Jay, Dave--Why the Fuss? : Television: Are there good reasons for this tumult over a talk-and-comedy late-night series that has a much smaller audience than prime-time shows? Count ‘em.

The best drama on television in the past year has been NBC’s “The Tonight Show,” as Johnny Carson emotionally retired from it, Jay Leno inherited it and David Letterman fought for it.

Every detail seemed to be recorded. The entire nation watched and took sides as Letterman massacred NBC and its owner, General Electric, with his murderous wit, finally coming in with a stupendous $14-million annual salary offer from CBS, plus other high-stakes perks, that enticed him to leave NBC after 11 years of revolutionizing television with his new-generation series and earning the network a fortune.

Even professional nice-guy Leno finally threw up his hands at NBC, which had botched the embarrassing corporate and show business fiasco by letting matters drag on far too long after Letterman let it be known a year ago that he was available to the network’s competitors.

NBC’s Hollywood officials seemed to favor Leno, while the network’s brass in New York kept him dangling. Eventually he, too, threatened to quit and go to CBS if Letterman got his “Tonight” job. On his New Year’s Eve show, Leno cracked:

“At NBC, they still can’t figure out which auld acquaintance should be forgot. But they’re working on it.”

Why such a fuss over a late-night talk-and-comedy series that has a much smaller audience than prime-time shows?

The reasons were good and plenty. “The Tonight Show” has been perhaps the premiere showcase of TV, a part of the daily life cycle of many viewers. Carson had become a national institution in his nearly 30 years at the helm, and whoever took over would definitely be on the spot.

Leno was the diligent, funny, traditional, permanent substitute host and had earned his wings. Yet Letterman had already won an important place in the medium’s history by bringing the sensibility of the young television generation to the home screen with a wildly imaginative program that included his “Top 10” lists, which swept the nation.

For NBC, the matter of who would run its late-night jewel was a matter of supreme business significance. In dire straits financially at a time when it is regularly rumored up for sale and is dying in the ratings, the choice of Leno or Letterman had escalated into one of the most important programming decisions that NBC--or any network--ever had to make.

Last among the Big Three in prime time, last in daytime, last in the evening news and respectable in the morning with the “Today” show, the network’s choice would perhaps determine the fate of the only program area in which it reigned supreme: late-night. With a 2 1/2-hour program block consisting of “Tonight,” Letterman and the Bob Costas interview series, it has been formidable and highly profitable.

Month after month, all kinds of colorful scenarios emerged as to what NBC’s new late-night lineup might look like if Letterman left. And then, as the matter got down to the nitty-gritty, another question gained attention: What if NBC, fearing to lose Letterman, suddenly reversed its own decision, gave in to the acerbic host and dropped Leno?

It was tough on Leno. From the time he took over “Tonight,” it seemed he had never really had time to just kick back and relish his terrific new job. His longtime friend, manager and new executive producer, Helen Kushnick, was fired by NBC amid controversy over booking practices. And now, even though his ratings were perfectly good, he was under the gun because of the showdown with Letterman, who was represented by the powerful agent Michael Ovitz.

Back and forth went the scenarios. If Leno stayed, Dana Carvey could replace Letterman--if he wanted to. Or maybe Costas would get an hour following Leno. Or maybe NBC would follow Leno with reruns of the old Carson “Tonight” series.

Or maybe NBC would try to flip-flop Leno and Letterman in order to keep them both. In other words, under that plan, let Letterman have “Tonight” and give Leno the 12:30 a.m. slot. During her tenure, Kushnick said she never would have signed Leno for the 12:30 a.m. time period. And when the notion came up recently, Leno said: “I was hired to do 11:30, and anything else would be perceived as, ‘You screwed up.’ ”

Other names had popped up to replace “Late Night With David Letterman” on NBC--Billy Crystal, Jerry Seinfeld and Dennis Miller among them. One report said CBS might try to grab both Letterman and Carvey.

While Leno kept his chin up and carried on, Letterman had the world on a string. Just about everyone seemed to want him--not only CBS, but also Fox Broadcasting and such syndicators as King World, Columbia Pictures and Twentieth TV.

At times, the competition over who would move where, if at all, became circus-like. CBS had already pursued Leno several years ago. And then, during the past year, Letterman’s pal, Connie Chung of CBS, came on his show and told him to come to work for her network, and Koppel and Sam Donaldson also visited the comedian’s series and put in a pitch for ABC.

While Letterman was flying high, questions nonetheless remained about how he would fare if he made the move to CBS at 11:30. CBS is a longtime loser in late-night and many of its stations carry shows from other, syndicated sources. And would Letterman’s tough wit play as well at 11:30, where audiences had become accustomed to the gentler, mainstream styles of Carson and now Leno?

The flip side was that NBC may have made a mistake in thinking that it had to stay in the mainstream Carson style by choosing Leno. While the network’s affiliates voted in a recent survey for Leno, the past “Tonight” hosts--Steve Allen, Jack Paar and Carson--were all light-years different from each other, and Letterman is in this tradition.

In addition, the mainstream Carson audience is getting older and Letterman has brought the new generation along with him. But Leno’s supporters could argue that point too.

Of significance, perhaps, is what Letterman said in a mid-1980s interview when asked if his style could be suited to 11:30: “I think that we would gradually evolve into a more middle-of-the-road kind of thing.”

In any case, the late-night wars will provide plenty of viewing fuel in the near future. With Letterman and Leno dominating the pack, Arsenio Hall is slipping back in the ratings and will lose some of his current stations to such new entries as Fox’s Chevy Chase, who debuts later this year.

Thus far this season, Leno has averaged a 4.7 rating and 14% of the audience. (Each rating point equals 931,000 homes.) He has soundly beaten CBS’ late-night crime shows, which have a 2.9 rating and 10 share. But ABC’s half-hour “Nightline,” looking good during the fall political campaign, has a 4.9 rating for the season and a 15 share.

At his later hour, where viewing drops off, Letterman is averaging a 2.7 rating and 13% of the audience this season, NBC says. Naturally, the appeal of the 11:30 p.m. slot to late-night contenders is considerable because of the combination of more viewers and generally much more money.

Leno, however, reportedly earns $3 million a year compared to Letterman’s current $7 million at NBC. Carson’s annual take in his later “Tonight” years--when he owned the series--was estimated at about $25 million.

What CBS clearly was looking for in pursuing Letterman was not merely the man himself, but possible residual effects. CBS, now No. 1 in both prime time and daytime, had decided to shoot for late-night dominance as well. In addition, there undoubtedly was the thought that its last-place “CBS This Morning” series would benefit because viewers waking up often turn to the station they watched last the previous night.

High stakes.