Jay Leno to stay at NBC and air at 10 p.m.

Here's an abbreviated blog entry from TV writer Mark Evanier:

<i>"A lot of folks in the press have been dying to write the story about how Jay Leno's ratings have collapsed and to say it now doesn't look like it was such a wise idea for NBC to oust Conan O'Brien and reinstate Jay in the time slot. You can certainly spin the current numbers that way, though I'd imagine NBC's spin would be along the lines of, "Hey, if you think Leno's doing poorly now, take a look at our estimates of where O'Brien would now be if we'd left him on." And you could interpret the numbers that way, too.

What's lost in the shuffle is what I think oughta be the lede: All the late night shows, except maybe Nightline, are way down in audience share. Most of the headlines will tell you, for example, that in the second quarter of this year, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno posted its lowest-rated numbers since The Late Show with David Letterman launched on CBS in 1993. This is true. Farther down in the article, they might mention that Letterman is also getting some of the worst numbers he's had on CBS. Also true. Put simply, America is presently bored with that kind of show...and I don't think I'm just projecting because I am.

So are any of them in trouble? Not right now because at the moment, there's nobody else.

Someone wrote to ask me if I thought Leno would get fired (how many times would this be?) if his numbers don't pick up. They'd probably have to fall for a long time before that happened. First of all, his track record for bounceback is still not one to be quickly dismissed...and secondly, who would you put in there? I haven't heard any names mentioned by anyone in or around NBC and that's how you'll know if and when Jay is in trouble. You'll hear a name and it won't just come from some outside observer. It'll be sourced from somewhere within. That hasn't happened yet.

Letterman's not doing that well either but with him, it's different. He's David Letterman, the only thing CBS has ever had that's worked at that hour. He won't leave until he's good and ready. The next change that's going to happen in late night will be when Conan O'Brien debuts his new show on TBS. The industry consensus, which is not always right about this stuff, seems to be that he'll get a lot of initial tune-in, then settle down to a small but loyal audience that will be profitable but which will not threaten Jay or Dave. If Conan does essentially the same program he did at NBC, that sounds like a safe prediction. If he does something that revolutionizes that kind of show...well, somebody's going to have to.

The Jay vs. Dave battle has been fun in some ways but the real outcome is that the audience out there seems to be bored with both shows. If the respective hosts were more engaged — if this week's shows didn't seem so much like reruns of last week's shows — they could be doing better but I don't think they can ever be Must-See-TV again. At some point, someone is going to come along and reinvent talk shows the way Mr. Letterman once did. Until then, I've got a TiVo and plenty of other channels and DVDs. And I've learned, as so much of America is learning, that you don't absolutely have to watch a talk show after the 11:00 news. Hell, you don't even have to watch the 11:00 news anymore...</i>

 

O'Brien may have gotten a nod of approval from the Emmys. He personally submitted the "Tonight Show w/ Conan O' Brien" for nomination, and NBC submitted "Tonight Show w/ Jay Leno". The Emmys picked Conan O' Brien's show. Have to love the Leno snub.

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/08/conan-gets-emmy-nominatio_n_639117.html

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Suck it, Chin.

 

I've said it countless times, but Kimmel's show is consistently funnier than both Letterman and Leno.

 

I really don't watch any of the 11:35/12:05 shows — if I see one, it's probably Letterman only because I'm waiting for the only late-nite talker that I never miss, Craig Ferguson.

That said, I gotta give Kimmel points for being creative as hell. When he had the balls to do the entire show a few weeks back from his Apple laptop camera? I don't think anyone else would have done it. No one else has those kind of stones.

 

You like Ferguson? I live near Boston, and he seemed a little off during the July 4th Boston Pops concert. I'm not sure if that's his normal demeanor, but he didn't make much sense. It could just be me, though.

 

Yeah, kind of obsessed. I just borrowed his comedy DVD "A Wee Bit O' Revolution" and the unabridged audiobook of "American On Purpose" from the local library.

The DVD was alright - not the best standup I've ever seen - but the book, which I've been meaning to read but decided I'd put the book on my iPhone, is awesome.

I guess I like the show so much because it seems so unprepared, so off-the-cuff. so "nobody's watching so let's have a bit of fun." His interviews, which I admit can skew to being more about him than the guest, can also be pretty damned good. He's asking shit that the other late-niters aren't. He seems to want to relate to them on a personal basis, not just as someone in the industry. He's also tried different things, like when he interviewed Stephen Fry for the whole hour with no audience, none of the trappings of his usual broadcast. Self-deprecating, too, which is a positive. So, yeah, I never miss it if it can be helped.

 

The late night talk show has already been reinvented, by Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. The reason ratings for these shows are down is that there are too many of them chasing a limited number of people.

 

Colbert and Stewart do a great job. Who else can come up with truthiness? I always watch them, and the last time I watched a late-night show was during Conan O' Brien's tenure. That says a lot.

 

Ferguson's my choice of all the above.

 

the other reason its down is that you know if there's a good bit, you'll see it on Youtube or Hulu or the Huffington Post the next day. Late Night TV is almost like CSPAN — you don't watch it because you assume if anything important or memorable happens, the media will catch you up with it.

 

Glad to see Kimmel was nominated for his "Late Night Wars" bit. That thing was brilliant.
I agree about the premise about the format being tired. It's not just that the jokes aren't seen coming from a mile away, or repetitive - it's that the (Letterman/Leno) shows don't say anything.