Jay Leno-hosted Tonight Show will air its last episode on Feb. 6 and, per terms of his show exit deal with NBC, the cast and crew will be paid until his contract expires in September.
Tonight ep Debbie Vickers made the announcement today to the staffers at the show, informed sources report. It’s unclear how many crew and staff were at the meeting.
The announcement was made one week after NBC Entertainment chief Bob Greenblatt confirmed the network is having talks with Leno about “various ideas” for Leno after he ends his run on the late night show in February.
“Nothing would make us happier for Jay, a la Bob Hope, to have presence at the network, we’re really hoping to do that, post February,” he told TV critics at Summer TV Press Tour 2013.
Talks to replace Leno – this time – started when Greenblatt joined NBC at the beginning of 2011, Greenblatt said, adding that the timing after the 2014 Winter Olympics was decided “to give Jimmy Fallon the best chance of succeeding. We really believe in Jimmy Fallon.”
Leno has continued to dominate late night TV ratings, but NBC is having no second thoughts about the transition, according to Greenblatt, who dismissed the numbers as something NBC predicted it would se when the network announced it would be Jay’s final year.
“The same happened with Johnny Carson — and Jay’s previous final year,” Greenblatt said.
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