With NBC Presenting "Momma's Boy" at 10, A Leno Alternative IS Better

Here's what NBC executive Jeff Zucker told Broadcasting & Cable's Ben Grossman recently, defending the decision to program a Jay Leno talk show weeknights at 10 p.m. ET next year. The reduced number of available hours in prime time, he said, would make competition tougher, and, by inference, the programs better:

"Frankly," Zucker said, "now you may have to earn your way onto the schedule. Mediocrity won’t be good enough, and the rest of the schedule should now be filled with the best programs. I actually think this can clear out the mediocrity."

Tonight, he may be proving his point. At 10 p.m. ET, NBC presents Momma's Boys, a Ryan Seacrest-produced reality show in which 32 women compete to win the hearts of three bachelors, each of whom is being guided, and hovered over, by his protective, usually disapproving mother.

You don't even have to watch this show to know how it's going to turn out, and that's my recommendation. Don't watch. If Zucker feels that bringing Leno to prime time will eliminate this type of video drivel, then it's tough to root against the move.

But who's kidding whom? Doesn't that just mean, once Leno comes aboard, shows like Momma's Boys will just show up at 9 p.m. ET instead, or lead off prime time at 8?

Look what else NBC has in store for January 2009: Superstars of Dance. Howie Do It, a Candid Camera-type show hosted by Howie Mandel. And The Biggest Loser: Couples

Oh, and season three of Friday Night Lights, the one beacon of fresh quality on the midseason schedule. Except it's not fresh at all to DirecTV subscribers such as myself, who have been watching the show since October on satellite TV.

The best and fastest way to "clear out the mediocrity" at NBC, Mr. Zucker, would be to quit making mediocrity in the first place.