He issued a manifesto, addressed to “People of Earth,” vowing that he would never be a party to the desecration of the “Tonight Show” tradition, and, somewhat less nobly, threatened NBC with a lawsuit for breach of contract. (and moving the new host of “Late Night,” Jimmy Fallon, back to 1:05 A. If Leno had been more of a jerk, or if he had been paying someone to be a jerk for him, one of the most embarrassing episodes in an industry that has never been a stranger to embarrassment might have been avoided.Ĭonan O’Brien did have agents, and what seems to have precipitated Zucker’s decision to arrange the succession at “Tonight” five years in advance, in a business where the limit of foresight is normally thirteen weeks, is that one of those agents, Ari Emanuel (brother of the other guy), had been feeding him rumors that another network, ABC or Fox, was likely to lure O’Brien away if something was not done to insure that he would one day inherit “Tonight.” When the moment of succession arrived, of course, NBC, in a panic about losing a man who was still the late-night leader, tried to move Leno to prime time and, when that experiment bombed and NBC’s affiliates threatened to revolt, the network tried to move him back to eleven-thirty-five. We have chosen.” He decided that he had been fired, in slow motion, and he resolved to be a soldier. We’re happy to hand the show back right now and head over to ABC.” Instead, when he heard Zucker explain the deal, Leno had the Hyman Roth reaction. So when, in 2004, Jeff Zucker, the president of NBC Entertainment, came to Burbank and informed Leno that his contract would be renewed as usual but only if he agreed to step down in 2009 and hand “Tonight” over to the man who had inherited “Late Night,” Conan O’Brien, there was no agent around to say what even the agent for Morris the Cat would have said, which was “My client has been beating the competition’s brains in every night in the ratings for ten years. He never used a manager or an agent for his contract renewals again. As it was, David Letterman, who, as the host of “Late Night,” had been following Carson for eleven years and was considered the heir apparent, felt resentment about being passed over for Leno, whose reputation had been built partly on his many guest appearances on “Late Night.” Leno was professional to the core, but he did not want business to ruin friendship. As Bill Carter tells the story in his hugely entertaining recap, “The War for Late Night” (Viking $26.95), Leno fired his manager in 1992, shortly after taking over from Johnny Carson as host of the “Tonight Show.” Leno believed that his manager had said things to poison his relationship with Carson.

It all might not have happened if Jay Leno had used representation. Between 19, many men were sent into the late-night arena.

Bill carter the war for late night