David Letterman (Carson’s choice) and Jay Leno (the safe choice) became the stuff of television legend. We know the end of the story: Jay Leno’s manager completely outmaneuvered a humiliated and embittered David Letterman. The two comics had been friends. That friendship is now just a distant memory. Letterman had been promised the job contractually by NBC; but the behind-the-scenes machinations of Leno’s manager changed all that. Jay Leno became the fourth permanent host of the Tonight Show Johnny Carson’s last week on the Tonight Show was a very emotional one.  The country had loved Carson and Tonight.  When Jay Leno left the stage in 2014, the reaction was different.  Although his ratings were solid, the country did not love Jay Leno. He bristled at the fact that Letterman became the favorite of the critics and very nearly lost his show in the first year due to his poor performance. Meanwhile, Letterman scuttled his chances of remaining at NBC by launching a personal and bitter attack against the network that had reneged on their agreement to him. David Letterman has always presented himself publicly as an idiosyncratic crank. That is a very fair assessment of his real character. Jay Leno has carefully cultivated a controlled image as the “Nicest Guy In Hollywood.” The closer you look behind the curtain, you realize Jay Leno is not quite as nice as he seems.  The battle for control of the Tonight Show brought out the worst in Leno and left many broken relationships in its wake.

David Letterman and Jay Leno

We’ll learn the behind the scenes story of The battle for the Tonight Show, enjoy many film clips and gain a greater perspective on Tonight’s role in American Culture.  

PLEASE NOTE: This program is offered through Harper College and registration is required.