Who did Johnny Carson want to replace him when he retired from the Tonight Show, David Letterman or Jay Leno ?

Public Comments

1. jay leno
2. As it appears, Johnny deliberately stayed out of the decision. The movie, "The Late Shift," is supposedly a relatively accurate recount of the events surrounding Carson's retirement - if nothing else, it's a very entertaining movie.
3. They should've gotten anybody but Leno or Letterman or Conan. David Steinberg is pleasant and Billy Crystal is appealing.
4. Johnny Carson publicly never sated a preference for a replacement and let the NBC executives make the choice.
5. Apparently Jay Leno since he chose him. David was so angry though because they were close friends.
6. Johnny was prepping Letterman to replace him by having him guest host so much. THen NBC chose Leno. The Late Shift movie is NOT accurate. And David was crushed. He asked Johnny what he'd do if he were in his shoes, and Johnny said "I'd walk". So David left NBC and CBS grabbed him and bought the Ed Sullivan theatre for his show. Johnny only appeared on TV after his retirement by doing walk-ons and short jokes for David. He never appeared with Leno. And at one point Carson would send jokes he had written to David. One night David did his whole monologue using Johnny's jokes. He said this later. He and Johnny were very close.
7. jay leno
8. David Letterman. No question about it. Dave was on at 12:30 following Johnny, and when NBC hired Leno, Letterman jumped to CBS at 11:30. Leno sucks