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GUEST BLOG #14: Diane Holloway on Leno at 10, Now That It's "Officially" Official
Bianculli here: With NBC unveiling much of its fall 2009-10 prime-time lineup yesterday, our newest veteran TV columnist, Diane Holloway, confronts the reality of Jay Leno's new talk show occupying the 10 p.m. ET slot each weekday -- and likes it even less than when it was first announced.
"Seeing Leno stretched across the lineup, five days in a row," she writes, "just seems wrong."
Read on for her full story, and to weigh in yourself on whether you expect, come fall, to vote Leno, or Leno no!...
Come Fall, Will You Vote Leno, Or Leno No?
By Diane Holloway
Jay Leno ends his reign on The Tonight Show on May 29, but come September we'll be able to see more of the chin-jutting comedian than many of us will want to stomach.
NBC, as you may have heard on this site or elsewhere months ago, is turning over its last hour of prime time (10 p.m. ET) every single weekday to Leno. The late-night talk show becomes a nightly prime-time talk show, complete with silly sketches and a slew of Hollywood celebrities.
The reality of this Leno overkill sinks in now that NBC released its new fall schedule yesterday. Seeing Leno stretched across the lineup, five days in a row, just seems wrong. His jokes aren't funny; his interviews are fawning.
Conan O'Brien, who assumes The Tonight Show in June, hasn't complained publicly about this deal, but it's highly likely that he isn't thrilled. If Leno is booking all the big actors for prime time, what does that leave for O'Brien in late night?
NBC undoubtedly sees the odd programming move as a cost-saving venture. A talk show, even if Leno really is pulling in the $30 million annual salary reported in various publications, is cheap compared with the larger cost of an ensemble drama. Plus, Leno will deliver almost a full year of rerun-free fresh episodes.
The network also believes that the aging baby boomers who have kept Leno afloat all these years are getting too old for late-night TV and will welcome the chance to watch him earlier and then hit the sack.
Nevertheless, doesn't this move just scream "desperation" to you? It does to me. NBC has been dubbed creatively bankrupt before, and ditching the whole concept of scripted drama in the late prime, when more viewers are available than the previous two hours, seconds that emotion.
What do you think? Will you watch the new prime-time Leno?
--
Diane Holloway was the TV critic for the Austin American Statesman for 30 years, until the downturn in the newspaper business prompted her to take a buyout and early retirement. Retirement? More like between jobs. She's still sniffing out possibilities and sifting through freelance opportunities. Before newspapers, she worked in Washington for the Library of Congress, the American Film Institute and the National Endowment for the Arts. Maybe something entirely different is next. Or not.
I, for another, think this move is stupid. I agree with you that Leno is not funny and the more I think about what those tv programming execs must think about their target tv audience (male 24-45? or something like that?) the angrier I get. Not only am I not male, I'm no longer that young. (OK. I'm mad about that, but there's nothing I can do about THAT!) What I don't get is why those execs think that is their target audience? Don't they know that women are typically the financial decision makers of the household??!! Don't they know there are more of us around who like using their noggin while being entertained at the same time????? Is it not time for a tv paradigm shift???!!!
If it weren't for the educated and reasonable opinions found here, I would be seriously tempted to throw the tv out the window for good. But I love good tv....
No, I won't be watching Leno. If there is nothing else good on, I will be reading a good book. There you have it.
It won't make me watch NBC any more than I did before, so on that level it's stupid. That said, five hours of prime time television just isn't worth what it used to be and NBC should get credit for acknowledging that fact and attacking its costs.
The more important message here is that we are in the twilight of network television. How much longer before content producers just start selling us the shows direct over the Internet and bypass the networks altogether? Ten years? If it weren't for sports, I'd say it would happen next week.
I will never watch Jay Leno. I made that vow years ago when he was so insensitive and disrespectful during OJ's trial. His "Dancing Ito's", etc. At the end of the day, a young mother of two and a young man just starting out were dead. This is funny?? I recall at the time that David Letterman, on the other hand, was extremely restrained and didn't stoop to Leno's antics. As a result, I only watch Letterman and have no use for Leno.
This is a stupid move for NBC; CBS, ABC, FOX and the cable networks must be overjoyed.
I don't watch Leno now, I won't watch him then. I don't have anything against him, but don't care to take him in doses more than 15 minutes at a time. There are plenty of other things to watch at 9 p.m. Central. If nothing else, it'll give me a chance to catch up on what I've stored on my DVR.
Keep up the good work, Diane. We miss you in the Statesman.
Thanks for the smart comments ... smart as in intelligent, not smart alecky! So far I haven't found a single soul who is thrilled with the prospect of prime-time Leno five nights a week. To the reader who lamented my absence in the Austin American-Statesman, thank you! It was a privilege and a joy to be a part of daily journalism for 30 years. But this online magazine is pretty cool, isn't it?
It doesn't just smell like desperation, it reeks of it.
I'm on record as saying this is a stupid idea and I hope it fails. I almost feel vindictive about the whole situation.
It's terrible that Chuck is on the bubble while we're extending milquetoast Leno to five nights a week. He's not funny. Not even a little. I agree with the other commenters, 9pm MST will now be DVR catch-up time.
If this succeeds, I'll eat a hat.
A five minute monologue and a string of people hawking movies. No thanks. This is television of the past.
Never much cared for Leno, and certainly won't be tuning in five nights a week at (here in MST) 9 p.m.
I'm also curious how this could affect the content of shows which used to run in the final hour and might now be pushed earlier.
If the idea tanks, I wonder how quickly NBC will pull the plug, compared to, for instance, this year's "My Own Worst Enemy" on the same network.
What's up with the cool sun glasses? Is it a fashion statement? I totally dig the hair cut too. The whole effect is hot but mysterious in a way too.
I'm with the other posters in that I think turning the 10 p.m. hour over to Leno five nights a week is a bad idea. The fate of "Law & Order" and other NBC shows is still up in the air, but a variety show - a concept whose time has long past - gets a nightly run. Rosie O'Donnell tanked embarassingly with her "Rosie Live" last year (in my opinion, her show deserved to tank.) Didn't that tell NBC something? This may force me to go to bed an hour earlier. I give Leno 13 weeks, and he's gone.