Leno leaving Tonight Show in 2009
October 30, 2007

It's been a long wait for Conan O'Brien to earn his promotion to host the Tonight Show, but on Monday, NBC President Jeff Zucker confirmed that the hosting duties for the popular late night TV show would indeed fall to Conan O'Brien in 2009. That same announcement, in turn, served as a reminder to Jay Leno that his time with NBC would indeed wrap up two years from now.

After Jay Leno had made some remarks that implied he wanted to hold onto his coveted job of host of The Tonight Show for a longer period of time, Jeff Zucker told students at the Syracuse University that, "Conan O'Brien will take over The Tonight Show in 2009." E Online quoted Zucker, who also said that NBC is in negotiations with Jay Leno to stick with the network in an unidentified capacity after he leaves the Tonight Show, which he has hosted for more than 15 years. Zucker noted, "I'm hopeful that Jay will be with us."

The recent spat about his retirement hasn't soured Jay Leno from cracking wise on the Tonight Show. On Monday night, while Jay Leno delivered his monologue, one of the crew members informed the host he was running over time and that he should immediately skip to the last joke. Leno cracked, "Oh man, I thought I had another two years."

Jay Leno first took the reins of the Tonight Show from Johnny Carson in 1992, which catapulted the comedian into the limelight. Since that time, Jay Leno has enjoyed a successful acting career along with his top-rated late night talk show. There were rumors that Jay Leno would leave the show back in 2005, though the longstanding host signed a six-figure contract that kept him with the peacock. The deal would see Leno stay with the network until 2009, at which time he would turn 59 and would also mark his 17th anniversary of hosting the Tonight Show. Leno also agreed that at that point, he would hand the show over to Conan O'Brien.