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Jay Leno Show debuts with a Hugh Grant moment

jal41

jal41

The first Jay Leno Show just wrapped up. That Hugh Grant moment was with Kanye West, who apologized for his incident at the MTV VMA awards last night where he took the microphone from Taylor Swift. (he was already scheduled to perform anyway).

As for format...He started with a monologue, then went to a comedy bit, then the guest, then a short bit (which would have been at the end of the monologue during the old Tonight Show), music, then Headlines.

As for headlines...immediatly after the segment, you are lead directly to local news, with no logos or anything. WXIA/Atlanta planned a split screen with the anchors saying "Thank You Jay", but there were technical problems (prior to tonight, WXIA aired a 30 second commercial between network credits and the Gannett standard news open, which was not present tonight). I suspect this is what affiliates want, and they don't want to waist time in between.
 
Took one look at the guest list and decided to spend my hour elsewhere. I like Leno but his guests haven't improved since he left TTS. I'm guessing this show will do well....until one of the other networks puts up a good challenger. Jay should be doing a Saturday afternoon car/motorcycle guy show.
 
One word: Underwhelming.

The monologue was strong, the rest of the show was weak. The carwash segment was over-long. The Seinfeld interview was humorous, but predictable. The Kanye West segment was no Hugh Grant moment...much less, despite Jay's pointed questions. I wonder how they will keep this compelling five nights a week.
 
Agreed. The Car Wash song went on way too long and was scheduled waaay too early.

I wonder, why didn't he open with Seinfeld? The two of them should've walked out together at the start of the show.

NBC should've premiered it a week earlier - or, even better, over the summer. Throwing it up against the season premiere of Monday Night Football (a doubleheader) doesn't seem like a very good idea.
 
Not much different than the Tonight show except for the fact that Jay appeared almost uncomfortable without the desk. Talking to Seinfeld he seemed to be at a loss for words several times (as if he didn't know what to say). Lots of hesitation and not much quick wit. It's as if the desk he had before gave him security and confidence. Now without the desk he comes off as vulnerable and slow. It was strange.
 
What the heck was that "interview" with the president? It was an awkward way to transition from Seinfeld to Kanye.
 
I did catch the first episode of The Jay Leno Show. I find his new show about as funny as a good Late Night with Jimmy Fallon show. Witch is very hard to find. OK I'm a bit harsh. Then I never think Jay Leno was funny to begin with. WCMH DT wait till the show was over until they started the newscast. I did check WHIZ DT and they didn't feature a "Your Local News is Next" segment.
 
Even "Headlines" seemed awkward (and rushed, since it was at the
end of the show and up against the clock).

When do the overnights come out?
 
Now people can understand why Johnny Carson never returned to television (full time) after leaving The Tonight Show. Once one has been at the top of the mountain, the rest is all downhill.

Leno might be a nice fellow and all, but I was not impressed with his show. I wish him luck, but I believe that NBC brass will pull the plug on this show before the snow falls.
 
I give it a bit longer than some, reason being NBC really doesn't have anything that will draw anything but 3rd place numbers, the whole reason for this desperation move.
My theory is that he'll go back where he did the most good, back to the Tonight Show. Conan's getting his behind handed to him...even Letterman reruns are beating him.
 
There is a comfort level in having Jay on TV before bed. But that 10 PM show sure didn't feel so comfortable. They should give him his desk back and change the name of the program to "Early Tonight Show".
 
I hope Leno's show isn't like Joan Rivers' old late show on the then-new Fox network, which debuted to high ratings, and then quickly flamed out. At the end of the show's brief run, everyone was making such a big deal about her getting guests like Elton John on the show, which only served to remind me that Elton was a guest on her very first show, and what had she done for us lately?
 
The Voice of Reason said:
Now people can understand why Johnny Carson never returned to television (full time) after leaving The Tonight Show. Once one has been at the top of the mountain, the rest is all downhill.
Click to expand...
Carson was much older than Leno is at this same point in their respective careers, and many believe that Carson stayed too long. Leno is too young to be "put out to pasture" just yet.
 
"Tonight Show - Lite"
 
The show was awkward, the set was way too busy (visually speaking), and Kanye West is pretty inarticulate when he's not rapping.

The show probably will have good ratings, but it's only curiosity, and it will drop off like a rock. People have been watching primarily scripted dramas and the occasional news program at 10:00 (9:00 Central) for a half-century. A garden variety talk show (and that's all it is) in that slot is too big a change, and won't work for very long, IMO.
 
benwolf said:
I give it a bit longer than some, reason being NBC really doesn't have anything that will draw anything but 3rd place numbers, the whole reason for this desperation move.
My theory is that he'll go back where he did the most good, back to the Tonight Show. Conan's getting his behind handed to him...even Letterman reruns are beating him.
Click to expand...

Don't count on it...reportedly NBC has a committment to Leno for about a year or two, regardless of ratings.

As for Conan, he's good....but moving up to the Tonight Show and out of New York wasn't worth it. Just because you're the host of Late Night doesn't automatically entitle you to the Tonight Show afterwards.
 
Wow I'm kind of blown away by the some of the comments.
I think we just saw a turning of the page in the slow moving
evolution of Television. I think the show will be a long running hit,
and with-in two years, we will see another network spanking themselves to have
someone on against him at 10pm.
 
It'll be interesting to see how to guage the ratings. I mean suppose Leno does well on, say Tues, Thru, and Friday but tanks on Mon and Wed.

How does one work around this? How are they gonna sell the ad time, per night? Or is it per week? How will NBC judge the success of the show if the ratings go up and down depending on which particular program Leno is up against.

I do agree they should give him the desk back.

This show is supposed to be very cheap to produce so I wonder how low they can sell ads for and still make as much profit as the ABC and CBS
 
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