A Prime Time for Jay Leno at NBC
NBC Photo: Paul Drinkwater
A familiar face—the chin, especially—is joining NBC's prime-time lineup.
Capitalizing on rumors that Jay Leno isn't ready to hang up his Peacock feathers, the network has signed him to a new contract that will have him presiding over a Tonight Show-style show during the 10 p.m. hour on a nightly basis, E! News has confirmed.
Meaning, NBC Universal chief executive Jeff Zucker wasn't kidding when he said at a news conference today that NBC might be forced to rein in its prime-time programming hours after a disappointing fall season.
Securing Leno for the ER/Law & Order/many-a-canceled-drama slot kills multiple birds with one stone: It stops Leno from taking his late-night schtick—and his built-in audience—to a rival network at a time when NBC can ill afford to lose any viewers at any time, and it will likely save the network a pretty penny, cutting its number of fillable prime-time hours from 22 to 17.
The deal is expected to be announced Tuesday. Per the New York Times, Leno—who has been joking on a near weekly basis about being forced out at NBC next year—won't even have to change studios. His new show will be taped in Burbank, Calif., where the Tonight Show is currently based, while Conan O'Brien will move into new digs in Universal City when he takes over June 1.
Five-minute webisodes featuring O'Brien's eventual successor, Jimmy Fallon, start rolling out on NBC.com tonight.
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