OnMedia: A failing Jay is the TV story of 2009

How long can NBC put up with this? Well, it would be a surprise if the network pulls the plug before the end of this TV season. There's simply nothing else to fill the one-hour slot.

Had NBC's plan worked, we could have seen the beginning of a new model for the broadcast TV networks, almost a throwback to the excitement of live variety shows from the birth of TV.

But the live-to-tape "Jay Leno Show" seems closer to death than life. It seems old and tired and repetitious. From the first show, even Leno hasn't seemed excited about it.

The only barely memorable incident in the show's first three months dates from that first episode in September when Kanye West dropped by just after he interrupted Taylor Swift on the MTV's Video Music Awards. West stuck with his scheduled appearance on the show and Leno "interviewed" him, asking him what his dead mother would have thought of what he'd done.

"Would she be disappointed in this? Would she give you a lecture?"

West then rambled on about not taking time off after her death, as if that was an excuse.

No, Leno's no Larry King or Barbara Walters or even Regis Philbin. If only he was funnier, that wouldn't matter.

Let me confess that I was never a big fan of Leno on "The Tonight Show." And I still think NBC did the right thing by moving Conan O'Brien into the 10:35 p.m. slot. While his overall ratings are lower than Leno's, he is doing a better job with younger viewers that advertisers are looking for.

So I expect O'Brien to be safe behind the desk at "The Tonight Show," despite rumblings from Leno that he would be open to going back to his old job.

But Leno hasn't reversed the trend of viewers from drifting away from the traditional broadcast networks. The low cost of the show compared to a one-hour drama can't make up for the loss of viewers to NBC affiliates and their flagship newscasts.

The big TV question in 2010 is when NBC will decide to pull the plug on this failed experiment.

Another talker bails: Model turned daytime talker Tyra Banks tells People that she's pulling the plug on her daytime talk show in spring 2010. Her syndicated show airs at 3 and 4 p.m. weekdays on Channel 18.

The most upset person in America is likely Joel McHale, who draws heavily from Banks' show for "The Soup," his weekly look at TV on E!

9 comments about this article. Post a comment / write a review.

Recent Talkbacks ...

Posted by Idle1 on Jan. 1, 2010 at 3:36 p.m. (report)

Check out Joy Behar's 1 hr. show on CNN's Headline News at 8:00 p.m., repeated at 11:00 p.m. She's Leno in a dress, but more fearless, funnier and with better interviewing skills!

Posted by TB_Milwaukee on Dec. 29, 2009 at 4:01 p.m. (report)

I have enjoyed Leno lately since most everything else is reruns. And I agree there's so much local news on channel 4 that by 10:00 I'm ready for something different. I understand the news is cheap and it's around to stay, but usually flip to a different channel for 10:00.

Posted by mkelover on Dec. 29, 2009 at 2:58 p.m. (report)

I still firmly maintain that Jimmy Kimmel is the funniest guy in late night...unfortunately he'll always be on WAY too late for most people (11:35 in Milw) after Nightline and in other markets they'll even squeeze in a Hollywood gossip show after Nightline before Jimmy. DVR Jimmy for a week or two and see what I mean. He's actually funny and doesn't rely on gimmicks like "Headlines" (not original humor) or "Jay Walking" (not original humor).

Posted by cuprisin on Dec. 29, 2009 at 1:18 p.m. (report)

Buck, such advertisers don't normally buy prime-time slots on broadcast networks. They don't have those kinds of ad budgets.

Posted by buck on Dec. 29, 2009 at 12:59 p.m. (report)

you'd think that companies that want to dupe the slow and/or old would be all over advertising during leno. i'm thinking term life insurance, cash-for-gold, correspondence schools, impossible to cancel once-a-month book collections, etc.

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