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Don't Count Leno Out
After I left Burbank, he called every so often to check in and schmooze. Finally, when I sheepishly explained that it would be improper to leak the story to him prior to publication, Leno tried to squeeze the fact-checker for information.
All in a day's workaholism for Leno, whose aggressiveness in reaching for the brass ring knows few if any bounds. Back when he and Letterman were competing for The Tonight Show, Leno famously hid in a closet to eavesdrop on a conference call among top NBC executives—a bit of ethically dubious tradecraft that the pre-9/11 FBI might have hesitated to employ. In 1996, when Letterman was caught on an open microphone dissing his nominal employee, then Late Late Show host Tom Snyder, Leno phoned Snyder to commiserate and urged the embarrassed talk show host to fight his boss in the press. Snyder declined. Leno is also notorious for calling Hollywood publicists directly to book their famous clients for his show—a high-pressure offer that is hard to refuse.
I came away with the sense of a relentless competitor—a gung-ho scrapper who needed to win the story just as much he needed to win the night. “I like the game,” Leno acknowledged back then. “The idea of the game is they should be able to beat you up as hard as they can, and if you’re still standing, the game is a lot of fun. It is great.”
These days Leno is not having a lot of fun, but he is still in the game. NBC is charging his advertisers an estimated $48,000 per 30-second spot—about a 50 percent discount from what much higher-rated shows such as Law & Order SVU and E.R. were getting last year in the 10 p.m. time slot. Leno—who unlike Letterman has no history of controversy—provides a safe and comfortable environment for advertisers while his show, costing an estimated $500,000 per episode, comes in at a fraction of a typical scripted hour, which can run in the $3 million range. NBC has claimed that by replacing the scripted shows with Leno, among other measures, the network has cut $250 million from its annual expenses.
“So far he’s holding his own—and this is a very long-term commitment,” says analyst Brad Adgate of Horizon Media, whose clients include NBC. “I prefer to look at the glass as half-full.”
Ad buyer Chris Geraci, managing director of national broadcasting for the New York-based media company OMD, agrees that obituaries for the Jay Leno Show are way premature. “It’s performing pretty much right where we expected it would, and it’s not an incredibly bad thing for NBC,” he says. “The downside is more in the press than in the numbers.”
Lloyd Grove is editor at large for The Daily Beast. He is also a frequent contributor to New York magazine and was a contributing editor for Condé Nast Portfolio. He wrote a gossip column for the New York Daily News from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he wrote the Reliable Source column for the Washington Post, where he spent 23 years covering politics, the media, and other subjects.
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oldfuzz
This is so fair and balanced it belongs on Fox News.
As a long time Leno fan I admire his guts to move to prime time. Since I am too old to be in the mainstream I have no idea what will work for him, but believe he has the talent and stamina to change the show to fit the available audience. Time will tell.
sportsd
Great perspective. Letterman was ahead of Leno for a year and a half after the Carson retirement. Leno surged after the Hugh Grant interview and never looked back. It's only two months!
roadhunter
I loved Leno when he used to fill in for Carson. In fact, I enjoyed him more than I did Johnny. After tuning in to the first few Tonight Shows with Leno as the full-time host, I quit watching. He wasn't funny any more. I check in from time to time in hopes something has changed, but it hasn't. He's a dud. Seems like a great guy, but he's got nothing on Letterman as far as pure comedic talent goes.
Speaking of Letterman, I heard mention on local radio this morning of his recently discovered exploits hurting ratings. Funny thing...I had totally forgotten about them already.
frogspit
Don't know which radio station you're listening to (does Fox do radio?) but every story googled up on the web shows Letterman's ratings going up apres scandal.
Agree on Leno tho-boring, dumb, lowest-common-denominator stuff. He should just show videos from 'Jay Leno's Garage'-now that's entertainment.
eurydice9276
I'm glad Leno is getting the last laugh from somewhere because he hasn't gotten it from me. At 10:00pm I'm not ready to sack out on the couch while something painless drones on from the set - that's what the late night shows are for.
sophia5
As long as Leno insists on not using the " TALK SHOW DESK " . . . He absolutely will fail.
A lot of people can't get past that awful doctor's office-waiting- room chit-chat seating arrangement.
Rob-in-Denver
"... Leno ... invited me to his Beverly Hills home at 1 a.m. to watch him and his head writer cull through jokes for the next day's monologue, and even solicited my (useless) opinion as to what was funny and what was not."
Grove shouldn't sell himself so short. I swear, Kevin Eubanks has the worst job in show business: he has to sit there and pretend that those jokes are funny every night.
PacManPolarBear
Leno was not very funny or entertaining on the old show, and the new show is just more of the same. Not that Letterman is all that entertaining or funny either mind you. They are both talk show comedy dinosaurs, with stale jokes and absolutely no appeal to the majority of those of us under, I don't know, lets say 30 years old.
madbadcat
its funny that leno himself is being attacked when its so obvious this whole debacle was orchestrated by GE to lower it overhead for a quick sale. leno himself is as much a victim as the 10pm shows that were cancelled to accommodate his primetime show. does anyone really believe that nbc's new owner isn't going to go back to primetime programming with an eye on syndication revenue?
StewartIII
ChickaBOOMer: Jay Leno's Brass Balls
http://chickaboomer.blogspot.com/2009/11/jay-lenos-brass-balls.html
osea65
Letterman isn't funny either, but then again who could be funny under such pressure every night? They try very hard to entertain us, sometimes they succeed and sometimes they don't. They do the best they can with what they've got. Jay got a rough deal at 10:00 p.m., a good drama or comedy would definitely be preferred in that time slot.
danny3933
To me the answer was obvious and would have worked better. Move the Tonight show to 10--keep the format the same instead of this awkward mess they came up with. Then have Conan at 11:30 to do his old show--which was also better than what he offers now. Both of these guys are worse off for the changes made.
Passionate-One
Love Jay Leno. I find him funny and relaxing. In the "olden days," only the nobility could afford a "jester." Now we have excellent comedy for free. I don't watch tv but I do watch tv shows on my computer (www.nbc.com) and never miss a Jay Leno show. With his new 10 pm slot, his entire show is funny and entertaining right to the end (except most musical guests). It's great fun --- great for relaxing, having a good laugh, and forgetting the pressures of the day. Go Leno!
Rob-in-Denver
Mavis?
Thank you.
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