Just The Gist of… The Tonight Show battle between Conan O'Brien and Jay Leno

In 2010, NBC tried to hand The Tonight Show, the 60-year-old crown jewel of American late night, to two different comedians. The five-year succession plan they spent years building collapsed in seven months, took down the entire network's primetime line-up with it, and ended with $45 million in severance, one million people in "I'm With Coco" t-shirts, and one of the great public-image collapses in TV history. Sixteen years later, Conan O'Brien and Jay Leno have still never spoken. This is Just The Gist of the Tonight Show battle between Conan O'Brien and Jay Leno.......We give you Just The Gist, but if you want more, there's Breakin' Nooz, JTG After Show AND Bonus eps! You can access them by joining the Gistener Club via the Just The Gist Patreon or Apple Premium Subscriptions.Watch Just The Gist episodes on Youtube @JustTheGistPodcast Follow Just The Gist on Instagram and TikTok @JustTheGistPodcast Follow Rosie in all the places at @RosieWaterland Want to give us a SuGISTion? Tell Rosie to stop singing so much? Email us at [email protected] The Gist is a Just The Network production. Executive Producer and Host: Rosie Waterland | Senior Producer and Editor: James Joseph | Producer: Kate Leaver | Additional production support: Hayley Staveley | Acast Legends: Guy Scott-Wilson and Simon McDermott | Production Assistant: PocketDon't forget to follow and give us 5 stars, which means something apparently! Thank you, as always, for Gistening. Now go say something impressive at a dinner party.......Resources:The War for Late Night by Bill Carter (Goodreads, 2010)The Late Shift by Bill Carter (Goodreads, 1994)2010 Tonight Show conflict (Wikipedia)Conan O'Brien's 2011 Dartmouth Commencement Speech (YouTube, 2011)Conan O'Brien Can't Stop documentary (YouTube, 2011)O'Donnell to Leno: Hand over Tonight (CBS News, 2010)Jay Leno and the Tonight Show Controversy (Oprah.com, 2010) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.