4. Leno Is Burned Out
Over the past few years, it has become clear that The Tonight Show is no longer a powerhouse in the late night landscape. The Johnny Carson age of dominance is long over, and the relatively recent ratings victories of Lettermans Late Night over Lenos Tonight Show are just the capstone. In truth, the only time Lenos Tonight Show gets major attention these days is through various kinds of scandal. In 2008, viewers were treated to the Jay Leno vs. Conan OBrien debacle. Over the past few weeks, Leno has been gaining attention again: this time for his extremely pointed jabs at his own network, NBC, and their rock-bottom ratings across the board. Criticizing and aggravating people (especially those at your own network) does not automatically equal good comedy. Fallon, on the other hand, is building up a strong head of steam for himself. In 2010, Late Night won an Emmy, and was nominated again in 2011 and 2012. Fallon also won a Grammy Award for his comedy album Blow Your Pants Off in 2013. The worst bit of publicity he has garnered was a small fuss when his house band played an off-color song as Governor Michelle Bachmanns entrance music when she appeared on the show - and that barely registered on the scandal scale.