NEWS > ENTERTAINMENT > DESPITE OBJECTIONS JAY LENO PROMISES TO BE BACK IN THE FALL

DESPITE OBJECTIONS JAY LENO PROMISES TO BE BACK IN THE FALL

May 30 2009

Los Angeles, CA – For the last 17 years Jay Leno has been a mainstay of late night television. His foray into the late night game, taking over for the legendary Johnny Carson and usurping David Letterman, was borne with uncertainty. His awkward and sometime goofy demeanour, his milquetoast jokes, and the constant comparisons to
rival Letterman put him in an awkward position from the beginning. Despite those obstacles Leno managed to eventually float to the top of the late night game, besting Letterman routinely and establishing his place in television history.

With his departure from ‘The Late Show’ Leno not only managed to maintain his characteristic humour and bland sensibility, but also continued on his promise of returning in the fall for a primetime show. That show had been part of the deal made with NBC to keep him with the network after officials decided to end his tenure with ‘The Late Show’ in favour of Conan O’Brien. Starting in September Leno is planning on hosting a 10:00 program that, despite howls of protest, will go on as scheduled.

“There is something to be said for the power of television creating the star. Some would argue that stars inhabit television and that is what keeps people coming back,
which may have been true in the past. Now with people becoming famous for no apparent reason at all the opposite view has to be at least entertained. That people become stars because they are on TV and that it is the show itself that creates the platform,” said Scrape TV Media analyst Sarah Piper. “In the days of web celebrities and reality TV the people have stopped defining the platform. People simply appear in front of cameras and they create the show. Though Leno came around before the proliferation of that phenomenon one could argue that he was a major beneficiary of the early days of that occurrence because he really has mostly moderate talent.”

Bob Saget, a fellow comedian who rose to television stardom despite medium levels of talent is often cited as the godfather of the phenomenon.

“Jerry Seinfeld had massive success in the 1990’s but he was a talented comedian
who was respected by his peers. Leno worked hard and was a nice guy but there was no one classing him among the greats like George Carlin or Richard Pryor. The fact that this lumpy mostly soft comedian took over for a comedy legend was remarkable enough, but his success made that a near miracle,” continued Piper. “He was forced into people’s homes night after night making him a routine, kind of like a toaster. You don’t even think about a toaster, it’s just kind of there, you put bread in and it comes out and you eat it. With Leno people wanted to watch something at 11:30, he was on, so they watched him. I don’t think anyone would have watched him if it took an effort.”

Such questions are revolving around Leno’s new show which is unlikely to carry over the same audience and is forging a new type of show at the time slot. Regardless of the success or failure of the new show it is likely that contractual obligations will keep Leno on the air for many years to come.

“There are a lot of people who were hoping that him stepping down from ‘The Tonight Show’ meant that he would just resign himself to appearing in Las Vegas or at the occasional car show. I’m sure there’s no one outside David Letterman who actually dislikes Leno but there comes a moment when your time has just come. He had a good run and like Carson should have left with dignity,” continued Piper. “Leno though is a product of his times and like Lindsay Lohan or Britney Spears before him, he’s going to stay in the public eye long after people were done with him.”

Details of Leno’s new show have not yet been made public, but it is assumed that it will be in colour and in focus.    

Samantha Dryden, Entertainment Correspondent

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