Review: Jay Leno’s first night
Posted on September 14th, 2009 – 10:06 PMBy Neal Justin
Same host, different time. Anyone expecting that Jay Leno would emerge on his opening night in a tutu and working blue, must have been deeply disappointed. Based on just one night, Leno - for better or worse - is still swinging for singles right down the middle. That’s probably smart, considering that his new prime-time gig must play to older, more socially conservative audiences, even more than before.
Still, Leno can’t rely solely on his easygoing charm and rat-a-tat jokes. At his best, last night, he didn’t. The absolute highlights: A sitdown with Kanye West and a surprise video appearance from Oprah Winfrey.
Jay did a great job with Kanye, still in hot water because of the way he interrupted Taylor Swift at last night’s VMA Awards. Jay smartly asked him what his mother would have said about his behavior. Great question, and while Kanye didn’t really answer,he did tear up - the kind of emotional, real, live moment this show can really jump on. Oprah’s appearance also scored, in large part because she only addressed guest Jerry Seinfeld, ignoring Jay, and also because, well, she’s Oprah.
But let’s face facts. It won’t be every night that a booked guest will be in the news. It won’t be every night you can get a cameo from the Queen of All Media. On the nights that happen, “Leno” will score. On slow nights, he’ll have to rely on typical banter, monologues and taped bits. In the last category, the show was a big disappointment, kicking off with comedian Dan Finnerty singing silly songs to a car-wash customer. I was also surprised that Leno’s monologue was short, by his standards, only six minutes.
Yes, Headlines was still a reliable chuckler and the “fake” interview with President Obama was amusing, but those are bits I can see on late-night TV anytime I want. Fair or not, people will expect more in prime-time. Leno, for the most part, hit those expectations - for one night. Only 2,300 to go…
19 Responses to "Review: Jay Leno’s first night"
Can’t believe Leno still went ahead with that loser Kanye. There’s no way an audience cheers him the way they did, was obvious they stifled the boos. Lost alot of respect for Jay tonight…
[…] Review: Jay Leno’s first night […]
Typical oatmeal from Leno…always bland and predictable.
Conan served for years as host of the late night show that followed Jay. That was his place, and he knew it. Conan made the show his own, knowing that Jay had the first night time, on the air opportunity to comment on the news of the day.
Now, one would think that Conan, with his promotion to the long revered Tonight Show would be able to bask in the fact that he’s the first on NBC each night to comment on the news of the day in his monologue. One would be wrong.
NBC has moved its beloved Leno to prime time. His loyal followers get to hear his great take on the news. Why should folks even watch Conan’s monologue, having heard from whom folks consider to be the best BEFORE the evening news? Why even watch THE TONIGHT SHOW?
Further, Letterman’s loyal fans now get to see Leno’s monologue in addition to Dave’s, as do those who watched Leno’s longer monologue then turned to Dave.
Leno was a great direct lead-in to O’Brien when Jay was on the Tonight Show. He is no longer a direct lead-in and doesn’t have the oomph in that regard.
Conan, and now the beloved Tonight Show continue to play second fiddle to Jay Leno on NBC.
Has NBC messed up?
Is NBC going to end up ultimately being the loser in all of this, taking Conan with them?
This viewer believes so.
Note to NBC: I was a faithful viewer of Jay Leno on the Tonight Show. While I am now a fan of Conan on that show, I will not be watching Jay on prime time after his debut show. No reason to record him on DVR, either.
I will be watching Conan on the Tonight Show, though. That show will continue to be my first night time look at the days events.
Johnny must be turning over in his grave.
So long, Jay.
Show stunk. He needs to do a lot better than silly homo jokes. Car wash bit was best, but weak compared to Conan. Seinfeld was right, why was he there?
[…] Review: Jay Leno’s first night […]
I don’t care what anybody says..I’d rather watch Leno’s show than all this crap reality BS danceing BS shows any day of the week. Thanks to that stuff, I watch about 2-3 hours of network tv a week tops. Maybe with Jay I’ll come back. The rest of you who hated his show, well I guess after you’ve watched blah blah can dance, the bachelor survivor american dime a dozen idol and whatever else you can just go to bed.
Jay’s show sucked! Honestly I was hoping for something different (by the hype we heard all summer). It was boring, the same old thing, and I can’t believe he had that MORON KANYE WEST on. Jay was acting so sympathetic to Kanye - please… he is poor loser about everything, who was drinking too much Hennessey (good role model for kids). As they said on the KQ this morning, that was Jay’s Hugh Grant interview of the 90’s hoping to boost ratings. What a joke. I hope they wise up and retire the “New Jay Leno Variety Show” very soon… Conan ROCKS!
Too kind Neal. Almost nothing was funny on the new “comedy” show. Jay and guests were stiff and uncomfortable. Jokes were either old, unfunny or just stale. Format is just the Tonight Show, a bit earlier. Time will tell, but so far a flop.
the kind of emotional, real, live moment this show can really jump on.
You have to be joking!!! Kanye is a total fraud and a talentless bum!!
I loved the show and will be recording all future shows. I thought the Obama skit was fabulous and am thrilled that the “headlines” segment is back…I just wish it would be a longer segment. Thank you NBC for bringing Jay back!
He pulled a 19 share, where’s the problem?
watched the Kayne thing, will never watch Jay again because of it. Jay went easy on him. Then again, Kayne would have been too dumb to understand.
Solid debut. We’ll be watching a couple of times a week pretty consistently I’ll bet.
I turned to football when he interviewed the rapper. I waited for a funny bit during it, but none happened.
Good show otherwise.
Not surprising that Neil once again walks out of step with all other critics. National critics are hammering Leno for doing nothing more than basically moving his old tired comedy approach to 90 minutes earlier. Same show different time. What happened to the all new style all new comedy variety hour? Its just the tonight show with Jay Leno before the news, and the Late Night with Conan O’Brien after the news. Very disappointing lack of originality or freshness here.
Jesus, some of you are acting like Kanye killed somebody, not upstaged an untalented pop singer who continues to insist, wrongly, she’s country. Was he rude? Yes, but get real.
Was anyone else bothered by the lighting and/or background colors (furniture, curtains, etc.)? I thought that Jay (and other guests) disappeared into the background and furniture because they were all the same dark color. They need better lighting…or maybe I need better glasses.
Jay simply is not funny. I fully expect his show to flop in a prime time slot.
