Not Ready for Prime Time?

Written by Brian Scott MednickcloseAuthor: Brian Scott Mednick Name: Brian Scott Mednick
Email: brianscottnyc@gmail.com
Site: http://www.brianscottmednick.com
About: See Authors Posts (10) on November 17, 2009

It’s been two months since Jay Leno debuted with his prime time show on NBC. Like many people, I was curious about this new venture and watched Leno’s show every night the first week. After that, I stopped, as have many others, as Leno’s slipping ratings give evidence to. I do not watch much television these days and I seem to always forget Leno is even on at 10:00 p.m.

This whole thing was suspect from the start.

Leno was top in the late night ratings when NBC made the surprising decision to give “The Tonight Show” to Conan O’Brien five years in advance. It made no sense then and still doesn’t. Leno was a perfect fit for the 11:30 time slot.

After sixteen years as a talk show host, O’Brien still seems like a bumbling amateur to me. I simply do not understand his appeal. He is also a lousy interviewer because he does not listen well, instead always trying to one-up his guests with a joke funnier than theirs. Johnny Carson was the king of late night for a reason. He was an intuitive listener and loved to sit back and let his guests shine. He was confident enough not to worry about a guest being funnier than him.

Leno admitted recently that he would consider taking “The Tonight Show” back if offered. It probably won’t happen, but whatever does transpire, I do not see any winners coming out of this, except possibly David Letterman, who, despite his personal travails, seems to be doing just fine. If Leno’s ratings continue to slip or remain tepid, his show will be canceled and the idea of a prime time talk show will forever be dead. O’Brien will probably remain with “Tonight,” although not likely for as long as Leno did.

Although I have never met him, Jay Leno is known for being one of the nicest guys in show biz, as well as one of the hardest working (he still continues to tour doing stand-up while balancing his talk show duties). His new show has a lot of problems.

The best part of Leno’s “Tonight Show” was usually the monologue, and thankfully that remains intact. However, he abandoned the desk in favor of two chairs, which I think is a mistake. This brings about the biggest problem with Leno’s show – he only has one guest per night. It is not really a talk show so much as a variety show. Leno should abandon the lame comedy bits, most of which fall flat, and do the kind of show Carson did – monologue, one short comedy bit at the desk, and then two or three guests for the rest of the show.

Late night in general is in pretty pathetic shape. It is sad to realize that there are 17-year-olds for whom the only Carson they know as a late night host is Carson Daly. Letterman is still funny, as is Craig Ferguson. I also like Jimmy Kimmel. Jimmy Fallon is painfully inept – he is like watching a teenage boy put on a show in his basement. Gone are the days of Johnny Carson, Dick Cavett, and Tom Snyder, genuine intellects who were funny, charming, and just what you wanted to see before going to bed. With this current lot, I’d rather take an Ambien and be out by midnight.