Despite the fact that I don’t find Jay Leno funny, I respect him. Or rather, I respected him. The man works, and works hard. He hosted a late night show every weekday, never missing a show until forced to do so for medical reasons, and performed stand-up when not producing the Tonight Show. He always presented himself to be a classy fellow that seemed like he’d be likable in person.

Before I go on, read this Rolling Stone interview with Leno posted before Leno’s departure from the Tonight Show.

And here at NBC, they have this thing that they like you to leave before you peak out and you’re over the top. And that’s what they wanted to do with me. So I said, “Guys, whatever you want to do.” I’ve never been one of these guys that breaks up with a girl and goes, “But why? If I do this, will you go out with me?” I’m more like, “Babe, if you don’t want to see me, I’m gone. It’s over. Thank you.”
–Jay Leno

When Leno left the Tonight Show, my understanding from what I’ve read, including the Rolling Stone interview, is that he did so of his own accord. Sure, Conan O’Brien wanted to advance in NBC from his Late Night show, but Leno did not have to endorse O’Brien as the next Tonight Show host. He did not have to step down. If O’Brien was indeed going to ABC, Leno could have let him. If NBC has “this thing that they like you to leave before you peak out and you’re over the top,” he could have certainly countered that by reminding the network that he was still on top. Instead, Leno decided to go along with the notion of leaving willingly. Then, about five years later, he came up with the idea for a 10 o’clock show.

It didn’t do very well. Now, NBC is relocating Leno’s show to 11:35 PM and bumping back the Tonight Show to 12:05 AM, something Conan won’t support.

First, NBC is just a huge example of bad-decision making. Forget the gamble of a five-day-a-week comedy talk-show at 10:00 PM. Forget the lack of Must-See-TV (remember those days?). Leno’s show didn’t do well in the ratings because either a) it wasn’t very good; b) it wasn’t what people wanted at 10:00 PM; c) both a and b. The move to 11:35 is essentially asking Leno to do a show it was suggested he leave, which he did willingly–I say suggested because no one forced him out. No one fired him. This isn’t logical at all. Why suggest that Leno leave the Tonight Show at 11:35 only to put him back in the same time slot with a different show?

Second, if Leno elected to step down, he should stay down. He willingly stepped down, setting his own departure date. He suggested the 10:00 show, it’s not doing well, and now NBC wants to move him back to 11:35 which will affect more than just him. It affects O’Brien and Jimmy Fallon, current host of Late Night. I think it’s selfish to return to an old time slot that he willingly left to do a half hour show that will bump everyone’s time slot back, changing showtimes that have been in place for a long time.

Third, networks don’t give anything a chance anymore, including NBC. Changing the hosts of the Tonight Show means there will be a loss in viewers as loyal fans follow the host they like. Leno presumably took fans with him, as did O’Brien. And a reboot means a new show, and a new show means time needed to build a new following. O’Brien needs more time to gain new fans to add to his already faithful followers.

The classy thing to do would be for Leno to think twice about his support of the move and decline. He can do something else, whether at NBC or another network. He made his decision five years ago to leave. He should honor that decision.

On a related note, even though the Internet and DVRs have given us the ability to watch TV programs whenever we want, outside of their scheduled programming, the fact is people still watch scheduled TV. People still set aside time to watch certain things. The least networks can do is is provide quality programming and let the programming take the time to grow and build an audience. Seinfeld needed time. Leno’s Tonight Show needed time. Just because the landscape of TV watching has changed, doesn’t mean that scheduled programming has gone away. It still needs an audience, and audiences are earned, not awarded.