Jay Leno and David Letterman are in the twilight of their days as late-night TV kings, and it’s not clear that any late-night comic will wield that kind of broad influence again.

Late-night ratings sank over the past three months, despite the attention and extraordinary television created over the winter by the drama of Leno taking back “The Tonight Show” from Conan O’Brien.

“Late-night talk shows have been around since the 1950s, and you wonder if they are getting passe with the viewing public,” said Brad Adgate, an analyst with Horizon Media.

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The Emmys are standing with Team Coco, snubbing Jay Leno.

O’Brien’s short-lived reign at NBC’s “Tonight” show earned him an Emmy nod for best variety, music or comedy series. Leno, who returned to “Tonight” following the failure of his prime-time show, was not nominated on Thursday.

But if it makes Leno feel any better, David Letterman was snubbed in the same category — for the first time in 17 years.

NBC submitted both versions of “Tonight” for Emmys consideration, letting the TV academy decide what to include in the category. They went with O’Brien, who was nominated alongside “Saturday Night Live” and shows hosted by Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and Bill Maher. O’Brien’s final “Tonight” show was also nominated for best writing in a variety, music or comedy series.

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More on Leno and late night:
Jay Leno’s late-night future up in air | Poll: Should Jay stay or go? | Video: Leno gets laughs out of rumors

Who's gonna get to keep 11:35?

NBC’s prime time/late night time slots seem like a game of musical chairs – First the Peacock network makes good on its promise to give Conan O’Brien the hosting gig of “The Tonight Show,” then takes away some of the luster of that accomplishment (no matter how they framed it) by giving Jay Leno, the abdicating “Tonight Show” host, his own 10 p.m. prime time show five days a week. People who like watching crime programs at 10 p.m., or “Dateline” episodes where Chris Hansen pulls the okee doke on “alleged” predators, or who just don’t find Jay Leno funny at any timeslot, cried foul.

And now that the show turned out to be a ratings turkey and, honestly, not all that funny, NBC is reportedly considering pushing Jay back to 11:35, meaning that Conan could be headed back to “Late Night,” and meaning Jimmy Fallon might be…oh, who knows? NBC, for their part, has released a statement confirming that they are committed to keeping Conan on NBC, which, as anyone whose ever been dumped by a vague text message claiming to want to be friends, knows doesn’t mean anything. Sure, they’re committed to keeping you around. But as what? And when? And what kind of friendship is that anyway, huh? And are you gonna pay Conan back for all those lunches when you “forgot” your wallet, NBC?

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