TVSquad

Every year as Festivus comes, we here at TV Squad pump out these "all I want" lists and I always end up feeling guilty because, like everyone else, I come up with a ton of different requests...

I hope Lost is good.
Please don't let 24 suck.
Why can't Rachael Ray just disappear already?

...and on and on and on. Well not this year. This year I'm going to be conservative instead of greedy in the hopes that the Festivus gods will grant my one and only wish:

Come May 2009, please let Jay Leno fail in the 10PM time slot.

It's a simple request. I want Jay Leno's upcoming 10PM talk show to crash and burn with the intensity of a northern California forest fire. All true TV fans should feel this way.

Think about it. If NBC's little experiment somehow works, then the prime-time television landscape will change forever. I like lots of new shows, regardless if they're good or bad. As it is, NBC will be cutting back on five hours worth of hour-long dramas or dramedies to make room for Leno at 10PM. That's a huge chunk of original programming and they'll be saving a ton of cash in the process.

So if Jay does well, what's stopping other networks from trying something similar a season later or even mid-season? Do we really want FOX sticking Spike Feresten in the 10PM slot or ABC bumping up Jimmy Kimmel earlier in the evening? I don't think so. Late night shows are called "late night" for a reason.

On the flip side, should Leno's new show take off and other netoworks follow suit, this could bode very well for premium networks like HBO, Showtime, FX, and AMC. Hour-longs that might have had a broadcast home could get re-tooled and get a cable home. But I don't want to bank on that. I just want Leno to fail so I don't need to think of things like this. That's ALL I want for Festivus. One thing. Please?