I personally prefer Conan over Leno but why they replaced him is a good question. I don't know anything for sure but I remember hearing something about how Conan had five years left on his contract when he was announced as Leno's successor when he was still the host of Late Night. The fear was of him leaving when his contract was up.
I think the NBC execs thought they could have the best of both worlds by giving Conan the Tonight Show as incentive to stay and also give Leno a new show. They probably wanted to avoid a debacle, because it was at the time, similar to the one they faced when Johnny Carson retired and Leno took over the Tonight Show. David Letterman was the host of Late Night and he was thought of as the ideal successor to Carson. Instead, Leno took over and Letterman went over to CBS and became his main/direct competition. The Tonight Show was still number one but no longer as dominant as it once was.
Of course, this created another debacle. The Tonight Show was no longer as special as it once was since Leno had a show that aired an hour and a half before it. It was no longer the show you would first see late at night. I would also think that A-list celebrities would rather go on the show that aired at 10 p.m. EST instead of 11:30.
And despite what you may think about their humor, Leno's comedy was safer than Conan's. Leno's style was definitely more vanilla. The fact that Conan may appeal more to younger viewers probably worked against him when he took over the Tonight Show. For example, one of Conan's most popular characters was the masturbating bear. It was also the birthplace of Triumph and he certainly didn't play it safe. Actually, I don't ever remember seeing the masturbating bear on the Tonight Show. I guess airing an hour earlier made all the difference.
I think the NBC execs thought they could have the best of both worlds by giving Conan the Tonight Show as incentive to stay and also give Leno a new show. They probably wanted to avoid a debacle, because it was at the time, similar to the one they faced when Johnny Carson retired and Leno took over the Tonight Show. David Letterman was the host of Late Night and he was thought of as the ideal successor to Carson. Instead, Leno took over and Letterman went over to CBS and became his main/direct competition. The Tonight Show was still number one but no longer as dominant as it once was.
Of course, this created another debacle. The Tonight Show was no longer as special as it once was since Leno had a show that aired an hour and a half before it. It was no longer the show you would first see late at night. I would also think that A-list celebrities would rather go on the show that aired at 10 p.m. EST instead of 11:30.
And despite what you may think about their humor, Leno's comedy was safer than Conan's. Leno's style was definitely more vanilla. The fact that Conan may appeal more to younger viewers probably worked against him when he took over the Tonight Show. For example, one of Conan's most popular characters was the masturbating bear. It was also the birthplace of Triumph and he certainly didn't play it safe. Actually, I don't ever remember seeing the masturbating bear on the Tonight Show. I guess airing an hour earlier made all the difference.