My pal Marc Wielage pointed me to this interview with Bill Carter, the N.Y. Times reporter who covers late night and who authored the book, The Late Shift. He has a new book coming soon on the whole Conan/Jay mess.
One odd moment in the interview. Carter is discussing whether Craig Ferguson might one day take over for Letterman and he says…
We know that Craig has the show that follows Dave, and usually those things happen — a guy steps out, and the 12:30 guy steps in. That is what has happened although never very smoothly in the past.
Uh, when has that ever happened? 12:30 talk shows are a fairly recent development. Only about five guys have ever done them. When Johnny Carson stepped out, the guy who was at 12:30 behind him didn't step in. Leno was replaced by the guy at 12:30 but he didn't step out. He was pushed because the 12:30 guy wanted his job. There's been no succession at ABC or CBS. I'm puzzled as to where Mr. Carter thinks this precedent has played out.