NBC 'Tonight' Show

Would Craig taking over Dave's slot automatically mean Worldwide Pants would produce that show still? If not, I wouldn't assume Dave would automatically choose Craig because as Craig has often said, Dave is really his boss not his friend. Whenever you see Craig on Dave's show, they don't appear to be TOO friendly. I seem to recall Craig was not Dave's favourite to host the show in the first place.

First of all, congratulations to Jimmy Fallon on getting the Tonight show, for what it's worth. The franchise has been devalued, dragged through the mud, treated with contempt and has lost all semblance of respect in a lot of peoples' views. Jimmy Fallon doesn't strike me as an individualistic Conan-type character who inspires a following and who has an understanding of what the franchise is and what it should mean. As far as Fallon is concerned, it will just be another gig in his young, precocious career.

Secondly - regarding the Craig Ferguson issue, Craig has repeatedly stated that he has no wish, desire or even inclination to replace Letterman. Whilst forum members can wax lyrical about perceived lack of friendship or closeness, there IS a respect between Ferguson and Letterman and Craig doesn't quite see himself as the natural heir to Dave. The Late Late Show is still the show of choice for a slightly leftfield, quirky, kooky audience of young to middle-aged fun-loving people. They're also intelligent enough to appreciate interviews with foreign politicians, writers, scientists as well as TV and film actors, musicians and comedians. OK, so there's less puppetry and less cutaway sketches, but there's still a robot skeleton, a horse, mouth organs, coconuts and frisbees and masses of audience participation. That formula wouldn't work on a regular late night show. It's why the relatively safe and boring episode 1 ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8UHIk_ZHeY ) quickly became the monster mash it is today.

It must be said however that Craig's main currency has always been uncensored stand up comedy - he's got a Netflix special out at the moment, has released several DVDs in the last couple of years and still plays regular gigs all over the US on weekends between tapings of tLLs. Josh Robert Thompson is starring in films and doing VO work elsewhere, so Geoff Peterson isn't the be-all and end-all of his current career either.

Studio 58 is now used by Kathy Griffin's Bravo chat show, and they use far wider shots which show just how small it is.

On the subject of Craig Ferguson, I would say CBS' concern would be if they didn't promote him, one of the big cable networks could poach him and set him against Tonight etc which would further dilute the late night market.

The fact that we've barely mentioned Leno in this thread shows how boring and pointless he is, and shouldve gone years ago.

Oh wow you're right, that studio looks even smaller with her set. Looks like they've tried to cram a bigger audience in at the expense of even more set space. Had to turn it off very quickly though as something about Kathy Griffin gives me a migrane.

Couldn't agree more about Leno too. He's actually an interesting guy when you interview him about cars like they did on Top Gear, but i just don't like the Tonight Show with him. I think it's bland.

Old studio takedown and new studio build (with cameo from Secretariat)

I think the big problem both CBS and NBC have is reconnecting with younger viewers - the demographic they best sell advertising against. While Tonight and Leno might have the largest overall viewership, the Comedy Central duo 'The Daily Show with Jon Stewart' and 'The Colbert Report' together have the highest 18-49 ratings.

The average ages of 'Daily' and 'Colbert' are 42.4 and 41.7 respectively, compared to Leno's 58.1, Letterman's 57.3, Fallon's 53.3 and Ferguson's 53.4. Even Kimmel, who is eating away at Leno's 18-49 rating, has an average viewer age of 54.1. And only Kimmel*, 'Daily' and 'Colbert' have seen increases in this demographic, with Leno, Letterman and Ferguson all seeing double-digit falls.

My feeling is that Fallon will probably bring NBC slightly higher ratings than Leno has recently, but in the long run will continue to see declines. While Fallon might be talented I don't think he's got an exceptional/star quality, nor will make 'Tonight' an exceptional broadcast, and as people switch off their televisions and move away from 'traditional' broadcasting I think that's really important for NBC's future. The one saving grace is that Fallon, apparently, is managing to build a strong web presence, much like Kimmel, Stewart ('Daily') and Colbert.

Still, I struggle to see how a broadcaster like NBC will manage to survive in the long run if it's unable to produce really innovative programming again. As things stand 'Today' and 'Tonight' are both suffering declining ratings, I don't think NBC has particularly strong daytime programming (unlike ABC, whose programmes 'Live with Kelly and Michael' and 'The View' are still doing well on the affiliates who air them) and NBC finished last year in fifth place in primetime. I just don't understand how, even in these times, a broadcaster can screw things up so badly.


* ABC switched Kimmel and Nightline's slots last year, moving Kimmel to the earlier slot shared with Leno and Letterman, so his 53% total viewer and 41% 18-49 rating increases are obviously a one-off.

Note: Figures from The Hollywood Reporter.

I have to say I stole that exact idea (and music) for a timelapse video I did of a recent equipment replacement at my workplace not so long ago:





NBC are really struggling with decent programming at the moment. It's something I've heard people like Craig Ferguson mock on their late night shows. Even one of their few decent offerings Community has been mucked about with so much in its life. CBS are doing well at the moment with shows like 'Big Bang Theory' but who knows how long that'll last. As you've said, the best ratings in the younger demographic do come from Cable. Cable programming in the States is by far the most innovative these days, at least in my opinion.

Yo could pinpoint it to HBO.

I was meaning specifically CBS and NBC are seeing double-digit falls in their late night talk shows in younger viewers, and some insiders/analysts have speculated the Fallon move is a response to Kimmel moving to a slot that put him in direct competition, and subsequently his younger viewer ratings gains.

CBS is stable in primetime, but mainly because its schedules are relatively stable programming - lots of 'Law & Order' style procedurals and Chuck Lorre sitcoms - while NBC's schedules have practically collapsed.

Who is in first place in the usa? Abc? Fox? I can't remember what abc chat show is.

ABC have only recently moved Jimmy Kimmel to 11.35pm, opposite Leno and Letterman. Previously it used to air after Nightline, a nightly news show which has now been bumped to 12.35am.

Obvious question I guess but I assumed the reason channels have two chat shows is so one can be in New York and the other (presumably later) in Los Angeles, enabling them to attract different guests. However doesn't look like that is strictly true (though Tonight will return to New York next year), so any other reason the channels have back to back chat shows other than to keep the audience as late into the night as possible?

Amazing how people in the UK consider this such big news for a show we can't even get here. It was even on the BBC News website.